TX, OK – May 2022

May 9th, 2022, marked my four year anniversary as a full-time travel and residing RVer.  To say the time has passed quickly would be an understatement.  The Covid pandemic has certainly put me behind my original travel schedule overall, and also accelerated my purchasing a Florida-based RV lot as a home base.  Despite it all, I’m extremely pleased in what I’ve accomplished in these first four years of nomadic lifestyle, where I’ve been, the wondrous things I’ve seen, the friends and family I’ve connected with, and the overall joy this roaming life has afforded me.  I can’t imagine being retired any other way.  This has truly been a blessing, and I’m forever hopeful for many, many more years to come.  There’s still lots of places I’ve yet to visit.

Not All Rainbows & Unicorns

Despite my best efforts to keep up with regular maintenance, things will occasionally just break or simply go wrong.  That was certainly the case while I was in Wichita Falls, TX.  It started when I arrived there and was setting up when I noticed both a strange noise, and significant strain with one of the front landing gear.  To be honest, that one has given me some issues in the past, but it always seemed minor and it recovered quickly.  This time however, I was not so lucky.  I was able to get the RV off the truck, but feared not getting it back on when it was time to leave.  Since this stop had me here for a full week, I figured it was time to deal with this issue.  I immediately went online to Amazon, ordered the $450 replacement part, and had it delivered directly to the campground in 2 days.  A couple of hours of labor and a few more $s investment in a pair of jack stands was all it took for the replacement.  Then, on the day of departure, I noticed one of my rear dualy tires was low on air.  I topped it off, and proceeded to connect the RV for departure.  I left the campground, but only got less than a mile before that same tire had flattened again.  Damn!  Back to the campground I go, and book one additional day there so that I can get this tire fixed.  A trip to a nearby Goodyear truck center and it wasn’t long before they showed me the problem.  My rim had a small dent which caused the tire to separate from it, and hence the leak.  Likely caused by hitting a pothole on I-20 while towing.  They removed the tire to keep it from getting damaged, then reinstalled the empty wheel to the truck to maintain some semblance of balance.  A five hour drive round trip to Houston, and $1,000 later, I had myself a new rim.  I didn’t get back to Goodyear in time before they closed, so I had to have the swap done early the next morning.  That went well, and I was back hooked up to the RV and on the road by 10am.  Note to self: This is the second $1k rim I’ve purchased in the last year.  When I get back to FL in the fall, I’m getting rid of these F’ing aluminum rims and replacing them with steel.  Aluminum may look good on a fancy truck, but they are worthless for full-time RVing.

Roadside America

Though I’ve only made two stops since my last blog edition, there were lots of things to see at those two places, and I didn’t want to get too far behind on my reporting again.  First up was Wichita Falls, TX.  Its namesake falls was located in Lucy Park, accessible from a hiking/biking trail.  So, I drove to the park, hopped on the bike, and made a visit.  A beautiful falls indeed.  Downtown Wichita Falls was not bad, perhaps a bit still in recovery mode, but nice none the less.  Sheppard Air Force Base is located here, and home to the largest training wing and NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program.  It was nice being around an AFB once again, and I enjoyed the ever present T-38s flying all around.

There were a few things to see in the area, but sadly one of them, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame was temporarily closed.  So I had to make do with the other two.  First up was a visit to the largest shovel in TX.  I know, just something that you’ve got to see!  It was definitely big, and kinda cool.  The other attraction had a much better story.  It is billed as the world shortest skyscraper.  It’s dimensions are 480 inches tall, 120 inches wide, and 216 inches deep.  The story goes that back in 1912, a nearby town struck oil and it and the surrounding areas all became boomtowns.  The rapid growth of Wichita Falls was strained by the lack of infrastructure.  A developer proposed a high rise building in 1919, and with complete architecture drawings in hand, managed to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars (several millions in todays dollars) in investments from local rich oil tycoons in order to build it.  The key to the swindle and his successful defense in the subsequent lawsuit was that all the legal documents listed the measurements in inches as apposed to feet, as was believed by the investors.  The developer never verbally stated the building would be 480 feet.  The blueprints clearly labeled it as a 4.0 (note the decimal point between the 4 and 0) story building at 480”.  So instead of a 480 foot 40 story building, they got a 480 inch 4 story building, totally built to specs.  Wow – I bet those investors felt scammed!

Next was my visit to Oklahoma City, OK.  Like Wichita Falls, I’ve never been to this area before.  So, lots of touring was in order.  First up was a visit to a couple of statues in the nearby town of Edmond.  There I would find an 18 foot, 10 ton statue of Chief Touch the Clouds.  He lived from 1838 to 1905 and was known for his bravery and skill in battle, his physical strength, and his diplomacy in counsel.  He was a Lakota Sioux warrior, was a delegate to Washington DC, and was a cousin of Crazy Horse.  This statue once adorned the Houston Astrodome, but was moved here to the campus of  the University of Central Oklahoma in 2015.  Also in Edmond is a statue of a man and woman holding a yellow ribbon.  This statue marks the spot where a horrible massacre and the creation of the term “going postal” took place.  It was 1986 when Patrick Sherrill, a fill-in mail carrier, shot his supervisor then calmly walked through the post office gunning down his coworkers.  In all 20 were shot, and 14 were killed.  He then turned the gun on himself and shot himself in the head.  This statue sits in a fountain with 14 jets of water – one for each of those killed in this tragic event.

