Finally, Oklahoma, Texas and home

Wednesday we drove to Richardson TX on our way to Oklahoma. There were two reasons for our stop here. We needed a break in the long drive and we wanted to begin the process of selling our CRV by getting a quote from CarMax. Of all things, we got a great price at a Hyatt. Pat had researched restaurants and identified Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen & Pizza. Low and behold, it was across the street from our hotel...and the pizza was really good. 

Thursday we moved to Guthrie, once the capital of Oklahoma, to visit our friends Bill & Judy Zivko. We began our visit with a tour of Zivko Aeronautics, founded by Bill & Judy and creators of the Zivko Edge, the primary aircraft of the Red Bull World Champion Air Race . (They also have a range of government projects, most of which we were not cleared to know about.)  Later in the afternoon we went to Stables Cafe for a barbecue sandwich (Bill) and a salad (Pat) accompanied by beer (both of us). Before heading out to their house we stopped at a local wine store to help them select a few bottles for their cellar.

Zivko Edge Aircraft in flight

The next morning, Bill Z. went to work while Judy, Pat and Bill H. went to the Oklahoma Territorial Museum and and adjacent Carnegie Library.  Here we learned about the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush of “Unassigned Lands”, when land previously “awarded” to Native Americans but later deemed “unassigned” was opened up to the first settlers to claim and settle a 160 acre parcel. As we toured we learned about “Sooners” and “Boomers”. We also learned the legends (and maybe the truth) of how the capital of Oklahoma was “surreptitiously" moved from Guthrie to Oklahoma City in 1910.

Regions of origin of Native Americans moved to Oklahoma

We also toured one of the largest Masonic Temples (Temple of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry) in the country. Built in the 1920's, it has very impressive architecture and interior design (each hall is designed after revered places in Europe, no detail is overlooked.) You too can tour it (virtually but with little commentary) at 
newspin.com/tours/?site=guthrie_scottish&scenename=002

Pompeiian Room

Assyrian Room

After our touring we did a little shopping. Then Bill Z joined us for a late lunch/early dinner at Romas (Italian).

The whole group headed to Oklahoma City on Saturday. The first stop was the memorial at the site of the 1995 bombing of the Federal Building. Very well done with rows of chairs representing the floors on which victims died (with large chairs for adults and small chairs for children. Bill and Judy felt the concussion in Guthrie, 32 miles away. 

Next we went to Bricktown where we took a canal boat tour and viewed some of the extensive life-size bronze statuary depicting the land rush. We stopped at the Bolero Spanish Grill and Tapas Bar for lunch. The Patatas Bravas, Bacon wrapped dates, fried artichokes, meatballs, and salad were excellent.

Sunday we went with Bill and Judy to their house on a lake in Northeast Oklahoma then to the Western Dressage Association of America horse show in Tulsa. Interesting experience watching the horses and riders perform. Before heading back to Guthrie we stopped at Kilkenny’s Irish Pub for Irish Ale, Stout, and Fish and Chips.

Gypsy Vanna Horse at the World Western Dressage Show in Tulsa

Monday we spent implementing our packing strategy, make everything fit into 7 bags (4 to check plus our carry-on). We travelled to Edmond a few miles south of Guthrie for dinner at Thai Delight.

Tuesday we returned to Dallas and after settling into our hotel we went to dinner a Pappadeaux, very fine seafood restaurant...a Salmon Plank for Pat and Seabass for Bill. On the way back we made a stop at Whole Foods for some breakfast food and a bottle of wine.

Salmon Plank

Foggy (Néboa) wine from Rias Bixas in Spain

Wednesday we visited Fort Worth to see the Water Gardens and do a little shopping. While looking for parking, we were detoured by a significant Veterans Day celebration. We explored Sundance Square and had lunch at Taverna, Spaghetti Carbonara and Risotto al Parmigiano con Salsa Tartufata preceded by an Artichoke antipasti, very satisfying as was the bottle of wine from Verona. 

Fort Worth TX Water Gardens

Roasted Artichoke and Cheese

An excellent Bornarda wine from Mendoza Argentina

Later we parted ways with our Honda CRV at CarMax (now with 41,000 miles on it) and had our first Uber experience getting back to our hotel.

With 17,000 miles, 4 Mexican states, 2 Canadian Provinces, and 35 US states plus the District of Columbia under our belts since our start on March 20, we are ready to go home. 

With the help of SW Air (great fare including 2 free checked bags each!), we headed for San Miguel in the morning. After stops in San Antonio and Mexico City we arrived home around ten PM.

Stay tuned for the next trip...