It's day 321.....it's also March 22nd 2020....and we are in Muldrow Oklahoma

It's day 321.....it's also March 22nd 2020....and we are in Muldrow Oklahoma

I just....have to say ..... again....What a difference a few days…and a few hundred miles can make. In just a few short days we have gone from 80’s and sunny...... to hoping for a 60 degree day and a break in the clouds. Spring weather, with all it’s unpredictability, is in full swing...... as we cruise head first into America’s heartland.

We woke up this morning to 47 degree’s, overcast and more of these spring showers....and the threat of Thunderstorms..... This time, mother nature would deliver on that threat. We hit the road by 8am….and by 11am we had pulled off twice to wait for the showers...and the winds to die down. A ton of rain....and wind.....mixed with 18 wheelers.....that kicks up a bunch of road spray and wears me out ....pretty quick.

And todays drive....kinda short on photo ops....the scenery was rainy....pretty dismal all day. That said…an otherwise boring travel day can take a entertaining twist in the blink of an eye. ...

Continuing west on highway 40 in Arkansas....and we needed to stop for gas....took an exit that read....Conway. Pulled into the first gas station I saw.....and As I stood watching Vacilando relieve the station of another 40 or so gallons of gas I thought I may as well go grab some beer for later.

I think I had circled the convenience store a couple of times....wondering how I'd missed the beer cooler....when I stepped up to the cashier counter and asked.....No beer?

Dry County! Moral sin ya know! (she boldly stated from in front of a wall of cigarettes…$5.59 a pack

Seriously ..... I asked?

It's Arkansas....she said....as if I shoulda known.....

Oh....aright.....so...how far does this dry county thing go?

Which way ya headed?....she kept getting louder

West…headed to Oklahoma....I answered.

Ahh....Morristown…20 minutes up the road...she pointed

I Thanked her......and we found our way back out to I-40.

There’s no way for me to effectively articulate how literally drenched in southern drawl that interaction was…and it was heaven....I love that accent...love pretty much all accents really...and apparently....I really love these southern accents...cummon....someone was telling me I couldn't buy beer.....anywhere....in the whole county.......and while she was doin so....I just kept thinking....dang you talk cool.

The “Welcome to Oklahoma” sign was immediately followed by the marker denoting our entrance into the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee tribe is America’s largest with nearly 400,000 tribal citizens nationwide. Nearly 50% of this population calls Oklahoma home....and I'd just read...in the last episode....how they got here....and the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee nation would be established as a sovereign tribal government...here in Oklahoma....In 1839....almost....70 years before Oklahoma became a state in 1907.

We had made it further today.....around 280 miles outta Marion......we called it a day In Muldrow Oklahoma. Found a spot at a truck stop for a quick over night.... Didnt feel like cookin.....after a walk with Dougie....ran over to the truckstop for a quick bite.....and definitely ...... A beer.

As soon as I got back......I had to hit the internet for more on this Prohibition thing.....and dry counties?....It's come up a couple a times now....and I guess.....west coast guy all my life.....but even through all my travels.....I'd never been told....you cant buy beer here.....well...ok ok full disclosure....I might a been told that a couple times....way different reasons....

Anyway......I dug in.....

And right outta the gate.....interesting.... to note that this Morristown the cashier had told us about.....the town lies in the middle of the regions "wine country"....and does indeed allow the sale of alcohol. But the counties....on either side....prohibit it.

I'd already forgotten.....that I’d had another brief run in...with a similar notion....back in Del Rio Texas.....

One Sunday mornin....I'd made the 7 mile trek into town from our camp site for some supplies ..... and stopped at the first convenience store in town. I Grabbed a few things and was headed for the counter ..... when I thought.......I dont wanna come back to town today....I'll grab some beer now....but...beer cooler locked......

I inquired at the front counter as I checked out.......This time.....the not-so-southern-and not so-friendly-at-all lady behind the counter .....blurted Blue Rule......

Blue Rule? I asked.....

Can't buy beer before noon on Sundays.....she said as she collected 22 dollars and 19 cents for my other stuff.

And back to camp....And back to the internet.....

