89er Days, Guthrie, OK

As Susie's health has improved, we decided to to take another Tuzigoot trip.  Our destination was Guthrie, OK, a town that was established on April 22, 1889, when settlers raced to claim land in central Oklahoma (known as Unassigned Lands; various Indian tribes had been assigned to much of the land in the Oklahoma Territory).  Guthrie became the state capital until Oklahoma City stole it away.

Here's a display in Guthrie's Territorial Museum showing how the many tribes were assigned and gathered in Oklahoma.

Guthrie's 89er Days celebration includes a carnival, rodeo, car show, street food, and a parade on Saturday, April 23.

We left home on April 20th, stopped in Santa Rosa, NM, for lunch at the Love's Travel Center that son Jeff Hinkle is now managing, and then drove on to an RV park on the east side of Amarillo for the night.  One feature  to note is that the I-40 corridor across the TX Panhandle is lined with wind turbines all the way.  Quite a sight.

On Thursday we drove on to Guthrie, setting up camp at an RV park just west of town.

On Friday my sister, Connie, and her husband, Tom, came up from their home in Edmond and we rendezvoused with my sister, Verla, who is a Guthrie resident and promoter, then strolled through the car show spread out on city streets.  Nephews Peter Collins and Sterling Raines joined us for dinner at a really good barbecue joint, Stables Cafe, in a building that was once stables in downtown Guthrie.

Saturday was the main event - the 89er Day parade.  I never saw so many Shriners, zipping around on all sorts of motorized vehicles.

There were dance troupes.

tractors,

and, of course, Fire Engines

Lots of excitement and lots of noise.  Lasted about two hours.


There are many fine old buildings in Guthrie.  Some examples:

 (I've probably posted some of these after previous trips to Guthrie.  You can Google Guthrie for more city pictures.)

The historic marker outside this building, which had most recently been a Chinese restaurant, but now closed, said that this building was built to be a two-story toilet.  I'll leave its interior design, early 1900s, to your imagination.  Do you suppose that historic marker was bad for restaurant business?

Sunday we went to Cowboy Church with Verla in nearby Perkins, OK, then gathered at Connie's in the afternoon.  Five of Connie and Tom's six sons with spouses and children came over too, and it was good to see all of them.

Going home, we again spent a night in Amarillo, different RV park, and had dinner with our friends, former Albuquerqueans, Sue and Roy Sooter.  Routine trip home the next day.  Tuzigoot took good care of us.

We'll be in touch.

Rob and susie