Saturday July 18th 2020

There was more wind today. It kept the heat and humidity under control a little better than Friday. If you weren’t in the direct sunlight today’s upper nineties temperature was tolerable. On the flip side, driving in the wind was more difficult.

I took my time finishing breakfast this morning. Most of my overnight neighbors were long gone by the time I set out on my tour of the Oklahoma City Area. I had no specific places that I wanted to see. Many of the bigger attractions in the area are closed or have significantly reduced access. My tour turned into a lot of driving primarily on the interstate highways. Overall it wasn’t a leisurely tour or very informative.

As you approach the OKC area from the west the land starts to flatten out. The idea of major tornadoes devastating the area became more real. I even started to see big warning sirens about the same time I was thinking about tornadoes. The rolling hills I am in here at the campground and the gradually flattening land near the city are getting used for ranching and farming. I dsaw both cattle ranches and horse ranches. Here at the campground there are even a couple of buffalo (American Bison) in a heavily fenced enclosure.

When I think of Oklahoma I also think of the oil industry. On today’s tour I saw a refinery and a distribution yard with a lot of oil field equipment including a drilling rig. I didn’t see any working wells, but I have a lot of state to drive through tomorrow.

On the way back to my RV home I stopped at a Walmart for a few things. The wearing of masks is not as popular here. I would estimate less than half the customers were wearing masks. Walmart nation wide will require masks starting Monday and the OKC council voted last night to require masks in the city. Other cities in the state have already passed a similar ordinance.

I am moving on the eastern part of Oklahoma tomorrow. I plan to stay there for four nights before moving into Arkansas. I have a little over two hundred miles to travel. It should take about four hours. I planned the Sunday travel day to cross through the congested OKC area at a slow time.