Apparently a long held belief in those parts is that if you cannot get snookered Sunday morning….then the odds are in the lords favor that you might actually show up in church. What you do after you leave church (which apparently is around noon)…the lord aint so interested in. At least there in Del Rio......some parts a Texas....Blue rule is all day Sunday....and in some of those.....you aint allowed to sell a car either....on Sunday......Lord needs your attention for the entire day.....in those counties.

Well....I guess in Arkansas…lord cares about ya all the time apparently cause they just cant sell it to ya in 34 counties…

And I have no idea.....what the other 41 counties in the state did to tick the lord off ......cause he cares a little less about their alcohol consumption.....Is this ..... all .....the same lord? Cause I got no idea....how in the hay bisquit heck he keeps track of it all.....I mean....what if somebody moves. Ayayay....

And the Internet tells me....that there are 10 states and over 500 municipalities/counties that are “dry” in the year 2020. ...Over 18 million Americans live in areas in which it is illegal to purchase alcohol.....Good thing the wet county is just up the road I guess.

Anyhoo....nuff about this prohibition stuff.....

Muldrow Oklahoma.....pretty quiet place...just some 3000 folks live around here....

We already knew we were in Cherokee country....sign at the border told us that.....but the area had been inhabited by by other native Americans.....for centuries .....the Apache People.....Arapaho....Caddo, Comanche...Kiowa...and Witchita people......

Until one day.....they'd begin hearing of.....the Trail of Tears, and folks like the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole, just started showin up.....well...forceably escorted of course by the US Military.....and the neighborhood newbies began telling horrifying stories of how these guys with guns came in....to their land....sent em packin.....told em they were moving here.....Now ..... those guys with guns.....they'd told em....that there would be treaties....reservations....things would be sorted out.....but....sounded to me....like it was gonna get messy....

And all of sudden I wondered....what if that happened today...I mean...I lived in Washington State for 23 years.....what if...one day....I don't know...some new evolution of government ...... soldiers showed up.....not like...horse riding and wagon draggin Union Soldiers.....But the real soldiers....todays soldiers...and....puget sound all full up with Navy destroyers ..... guns pointed at every neighborhood.....from every direction.....and todays soldiers....well they got tanks, jeeps and drones...and all that fire power....pointed at us...tellin us.....get out. We like what ya got here....gonna put it to good use....ya'll gotta go. Not to worry...aint like ya gotta walk...take your cars if ya want....fly if ya want....we aint closing the gas stations and grocery stores till next week. Cell coverage...internet....and electricity....that's being shut down now...... Now git

This half of ya...Idaho....western Montana....go

Other half....Oregon, Nevada....go

And I thought about my nutty neighbor Bob....crazy gun guy we called him....always braggin...about his right to bear arms....and his latest acquisition....a Barrett M82A1.....whatever that was

He comes bustin out his front door amidst a bunch a curse words...somethin about well formed militia .....

phhhhht

No more crazy gun guy.......ah...actually....no more crazy guys block....seems one of those Military drones....and MQ-9 Reaper had had enough of crazy gun guy and one hellfire missile later.....

ehh...the rest of us...bit more accomodating....

haha....I could think this stuff up forever...Ahhh....point being....messy....right.....

Seems to me....those native americans deserve a little more credit....190 years ago.....they figured it out....neighborhood newbies and all....and yea it was messy....ugly....inter tribal wars.....land grabs....governments failure to enfore reservations boundries.....all kinds of books and documentary's tell the stories....but they figured it out....

And through all this....this place called Muldrow Oklahoma would come to be.

It's early days would find it within the Cherokee nation...

Growth would come with the establishment of a railway system in the area....and Muldrow...would be officially founded in 1887....named in honor of Henry L Muldrow....the first Assistant US Secretary of the interior.

Growth would continue into the 1900's with the expansion of the railways....introduction of cotton farming....and cotton gins.....as well as expanding agricultural products....ranching would begin to play a role in the areas economy as well.

The great depression ..... and the dust bowl..... were beyond hard on Muldrow. They would experience extreme hardship and lose most of their economy.

