Oklahoma

Yes!! If you’re seeing this is because we’re back on the road!! After 4 long months back home in Europe, it was time to start the American Expedition # 2. This time we’re planning on visiting 5 or 6 more states, and the exciting part is that we’re leaving behind the plain / flat states of the south and now Scotty will take us to the mountain!… The Rockies.

But, before the Oklahoma chapter begins, I need to tell you how we spent the last few months back home. As we left mid December from Houston once Scotty and the tow car were left in storage, we found lots of work to be done … house cleaning, pool repair, garden plants trimming, some electrical, plumbing, painting, etc jobs and of course Christmas decorations and celebrations with some friends and our children who came to spend the best time of the year with us!! There was also time to fly model airplanes and assemble another one that had been in the box for quite a while.

There was also time to visit Notre Dame in Paris and check out the reconstruction! It’s going well but still lots of work to do

Though Mila would love to have come with us, she stayed with our son in Paris for 10 weeks!! She loves when Jimmy takes her for a walk by the Seine River!!

The adventure begins!!

Something that kept me awake at times was the ability of the diesel engine of Scotty to fire after 4 and a half months of being in hibernation mode. This is a Caterpillar 400 Hp engine.

So, do you want to see how it started??

Quite a champ!! Brilliant!! It took just 2 seconds.

And this is moving out of the storage facilities in Houston.

Our first stop, Jetstream RV Resort in Houston. Plan in Houston is to do some scheduled maintenance, say Bye to a few friends and then head to Oklahoma.

At Crystal Beach, Galveston area, just a mile off the Gulf of Mexico

A mosque in Galveston.

On the way from Houston to Galveston I assume that highway 89 would take us straight to the campground… well, it happened to include a ferry that we had no idea about!. After a few maneuvers we managed to get the big bus on the boat and sail away to the peninsula.

After Florida, Oklahoma is perhaps the state I have visited the most, and this was because the Training Center from Dowell Schlumberger (SLB these days) and offices of Baker Hughes are located in Tulsa. So, a visit to the Training Center was on the cards.

Funny episode here… at our arrival I asked the guard at the gate if I could speak to the manager in charge; he said he was away but he could phone him; then he asked me when was the last time I was here as a student…. a couple of years maybe? I said… hmmm …. no, it was back in 1,990, 33 years ago. Oh, in that case he doesn’t know you as he is a young manager, 30 years old!!! Gosh, he wasn’t even born when I came here the last time!! Please note: the manager is not the dog!!

On a more serious note, certainly this Training Center saw me burning my fingers more than once!! A lot of study, practical and theory tests during my first years in the oilfield.

Blackstone griddle is back in business as well, this time cooking a nice dish made of fish, peppers and asparagus

And May the 6th came while in Tulsa. As a British citizen and a fan of the Monarchy, it was time to watch the Coronation ceremony, an early wake up call at 4 AM.

Tree number 6

The idea I had in mind was to plant this beautiful cypress tree at the Schlumberger Training Center, but none of the two managers in charge (Training Ctr manager and Facilities manager) were kind enough to make this happen so we planted it at the campground in Tulsa. It’s okayyyyy

This is the humongous statue of Sam Houston, a general and stateman who played an important role in the Texan Revolution. He was also governor of Texas and Tennessee ! The only man who has served as governor in two different states.

Back to Texas

Wait, what??? How come!!

Well, I wanted to see something that I had seen on pictures, but this time for real: the Cadillac Ranch!! those Cadillacs buried, and this is in Amarillo, TX which means that on our way to New Mexico (next state) we’d stop by the site and take pics.

In 1974, three artists from San Francisco found themselves in Potter County, Texas, burying ten Cadillacs nose first into a Texas wheat field alongside Interstate 40, an art installation that would eventually come to be known as Cadillac Ranch

Over the years people have come all over the world to stamp their art expression by painting something over the cars bodies. Those clean cars back in 1974 are showing now the marks of the spray of thousands of paint cans. We did it as well!!

As we decided to make a one night stop in Amarillo, I took the advice of someone in the RV community and we stayed at the Big Texan RV Ranch. This is an iconic place in which you find yourself not only enjoying a decent campground but also visiting a great restaurant that resembles the life back in the days of the Old West.

The restaurant offers something very interesting: if you eat a 72 oz steak ( that’s more than 4 pounds of beef) + salad, you can get it for free!! But if you attempt to do it and you can’t, then you have to pay $72… Of course we never tried 🙂

Scotty among the Kings

Now this is a serious motorhome!!! Only in America

As we head towards New Mexico, it is time to face high altitudes and what better way than visiting Taos!! More of this in the next chapter. For now see the difference in altitude on the route between Amarillo Tx and Taos, NM. Let’s see how Scotty behaves!!

This is the end of the Oklahoma chapter, state number 6, 44 to go!!