The Rain Went Away.! "Ms Vickey" Rides Again!

Miracle of Miracles!  The sun came out in full force after all this afternoon and we took a ride out of town...:-)

Having lived in this city for 18 years before moving to Canada, one would think that I would have noticed the "nothingness" that was here! ha......Wow....but at least it's farm land and not the surface of the moon!

I went past this building just in time to see a flock of birds scurrying out of this old abandoned building.  But they took flight to quickly for me to get a pic..

But you can look at it but so long before it gets "old"....no pun intended...haha

And there we went; off into the wild, blue yonder.......for miles........

I thought it was hilarious to see that somebody with the name "Scooter" was running for public office....hahahaha..... what a hoot!

And the road to Walters, Ok seemed to go on forever and it wasn't the most pleasant road in some places......but for the most part it was good.....:-) "Scootard" was enjoying himself too.....:-).  He had never been to Walters, Ok.  I told him there was nothing there.  Now, he believes me! haha. 





This was the most interesting thing that I saw there.  I hadn't been there in over 10 years and it seemed bigger because business and churches seemed to be missing from when I was there last.

We started to get hungry and since there was nothing in Walters to see or do we decided to head over to a friend's house and crash a birthday party and eat some good food!  These are my long time friends Eva and Betty.....:-).  Thanks for the great dinner!

It started to get dark and we live across town, so we thought we had better get going.  By the time we got back to the house, it was pitch black out.  This was only my second time riding this scooter in the dark.  I'm glad the lights are brighter than they were on my last Chinese scooter.  You can't miss me on this one!

I'm looking forward to some nice weather and more riding tomorrow!  YAY!!

Rain, Rain....go away....:-(

It is another mornng of rain and no signs of being able to ride today. I have been waiting to ride Ms Vickey since we got here to Oklahoma and have not been able to. Which makes the whole "pulling her on the trailer" thing a waste of time. I hope that the weather breaks soon so that we can at least go out for a bit.  The sky isn't as dark as it has been, but still full of water....

The trailer is covered, but has been dumped twice as it turns into a small swimming pool on the side of our house.

 I really wanted to try to repair the "sore" on Ms Vickey's front panel that she got from the tie downs that we used.  We are on the hunt for the soft touch type for the trip back.  In the mean time, I'm searching high and low for the color code for her panel.  So far I have not been successful.  I even called back to the dealer in Canada and they were not able to provide me with the color code for the grey; only the red......Looks like I might have to do a fingernail polish match!

Well, I guess for now, she'll have to sit it out........:-(.



BC Canada to Oklahoma Day 5 & 6

Morning came early in Colorado. Once again for we decided to eat at the hotel before heading to Kansas.  Chris made one of his "creations" and is quite proud of it....haha

don't ask.

I, on the other hand, had a more recognizeable breakfast.....see.  Well, I ate the bacon and eggs before I thought about a picture....:-) 

Potty break!

 ahhhhhhhh......now I can go on without "floating"!

And the next thing you know..........TADA!

I didn't notice that the state flag was flying opposite the camera lense if you know what I mean.  The lettering was backward....but I didn't want to step out into the highway to get the picture.....Seemed like a bad idea...haha.

What?!!  Not again!

So, we drove and drove and drove until we reached another gas stop and filled up again.

Since it seemed that we had not seen civilization in ages... I thought I would take a picture of this.....strange looking museum..

As we traveled through Kansas we spotted a couple of fires that were raging.  It's been very dry there and some of the people had been hoping for rain soon.



This is the first toll booth that we came to in our travels.

NOW, we'er talking! 

Hey!  TREES and WATER!!.....hahaha

and then.........this for a longggg time.  But at least it wasn't brown.....:-)

We had driven over520 miles today and wanted to grab something to eat and find a hotel.  So, we did.  and we did it so fast that we forgot to take pictures of those "slammin" ribs and baked beans we had for dinner at a place called...."Hog Wild Bar- B- Que.....Soooooo, I only caught a picture of Chris eating his desert from an icecream store across the street from the resturant.....:-)

I decided to let him take in ALL the calories on that one!  I very strategically declined to have even one bite....ha.  But I was sure enjoying the "idea" of eating one...hahah.  We found a Quality Inn around the corner and settled in the for the night.

