Please say HELLO to Leslie.
Yesterday morning, Leslie served me breakfast in a small cafe in the town of SEILING, OKLAHOMA. The following photographs are taken from hanging pictures in Leslie's restaurant...pictures many of us have never seen - I have not - . I look to Leslie as the modern lady of a SEILING steeped in history of famous persons of nearly two centuries ago.
My walk took me to many of the hallowed towns of the Old West.
Main street of SEILING, OKLAHOMA. The restaurant is at the far end of street on the left.
SPIA spent the night and a good part of the day across the street - US 270.
The Native Americans - Indians - called this beast the IRON HORSE.
It is, of course, a wood burning steam locomotive of the early 1800s
These are framed photographs - I photographed them hanging in Leslie's restaurant.
Judge ROY L. BEAN...the law West of the Pecos.
WILD BILL HICKOK.
LT. COLONEL CUSTER, and GERONIMO
INDIAN WAR CHIEF, GERONIMO.
LILLY LANGTREE...a world famous actress and hostess of the same era.
In the past 30 years, I have had some affiliation with modern-day activities handed down from Lilly Langtree.
CALAMITY JANE.
LITTLE ANNIE OAKLEY.
No truer words were ever spoken.
A painting which says so very much. Little America about 100 miles East of Salt Lake City on I-80 (which I have walked and many times driven to) must have looked something like this.
This building WAS a Motel.
It has been refurbished into storage units in the town of SEILING, OKLAHOMA.
A home in SEILING, OKLAHOMA.
and, another.
US 270 venturing West through endless Prairie of Oklahoma.
The hay trucks are rolling around the clock.
Somebody's Dream.
Vastness of the Great Plains is awesome to behold...to walk across it is not to be believed.
In every direction, the Great Plains of Oklahoma / Colorado (not to forget Texas) the horizon never gets any closer.
This depression in the land is often called a "Wash". In the bottom of this Wash is the following small stream...the stream actually created the Wash.
The Stream...today, just a standing puddle...but when it rains, it becomes a raging torrent.
This is one of the 70 foot long Wind Propellers headed for a tower nearby.
Each Wind Tower has three such propellers turning a generator atop the tower. The Generator Room is large enough for many men to stand up and work in.
A recently harvested wheat field.
and, another.
This is the VERY tiny village of FORT SUPPLY, OKLAHOMA.
In this Blog, I have always referred to WOODWARD, OKLAHOMA as my "final" destination. As I got closer, it dawned on me - old age setting in - that Jody and I last Summer turned around at the village of FORT SUPPLY, about 10 miles short of WOODWARD.
So, yesterday, I walked on to FORT SUPPLY, closing the Diagonal Crossing of America from the Canadian/US Border at the Peace Arch to Florida, a distance of some 4,000 miles.
FORT SUPPLY tribute to her Military Members.
and, a second memorial...
Two vintage businesses in old FORT SUPPLY...the Bank and the Drugs (Drug Store).
Across the street is this partially preserved Church.
Two miles down US 270 lies this Oklahoma State Prison.
Twice I walked slowly past this Prison. The second time by, the Prison sent out an official demanding to know why I was strolling up and down outside their Prison.
We chatted...the conversation turning away from me and to the 6 years that the Guard had lived in FORT SUPPLY...about his wife and three children...when a radio call summoned him back to the Prison...
They probably tracked my history down from the confrontation I had last Summer in Colorado with no less than eight (8) guards / police, all pointing guns at me...but that was another story to be found in an earlier Blog.
A memorial dedicated to Indian Hunters of Buffalo...please click click...it is interesting.
Wolf Creek...where the last Battle between the White Man and Indians occurred in Oklahoma Territoy.
About Wolf Creek Battle...
Local scenery along US 270 between WOODWARD and FORT SUPPLY, OKLAHOMA.
And, so concludes my planned walk around America. I have completed something in excess of 10,000 miles in 12-1/2 months...the route:
Peace Arch, Canada/USA Border Blaine, Washington to Key West Florida via:
1. Oklahoma City
2. Bakersfield, California, El Paso, New Orleans, Cape Canaveral.
...a large Triangle: Peach Arch - Bakersfield - Key West - Peach Arch.
I will now take a 90-day break in STARKE, FLORIDA. SPIA needs some modifications and repairs. On or about January 01, 2012, I intend to walk North along the East Coast Seaboard, up the ERIE CANAL to ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA...then West around the Five Great Lakes, across the top of America - N. Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington...back to the Peace Arch.
When I complete that planned walk, I will have walked the circumference of the entire USA plus a diagonal between the two most distant points...
A total of something on the order of 16,000 miles.
My appointed return to the Peace Arch is August 15, 2012.
You are invited to join me as I intend to blog all the way.
It is now 8:15 pm, September 23, 2011. I am overnighting at a Rest Stop on I-35 on the Northern outskirts of GAINSVILLE, TEXAS. In the morning, I will drive SPIA to the small town of SOSO, MISSISSIPPI, where I am invited to spend some time with my new friend, Julius...Julius furnished me a bottle of his home-made MUSCADINE wine, which I just happen to be enjoying at this very moment.
nite nite.
Just amazing, Bruce. Posts like these are incredible! So much history. Thank you for taking us all with you.
ReplyDeleteI see I have some reading to catch up on while you rest up and enjoy a few non-walking (or not as much walking days in the sun! :-)