nite in waurika..

we set up our tent behind a cafe/store in a really cool little town called waurika and it was cold.. the owner of the store, jerry is a really cool, well traveled guy who used to live not far from us in nyc.. he offered that we stay in his motor home (it was considerably nicer than any apartment id had in the last 4 yrs!) which was rite next to the tent.. we visited with him and his daughter and grandson until they had to go rescue a runaway cow!! really nice people the next morning had an incredible breakfast at jerry's place, check it out at www.tastingearth.blogspot.com

last day in oklahoma!!

we're seeing a lot of oil extracters(??) and the farms are turning into ranches.. lots of cows and cactus.. we ate some beans and rice in a very small town called ringling and it didnt sit very well in chels' stomach.. so we stopped on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and.. long story short, we spent about 25 mins picking cactus quils out of her clothes and from her lower back

rain rain rain...

its been raining like crazy lately making us both a little frustrated.. if it rains for a nite we'll stay in the tent (which is not waterproof) and then find a laundromat the next day.. but if it rains for more than a nite we'll grab a cheap room cause its just not worth sitting in a wet tent for 30hrs or something... forecast has some nice weather coming up so we plan on getting to texas by tonite...

crazy camping...

this spot just outside of a town called ravia was a pretty wild spot.. we were def guests and there were creatures everywhere... yelping coyotes all nite screaming like crazy to signal that they caught something.. also there were large animals (they were breaking twigs when they walked) rite next to our tent all nite.. it was pretty cool

s

west thru oklahoma..

in the last week we've had 2 rainless days...

heading out to newmexico..

we arent gonna make it to mexico (eerrrrr) for a number of reasons: rain in texas, 600 miles to the border, time (we want to get to asia by february), money and road conditions in mexico.. as much as we hate making decisions with our brains we had to on this one and are gonna have to wait on mexico.. plus we want to be in san fran for christmas to hang with chels' family...
i am really psyched on the caves in carlsbad caverns, new mexico (really psyched!!) and also some green chiles and killer mexican food in and around las cruces.. we'll be going thru el paso, tucson, and san diego so if anyone has recommendations for cool things to check out, or something you'd like me to look into and write about let me kno!!

rainy day in atoka ok..

the towns are starting to feel more 'western' than they used to.. we posted up in atoka in the pouring rain for a day and a half and checked out the town a little.. we walked past the courthouse and noticed some masonic symbolism carved on the stone in front, also they had the 10 commandments?? doesnt seem that secular (separation of church and state) to me but whatever.. anyway later that nite, after reading that atoka was home to the oldest masonic temple in oklahoma, we were walking around in the rain looking for a place to eat (which we didnt find).. the town was barren with no cars even on the main strip, except for 5 or 6 newer cars parked in front of a door with shattered glass on the side of the masonic temple.. there was just a little lite we could see on the third floor. it was pretty creepy and mysterious.. the masons, though not a secret society, are definitely a society with many secrets which gives them this dark evil allure, i dont know how that translates to reality but its a strange stigma

random cool old building downtown atoka

the top of the freemason temple

square and compass

dinner at cazadores.. decent mexican

into southern oklahoma..

thru oklahoma..

some cool people and places in northern oklahoma

its said that the state of oklahoma boasts home to at least 25-30 cool people.. i think we met about half of them.. the rest wear cowboy hats, drive pickup trucks, and impress us by their uncanny ability to press a gas pedal as they display their impatience with us on their way to their favorite fast food chain... here are some of the cool ones:

dave at paceline in tahlequah

kristy in muskogee

everyone at the rib barn was super cool awesome bbq.. helped us put warner ok in our list of fav small towns

rainy day in tahlequah ok..

we're stuck here in tahlequah oklahoma which is a pretty cool little town to be stuck in.. all the towns and countys out here are named after native american tribes that were herded here while europeans and africans (slaves) 'colonized' their land.. we rode here on the 'trail of tears' which is the route that the cherokee were marched from their homelands in north carolina out here to the 'indian territory' (now oklahoma).. ive been reading about it and checking out the town, which still has a huge native american population.. i think its easy to feel compassion for the native people who were obviously wronged during the 'discovery' of our grreat nation (discovery seems a strange word since the land was completely settled with other civilizations).. but i try to side with the fact that it is human nature, and nature in general that a stronger people will conquer those of less power.. also that the indians should feel lucky that they werent conquered by the ruthless spaniards!!! besides do their lives REALLY mean anything anyway?? afterall they do pray to a different invisible man in the sky than we european based people typically do...

chelsea gettin some art action

OKLAHOMA!!

so far been through new york, new jersey, pennsylvania, west virginia, ohio, indiana, illinois, missouri, arkansas, and OKLAHOMA! workin our way down through texas for some mexico axion...

our favorite sign for sure