  DAY 6

It stormed like crazy all night long.  Very severe lightening and thunder that we don't usually experience in British Columbia.  It was pouring rain when we got up and I knew that Ms Vickey was going to get a good soaking on the way down the road.

and we went out into the "night" morning.......

after a while it started to lighten up a bit, but the sky did not look promising.....

See......getting better all the time......:-) 

but the longer we went, the lighter it got and the more promising it seemed to be in regard to the weather......:-). And then before we knew it, Whoooo hooooo!

We stopped for a potty break and gas and to check on the bikes.  Ms vickey and Maj were soaked.  First time ever in that kind of rain......:-(  Poor thing.....

 But I was glad to see my state flag flying high......:-)

the rest stop was glad to see us too! haha

and some of the truckers that didn't have the extended cab thingee had to find some where to sleep off the storm.....I guess it was too cramped in his little cab.

and on the way back from the potty break, we noticed that the tail light of our trailer was falling apart!  But Christo saved the day!.....:-)

yep....shrink wrap and wire......haha.....why did we have shrink wrap in the car???  I have no idea, but it sure came in handy today!

The further we went into the state, the more of these we saw.....:-).  somebody is looking for some oil.

and you gotta love the red clay dirt....:-).  Well, unless you want to plant a garden.  then you'll need some help with the soil....ha

 
Now, is this one of the craziest names for a barbeque resturant you have ever heard? haha

Lawton is my home and I was getting excited about being there for the next two months....:-).

WHAT!?  Wow, my first toll fare with 3 axles......They just about broke the bank! ha

I was so glad when we finally pulled up to our home in Lawton.  We unloaded the bikes and put them in the drive way, pulled everything out of the car and put it in our room, and headed for a serious Chinese dinner.  After which left us sleepy and Christo chillin on the couch...haha.....see.  Those are his toes.....:-)

 I think we are going to sleep really well tonight and look for places to ride tomorrow...:-)

goodnight!

BC Canada to Oklahoma Day 3 & 4

Day 3 found us in Jerome, Idaho and ready to head toward Utah.  We were greeted with a very beautiful sunrise which seemed to follow us for a whole hour.....:-).  It was a little later than what we wanted, but we still had a great start of a another 10 hour day of driving.

Since breakfast was not really being served that early, we left the hotel a little hungry, but enjoying the beautiful morning toward something to eat soon....:-).  My camera was having a hard time focusing since the light was so low.  Using the flash only made things worse.  So, some of the pics are a little blurry....:-(.  sorry

And we drove........and we drove....through endless miles of.......NOTHING.....toward Utah.

more nothing, but getting interesting (kinda) as the shape and sizes of "nothing" was remarkable!
more "nothing"........

After looking at all of that amazing "nothingness", we had to make a potty stop....I think "Ms Vickey" was secretly getting tired too!



The air was still thick with smoke from all of the fires that had been going on.  At one point, we had all of the windows closed and the vents closed to the air system in the car and I still had to cover my nose and mouth with a sleeve from my jacket to keep from coughing.  We stopped at a rest stop and ran into some fire fighters called "Bonniville HotShots".  They looked exhausted and were sooty. None wore a smile.  I felt sad for them and decided to take a picture of the vehicle and not disturb "them".  

We carried on toward Utah and drove several miles all the while hoping that the scenary would change to something a little more interesting than the last few miles.  That interesting nothingness was starting to give me "road hypnosis".

ok!  It's gotta get better from here! So far we have come through Washington, Oregon, Idaho and now Utah!

And I could not believe how different the "nothingness" could get!  But at least there was the promise of more colors other than brown or gold....

Then we looked at the tank and thought..."hummm, there is nothing between were we are and the nothingness we are about to drive into".  Better gas up while we have a chance!

And while we are at it, better grab some "grub" too!  Ain't no food in "nothing"!

This is not as good as it looks.....:-(.  I was a bit dissappointed as I have tasted Ginger Beer before that was very spicey.  This was just the "taste" of ginger.

When I looked around, I noticed how the landscape was beginning to change a bit.... 

