Detours

As we drove past billboards and truckstops along Interstate 40 yesterday, I started to think all that Oklahoma had to offer was humongous American flags, 72oz steaks and messages from God, himself.  I was resigned to more of the same as we left our overnight stop, Oklahoman City,  this morning, but luckily, while trying to start an audio book on a misbehaving ipod, I missed a critical exit, which took us on an unexpected and delightful detour.

Route 33 in Oklahoma: no billboards

Rather than turn back to the Interstate, we continued on Rt 33 under a blue sky dotted with  diorama-like clouds that appeared to be made out of cotton balls.  The road winded through rolling grass-filled hills and small towns.   The town of Drumright was particularly quaint with its normal sized flags and busy main street complete with an old lime-green roadster built for one.   This was a welcome change from our usual Interstate sightings of  Indian Casinos and Golden Arches.  I was so glad to have seen the beauty of Oklahoma on my first visit to the state.

In contrast to our Oklahoma detour, we planned to get off   Interstate 44 at Miami, OK to venture into Kansas.   Since Steve and I (and now our kids) have a decades-old goal of  eventually visiting each state in the U.S., we decided we could not pass on a 30 minute side trip through the southeast corner of Kansas.   We drove on  historic Route 66, and not so historic Rt 69A through the lovely town of Baxter Springs.  Although this part of Kansas looked a lot like Oklahoma, I could have sworn I saw more wheat fields and a flying house.


Having a schedule and specific destinations on a long roadtrip limits your ability to go off and explore.  Sometimes though, you'll luck out and get lost.  Other times, your compulsive need to plan and check off lists will lead you to a detour you've been wanting to take for years.

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