It was nice to sleep at a hotel during some unpredictable weather. And we were so lucky, while there where tornados and thunderstorms, flooding and flying objects in areas not too far from Tulsa, we in Tulsa had only some thunder and lightning, stronger winds and a bit of rain, that was it! In the morning everything looked peaceful. At breakfast at the hotel we watched the news and saw what could have happened to us a few hours earlier.

We packed our things back into the RV -since we had literally moved out of our beautiful vehicle just in case…- and continued our trek to the west. Tulsa is a nice city which made its money through oil.

Sinclair and Phillips 66 are only two of the household names. We didn’t spend much time in the city but went on to see the more remote areas. One of the small towns we drove through with their old signs for motels and restaurants was Sapulpa. It had pottery and glass industry, both are gone by now. But still, the city is very much alive with new businesses and a vibrant downtown core. And today was a very special Saturday for Sapulpa: It was old car show time. 80-100 cars, all polished to a mirror finish, stood proud in the bright sunshine and hundreds of people came to admire them.

But even Sapulpa has its forgotten spots, the beautiful Rock Creek Bridge and the Teepee Drive-In Theatre right on a very old section of Route 66 are an example.

Oil did not make everyone rich, even if the pumps and the old oil tanks are in your back yard, as we saw on the Tank Farm Loop in the Kellyville area.

Another example of the not so fortunate towns is Depew, once a well to do business town it is almost a ghost town today with only 500 people who live their lives separate from the downtown area.

The Rock Café in Stroud and the almost finished renovation of the old Phillips Gas Station in Chandler lifted our spirits again.

And the first cactus (opuntia) in bloom brought a big smile on our faces.

Oh, and then came the flood part 1, there were fields that had turned into red lakes within a couple of hours!

The largest soda bottle, signature icon for a gas station and a soda shop came as a stark contrast to harsh reality.

And our great camping spot was separated from the town of Guthrie shortly after we drove from the town up to the campsite. The river had swollen so much that blocks of houses lost their streets completely to the red water rolling in.

Time to leave Oklahoma if only the floods of Oklahoma City will let us pass through…