Oklahoma is Okay

This morning we left Clinton and headed to the Oklahoma farm of Elda and Henry Martens, where they had a collection of historic buildings, farm and racing vehicles, and a beautiful quilt shop. We travelled the 75 miles to the Fairview farm in a caravan and without issue. We were greeted by Elda and Henry, their extended family, and a host of friends and neighbors. The Mardens had an original White flatbed truck, a 1930 bulldozer, and several steam-powered combines. In addition to the vehicles, there was a one-room schoolhouse building filled with gorgeous quilts - the handiwork of Elda. The Mardens served up a fantastic repast of home cooked fritters and other delights, and gave our group a real taste of Oklahoman hospitality.

After our visit there, Lisa and I traveled another 250 miles with another vehicle. The roads were good, and while we were passed a number of times by trailers lugging huge combines and traveling faster than our 50 miles per hour, we made good time. Gas stations are apparently pretty far apart in Oklahoma, and when we found an open station, we took on 9.4 gallons - to fill our 10 gallon tank. Along with visiting an antique shop, we spent the day enjoying the beauty of Oklahoma's cattle farms, wheat fields, and corn fields. In late afternoon, we crossed into Liberal, Kansas, and before long, we were settled into our hotel at Garden City. We had a tour meeting at our hotel, and after socializing a bit, we had dinner at the Texas Roadhouse, a steak place next to the hotel, with Diana Hudson, Ron Ludford, and John LaVoy, the leaders of our tour group.