Day ? Ho

Oklahoma has definitely been a breath of fresh air.  Probably because it's a state we've never been to before, unlike New Mexico and Texas which we covered on our last trip.  There was a definitive landscape change, now much greener despite it having apparently been very dry for a long time.  And there's been lots of real-life cowboys around over the last couple of days.  Although the cowboys nowadays seem to ride tractors rather than horses.  Generalising based on the small sample we've viewed, it seems like you're either a cool dude rugged cowboy or a slightly large and slobbish.  Dad and I decided we'd both have been cool dude cowboys if we'd happened to have grown up here.  Of course there's one cowboy they revere above all others here.  The great man Will Rogers.  Yep, we hadn't heard of him either.  But there's mentions of him everywhere, and we felt we had to visit his memorial in Claremore (well, it happened to be near a pie-shop that was recommended - which was closed, annoyingly).  It's quite the most impressive tribute to one man, who appears to have been set on the road of stardom through his cowboy roping skills, and ended up being a kind of jack of all trades - writer, comedian, film star, and all round good guy.  He seems to have been a national treasure in the Stephen Fry vein, though the monument was more something you'd expect for Princess Di.  Anyway, think that's enough about Will Rogers.

that's will, on my left

We stopped at a number of Route 66 stops through the day, and started seeing more evidence of route 66 tourists, which I'd just been saying had been suprisingly scarce since California.  Couple of Brits doing the trip on Triumph bikes and a convoy 18-20 cars of Aussie's all at the Rock cafe in the morning. 

Also had a delicious bbq brisket bun as a mid-morning snack.  In my top 3 meals, and we got to leave our mark. 

Also came with QFF, which we questioned and discovered stood for curly french fries.  I decided not to correct them on their spelling given the clock debacle at the state park.  We ended up at one of the oldest route 66 cafe's in Vinita - Clantons.  Been in the Clanton family since it opened in 1926. 

This was disgustingly unhealthy food.  Everything deep fried and smothered in stuff.  Only the second confirmed sighting of Dad refusing a bread product.  We had our ups and downs with the waitress too.  At one point she had to ask me if she could take Dad's plate as she was no longer talking to him, but cheered up enough to randomly launch into the details of some family member's visit for the prom on Saturday and the party they were having on Friday night.  We feared we were being invited.  However, she did close out by suggesting we go to Downstream Hotel and Casino.  So we did.  Dad definitely doesn't gamble, so he definitely didn't spend the evening at the blackjack table and definitely didn't end up $10 up.  I had a bit of a pop though and ended up a nice $30 up.  Spent a bit of time at the end watching a guy playing 2 hands at a table by himself (though lots of hangers on).  $5G each hand.  Old guy with a combover, and when he won one hand, he leant over to this hottie half his age and gave her a peck on the cheek.  Dad suggested it was his daughter, which I thought was sweet.