I woke up this morning with the first phrase of Oklahoma spinning through my mind. I searched the net and came up with the real words. Here is a quote of the first verse.

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 have driven one full day into Oklahoma. Down from the rarified cold winds of New Mexico at 8,000 feet to Black Mesa State Park in the very northwest corner of the Oklahoma panhandle at 4,000 feet. Now today we are camped in a Corps of Engineer Park on Fort Supply Lake at 2,000 feet. It was a two hundred mile drive along the full length of the panhandle.

Ever wonder why Oklahoma has this skinny pan handle? It is only 35 miles wide. I still remember taping it back onto my Oklahoma State piece of my US Map puzzle as a kid. It has to do with making Texas a state on December 29, 1845. The Texans agreed to be limited on the north by Latitude 36 degrees, 30 minutes. Kansas was admitted to the union, January 29, 1861. So Oklahoma got what was left over, November 16, 1907. By the way New Mexico is celebrating their centennial in 2012.

The wind has been “sweepin’ down the plain” these past three days. The wind is from the south at 20 with gusts to 30 mph. Arcturus bucks every time we pass behind a big tree or enter a cut bank. It really keeps you on your toes.

Last evening we helped the neighbors ‘man handle’ their awning into submission. They had spent the day fishing and when they got back the arms were bent and they couldn’t retract it. They come from nearby Lavern, Oklahoma so they should have known better. It is a new-to-them, RV and their first with an awning. I guess we can give them a pass. We aren’t even deploying our living room slide for fear of tearing the slider-awning. The wind and humidity never slackened all night.

We went for a morning walk into the little town of Fort Supply. It was still windy, but not quite as bad as last night. By the time we made our turn at the neighborhood tree house the wind was “sweepin’ down the plain” full force again. Now we realized the folly of our choice of directions. Yep, upwind all the way. By the way, the tree house seemed to be authentic neighborhood kids’ construction. Check out the photo at the website. I will also include a photo of the local troop of Canadian Geese patrolling in formation along the shores of Fort Supply Lake.

We will close for now, and wish you all good health and safe travels.

Gary and Judy