It would take hard work....and a long time.....but the area would begin to come back through the 50's and 60's....with agriculture and ranching recovering...... A focus on infrasture would help as well.....when in 1965, A dam was constructed creating muldrow lake....greatly improving the city's water supply system.

The 90's were also good to the community as processing plants moved into the area.

And as easy as a 200 or so mile drive.....we'd found ourselves in yet one more....example of small town America. This one...Muldrow.....in eastern Oklahoma. A community born as the country came of age....and not only managed to survive....but to come around to the thriving community it is today. A community continuing to grow it's agriculture, ranching and production output while maintaining a sense of togetherness and community.

Internet tells me the area is know for it's "friendliness"....kind a bummer I won't get to experience much of that from our one night stay on a truck stop parking lot.....

But there was the one more click thing!

When we pulled in a found our spot for the night.....I'd noticed a fueling station on the other side of the parking area. It wasn't a gas station....looked different....and it was.....

Dougie and I would head over there during out last walk of the evening...for a closer look.....and to learn that it was a Natural Gas refueling station. This one...Branded....CE.....or....Clean Energy for Vehicles.....

And as soon as we were back on board Vacilando....I was back on the internet.....First question to the internet...

Tell me about Clean Energy Natural Gas....

The internets response:

Clean Energy Natural Gas is a term often used to describe natural gas as a relatively cleaner alternative to other fossil fuels like coal and oil. It went on to babble through key points like.....it burns cleaner than coal and oil...producing fewer pollutants.......but that ... that might be a bit of a trade off because natural gas is primarly composed of methane....so leaks during extraction, production and transportation likely undermines it's climate benefits. I'd also see it referred to as a Bridge fuel....being used to help transition us from dirtier fossil fuels to more renewable energy sources like wind and solar......and turns out.....folks have manged to turn even this...into an argument....some saying we are only putting off the inevitable by wasting time on it....when we should be focused on getting on to truly....clean...renewable energy......and others believing it's a truly viable alternative.

And so much more......but through the reading and watching of video's I kept asking myself....did I even know this was a thing? Natural Gas Powered vehicles? Maybe........kinda had a flashback to the city busses runnin around Tacoma With Clean Energy stamped across them.....guess I never really knew....or took the time to know....what they were all about.

I also learned that over 28 million of these NGV's are currently in operation globally....175,000 of them here in the US...with states like California, Texas, Florida and New York leading the way.

The technology is currently focused on the commercial....and high mileage markets....I even learned about company in Ohio....called Quasar......working to accellerate the turn around of these naturally produced gases from everything from rotten potatoes....moldy bread....and last nights leftovers......into the tanks of city buses and long haul semi's....and their by products which can potentially replace the chemical fertilizers being used in the farmlands across the country.

Hmm...some pretty cool stuff...but as I began to learn of hydrogen powered vehicles across Europe....and in particular Asia.....I had to shut it down....definitely gonna dig into this a bit more ......but for now...

I'm tired....gotta hit the sack.....get some rest.....tomorrow.....gonna be a pretty cool day for us I think....

Anyone that knows me could tell ya that Craig....in Oklahoma....probably not an accident. And for the most part....they'd be right.....a global pandemic might have had a little to do with this treck....

And while most of our stops to date.....have been random....some even accidental....But each and every one....fun for sure....

Like.....when some 400 miles back...when we stumbled into a place called Tupilo Mississippi....and learned that Tupilo....was the birthplace of Elvis Presley.

tomorrow...a destination with...a little more purpose....

Here in Muldrow...we're just 114 miles away...from a place called Kiowa Oklahoma....and just outside Kiowa...an unincorporated little community that began life in 1891 as Chickiechockie when a post office came to town. Later.....around the same time that post office closed....the name would be shortened to Chockie....and while the post office may be long gone....the community is still there....all 100 or so of them.

Nobody had a clue.....in 1955....cept maybe her mama.....that when a little red headed blue eyed baby girl was born and named Reba.....that the red haired blue eyed little girl would grow up to become America's queen of country music.

Been a fan myself for a very long time.....and probably never guessed till right now....that I'd make that 100 mile drive tomorrow to a place called Kiowa.....and Chockie.

And I wonder what We'll learn there...