Elk City/Oklahoma City/Tulsa, Oklahoma

So, I left the Grand Canyon...I'm losing track of dates here...yesterday morning, whenever that was...Monday? Monday!! Ok, so I drove down to the Red Rock State Park in Sedona, AZ, then stayed in Albuquerque, NM overnight.  Today I drove through the rest of NM, then the top part of Texas, stopped in Armarillo to gas up, and devour a Whataburger (that's a delicious hamburger for those who are unfamiliar, with lots of jalapenos and pickles), I was in such a mood for a burger (maybe it was all the cattle! ooo that's mean sorry if ur offended!) , then carried on to Elk City, OK for the night, and tomorrow I will stay in Tulsa, OK, as I plan to do a few different things here in OK on Historic Route 66...so far I've been a little less than impressed...I mean, it's cute and all, but there is so less of it than I expected!! I'm hoping it may pick up a little considering Oklahoma sent me a 5lb package in the mail from their Tourist Bureau haha.  So, I know you are all waiting for it, for those who know me, know I have been waiting to get this out...hehem mememeeeeee "OOOOOOOOOOOKLAHOMA where the wind comes crashing through the plain!!!"
hahaha that felt good...
Anyway, so today at Whataburger this guy asked if  I was from NY (seems to be a common thread among ppl I meet) then started asking me questions about my home and family.  He looked like a southern version of Santa in a hunting jacket.  We were chatting about Texas and how great it is, and he said "well we don't hold it against anybody, it just takes some ppl longer to get here!" haha he was so nice he thanked me for visiting the state of Texas.  I heard on the radio today that there are 20 states who have declared their desire to separate from the rest of the country.  They are unhappy with what's going on...as "Southern Santa" said, "God's in control...if He didn't want this president in, he wouldn't be there...we just gotta have faith that God knows why" so, I'm sticking with that!!


I wrote all that the other day, I don't even remember what has happened I feel so lost in the days.  Yesterday I went to Oklahoma City, saw the Survivor Tree (which I wrote on the post with the pictures, describing it and my experience there) , and did some Historic Route 66'ing.  Today I did Tulsa, which was ok, I found their little hippie-er excuse me 'hipster' community, the Blue Dome District...I really expected this historic landmark blue dome to be a little bigger...I passed it twice before I found it lol...The highlights of my day had nothing to actually do with Tulsa, per say.

To start my day I went to the fitness room and jogged 4 miles.  I am so happy to be out of elevation, I really couldn't wait to be able to breath regular again.  Then I used my workout ball(yes, I got one of those inflatable ones) and worked out some more.  It felt so good, my body feels so out of wack from sitting in the car so much.  Then I gave myself a trim.  My hair and skin have been taking quite the beating from the weather/water/elevation changes (can everyone tell I am not a fan of elevation?? hahah) Then I actually put on a little makeup and a dress (oh my!! who am I??) then hit the town...for a short while before I went to my truly anticipated destination-WALMART!!! I was sooooo happy to be going to a cheap bargain multipurpose store!! I thought paroosing through the aisles would feel a little more like home to me.....OH...MY...GOSH....I was soooooooooooooooooooooooo wrong!!!! If anything, it made it all the worse!!! I was in such shock as to what I was seeing with my own baby browns...
ALERT: some of our worst nightmares truly do exhist

