Tulsa, Oklahoma: Where cows run scared and women resemble the cows in the looks department. I’m not sure why I chose to cease driving early today instead of continuing straight through to Amarillo, maybe it had something to do with the combination of miserable weather and sleepiness. Whatever it was, fate conspired to bring me back to Tulsa for the second time in my life. Not much has changed here. It’s still not the best place to “hang out” or meet any interesting characters (unless gang violence is hip these days. Is it? What about in an ironic way?). After spending an hour looking for a bar that the Internet recommended only to find it didn’t exist, I retired to my room for the night to eat crackers and peanut butter. I’m already salivating at the thought of tomorrow morning’s continental breakfast. I’m starving. I refuse to eat at the Pizza Hut across the street.
I awoke this morning in Independence to gray skies and drizzles. It was a lot like the last time I drove from Independence to Tulsa. Sadly, the Hilton Garden Inn did not include breakfast in my room cost, so I left figuring I’d find something to eat on the road (Nope! Just candy bars and potato chips!). I sped past Arrowhead Stadium and Kaufman Stadium on the short drive between I-70W and I-435S. Maybe twenty miles later, I joined with US-71S, which featured 138 miles of sheer nothingness. Intermittent rain. Gray skies. Low-hanging clouds. Empty roads. This is driving in Middle America. Somewhere near Rich Hill, Missouri, the rain relented. Before arriving in Joplin (where I’d transfer to I-44W), I decided to stop in Carthage, Missouri.
Last time I was in Carthage, I couldn’t get to the Civil War battle site (look it up, dumbass: the Battle of Carthage). This time, I found it with no problem. As I stepped out of my car to stretch, I could hear freight trains whistling in the distance. Combined with the din of insects and animals, I figured the natural sounds would make for an excellent field recording. For five minutes I stood in silence, eyes closed, listening to all that was around me. It was all wonderful. I moved deeper into the site and found a small pond with water flowing from a nearby creek, so I again recorded five minutes of streaming rushing water plus with the other elements. As I was preparing to leave, an RV entered the site. It was an old man, and he was carrying a metal detector. I walked up to him – still recording – and asked if he felt lucky today while motioning to the detector. We spoke for roughly ten minutes about his previous finds, how his metal detector worked, and we strolled through the grass scanning the ground for “hits.” He dug up only a quarter during our short time together, but he swore to me he always discovers at least one valuable item wherever he goes. I left him to finish his work and continued on my way. When I find a stereo cable, I’ll post MP3s for you.
When I left the battle site I decided to make a few random turns just to see where I would end up. I got fairly close to razor wire fences and tried to convince nearby cows to approach me. I visited at a cemetery called Cedar Hill and drove down a narrow pathway (studying different headstones from the early 19th century) until I started to feel lost, at which point I simply put the car in reverse and somehow found my way out. I found my way through the surrounding neighborhood and wound up in the downtown square, where I searched for a bite to eat. Found nothing, but met a few more people and had brief conversations, none of which were recorded. I’m not going to lie, when I first drove down S. Grand Street and noticed the same parking spot I had two years ago, my emotions get the best of me. I guess I figured I’d never visit any of these places again. My first glimpse of the Jasper County Courthouse (here it is two years ago) looming over downtown caused my heart to momentarily seize. It’s hard to explain, really. I’ve spent many hours during the last two years reviewing the pictures from my ’05 travels in an attempt to recapture the joy I had felt at the time. Now, seeing sights for the second time, it’s like living in a dream.
Before continuing to Oklahoma, I felt a great desire to turn off the highway and take a side road into Kansas, just so I could say I’ve been to Kansas (hey, if driving thirteen miles through West Virginia counts as having been to West Virginia, surely driving a few hundred yards into Kansas counts as having been to Kansas!). I followed the road for six or seven miles until I entered Kansas. My goal completed, I continued to Oklahoma.
This year I chose not to stop at either the Stables casino in Miami, OK (birthplace of Mickey Mantle and hometown of Richard Wurtz from my short story “The Epoch Story”), and I refused to not eat (again) at the world’s largest McDonald’s in Vinita. Instead I drove straight through to Tulsa. Where I am now…
…And we’ve come full circle. Texas tomorrow.
Today’s “Oops, the camera was set to video, not still-frame!” videos:
Battle of Carthage Historical Site
Someone’s Farm
