Banking is Happy and Goodwell is, Well, Not as Good

The Oklahoma panhandle is only 34 miles from north to south, and yet it's the most expensive state I've visited.

You undoubtedly see where this is going.  Let me give you another hint:  I have made a new friend on the trip, an Officer Ramirez who has a car with a lot of lights on the top.

But first, north Texas.

Did you know that there is a bank in Amarillo called the Happy State Bank? (If the name wasn't homey enough, their website features a Recipe of the Month.  January's is Sweet Potato Casserole which looks delicious.  Check it out today before they change to February's.  I may e-mail PNC and suggest that they start such a feature.)

And did you know that the largest known gas field in the world is one mile east of Highway 87 north of Amarillo?  It transmits gas to Denver and Chicago and all sorts of places in between.  That's enough to make a person happy, isn't it?

We saw a cowboy riding along north of Amarillo, too - he had chaps and everything, riding his horse through a field.  I couldn't tell whether he was happy.

One thing that wouldn't make a person happy is the desert sandstorm which we drove through for about eight miles.  But it wasn't too bad for us:  it's like driving through fog, and we were in a car with the windows rolled up.  Probably didn't make my cowboy friend very happy, although I guess cowboys would just view such things stoically.  At least, that's how they view them in the movies.

You drive through several little towns on the road from Amarillo to Liberal, Kansas, which is Highway 54 in Oklahoma.  One of them is Guymon, home of Marla's restaurant where the advertised special is Green Chili Chicken Fried Steak.  Perhaps Marla is from Hatch.  We didn't stop.

Just north of Guymon there's a wide spot in the road that consists of a convenience store and only one other thing.  Unfortunately for me, that thing is a police car equipped with radar and occupied by one Officer Ramirez.

The speeding ticket would have been less frustrating if I hadn't spent the last two months truly being conscious of my speed and either following the speed limit or only exceeding it slightly.  Unfortunately, Aunt Susie and I were chatting and listening to various news programs on satellite radio (topic of the day:  immigration reform) and I just stopped paying attention for a few minutes.  The convenience store apparently constitutes a town with a speed limit of 40 m.p.h.  I was going, um, somewhat north of that.  Officer Ramirez was very polite and kindly wrote it for a number in between 40 and what might have been my actual speed which meant my debt to the Great State of Oklahoma, Town of Goodwell, is only $144.  (I was going to pay it online this morning but there's no way I'm paying a "convenience fee" of $9.95.  They can wait on my finding a stamp.)

Lesson learned, and the rest of the day I used my cruise control a lot more.

When the day began, I had thought that the highlight of the day would be Dorothy's House and the Land of Oz in Liberal, Kansas.  It wasn't.

 

That's it, and I don't think that I need to go into great detail why I was slightly disappointed.

In fact, the Sinclair station a couple of blocks away was more interesting, featuring as it did a Work of Art.

(I am mostly including that picture for my friend Ken who was fascinated to learn that Sinclair stations still exist.  And Ken, somehow it may seem appropriate to you that this dinosaur is located in a town called Liberal.)

We had originally planned to stop in Wichita Tuesday night but called an audible and decided to have dinner with Aunt Carlene who lives south of Topeka in a little town called Overbrook.  That meant that we had a full day of driving so we didn't stop in Meade, Kansas, home of the Dalton Gang Hideout, a fairly large local history museum, and a gun shop.  Looking at the website post-facto, there is apparently a long tunnel which would have been cool to see.  Perhaps I'll go back for Dalton Days sometime.

Although it was disappointing to miss the Dalton Hideout, I'm glad we made the choice we did and saw Aunt Carlene.  She is my grandmother's sister, the lone survivor of that generation of Swartzes (my mom's mom's side of the family), and is an incredibly spry 92.  Really sharp and nice lady, and makes the best brownies I've ever had.  Her daughter, Eualee, joined us for dinner at a bar which is the only eating establishment in Overbrook, but that serves really good food (isn't that often the case?).  Eualee and Aunt Susie are first cousins and we got to hear some funny stories about them as girls.  Discretion prevents me from sharing them here.

Although Overbrook is only about 20 minutes from Topeka, and Topeka only three hours from Omaha, we decided to stay in Topeka Tuesday night because it was drizzling - with the likelihood of freezing, and we were in no great rush.

And yes, it froze.

Wednesday we drove the only unpleasant leg of the trip, through snow and ice-covered roads, along with some rude and reckless drivers (most of whom were in semi's), but we made it safe and sound to Omaha.  My brother's basement was waiting for me, and it felt like home.

NOTE TO MY BROTHER AND HIS WIFE:  I know it's YOUR home, not mine.  Your hospitality has been gracious and overwhelming but don't worry.  I'll be leaving Monday!