"The Sooner State"

Welcome to Oklahoma

Oklahoma/Texas border on I-35
December 27, 2005

I think it would be hard to think of the Sooner state without a reference to the Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "Oklahoma!" While there are many fields of "waving wheat," I was surprised to see that Tulsa and Oklahoma City were so large and sprawling. I think it would be an understatement to say that Oklahoma wants to make visitors aware that Will Rogers was born here, since his name and likeness is splashed all over the place. The biggest problem I had with Oklahoma was that nearly all the interstates were toll roads. For someone like me trying to drive though quickly, you couldn't avoid them, although the speed limit is 75. So on the whole, "you're doin' fine Oklahoma; Oklahoma, you're OK."

As I just mentioned, the Sooner state is criss-crossed with turnpikes and I-44 was no exception. So when I was approaching the Missouri/Oklahoma border, I was expecting to see a typical "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign on the side of the road. Alas, this wasn't the case. I nearly drove right by what Oklahoma considers its welcome sign and realized it when it was too late. I was furious with myself and thought I would get off at the next exit and loop around and try again, except the next exit was 16 miles away. I decided to take a picture of the turnpike sign (see right), which was unique to that border crossing, but was still livid I missed the main sign. So when I was on my way to Texas, I looped back into Oklahoma took a picture of the sign on the border, which is shown above. Fortunately for me, they looked identical.

Welcome to Oklahoma City

December 27, 2005

Oklahoma City is quite the bustling city in the middle of the plains. It has a nice downtown that doesn't feel overly crowded, meaning it was easy to find parking. Sadly, Oklahoma City will be remembered as the site of one of the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995. The memorial that has been created in the footprint of the building is quite moving in its simplicity, with a large reflecting pool and empty chairs that represent all the victims. Much like the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC, people leave items on the chairs and there is a display showing some of the items collected.

I really like the capitol in Oklahoma City, only for the fact that there are several working oil wells on the capitol grounds. In fact, there is one in the parking lot where I took this picture, making it nearly impossible for a decent shot. My back was literally pressed up against the fence surrounding the derrick to fit the entire building into the shot. Aside from a collection of Native American tribal flags behind the building, the grounds were pretty sparse in terms of statues and monuments.

Miscellaneous Oklahoma Symbols

State Route Sign

License Plate

Seal

Quarter