US Hwy 70: Into Texoma

Heading southwest out of Hot Springs, US70 is nicely forested road over a rolling hill landscape. There's not much traffic as usual, as is there not much in the way of habitation. With my current audiobook playing (the collected works of P.G. Wodehouse) the miles pleasantly rolled by.



During a routine stop, I noticed a tire on my trailer that was a little low and quickly found the nail that was the cause of a slow leak. A few more miles down the road, I stopped at a service garage in this metropolis for a patch. Less than 30 minutes and 10 dollars later, I was back on my way!



I've commented before on the widely varied conditions of road and bridges in this country, and this stint offered the gamut. I have no idea when this beauty was built or how long it will last, but it held up for my crossing and that's all that really mattered in the moment!



With only a single, mostly-covered sign to declare the event, I crossed into Oklahoma and was soon on a wide-open four-lane roadway. The speed limit might have been 65mph, but with noticeable side-winds to manage I happily dialed in a more modest speed on my cruise control.



In the early afternoon I started looking for possible places to stop and camp. Along the way I saw two RV parks that were obviously shut down, and two more that looked okay but were very far from anything of interest to see or do. So, I kept cruising into the lush, flat grasslands of cattle country.

This area is called Texoma — an obvious portmanteau of the words Texas and Oklahoma — the area on either side of the border between the two states along the Red River valley. As you can see, there's not much to see! The occasional bend in the road helps keep it from getting monotonous.



Before long, I was well into Oklahoma and finally stopped in the city of Durant at an RV park located next to — and actually part of — a tribal casino. I honestly doubt I'll do any gaming here, mostly because typical tribal blackjack rules make it impossible to win. I won't mind having close access to a casino buffet, however, and enjoy a wider variety of foods than I normally get on the road.

Because where I'm headed to the west promises to be even more remote than where I've been, I'm going to take a couple days here to stock up on supplies, have my truck serviced and, of course, explore whatever the area has to offer… Stay tuned!

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