August 15th
I awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of a raccoon in my Burly trailer! Too tired to get out of my tent I threw a couple of rocks and scared it off. All of my food was hung in a tree so the raccoons didn't get anything from me this time around. I fell back asleep to the sound of an owl in a tree near my tent. Pretty wild place! When I awoke in the morning I was greeted to several deer in my campsite. I didn't throw rocks at them, they were friendly! I got all packed up and headed out somewhat early to beat the mid-day heat. The ride started off on a beautiful country road which took me to the small town of Mooreland where I stopped for a quick iced coffee and stocked up on water for the day. For a part of the ride I ran into some road construction and got my own lane again. It was getting very hot but the wind was either at my back or a crosswind so I was making pretty good time. Took a nice break in the shade at Gloss Mountains State Park. It was quiet and pretty and really made for an enjoyable stop. Nice change of scenery from the farms and oil fields. On a side note I have been getting nailed with very large bugs ever since I entered Oklahoma! Today especially! The grasshoppers are huge here, one of them hit my sunglasses, really glad I was wearing them. The last 6 miles of todays ride were heading south into a strong headwind but I eventually arrived at the Heritage Inn in Fairview, OK. Tim and Donna who currently run the Heritage Room donated a room to me for the evening, thanks Heritage Inn!!! I was feeling pretty worn out from the ride and the blazing sun so I took a short nap in the air conditioned room and then headed to the store for some groceries. Spent the evening doing the last blog update and watching a little TV.
http://www.heritageinnmotelatfairview.com/
I awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of a raccoon in my Burly trailer! Too tired to get out of my tent I threw a couple of rocks and scared it off. All of my food was hung in a tree so the raccoons didn't get anything from me this time around. I fell back asleep to the sound of an owl in a tree near my tent. Pretty wild place! When I awoke in the morning I was greeted to several deer in my campsite. I didn't throw rocks at them, they were friendly! I got all packed up and headed out somewhat early to beat the mid-day heat. The ride started off on a beautiful country road which took me to the small town of Mooreland where I stopped for a quick iced coffee and stocked up on water for the day. For a part of the ride I ran into some road construction and got my own lane again. It was getting very hot but the wind was either at my back or a crosswind so I was making pretty good time. Took a nice break in the shade at Gloss Mountains State Park. It was quiet and pretty and really made for an enjoyable stop. Nice change of scenery from the farms and oil fields. On a side note I have been getting nailed with very large bugs ever since I entered Oklahoma! Today especially! The grasshoppers are huge here, one of them hit my sunglasses, really glad I was wearing them. The last 6 miles of todays ride were heading south into a strong headwind but I eventually arrived at the Heritage Inn in Fairview, OK. Tim and Donna who currently run the Heritage Room donated a room to me for the evening, thanks Heritage Inn!!! I was feeling pretty worn out from the ride and the blazing sun so I took a short nap in the air conditioned room and then headed to the store for some groceries. Spent the evening doing the last blog update and watching a little TV.
http://www.heritageinnmotelatfairview.com/
Waking up to deer in the campsite
Approaching Gloss Mountains
Very common site in Oklahoma
Haven't seen any live rattlesnakes yet but plenty of dead ones
Nice roadside shade break!
Thanks Heritage Inn!
August 16th
Started the morning off talking with the friendly owners of the Heritage Inn, Tim and Donna. They gave me some fruit and nutri-grain bars and I hit the road. It was very hot out, 90's already at 9a.m. The first portion of the ride was on nice quiet country roads and I had the wind at my back so it was a pretty enjoyable ride. I biked over several dried up rivers that looked as though they were normally pretty large. It has been really dry and hot in Oklahoma for a long time! I took a break at one of the roadside tables to take in the shade and saw several colorful lizards. I reached the town of Enid early in the afternoon and saw many fighter jets from the air force base in town. After exploring the town, I got a call from Stephanie at the Weed Chamber of Commerce and she told me that the Enid Hampton Inn had donated me a room for the evening. Thanks Enid Hampton Inn!!! I was very grateful because it was now over 100 degrees and a storm was blowing in. I checked into the hotel and talked for a while with the very friendly staff. They were excited about my trip and had many questions. My room on the 4th floor was really nice and I had a great view of the storm and the fighter jets flying over. I had some pizza and took a swim in the pool and soaked for a little while in the hot tub which felt great! It was a nice day and a nice night in Oklahoma!
http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=WDGOKHX
Started the morning off talking with the friendly owners of the Heritage Inn, Tim and Donna. They gave me some fruit and nutri-grain bars and I hit the road. It was very hot out, 90's already at 9a.m. The first portion of the ride was on nice quiet country roads and I had the wind at my back so it was a pretty enjoyable ride. I biked over several dried up rivers that looked as though they were normally pretty large. It has been really dry and hot in Oklahoma for a long time! I took a break at one of the roadside tables to take in the shade and saw several colorful lizards. I reached the town of Enid early in the afternoon and saw many fighter jets from the air force base in town. After exploring the town, I got a call from Stephanie at the Weed Chamber of Commerce and she told me that the Enid Hampton Inn had donated me a room for the evening. Thanks Enid Hampton Inn!!! I was very grateful because it was now over 100 degrees and a storm was blowing in. I checked into the hotel and talked for a while with the very friendly staff. They were excited about my trip and had many questions. My room on the 4th floor was really nice and I had a great view of the storm and the fighter jets flying over. I had some pizza and took a swim in the pool and soaked for a little while in the hot tub which felt great! It was a nice day and a nice night in Oklahoma!
http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=WDGOKHX
Taking a break in some shade off the road
Dried up river
One of the lizards
Thanks Enid Hampton Inn!
