Day Two - 288 miles

Day Two - 288 miles

I realized that I ended up averaging 48.5 miles to the gallon on day 1! Not bad! The Harley has been doing great so far, it's been a joy to ride.

Today we started in Springfield, Missouri at the hotel with a shower and a breakfast. We got on the road and soon we came across Joplin, Missouri. Some of you may remember that Joplin recently dealt with a horrible tornado and lost many lives. We didn't realize how large Joplin was until we saw that it had 5 exits on the highway we were traveling on. At one point while we were driving I looked to the right side of the road and saw several highway signs that had been mangled and destroyed in the tornado. As soon as I saw that I immediately looked to the left side of the road and there was a neighborhood that had just been drilled by the tornado. There were houses that were missing roofs, siding was ripped off of houses, backyards just in shambles. It was awful.

It wasn't long after that where we left Missouri behind and headed into Oklahoma. We stopped at a visitor's center and it was then that I realized how deeply the history of Oklahoma is intertwined with the Indian culture. It was interesting to learn that different parts of the southern states are marked as areas for different tribes. I would be driving along and would see a sign that would say, "Entering Kickapoo Tribe Territory" or something like that. There were also many casinos along the way, many ran by the different tribes that were connected to that particular area.

Missouri has a helmet law, meaning that all motorcyclists must wear helmets. Once we got into Oklahoma we took off the helmets just for a rest, I can tell you that my neck was sore for having driven so long for the two days. It was nice to feel out in the wind a little more, but later on in the day I put my helmet back on to get out of the wind for a bit. :)

If Missouri was hilly, Oklahoma started off very flat before transitioning back into a rolling hills environment. Oklahoma transitioned back and forth between hilly and flat plains that were used for cattle and crops. There was a ton of traffic between Miami and Tulsa, it was tough to drive in one lane traffic over a long distance. It wasn't much fun, and as the temperature rose it was getting worse fast! As we headed into Tulsa we got lunch and went to the Route 66 Harley Davidson dealership. Man, they have some great deals! Their prices were $2,000 - $2,500 cheaper than I'm used to seeing in Porter County! I may be flying out to Tulsa when it's time to get a new bike!

Finally we headed out of Tulsa, but the temperature had rose to over 104 degrees. Driving on the asphalt was awful, it was like you were getting hit twice, once from the sun and then again from the asphalt! We were dealing with overheating bikes and bodies, so once we got into Oklahoma City we decided it was enough for the day. We finished up with dinner and decided to call it a day. The plan is to get moving earlier tomorrow to try and drive in cooler temperatures!

Most of our miles today came along the historic Route 66 highway! It was neat to see the small towns along the way, they try to use the history of Route 66 to boost the economy along the highway.

Today I saw my first armadillo in nature! It was dead on the side of the road, but Doug pointed it out to me and it was pretty cool to see one in the real world!

Lastly, I noticed how beautiful the red clay is at construction sites in this area. I know baseball coaches kind of like that red clay on baseball fields, and here it is right next to our hotel in piles! I'll try to upload a few pictures today.

Updated Pictures