Finally to Oklahoma

July 24, 2013

Joplin, MO to Vinita, OK

This morning we had our first police escort! It was super cool to have a police car ride along with us, blocking traffic at lights and stop signs. It made the first 5 miles go by so much faster. 

Not long after the police car left us, WE BIKED INTO KANSAS! The sign was small and included the line "NO THRU TRUCKS". I missed it because it was on a downhill in some trees, so I didn't realize I was on Kansas until I was almost through it! Luckily the entering Oklahoma sign was much better and we got some real state line pictures. 

For much of the rest of the trip, we'll be on or following Route 66, a historic road that goes from Chicago to LA. After lunch, the group I was with stopped at the only remaining 9' section of the original Route 66. It was really cool to ride on for a tiny bit. 

Since we knew the day wasn't that long, we stopped a bunch of times. Our next stop was at the Buffalo Ranch where we saw real live buffalo! It was pretty cool.

The rest of the trip was pretty barren since there weren't any real towns between the ranch and Vinita. When we got there, we got stuck at a train crossing for almost 5 minutes! Turns out a lot of trains go through Vinita because we heard them all night too. 

When we got to the church the van hasn't arrived yet so we went back out on our bikes and got free Sonic! It was my first time at a Sonic and their milkshakes were amazing. Afterwards when the trailer had arrived with our bags, we all headed to a community pool where we were going to shower. We spent some awesome time at the pool relaxing and tanning parts of our body that have rarely seen the sun this summer. 

So far I have loved Oklahoma. Everyone at the church is so welcoming and friendly. We watched a movie tonight about a cyclist in Bloomington, IN, a town we biked through a few weeks ago. It was a fictional movie and made in the late 70s that was actually pretty good if not a little strange.