View of excellent sunset from the room
Oh yeah! :)
August 17th
Woke up to a rainbow outside my hotel window and more fighter jets flying by. After doing some laundry at the hotel and enjoying the continental breakfast I headed on down the road. My first stop was at The Bike Shop in Enid. I bought more tubes and had some work done on my rear wheel. Thanks Micah! Today was very hot and humid and pretty tough. 40 miles into the ride I made a stop in the town of Covington for a strawberry shake and some waffle fries, yum! I couldn't believe the amount of dead armadillos on the road, I would say I saw somewhere close to 40 just today. As I got closer to Stillwater, my destination for the day, the temperatures got even hotter, over 100 and humid. My patch on my front tire actually melted and my tire blew out while heading downhill at 30mph. I managed to get off the road without crashing and replaced the tube. Within a mile the tube went flat due to the valve stem being sliced open, again. I was now out of tubes, again, and had to call for help. I talked to Stephanie at the Weed Chamber and she called Nicki at the Stillwater Chamber, who called Cooper's Bike Shop, who called Susan, who came and picked me up. Thanks to all of you so very much!!! Susan was very friendly and a bicycle tourist herself. She has biked across America 4 times as well as several other places. Susan took me to Cooper's Bicycle Center in Stillwater and they got my front rim fixed and got me some more tubes. Mary the owner was really friendly and had some good advise to avoid getting more flats. Susan then took me to the Best Western Cimarron Hotel & Suites who had donated me a room for the evening. Thanks Stillwater Best Western Cimarron!!! When I got up to my incredible suite I was surprised to see a bunch of awesome gifts on my bed from the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce! Not only did the chamber get me rescued off the side of the road, get me a room for the evening, they also got me a gift card for dinner at Eskimo Joe's and a bag full of gifts! Thanks so much Stillwater Chamber of Commerce!!! After taking an awesome shower with 5, yes 5 shower heads, I made a stop at the hotel bar for a quick beer. Next I walked over to Eskimo Joe's for a very tasty dinner of bacon cheese fries, marinated chicken, beans, bread, and cottage cheese. I was stuffed! I hung out for a while with the very friendly people of Stillwater and listened to the live music of Brandon Jackson who played acoustic guitar and sang very well. On my way back to the hotel I saw a ton of lightning but in never rained. Everyone in Stillwater was so very nice and I am really glad I decided to spend a night here!
http://www.bikeshopenid.com/
http://www.stillwaterchamber.org/
http://www.coopersbikes.com/
http://bestwesternoklahoma.com/stillwater-hotels
http://www.eskimojoes.com/
Woke up to a rainbow outside my hotel window and more fighter jets flying by. After doing some laundry at the hotel and enjoying the continental breakfast I headed on down the road. My first stop was at The Bike Shop in Enid. I bought more tubes and had some work done on my rear wheel. Thanks Micah! Today was very hot and humid and pretty tough. 40 miles into the ride I made a stop in the town of Covington for a strawberry shake and some waffle fries, yum! I couldn't believe the amount of dead armadillos on the road, I would say I saw somewhere close to 40 just today. As I got closer to Stillwater, my destination for the day, the temperatures got even hotter, over 100 and humid. My patch on my front tire actually melted and my tire blew out while heading downhill at 30mph. I managed to get off the road without crashing and replaced the tube. Within a mile the tube went flat due to the valve stem being sliced open, again. I was now out of tubes, again, and had to call for help. I talked to Stephanie at the Weed Chamber and she called Nicki at the Stillwater Chamber, who called Cooper's Bike Shop, who called Susan, who came and picked me up. Thanks to all of you so very much!!! Susan was very friendly and a bicycle tourist herself. She has biked across America 4 times as well as several other places. Susan took me to Cooper's Bicycle Center in Stillwater and they got my front rim fixed and got me some more tubes. Mary the owner was really friendly and had some good advise to avoid getting more flats. Susan then took me to the Best Western Cimarron Hotel & Suites who had donated me a room for the evening. Thanks Stillwater Best Western Cimarron!!! When I got up to my incredible suite I was surprised to see a bunch of awesome gifts on my bed from the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce! Not only did the chamber get me rescued off the side of the road, get me a room for the evening, they also got me a gift card for dinner at Eskimo Joe's and a bag full of gifts! Thanks so much Stillwater Chamber of Commerce!!! After taking an awesome shower with 5, yes 5 shower heads, I made a stop at the hotel bar for a quick beer. Next I walked over to Eskimo Joe's for a very tasty dinner of bacon cheese fries, marinated chicken, beans, bread, and cottage cheese. I was stuffed! I hung out for a while with the very friendly people of Stillwater and listened to the live music of Brandon Jackson who played acoustic guitar and sang very well. On my way back to the hotel I saw a ton of lightning but in never rained. Everyone in Stillwater was so very nice and I am really glad I decided to spend a night here!
http://www.bikeshopenid.com/
http://www.stillwaterchamber.org/
http://www.coopersbikes.com/
http://bestwesternoklahoma.com/stillwater-hotels
http://www.eskimojoes.com/
More oil fields
The spot where my bike broke down
Thanks Best Western Cimarron Hotel and Suites!
Thanks for the gifts Stillwater, OK Chamber of Commerce!
Thought this was pretty funny
Room 2 of my awesome suite
Best shower ever!
Whole buncha dump trucks!
Thanks for dinner Eskimo Joe's!
Bacon jalapeno cheese fries, yum!
World Famous Eskimo Joe's
Wow, I just realized that you stayed right near my house. I can almost see it in the picture of the dump trucks! We are so glad you came!
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