The Journey 2008: Day 14

Day 14 begins in Tulsa, OK at Boston Avenue Methodist Church where we found some beautiful mosaics.

It is crazy how all those little pieces make up one big piece of art.

Next we head off to Oral Roberts University and check out the praying hands statue. They are about 60 feet tall to give you an idea of how large they really are.

Oral Roberts Prayer Tower.

Now back on Route 66.

And to Russ' Ribs, which encourages people to write on the walls as you can see.

Of course we had to take a picture with the joints mascot the pig on the pot.

Great food. Funny thing when we asked what was good to order there, they told us about this cut of beef that you could not get anywhere else in the area called 'tri-tip'. They asked if we had ever heard of it, and of course being from Santa Maria, CA we have had our fair share of tri-tip.

While sitting down and eating we talked to the owner and found out that his daughter lives in Santa Maria. When he was out visiting one time he had tri-tip and liked it so much he had to bring it back to serve in his barbeque place, and so the delicousness of tri-tip travels to Bristow, OK.

Checking out the Arcadia Round Barn along Route 66 in Arcadia, OK

Looking at the roof structure of the round barn. Interesting how they built it up.

Now onto Oklahoma City and to the State Capitol of OK.

Next we stopped by the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

It is an intense place to visit, but we are glad we went.

The grounds are a beautiful memorial to the people who died.

This is Morgan's favorite tree; the Survivor Tree.

All along the fence surrounding the memorial people have hung all sorts of different things.

We stopped for dinner in El Reno, OK at Johnnie's Grill. More good food. Morgan loved her coleslaw chili dog.

While eating we were keeping our eye on the weather, trying to figure out whether to wait for the storm heading our way to pass, and then start driving, or just get out on the road, drive and see what happens.

Of course we headed out, besides the radar for the storm looked like a long way off on the television, and it also did not look very wide. Oh the fun of listening to the radio for tornado warnings as we drove and making sure we were not at the mile markers they were talking about. Just when we thought we were almost out of the storm, I could see the light of the sun on the other side of the clouds, it started to pour and by pour I mean hydroplaining at 25 mph because there is so much water falling from the sky it does not have enough time to go anywhere. It seemed that the reason I was able to see the light from the sun coming on the other side of the clouds was because entire clouds were just falling from the sky on us. Needless to say we took the next exit, we pulled into a Walgreens and ran inside. The power was out, but they were nice enough to let us hang out until the storm passed. Morgan had to go to the bathroom, and by the time she was out the storm had passed, the sun was shinning and we headed back out on the road. Easy enough right? Oh the memories of the fun adventure.

We end our day past the crazy stormy weather and heading into our last new state, Texas.

There is day 14. We added Texas to bring the state total for the trip to 19.

Tomorrow more Texas, Route 66, and back into New Mexico.

The Journey 2008: Day 13

Day 13 begins at the Hotel DeVille in Jefferson City, MO

After a comfortable night sleep with more tornado warnings we are ready to begin our day.

Checking out the Missouri State Capitol, and then heading to meet up with Route 66

Too bad it is only June 4th...I guess we will just have to miss out.

Steak n Shake right on Route 66 in Springfield, MO

Good food, good shakes, fun sitting at an old 50's counter and listening to the locals talk about how annoying the tornado warning sirens are and how they just ignore them and go back to sleep.

County Courthouse in Carthage, MO.

They just don't build them like they used to.

It is crazy to visit places where civil war battles happened.

Heading into Kansas to cruise the little part of Route 66 that cuts across the southeast corner of the state. Another new state and more Route 66 fun.

In case you are wondering Mater has moved from Radiator Springs to

Galena, KS.

Cruising Route 66

Heading towards Arkansas.

On to another new state...at least for a little while.

This is the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista, AR.

It took us a little while to find the chapel, but we are glad we did and were able to experiece it along with its beautiful surroundings.

Mmmm...Craker Barrel, got to get it while you can, because for some reason they have not make it to California yet.

We end our day in Oklahoma heading back to meet up with Route 66 to continue our journey.

There is day 13. We added Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma to the mix to bring the total to 18 states with only 1 new one to go.

Tomorrow more Oklahoma, Route 66 and into the last new state...Texas.

The Journey 2008: Day 12

Day 12 begins at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and of course we are going to head to the top to enjoy the view.

Looking back towards St. Louis you can see the old courthouse and
Busch Stadium below.

Looking down toward the Mississippi River.

Checking out the arch with our feet back on the ground.

Here is the old courthouse with the arch in the background.

St. Louis is known for its donuts, so of course we had to try some of them out.

The verdict is in, and the donuts are good, thumbs up, and fat dogging it.

Next we went across the Mississippi River to Alton, IL and of course more food at

Fast Eddie's Bon Air roadhouse.

Good grub and even better prices. I think we bought at least 1 of everything to share, because of course we had to try it all.

I can't remember, but I am pretty sure Amy like the hamburger best, haha. :)

(See day 8 for clarification)

More happily feed people

What goes well with some good food? Well more good food...in the form of pie at Pie Town.

Mmmmm Cherry Pie.

Back to St. Louis to check out the grounds of the 1904 Worlds Fair.

The Palace of the Fine Arts from the 1904 Worlds Fair now houses the St. Louis Art Museum. We did not get a chance to head inside, but the outside and surrounding grounds were very nice.

I bet you all did not know I helped Louis and Clark as they explored the west. I spelled my name a little different back then, but it was quiet an adventure. They were nice enough to set up a memorial in my honor along the Missouri River.

Lewis and Clark Trail...oh the memories of exploring the west as a moutain man.

If you don't believe me you can check it all out on wikipedia where they say John Colter is "widely considered to be the first mountain man"

A good description of me don't you think? haha :)

Checking out the Missouri River in New Haven, MO.

After all of this exploring of course we are hungry and we have to stop for some more delightful food in Hermann, MO, mmmm custard.

I think this place is trying to tell us something, and of course since it involves good homemade pies we had to stop and listen to what the signs were saying.

There is day 12. No new states, but lots of good food and fun exploring new places.

Tomorrow more Missouri, new states and Route 66.