Oklahoma

Out of Texas and into the next state. Roger breaks into a loud rendition of the theme song from the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma – “the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye”, performed by his high school in 1958 – it very quickly becomes quite apparent why he was a stagehand and not a performer.

Red land and weather-beaten farmers, big farms – flat in the west and rolling in the east of the state.




We stop at Foss Lake State Park, a beautiful site created by an earthen dam, with numerous and varied campsites. We pick one near the lake and although the washrooms are nothing to boast about the location is fantastic.



The owner of the bait house where we buy a hotdog lunch tells about a new restaurant about 7 miles north in the village of Butler that serves 3 hearty meals a day. That night we check it out.

It is quite clear that we are the visitors – everyone else is from the farms of the area – and it is we who have the accents. Nice meal and real friendly folks – and yes the owner of the bait house turned up for supper too. The one restaurant town - and if you really wanted to savour the atmosphere you could open the door and listen to a couple of steers bawling around the corner.




Back to the campsite - at last, one that is pitch black. We look up at the huge sky and the incredible display and turn in for a great night's sleep, undisturbed by trains, freeways or light.

We feel like we are missing a lot and plan to return. But the Queen Mary's sailing date is getting closer and closer so we hit the road at 6 AM the next morning and head on to Billie Clinton’s stomping grounds.