At 2pm, we reach the Texas/Oklahoma border, and thus achieve our ambition of visiting all fifty US states. Amazingly, it is exactly 15 years since we arrived in our first: New York on June 15th 1989. The journey from New York to Oklahoma has been achieved in twenty-nine trips, with a total number of miles driven of 61,834.

To mark this achievement we pull off the interstate near Texola to get a photograph of an Oklahoma border sign, and also find a sign marking the Will Rogers Highway (also known as Route 66). Re-accessing the I-40 is accomplished via a picnic site, back within Texas, and we then spot a better Oklahoma sign - despite being an interstate, we are able to pull up near the sign, as there is a parking area. A lady kindly agrees to take our photograph with the sign.

Twenty miles from the Texas/Oklahoma border, US-283 takes us north to the small town of Cheyenne. Near here is the Washita Battlefield National Historic Site - an undeveloped national park without a Visitor Centre.

The park preserves the site of one of the largest engagements between Plains tribes and the US Army on the Southern Great Plains. On November 27th 1868, Lieutant Colonel George Custer attacked a sleeping Cheyenne village, killing about 50 men, women, and children. Details of the battle are shown on an historical plaque.

Cheyenne is an interesting small town containing the local National Park headquarters, a museum regarding the battle, and some historic buildings. The town is full of cyclists on an annual touring event.

 

We return to the I-40 to drive east to Clinton, the location of the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, which we tour with the assistance of audio guides. The museum's exhibits, audio commentary, film show, and the background music, provide a good interpretation of Route 66's rise and demise.

 

The next town east on I-40 is Weatherford where we check-in to the Best Western Mark Motor Hotel. Our room is a modern version of a standard motel room, and is well furnished and equipped.

 

The motel's restaurant overlooks Weatherford's Main Street and provides us with a very good value meal. It has been a totally sunny day, and it is still 80F when we stroll along the Main Street after our meal.

 

Today's mileage of 390 is the most accomplished in one day on this trip, taking us north through the Texas Panhandle, then east along I-40 through Oklahoma. I-40 bisects Oklahoma on its way from California to North Carolina, and is our main method of traversing our 50th state. Today, we crossed the Great Plains Country, passing north of the blue granite Wichita Mountains. Tomorrow, we will continue east, passing through Oklahoma's Frontier Country, and into Arkansas.

 

There is low cloud in Weatherford this morning, and on our initial drive on I-40. Although the clouds lighten, and it becomes generally bright with the clouds high, we see little sun today, and experience our first rain of the trip. I-40 takes us towards the state's capital, Oklahoma City, which we bypass to reach the small, somewhat rundown, town of Arcadia, location of the Round Barn - an iconic landmark for travellers heading west on Route 66 before the Second World War.

Arcadia's Round Barn

 

The only one of its kind in the world with a freestanding second floor and a hemispherical roof, the red Round Barn was built in 1898 by a German farmer who chose the shape to withstand tornadoes.

 

The barn is a now source of Route 66 souvenirs, but is not open. Also closed is another Route 66 icon, Hillbillee's Cafe - a former gas station.

 

Amongst the historical markers on Route 66 is a memorial for the East Boundary of the 'Run of 89' when settlers claimed plots of Government land.

 

 

Driving onwards, we use deserted cross-country roads to rejoin the I-40 near Okemah - the small towns that we pass through are somewhat rundown, in contrast to the countryside where there are affluent looking houses.

At a Travel Centre on the I-40 we purchase turkey and ham wraps to eat with our coffee. It is very hot and the air is extremely humid. The area around the gas station is infested with a large number of laceflies, which make filling the petrol tank an unpleasant experience. We have driven 224-miles this morning, and a further 40-miles gets us to the Fort Smith National Historic Site, just across the state border in Arkansas.

The sun emerges briefly as we arrive at Fort Smith, an historical complex that commemorates a significant phase of America's westward expansion. An interesting video provides some historical background, and a second video recounts the work of the US Deputy Marshals.

The park's Visitor Centre is located in the Barracks-Courthouse-Jail building (right) which has a number of good exhibits and a mock up of the former jail facility.

We join a ranger for a tour of the grounds that initially takes us to the Trail of Tears National Historical Trail Overlook at the confluence of the Arkansas and Poteau Rivers - a memorial to the Cherokee people, forcefully removed from their homelands in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to live in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. Our tour is interrupted when it starts to rain and the ranger is fearful of a lightning strike, so we retreat to our car as the rain gets heavy. We try to sit out the rain as we have not seen the reproduction of the gallows that was capable of hanging up to 12 men at a time - the legacy of "Hanging Judge" Isaac Parker's twenty-one years on the bench of the US Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

With the rain continuing to fall heavily and persistently, we drive to the Hampton Inn at Fayetteville. The heavy rain results in poor visibility for driving but the weather begins to improve as we near the hotel. The consistently good Hampton Inns have an excellent example in Fayetteville, our room being well equipped and having a splendid bathroom. At the nearby Ruby Tuesday restaurant we have a good value meal in pleasant surroundings. 

After eleven 'one-night stands', we will now have the restful luxury of three nights in the same hotel. That hotel is another Hampton Inn, and the location is Branson, Missouri - the self-styled "Country Music Show Capital". But, on the way there we will visit three national parks, the first being Pea Ridge National Military Park, the site of a 2-day, 1862 Civil War battle where victory by Brig Gen Samuel R Curtis saved Missouri for the Union. We drive the park's 7-mile loop road, stopping at each of the ten tour stops, after watching an excellent video that tells the story of the battle.

Our previous visit to Missouri (in 2001) acquainted us with the state's peculiar road identification system, so it is no surprise to find ourselves navigating along small country roads identified as Highways E, D, H, and V in the Ozark Hills. Near the small town of Diamond, we find the George Washington Carver National Monument, a national park that preserves the birthplace of a man born as a slave (about 1864), and who ascended to national prominence as a scientist, educator, and humanitarian.

Jeanette at the birthplace site.

After having a snack of Hampton Inn muffins, we watch a good half-hour film re Carver, then quickly walk the 1-mile Carver Trail as thunder sounds in the distance. The loop trail takes us through woodlands, across streams, and along a tallgrass prairie restoration area, passing the Boy Carver statue (left), the 1881 Carver House (right) and the Carver Cemetery.

 

After spending two hours at the national monument, we leave at about 3pm to look for Wilson's Creek National Battlefield. We soon get lost, but eventually find the quaintly-designated Highways MM and ZZ to reach the battlefield near the town of Republic.

 

At the Visitor Centre we watch our third video of the day - this one tells the story of the 1861 engagement, the first major battle west of the Mississippi River.

The battle at Wilson's Creek preceded that at Pea Ridge, but was for the same purpose: the control of Missouri. Although the Confederates were victorious at Wilson's Creek, Missouri remained under Union Control. We drive the 4.9-mile tour road which has eight stops at historic points relating to the battle, but remain in the car as it is raining and there are thunderstorms in the area.

 

Heavy rain accompanies us to Branson, where we find heavy traffic on Country Music Boulevard where the Hampton Inn is located. As we are to discover over the next two days, traffic moves very slowly on Country Music Boulevard which bisects the town from east to west, and where the majority of hotels, theatres, and other attractions that bring over seven million people to Branson each year, are located.

 

An advantage of the Hampton Inn's location, however, is the proximity of a Golden Corral restaurant that bills itself as the "Largest Golden Corral in the World!". Here, we have the usual good value buffet meal.

 

After a day in which we have experienced quite a lot of rain, and a maximum temperature of 86F, the sky clears during the evening.