Now, we all now that NY Walmart's usually have questionable clientele, and I've been to them in Texas and Florida, and still, late at night is when people show up like they're going to the local dance hall....but not here in Oklahoma.  It is not saved for the nighttime, but in the broad daylight, and they are not dressed up with their gold high heels, shoot, they don't even put their teeth in! I was highly overdressed for the affair, as the common look I could not even imitate.  I saw more buttcrack today than one should ever see in their whole life, and lost count of the amount of Seated Motorized Carts, as they far outnumbered regular push carts.  My discomfort increased to the point that I knew I had to leave before the sun may start setting.  God only knows what happens then at the Oklahoma Walmart!
So, I went to the Hard Rock hotel and casino that's across the street from my hotel.  I heard they had a few places to eat.  I walked all around, surveying the premises, trying to act nonchalant, even though it's become unavoidable that I stick out like a sore thumb...I have decided to embrace this about myself as apposed to fighting it.  I sometimes think it's weird that people stare so much and for so long, so I started staring back, waiting to see what they're gonna do...most commonly it's look away or an uncomfortable smile, but I'll usually say something like, "hey, how ya doin?" letting them know that:
Yes, I am from NY,
No, I am not mean,
No, they are not as slick as they thought bc
Yes, I saw them staring long before they noticed I was looking back. 
Anyways, I found a buffet, and my heart skipped a beat.  I didn't care how much it cost, lemme at it!! I was craving salad, like a real salad, for so long, and there was bound to be a salad bar at a buffet-and I was right!! I laughed at the puny salad plates they offered and grabbed the "main course" size plate, and not only filled it, but overflowed it.  They even had oil and vinegar!! I put that on my table and went back for food...I breezed rt through the asian and mexican food and went for the kill-Italian!!! Now, I am aware that I am in Oklahoma, and it sometimes isn't even worth the calories to try the poor attempts at Italian food outside of NY, but oh my, I smelled garlic, and it  was all I could think of...I never thought I'd be craving salad and garlic haha  it was so pathetic, I was more concerned with getting the garlic pieces onto my fork than the actual food.  Needless to say I gavoned (I have no clue how to spell it, but if u don't know what I'm talking about, me spelling it right wouldn't even make a difference) the entire meal...I was barely coming up to breath...I must've looked like I was going to the chair in the morning.  I think I ate more in that one meal than I have in the past 3 days.  Honestly, I can't really eat a lot of fast food, it is so greasy and gross I can't understand how people eat it so much.  And because of all my travelling I haven't really eaten a meal, just been snacking, so besides my body craving vegetables, I just needed to eat real food...and so I did!!! and it was AMAZZZZIIIINNNNGGG!!!

So, as you all can tell, my highlights I'm sure varied from what one may expect.  Tomorrow I am leaving OK and heading to St. Louis, MO! Woohooooo!!! I am very excited about that...

P.S. I wanted to state my case here about sunsets/sunrises.  I stayed in the freezing cold for 2 sunsets at the Grand Canyon, and woke up at an ungodly hour in the ungodly cold to see the sunrise, and, although pretty, was not even comparable to some sunrises/sunsets I have seen in my day.  I hate to sound snooty about it, but I have seen some breathtaking sunsets on Long Island, and sunrises, too.  I have 4 really beautiful sunsets so far on this trip.
# 4 was the other day, driving east through New Mexico,
# 3 was the flatlands of Texas...there is nothing like having wide open fields in every direction to see a full sunset.  I have never seen while the sun is setting behind me, that in front of me the sky turns into a horizontal rainbow, and the blue of the sky is at the bottom, making it look like the sun is going to come out again.
 2 and 1 are so close, but I had to pick, so
#2 is Colorado, bc when the sun is setting behind the Rockies, it casts such a hue that goes on forever in every direction...the whole sky looks like it's finger painted with pink, which I, of course, love...
 But, so far, none has compared to
#1 Wyoming....every sunset there is beautiful, but when I was driving there, another open field, it was orange/pink/red fire just setting....Tommie's friend stated it perfect, he said "seeing the sunsets makes you understand  Native American art so much better, because all the colors they use can be seen in the sky when the sun is setting"

But, no night sky in my life has ever compared with the stars in the New Mexico sky...I could not believe how many stars were visible, pretty much the whole milky way!! I had to stick my head out the window to verify it's not all the grossness on my windows, but really stars...absolutely breathtaking, I mean, really, if the only reason to go to New Mexico, I suggest that to be something everyone should see at least once in their life.  I hear it's like that at the Grand Canyon, but this chick was not hanging out in the 15 degree weather to see if it's true...I'll wait for the warm weather, thank you.

Also, I have not seen nearly half as many animals as would be expected.  The majority of the wildlife I 've encountered is the constant splattering of them against my windshield.  Gives the true meaning to "flies in my grill".  It's gotten a little better, but for a while I had to SCRUB-not just clean, but scrub my windshield every time I stopped for gas, just to get the dead bugs off.  And always, as soon as I would leave the gas station one would splat right in the middle of my view.  I went all through Wyoming without seeing Buffalo, Moose, Elk...I think I saw a deer...when I was at the Grand Canyon I saw one Buck, and then a family of Elk, which was cute.  I tried to get a picture but some jerk sped around me and all I got was his tail lights in my pic (insert pissy smile here) ...my favorite though, was just before I entered the Grand Canyon, there was a pack of wild horses...I couldn't believe my eyes, it was so unexpected, I caught glimpse of them through the trees, and, oh my, they were so beautiful...so that was really cool. 
Well, I have gone on and on long enough, I will spare you all having to be subject to my rambling any longer tonight,
hope all is well,
miss n love u
E xoxo