Day 1 Not much happened

Day 1. Got everything loaded and the house all closed up Monday morning and departed bright and early at 11:15. Got to Guymon, OK - 329 miles - for the night. Comfortably cool and cloudy weather, for June, all the way.


US 54, which angles NE from Tucumcari to Wichita (and on east), is a variable experience. Some pretty poor pavement; some pretty good, such as 4-lanes from TX state line to Guymon, and future promise - construction west of Wichita. The TX/OK portions are wide open land, some would say featureless, but that's one type of feature - but there is a lot of it.


I got to wondering how come there is an Oklahoma panhandle -- something a boy from OK should know and maybe did once upon a time. It looks like it would have made geographical (and graphical) sense to attach that land to Texas. Well, here's a summary of that history:


The "Missouri Compromise" established the current north boundary of TX when TX was created. To the east of the TX panhandle was Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory. To the north was "Unorganized Territory." When Kansas was carved out of the Unorganized Territory, its southern boundary was to be the TX boundary extended eastward. But, that would have taken too much of the Cherokee Nation and given it to KS. So, the KS southern border was moved northward 34 miles in 1854.


The OK panhandle became no man's land - you couldn't buy it if you wanted it. It was "seasonal home to nomadic American Indians of the High Plains and was controlled by Comanche bands and allied groups from 1850 to 1875." Settlers did move in and finally, in 1890 it was included in the newly created Oklahoma Territory, ultimately the state of OK. Haven't found any mention of whether TX , or KS, or NM (why not?) made a pitch for this 34 by 167 mile strip. Maybe they drew straws and OK lost (HA!).


Found this picture on the internet (flickr.net):

The caption read: for miles and miles and miles through the oklahoma panhandle, the highway doesn't turn... and the only signs you see periodically are these signs for "cemetery".

Our campground book didn't list any RV parks in Guymon, but a roadside sign advertized one. We found it, a serve yourself park - pick a spot, put your money in an envelope and drop it in the container. Had several eating establishments within walking distance; we picked Mexican and had some good tacos - beef (S), fish(R). Turned out, also, that campground was close enough to hear the trains whistling and rumbling through town on a nearby track. Ah, the sound of the road.

Cheers,

Susie and Rob