We got our kicks on Route 66.

Sam and I are back home after a three-day trip to Oklahoma. I’ll pause for a moment if you want to sing a few bars. The lyrics are posted below. (Nobody’s listening. Go ahead.)

Oklahoma!
Where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain,
And the wavin’ wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma, ev’ry night my honey lamb and I,
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin’ lazy circles in the sky.
We know we belong to the land,
And the land we belong to is grand,
And when we say yeeow! Yip-i-o-i-ay!
We’re only sayin’
You’re doin’ fine, Oklahoma!
Oklahoma, OK!

Anyhow, we decided to skip the Arbuckle Mountains and Turner Falls (see my post from June 18) and take a drive instead along historic Route 66 from Tulsa westbound to Yukon, about 30 miles past Oklahoma City. The “mother road” (as it’s known by nostalgia buffs) winds through teeny towns, rolling hills and farmland ... most still dotted with remnants of the past: tacky motels with “tourist cabins,” little diners, souvenir stands, hilarious points of interest and vintage gas stations.

The food on our trip ranged from terrible to terrific, beginning with a nightmare of unrecognizeable pseudo-Asian crap at Golden China buffet in Denton, Texas, and ending with barbecue nirvana at Bad Brad’s in Yukon, Oklahoma, where everything was a perfect 10 — from the smoked meat and homemade sauce to the beer-battered onion rings and attractive plastic silverware. At other times we also ate Clif bars, Tic Tacs, Wheat Thins, a couple of bananas and a fine dinner at Lottinville’s Wood-Fire Grille in Oklahoma City, where they’ve got the friendliest servers on the planet.

We got home yesterday just two hours ahead of some mighty heavy rain from Hurricane Alex in the Gulf of Mexico, which apparently will continue through tomorrow night. (No complaints. We were in a drought situation here.) Our plans for the Fourth of July weekend include a few good movies on TV, my homemade potato salad and our standard ration of afternoon naps.

How about you? Anything exciting happening at YOUR house? I think we’re available on the fourth for a barbecue. I can bring olives and napkins. Thank you.