Where's Joe?
Texas,
Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri
Stage 9 of the Journey: October 3 - October 15
Texas
Oct 3
Joe crossed the border into Texas and pedaled 74 flat miles to Lamesa. What would normally be a desert produces lots of peanuts and cotton due to irrigation from an underground aquifer. The peanut harvest is in full swing and Joe says there are peanuts all over the road where they have fallen off the farm trucks. Many of the fields are white with cotton.
Cotton. Lots of cotton.
Oct 4
68 miles to Snyder with a 20 mph sidewind, which sure beats a headwind. When Joe left Phoenix, he left the tourist destinations of the West behind. This part of the country is hardworking, no-nonsense, agricultural America. The fight against the cotton boll weevil is a serious community effort. The people, Joe says, are gracious, and the motel prices are half what he has been paying.
Peanuts. Lots of peanuts.
Oct 5
Our good friends Cliff and Sherry, who, if you remember, so thoughtfully added a major romantic theme to our adventure, stopped by to see Joe on their vacation. Later in the month, they will catch up again and ride their bicycles with him for a few days. Sherry is new to cross-country bicycling but can now pedal over fifty miles a day. I hope Joe remembered to ask Cliff for another computer lesson. They are in Anson and Joe says he's out of the desert and into grass and scattered trees. It's green again. Except for the cotton, which is white.
Oct 6
After breakfast, Cliff and Sherry headed west. Joe took the day off due to strong winds and heavy rain. He spent the day reading.
Oct 7
The land was fairly flat and the temperature excellent for cross-country bicycle riding- in the 50s in the morning and 70s in the afternoon. Joe pedaled 81 miles to Seymour. He said it is "amazing what the body can do when the temperature is right."
Oklahoma
Oct 8
Well, it's Goodbye to Texas. Joe rode 92 miles and crossed the Red River into Oklahoma. The river is indeed red. Joe thought it ought to be called the Bright Red River to distinguish it from our own Kentucky Red River. Another distinction is that our Red River is a nationally designated "Wild and Scenic River" with its own National Scenic Byway.
The Bright Red River
Oct 9
Joe rode 67 miles from Waurika to Chickasha. Cattle country and lots of hay fields. Unlike the desert, here the rivers and creeks have running water. He is following the legendary Chisholm Trail where, in the 1800s, cowboys drove their herds from southern Texas northward through Oklahoma and onward to the railroad at Abilene, Kansas. He was quite impressed with the Chisholm Trail Museum in Duncan.
Oct 10
Out west, bicycles can ride on the shoulders of the Interstate Highways- except in the metropolitan areas. Since Joe could not cross the Interstate bridge into Oklahoma City he had to ride an extra 20 miles. The road on his map turned out to have two lanes, no shoulder to ride on, and lots of eighteen wheelers. The wall of wind produced by a closely passing eighteen wheeler traveling at high speed is quite dangerous to a bicyclist. Joe rode on until he found a safer road. "Flexible," he said. "On a bicycle you react to conditions around you and always choose the best, safest path. Even if it takes more effort." Joe is in Oklahoma City. He rode in the rain all morning.
Oklahoma City National Memorial
Oct 11
Joe visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The memorial honors and remembers those innocent citizens killed in the cowardly attack by an American terrorist on a United States Federal Building in 1995. Joe was very moved by his visit. Later in the day he had mechanical problems with his bicycle. A local fellow, seeing Joe's predicament, offered to drive him to a bicycle shop. He then showed Joe the local attractions and invited him home to spend the night. Isn't that great. "I was a stranger and you took me in."
Oct 12
After a heartfelt "Thank You" to his gracious hosts, Pat and Jan Dukes, Joe hit the road for perfect day of bicycle riding. Rolling countryside, friendly people and beautiful weather. Even though he is packing about 60 pounds of gear, he averaged over 15 miles per hour. He was pretty pleased with himself. (A little over the top, if you ask me. Just kidding, Joe.) He rode 70 miles to, and through, Tulsa. While in Tulsa he called an old friend, Ken Harwood, who handled the publicity for the Stiltwalk in 1980. Twenty-five years ago Ken brought Joe a plane ticket to Las Vegas and a letter from Jerry Lewis asking Joe to open the 1980 Jerry Lewis Telethon with Johnny Carson. Ken also walked the last couple of miles of the world record Stiltwalk with Joe into Bowen, KY.
Will Rogers. Ambassador of Good Will
Oct 13
Joe rode 53 miles to Nowata, which, for the first time the entire trip, is a town not on my map. He had a great time in Claremore. He visited the J. M. Davis Gun Museum, the largest private collection in the world, and then went to the Will Rogers Museum where he got a personal guided tour from the curator. He also had a fun interview with the local paper.
Kansas
Oct 14
It is not as easy to keep track of a person, especially Joe, on a cross-country bicycle trip as you might think. And yesterday I lost him. But we found him. In Kansas. Yesterday's map is now correct. He stopped in Coffeyville where a reporter for the local paper showed him where, in 1892, the local citizens put a stop to the outlaw ways of the notorious Dalton Gang. Although the Daltons were raised in Coffeyville, the locals did not look favorably on them trying to rob both the town's banks at the same time. Three of the Daltons are buried there. One, though shot, survived. Joe pedaled on to Baxter Springs. 82 miles today.
Missouri
Oct 15
Joe crossed the border into Missouri and after riding to Joplin turned southward. He rode 64 miles to Noel. Lots of Christmas cards go to, and through, Noel. A Christmas card postmarked "Noel" adds a little something special to the holiday festivities.
Next stage:
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama,
Georgia, Florida, Tennessee