Day 10 - Monday 6/29/09 - ON THE ROAD

We are on our way to OK. There are Black-Eyed Susans growing wild along with huge Queen-Anne's Lace on the roadsides.

On I- 40. 30 miles from our destination of Chicotah, OK we see a sight that gives us pause. Lest we take for granted what it takes to make a highway, we see every step of total reconstruction of one lane for 40 miles.

There are hundreds of bundles of rebar, hundreds of piles of dirt, a huge roll of tar paper, hundreds of symmetrical piles of gravel. They are all laid out at controlled distances apart along the road, very efficiently so that the workers don't have to go far to get their supplies. Can you imagine how many dump truck trips it took in the middle of the night to get all that established?

The road on which we are traveling is like corrugated cardboard. It is terribly rough and when we stop we find that the Cotter Pin has popped out of the tongue of the tow dolly on which our car is riding.

We are surprised to find that the Cherokee Nation has its own license plate. Never knew before that the Reservations had their own system, but it makes sense.

A sight you wouldn't see in every state - two kids riding in a boat, towed by a pickup truck.

We have both been badly bitten by mosquitoes. Bob seems to react much more strongly than I do. His bites are blazing red and the itching is driving him crazy. We soon run out of our tiny emergency Benadryl spray. I run to the pharmacy for that and some more goodies.

Next thing I know, Bob is spraying the bites on his leg and saying how much it stings. "But at least it smells good!", he remarks. I tell him that the reason is that he is spraying his legs with Glade Air Freshener.

I think he was focused on the ice cream we had heard would be available at 7 pm in the clubhouse at the Campground.

We are camped on Lake Eufala, which is 30 miles long. Bob goes out in the evening and catches a bass. He has one more day left on his temporary fishing license.

STATES BOB HAS NEVER VISITED BEFORE: OK, UT, NM and AZ