Breezing Through Oklahoma
I put in 330 miles today, making up for some lost time from yesterday. Every mile of it was a workout. I spent the entire day wrestling with 40-50 mph wind gusts. I guess I held my own, but damn, another day of that and my arms are gonna fall off. Today I realized the value in a heavier bike. If I had done this trip with my old bike I'd have been blown off the highway.

I saw a few interesting/unusual things today. First of all, the scenery was nice. Fairly flat, but nice. Some of the lowlands around the rivers look like something out of Lord of the Rings: Twisted, gnarled trees sticking out of otherwise barren mud flats. Beautiful in an odd way. Somewhere just outside of Tulsa, a small hawk -- carrying a still wriggling snake -- flew across the highway right in front of me. The snake was fairly small. The hawk was smaller than a red-tail.

I also rode past several fires. It was hard to tell if they were controlled burns or if they were wild fires. From what I could see, they didn't look like large, out of control fires.

The Microtel Inn I'm in at the moment is much nicer than the Best Budget Inn from last night. (Free WIFI.) Tomorrow's goal puts me in a tent in Tucumcari, NM. No WIFI at that particular KOA. Sorry folks.

Now is the time on Sprockets when we sleep.