TAT Day 15 – The Last Road in Oklahoma

 
Beaver Dunes State Park, OK – Clayton, NM

Miles Ridden – 203

Total Miles – 2,197

Today’s Travel Time – 10 hrs

Animal Totem – Jackrabbit 

What I learned today – Birds don’t always fly out of the way 😔

  

We were all more than ready to be done with Oklahoma, but Oklahoma wasn’t yet done with us….

  
We woke up at Beaver Dunes Campground to discover that Stefan had been warding off Raccoons all through the night. Luckily they had not run away with our food, so we had a hot oatmeal breakfast and took our usual 2.5+ hours to pack up camp and get on the road. 

   
  

 

This time we would actually reach Boise City, OK, where we planned to pick up the TAT and take it through the last few miles of Oklahoma and into New Mexico!

   
 

Other than the crazy wind, the straight, flat pavement made for easy riding and gave me more time to contemplate the last few days now that I was fully recovered. I realized something very interesting. I have a daily prayer and meditation practice, and right before I had my headache attack I was praying out loud. Typically I start out by thanking the powers that be for my body, my breath, my mind, heart, and spirit. I express gratitude for all of the blessings that are bestowed upon me, for the safety of myself and my loved ones. And then I ask for guidance and protection, and I surrender the outcome of my day, my life, and any endeavor I am undertaking to spirit and to the highest good. A few minutes later my headache began. 

I’m not sure what to make of it all, other than to take it as a sign that even when there’s pain, even when we think we’re behind the schedule, or we have to take some unexpected detour, it’s all unfolding exactly as it should. Life is an adventure to be lived and loved, not a problem to be solved or tolerated. It’s an invitation to learn and grow with every twist, turn, and mud bog. 

Life is about learning to become comfortable in the uncomfortable, because let’s face it- if you’re attached to things being comfortable and easy, life is gonna be one hell of a bumpy ride- especially on the TAT!

  

As we rode into Guymon for a Walmart re-supply stop I pulled up right behind a car from Annapolis, MD (just 45 minutes from where I used to live in Washington, DC) with a bumper sticker that said, ‘We Are All One.’ I had to smile at this little nod from the universe. The car lead us straight to the Walmart and then continued down the road. 

We picked up 5 days worth of food, had lunch, and then found another good omen out in the parking lot. 

   
  

 

An Oregon license plate! In Oklahoma! Yes, we were doing just fine ☺️

After one more hour on the highway in what felt like a wind tunnel we were all more than ready to resume riding on the back roads. We topped of our gas and were happy to find a DQ to top off our bellies with blizzards before getting back on the TAT. 
  
It was awesome being back on the dirt roads, with beautiful clouds and open fields. We saw jackrabbits, antelope and herd of white cattle. 

  
        

We only had a few miles till the NM border when the trouble started with slick mud. Oklahoma wasn’t done with us yet! 

  
With extra weight from the water and gas on the back of his bike dad took a spill. I stalled out once and had a spinner but thankfully kept the bike upright. Talk about perfect timing- if we had come through this section any earlier we all would have been stuck in the mud bogs. 

  

 

We took a break a mile from the border and took this celebratory photo. Almost out of OK!

  

Not so fast – a half mile later, we came upon a massive water hole in the road. 

 

Stefan decided to navigate around it, as he had just done successfully to a couple other slightly smaller water holes we encountered. This detour was quite a bit larger through unstable ground and dad’s bike went down again. Only this time after we got it back upright it wouldn’t start.   

 
   

Luckily we had a can of quick start, unfortunately it didn’t help. We pushed the bike out of the brambles and underbrush, let it settle for a bit on solid ground, and then it started right up! Victory!

   
  

  

 

We rode around one more giant puddle spanning across State Line Road, and then we hit NM pavement and were home free! For the time being anyway….