Continuing east we stopped in Oklahoma City and stayed in
the 2nd B&B, hosted by Bill and Kathryn. We got acquainted over
wine & cheese and later John & Joyce enjoyed a soothing soak in the hot
tube. Their place was outside the city, covering about 65 acres, and remote enough
that no other houses were in sight. Deer were sometimes seen on the property. Extensive
tornado damage had recently been done in the nearby town of Moore. We did some sightseeing in Oklahoma City and visited
the Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum. Here are some sculptures we especially
liked.
Leaving Oklahoma City we traveled southwest, leaving the
Interstate highway to visit a small town we read about with mountain scenery.
Who knew Oklahoma even had moutains! The town was named Poteau (called “Po-to”
by the locals) but probably had a French pronunciation because French fur
trappers had explored the area during colonial days.
Locals claimed that even earlier, Vikings had explored the
area, as evidenced by the existence of a runestone on display at a local State
Park. Another claim was that Poteau had
the world’s tallest hill. We were curious about this – how do you
measure the height of a hill? Unlike a mountain, measured as elevation above
sea level, a hill is measured as height above its base. But how do you
establish the base? We didn’t find the answer to that question, and decided not
to pursue it further
Anyway, the area was
scenic and we stayed 3 days, one of them (July 4th) being John’s 75th
birthday.
One day we took a Duck Boat tour on one of the several lakes
around town. Another day we visited a beautiful botanical garden with a blown
glass display.
