A nice drive.

I recently took a contract job for my good friend JagGuy. It required a long day driving to visit some banks he contracts for. Now JagGuy has a new lady friend and it was fairly cold outside. And in Southwest Oklahoma the wind really, really comes sweeping down the plain. So you can do the math, lady friend + cold outside = hire your buddy to do it. Now accepting this assignment did not require indepth knowledge of Lambda Calculus. I am restoring our 1993 Range Rover Classic and the money would come in handy.

So with that in mind I got the tablet out and the GPS fired up and took off for the Southwest. The first stop was in Willow, Oklahoma. Population 150, maybe, on shopping day. My history is rusty this was part of Texas way back in the day. Here's a pic of their Main Street looking west which is Highway 34a. Forgive me for the weak attempt at a panoramic. The red brick structure on the right is over 100 years old. And houses the bank, City Hall, and the American Legion Post. On the corner of Highway 34a and 34 is an old Volkswagon bus sitting in a weed patch. It is just like the one my family owned back in 1967-1971. I wonder how much they'd take for it?

Next I was on the way to Granite Oklahoma. Guess what they're famous for? Close. Grave markers. Granite's main street. Many run down buidings litter the nearly vacant lots. Many are strewn with trash and trinkets. One great example of Okie engineering is evident in one city lot. You can see in the picture that the owner rigged up a crane that wasn't quite long enough, which he rigged with a log, set on top a brush guard complete with headlights, a length of pipe, and some chain to lift off the cab on this old cab-over truck. But for whatever reason the job was never completed. Next to this truck is a press, bicycle, circular saw, acetylene tanks, air hose retractor and much, much more. And before you say how dangerous this is, remember this has been sitting like this through countless tornado warnings and thunderstorms. Next to the truck/crane/project is a facinating old building. It resembles a jail. Concrete construction and plate metal door. I can only imagine it was a jail cell.

The granite formations just pop up all over the area. These eerily popped out from the clouds as I closed in on them. Hill on the way to Mangum. I got lucky with a pic of this windmill as I approached the farm from the previous image. One more of the big hill. If you turn left here you go in to Quartz Mountain Resort area. One of the rocks up on the side of the hill is shaped like Oklahoma.

At this intersection is a historical marker. This is from the period of history that I like to do as my other hobby, historical reenacting. Jefferson Davis was 26 years later to become President of the Confederated States of America during the American Civil War. And most everyone knows who George Catlin is from his paintings of Native Americans from this time.

On to Mangum. Mangum is home to the fourth longest-lasting light bulb, located in a fire house, according to the The Guinness Book of World Records. I did not get to see the light bulb but maybe next time. I love these old hotels that are in the larger towns throughout Oklahoma. They are evidence that once upon a time enough people lived here that they needed affordable housing for the residents. Pictured here is the Franklin Hotel. This could probably have been a better picture.

I was then off to the city of Lawton. I didn't take any images here. It's Lawton. What's to see? There is a large base here called Fort Sill. It is home to the Army and Marine Corps Artillery Schools. Before the Marines brought their artillery schools to this base I served my country on weekends as an artilleryman on this very base.

I took the scenic route home instead of the turnpike. Just outside of Cyril I saw this pile of stones and had to stopped for a picture. You could walk right up to the top if you pleased. I didn't. The view to the south was pretty nice but I wasn't able to capture it with my camera. From here the day was growing long so I headed straight for home. JagGuy has already promised me I could go again for him next year.

Thanks for reading and happy Rovering.