Crossing the Country

I don't remember a time when my family wasn't packing up and leaving for a new home somewhere. As early as the age of 3, I've seen pictures of three of my sisters and I sitting on the hood of a car, ready to go. Most of the travels in my childhood were between Oklahoma and Wyoming. Now that I'm an adult my travels have been much more extensive.

I love the open road and being able to go where I want when I want. Spontaneity is the rule rather than the exception.

A favorite trip was taken about two years ago. My youngest daughter and I left Wilmington, DE for Big Pine, CA, with one stop in Rose, OK to pick up my younger son. The first part of the trip was pretty uneventful with the exception of crossing the Mississippi River at near flood stage. As far as I was concerned, the river was wide enough at normal conditions. Overflowing it's banks, even though it didn't come near the height of the bridge, was an experience for me. We hit a rain storm just as we cleared the bridge and I wondered who had decided to unend all the buckets at once. I finally gave up trying to drive through it in West Memphis and got a motel room.

The next day dawned bright and clear, and my daughter and I continued on to my dad's house in Oklahoma. After a short visit with him and my younger sister, we added my son and his suitcase to the pickup and continued on our way. We had been travel Interstate 40 for the most part, but had left it to pick up my son. Now we made our way toward Tulsa, OK and the Turner Turnpike to rejoin the Interstate for the majority of our trip.

If you've never traveled I-40 through Oklahoma, you should experience it. I'm not sure what causes it, but you get a rythmic thu-thump, thu-thump the entire way. You actually tell when you cross over into Texas or Arkansas because the tires will cease their thumping noise. If you are prone to headaches, I recommend a dose of ibuprofen before attempting the drive. The scenery for me is normally worth the drive, but this was January and the green just hadn't appeared yet.

Winter, spring, summer, or fall, there just isn't anything I can say great or interesting about the panhandle of Texas. I can say that it's not a true representation of the rest of Texas. You get to pass through Amarillo, which I seriously doubt has changed all that much from the days of the cattle drives. It's still a cowtown and it was night. Not a lot to see other than trucks and truck stops.

I think my favorite two states to drive through are New Mexico and Arizona. New Mexico has wonderful red cliffs as you enter the state which are decorated with animals and paintings. There is also multiple gift shops along the interstate where you can find authentic crafts from the locals. You may have to dig through the normal "made in China" stuff, but some great beading can be had, as well as some leather and bone work.

Arizona's gem, in my mind is the Petrified Forest. It cost us $20 to go through but was well worth it to see the enormous tree trunks. The gift shop at the south end is fun to go through even as a museum. An enormous geode with amethyst inside decorates the entryway, as well as polished pertrified wood.

It took us a couple of days from Oklahoma to reach our destination. We got to visit with my three grandchildren before having to return home again. All in all, a great trip for the gypsy that lives in my soul.