Next, I was chasing a line of Roadside America items on a single road.  It wasn’t long before I realized that I was actually on a stretch of Historic Rt 66.  This was my first time on this road, and I was delightfully surprised that I was so close to it here in OK.  What luck!  My first stop was to the Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum.  This restored 1924 gas station now houses the private motorcycle collection of the station’s owner.  And what a collection he has!  Bikes from every conceivable manufacturer dating back to the early 1900’s.  Ones that I found particularly interesting were the Hydra Bike – built for and ridden in the movie Captain America (at left, top), and a brand new, untouched 1979 Triumph Bonneville 750, sitting dusty in its original shipping crate, having never been removed.  How cool is that!  Another interesting item at this museum was actually outside behind the main building.  It was an original outhouse – but unique in that it featured rare actual plumbing.  Too funny!

Also on my little Rt 66 journey were a few other attractions.  First up was a round barn.  I guess I never really thought about it, but when you think of a barn, you do tend to think of something rectangular.  So, a round barn is definitely unique and sort of on the rare side of things. Built in 1898, the Arcadia Round Barn has two stories, a large gathering or dance hall type space with a spectacular domed roof in the upper area, and sort of museum and gift shop in the lower.  I asked why round, and was told it lends itself to storing more farm materials, and it was believed the roundness would better survive the many tornados in the area.  Makes sense to me!  I also visited this 66 foot tall soda bottle sculpture named “Bubbles” – built in 2007 and accompanied by its soda-centered roadhouse restaurant named Pops.  I had lunch there, and marveled at the hundreds, if not thousands, of different types and brands of soda offered here.  A must stop for any soda fan!

Just down the road from my OKC campground was the American Pigeon Museum.  Who knew there was such a thing!  Turns out to have been a very interesting museum.  Originally formed in 1973, the museum is now housed in a beautiful and modern facility that opened in January 2014.  The museum features three main exhibits: a section dedicated to the various breeds and types of pigeons; an area that focuses on the many contributions pigeons made as messengers in wartime (notably World War I and II); and a section devoted to the sport of pigeon racing.  They even have a small collection of live birds in the back to check out.  So, I got my fill of pigeon lessons while visiting this quaint place.

Next was a visit to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (formally the Cowboy Hall of Fame). This expansive museum features art and artifacts from everything western or Native American related.  Areas dedicated to rodeos, western TV and movies, even a complete western town to walk through were all part of this museum.  Outside featured a depiction of various types of housing used throughout the early time by the natives.  Truly amazing collection of everything from that era.

Another museum I visited was the Oklahoma City Fire Museum.  A really nice collection of vintage fire trucks and apparatus was nicely displayed in this museum.  What I found most interesting though was the vast collection of fire house patches.  I asked about them, and turns out they have over 7,000 in their collection, and is reportable about 1,000 short of being the largest collection in the country.  So, they’ve settled for being the 2nd largest collection, but strive to collect more to someday gain that number one spot.  I checked to see if they had one from Nashua NH – my hometown, but alas they did not.  But they did have 20 or 30 from various other towns in NH.  Perhaps one of my friends or family in Nashua can make arrangements to have one sent to them.

There were a number of Roadside sites to visit in downtown OKC.  So, I parked somewhere central to them all, and spent an afternoon walking around town paying them a visit.  A few things I noticed about downtown OKC – one it was very clean and well kept, I did not see a lot of vacant shops or buildings, and despite it being a somewhat large city, there was very little traffic to have to deal with.  Overall, I was very impressed with the town.  Tornados not withstanding, I can certainly see why lots of folks make this their home.  Anyway, one of the sites was a visit to the anchor from the U.S.S. Oklahoma.  On Dec 7, 1941, the USS Oklahoma was attached at Pearl Harbor.  It took only 11 minutes before it rolled over, trapping many people inside before it sank.  In all, 429 sailors and marines were killed.  The ship was refloated in 1943, but sank again in the Pacific while it was being towed.  The 10-ton anchor was recovered and remains the only surviving piece of the Oklahoma.  Next up was a piece known as “Architectural DNA”.  Some call it DNA, others call it a salvaged spiral staircase.  This staircase was salvaged from the nearby Marion Hotel, and sent aloft in this ally as an art piece.  Definitely cool looking.

No visit to OKC would be complete without a visit to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.  On Apr 19, 1995, whack-job Timothy McVeigh blew up a powerful homemade truck bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah federal office building in downtown OKC, bringing down a huge portion of the structure and killing 168 people.  Five years after to the day, the memorial was dedicated.  A pair of black stone “gates of time” mark the ends of a reflecting pool where the truck bomb was parked.  The field of empty chairs marks the footprint of the building itself, with each empty chair representing one of the souls lost.  A portion of fence was left up to serve as a collection point of impromptu mementos left in memory by their loved ones.  Across the street, a Methodist church erected a statue of a weeping Jesus.  This was a very peaceful and solemn place, and the memorial was so tastefully done.

Final Thoughts

Well, as you can see, I continue to cover lots of ground in a short period of time.  It’s only been 11 days since my last Blog post, and to see what all I’ve seen in that time is mind blowing.  I’ll spend the next two weeks visiting with former coworkers and touring around the sites in Kansas.  Then off to Nebraska and the Dakota’s for more fun and frolic.  I’ve also updated my “Travel Route” video brining it up to current.  It can be found on the “Fun Facts” page from the menu above, or you can simply click HERE to check it out.  I’m also working on updating all the other Fun Facts slides, and should have that complete by the next blog edition. Till then, safe travels!

I only show a sampling of my adventure pictures here in the blog, and do so mostly in collage format for brevity and ease of reading. If you want to view an album containing individual full fidelity and hi-res images of all my travel pictures related to this specific blog, click the image below. Enjoy!