There was actually some color on those mountains and hills that were quite striking.....:-)

After taking or potty break and checking "Ms Vickey" and "Maj", we decided to push on and cover as much ground as possible before stopping for the night.

I strolled around the rest area while Chris checked out scoots and the tie downs... 



and then we were on our way again.......the nothingness had given way to "Majestic".....:-)



Sometimes, it felt as if we were driving through the land of giants.....:-)

I wondered what would be on the other side of those hills........

We drove and drove until we reached the next destination........

And then, we ran into some rain.....it wasn't bad though.....:-)

Every now and then, we came across things like this.....

and then we look and notice we are at the half way mark again on the gas tank.  So, we stop in Little America, Wyoming to get some Sinclair gas. 

Here is there famous mascot....haha...Might be a distant cousin to "Barney"! 

and then it was time to go after scauffing down an ice cream cone!

We crossed the Contenental Divide and I was tempted to jump out of the car and stand in the middle of the road......"sideways"! haha... But, since there was a car coming, I passed...haha

These are Antelope.  The only living creatures other than occasional cars that we saw the whole time we drove.....I had to really zoom my little camera lense to catch them... 

by now, we had done 10 hours of driving and it was time to get some dinner and call it a night.  We decided to eat at this place called the "Hoot & Howl" where we had a healthy portion of ribs and onion rings.  But we decided to switch from the Quality Inn which is one of the hotels we use to........

This hotel across the road called "1st Choice".  It shouldn't have been.  It made for a miserable night's sleep!

 DAY 4

We woke up to another beautiful sunrise and headed out early.   

It was so dark that my little camera had trouble focusing.....:-(.  Sorry that I couldn't really capture that for you..  

When the light got better, the pictures did too.....:-)

I don't know how Chris saw anything with his eyes half closed, but he did! ....:-)



a lot of the time, the landscape looked like something from another planet.  Completely uninhabited.....Which could lead to a strange "weariness".  So, we thought we better stop, take a potty break and ......say "Hi!".......haha 

And then it went to this!

to this......

and THEN, to this........uh oh.  And here we go for several hours.......minus the "green"...





We figured we better get some gas at the next gas station.......we met these guys on their way to Casper, Wyoming.....:-).  I think they were coming from Florida.

and of course since I had never met anyone who actually wore a"handlebar mustache", I just had to get a picture of it.....ha

We wished them well on their journey and told them to keep the "rubber side" down...:-)



We decided that we needed to make this day an early "quit" as we had been driving for several hours a day every day since we started the trip.  I was excited to see some "life" and color after so long a time of rock formations and mountains with no signs of life.

and within a few minutes, it went to this.........these are reported to be over 2 million years old......it was like driving through another planet in the solar system......



I mean, can you image living back then???  They were probably much taller, but have been worn down from errosion.... I couldn't decide if it looked more like giant play dough or fossilized dinosaur poo.....    ??? ha

and then it was time to get to the next destination, so we did!

It was also time to get some gas since we didn't want to have to do it in the morning.  Chris was looking tired and I was feeling tired so we made the stop.

We met these gentlemen after filling up with gas......Dale, Paul and....well, Paul! Funny enough Dale was Paul's father and Dale said that the two Pauls were brothers! ha.... I have no idea why two brothers would have the same first name, but here they are...They were fascinated with Ms Vickey and Maj, but especially our trailer.  Our trailer has wheels on its side to assist in rolling it into a garage for storage.  It can be turned on its side and rolled away.  They were on their way to do some ATVing on 1000 acres of land......:-)....wow... 

after spending so much time in the land of "giants and dinosaurs", I was ready to see some people.  Colorado was beautiful........:-) 



And to my amazement,.....houses!  with real people and a lot of them too! haha  YaY!  Not that I would meet them, but at least you knew they were there.....:-)

There were even places of worship......:-)..... 

but now, that we have reached Colorado...it was time to find the nearest WI FI signal at a Starbucks and find a hotel for the night.....

We were both very tired and happy to be packing it in early and finding a hotel quickly.....Can you see how relieved the man looks?  ha

the view from our hotel room at the Comfort Inn......