April 4-10th Getting to Oklahoma City,OK

Catching up. April 4-10 Corsicana TX to Oklahoma City, OK

Wow! I really must have been asleep not posting for almost a week. But here is an update and some adventures that happened along the way in sequential order.

Wed. April 4:  There was a heavy rain for about an hour before we loaded up and moved on the road toward the mid-Texas area. This route took us through the sloughs and bayous of south Texas . The towns of Humble and Dayton were filled with traffic lights so maybe it was a lot longer than we anticipated. Humble Oil company is the identification  of that town, and Humble later merged with Exxon.  We proceeded north on I-35 (all the way to Oklahoma City later) . Had a rare stop for lunch at a “Cracker Barrel” and made it to Corsicana, OK, by 4;00 PM.  Ruth claimed at supper she was “too full to eat” so we opted for popcorn and tidbits. Campground on the edge of town so  it was quite quiet (We like that!)

Thursday April 5: Two National Wildlife Areas south of town we scouted out, but were very disappointed (maybe we are spoiled with the shorebirds of the Gulf that we saw?) as we did not see many birds, actually, very few. After eating our lunch in the parking lot of a DQ (no birds this time) we took a road that parallels the Freeway back to the trailer. This road did have water in it so we backtracked a bit to get on course again. Back at the trailer I was able to catch the end of the Detroit Tigers opening day win when Justin Verlander pitched a 2 hit game but didn’t get the win. (Valverde did get the win, as he gave up two runs in the ninth). After the poor birding we decided to skip the Sanger area (proposed stop) and head right to Oklahoma City on Saturday.

"Pops" world's largest Pop bottle (Arcadia OK)
It's also a full service restaurant.

Coming into Dallas at 55mph.

Grid lock for construction (1 1/4 hour to go 1/4 mile)
Finally made the first exit and then got lost!
The highway had six lanes merging into one!

Longhorn Steers near Corsicana TX

JIm's niece's back yard with pool and fountain
The pool is therapeutic for a son who needs regular therapy.

Friday  April 6 : The weather is holding up very good, Sunny and 70 F . We did a short run for birds in the morning to Chambers Lake by the back roads and found some birds which helped sooth our appetites for birds. There are lots of “Texas Bluebonnets” in this area.  Then we decided to do some “local” tourist’s stops, as long as we were here. This is the home factory of STOVER’S CANDIES, so we visited their shop to look over what they had and bought a few Easter things.  North of there about a mile is  the PECAN CO. ,one of the larger pecan suppliers in Texas  so that was the second visit and we actually bought one  “Pecan Pie in a Jar” (All ready to put in a pie shell.). Phyllis made us feel right at home “y’all”. The last venue was the well known COLLINS BAKERY AND DELI that is famous for their FRUITCAKE that they make .  ( I am going to have one  mailed at Christmas.) We had lunch there, and  bought two loaves of cinnamon bread and left satisfied! The afternoon was “resting” time, computer, ballgames, etc. (We have no TV (that works) so that saves time for sure!) This was the evening to eat at the SIRLOIN STOCKADE  a “brother restaurant” to MONTANA MIKE’S in Emporia KS where we had eaten before. The meal includes 4 buffets (salad, fish, veggies and desserts)  as well as your choice of sirloin cooked individually the way you like it. A sumptuous meal to be sure. (No peanuts on the floor here!) Back at the trailer we took down the awnings in preparation for an early leave tomorrow heading to Oklahoma.

Saturday April 7:  This was a long frustrating day all the way up Interstate 35  with a choice to “go around Dallas” (much longer)  or  stay on I-35 and go right through the city  at Saturday noon. We took the latter choice and wished we had not. Unknown to us there was a 9 mile rod construction on the main highway (I-835) and when I got on the ramp to access it ...we were TRAPPED in a 5 miles long back up tat seemed endless. I was able to take some pictures, however, while paused in that gridlock. We were on the third tier of ramps (up in the air) for one hour and a quarter and moved about 1/4 mile.  (See pictures) Finally, where six lanes merged into two and then one, we were able to get off on a ramp and head north and around the tie up. BUT, we then needed to find a way to get around and back to the Freeway going north once again..

 Getting through Dallas when you are familiar with it, is a problem we have been told, as many of the streets do not go “through”. After asking directions Jim , (the male in the team,)  found a road that took us directly to the Freeway again and we were on our way now 2 hours behind our previous estimate  of arrival.  No fear, however, as we did make it by 5:00 PM and Chris (manager) set us up quickly. We began to unwind with tomato soup and toasted cheese sandwiches as the “comfort food”,and we began to feel better. 

Easter Sunday, April 8: We had a chance to get to a local church and my niece Bernadette recommended St. Luke’s UMC near downtown. It was a good suggestion  as it had a traditional service much like we have at our First UMC in Grand Rapids, MI. It had a large 50 voice choir, grand organ music of Vierne and Vidor (Toccata) on the Aolian/ Skinner organ, and a wonderful sermon on “Death” ...yes “Death” entitled , “What do you discover when you look into the tomb”?   Service ended with the Halleluja Chorus (Handel). It was a fine way to start the Easter Sunday. We stayed ‘til the end of the Toccata at the Postlude. This church also has a separate venue for Contemporary service that followed by 15 minutes so the main sanctuary is not changed at all. There was no visual screen at all.

After the church service, we looked over the church and it’s many rooms and estimated it’s membership at more than 1,000. This led us to “kill” an hour and 1/2 before the meal at “Nonna’s” in downtown OK City. We drove the few blocks to downtown and watched the traffic and “scoped out” the buildings as on Easter Sunday much was quiet. At 11:00 we headed for the restaurant and were met by the family who proceeded to “catch up”  with each other. I was able to greet my sister (who was visiting) and Bernadette’s family. Some of these I had not seen in a few years. The meal was wonderful and presented well, so we had a leisurely time of it. Upon exiting ...(oh I did eat an egg quiche with salad that was excellent) ... we put on our comfort  clothes at the trailer and headed to the family home for an afternoon of Easter relaxation. (see yard picture)  That included watching the end of the Master’s golf, the Detroit Tiger win over Boston in 11 innings, and the start of the OK City Thunder Basketball game which one of the boys was to attend. A meal followed and it concluded a wonderful love filled Easter Sunday. (Thanks Bernadette and Gary.)

Monday April 9:  It was another day to attempt to find some birds and we headed east and north of town where there were two lakes that showed promise. This was Arcadia Lake where after much driving, pursuing, and seeking we did find a FEW species of birds we hadn’t seen especially the Yellow Rumped Warbler which is a portent of spring to be sure.  We did not, however, see may other birds around the Lake, so proceeded to a second lake where we found something we had NEVER SEEN BEFORE. That is a Lake entirely surrounded by a barbed wire fence, with the entire community gated with coded gates  so there was no admittance unless you lived there or knew the codes. We are talking about a lake which is many miles around (5-6). IT is an individually owned Improvement Company formed originally in 1943 and bought by the landowners when the Company went defunct.  Texans and Oklahomans are very much into “gated” properties especially the ranches. I don’t know the reason behind that but would be interested to find out. In the small town of Arcadia (near Hiwasee Lake) was a Round Barn (see) and the world’s largest pop bottle (see) at POP’s Gas and pop stop. He has 500 varieties of pop available  (Get your 12 back in mix or match) . Tomorrow we will include the great nephews baseball games. 

We believe these to be Purple Martins and some Red Wing Blackbirds

A round barn used at present as a gift store. (And tour!)