Day 10
Day 10: Baxter Springs, KS to Claremore, OK - 87 miles, 1,578 feet elevation
I’m MORE than half way done! Its been 700 miles and 3 out of 5 states. My legs definitely feel it, but I’m in Oklahoma baby!! It is gorgeous out here.
When I think of Oklahoma, I think of the Dust Bowl and billowing clouds of dust or Tulsa burning in the Tulsa Massacre (from Watchmen and obviously real life) or American Indians being murdered in desolate surroundings from Killers of the Flower Moon or Timothy McVeigh in the OK City bombing. Ignorantly, I’ve always considered it an empty, bleak, personality-less, no man’s land on the way to somewhere more interesting. I was raised in “The GREAT State of Texas.” It has Great in the name, so any of the surrounding states couldn’t possibly have anything redeeming to offer.
I jest, but it turns out, Oklahoma is unimaginably gorgeous! Is this one of those Iceland/Greenland type incidents where inhabitants made others think Oklahoma wasn’t an amazing place so outsiders would stay away? This place is full of bucolic charm. The clouds roll across an endless ethereal canvas, lighting up the sky and the earth with vivid colors. There is a kind of vintage artistry in the buildings and even the graffiti. After grinding through some of the more industrial parts of the midwest, this rural beauty is quite charming.
Also, did you know bison are huge?!
