From Here to Colorado Springs and Back - Second Day
So after spending the night in Natchez, we left bright and early the next morning for our second day of travel heading to Tulsa, OK. We crossed the Mississippi River and entered Louisiana. There was not a lot to see and I didn't sleep very well the night before so after a while I brought out my travel pillow and nodded off. I awoke rather abruptly some time later when the car slowed and I heard my husband use some rather colorful language. In one of the parishes we were driving through, the local authority pulled us over. The officer said to my unhappy husband, "Sir, the reason I have pulled you over is that you were going 65 in a 50 zone." We were not aware that there were still speed traps around. I kid you not, the speed limit was 65 and went directly to 50. There was a traffic sign not 75 feet from where we were stopped raising the speed again to 65! The officer very calmly told us that we could call after 4 the same day and find out the amount of the fine and how to pay it. Later in the day, we called and found out it was a hefty $l75. Needless to say, we were happy to leave Louisiana later in the day!
As I said earlier, there was not a lot to see in the part of Louisiana that we drove through and I did sleep part of the way through the state. However, after I woke up we did talk some about the history of Louisiana - specifically about the Louisiana Purchase. After being out of school for so long my memory of learning about US history is dim. So of course, I "Googled" it! According to Wikipedia, the Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory by the US from France in 1803. The territory included land from 15 present day states and 2 Canadian provinces. It contained land that forms AR, MO, IA, OK, KS, NE, the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, a large portion of ND, a large portion of SD, the north east section of NM, the northern portion of TX, the area of MT, Wyoming and Colorado east of the continental divide, LA west of the Mississippi River (plus New Orleans) and small portions of land withing the present Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The purchase doubled the size of the US.
Louisiana has a diverse culture - two prominent ethic groups are Cajuns (descendants of a French speaking group of Acadians from Canada) and Creoles a mixture of French, Spanish, Caribbean, African and or Indian background people.
Interesting facts about Louisiana:
* The state bird is the Brown Pelican
* Gemstones found in LA - Agate is the state mineral, oyster shell is the state gemstone, "palm wood" is the state fossil - palm wood is petrified wood which is a sedimentary rock
* The Mississippi River is the border for Louisiana and Mississippi
* There are 4 military bases in the state
* Famous people - Trace Adkins, Terry Bradshaw, Ellen Degeneres, Louis Armstrong, Truman Capoti, Harry Connick Jr. and Warren Dunn to name a few!
* Population in 2018 is 4,684 million people
* Highest elevation is 535' and the lowest is 8'
* LA has a humid subtropical climate with hot humid summers and short mild winters
* New Orleans most well know city - Bourbon Street is the best known street in LA
* Economy consists of natural resource production and agriculture - oil, natural gas, commercial fishing, chemicals and agriculture are 5 vital industries
* LA is the only state that does not have counties - it has parishes
* LA is named in honor of King Louis XIV
* Metaire is home to the longest bridge over water in the world, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway which is 24 miles long
I know most people have heard of the famous Mardi Gras celebration that takes place every year in New Orleans. Mardi Gras is also known as Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday refers to events of the carnival celebrations beginning on or after the Christian Feasts of Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday reflects the last night of eating richer fatty foods before the ritual of the Lenten season.
The event arrived in North America as a French Catholic tradition with the Le Moyne brothers in the late 17 century when King Louis XIV sent the pair to defend Frances' claim on the territory of LA. The first organized Mardi Gras celebrations was in 1703. The first Mardi Gras parade held in New Orleans took place in 1837.
Here is something you may or may not have heard about - The Orphan Train Movement. From 1854 to 1929, almost 200,000 orphaned, abandoned or homeless children from eastern cities such as NYC were relocated to other parts of the country. Opelonsas was a destination for at least 3 of the orphan trains. Families there took in over 2,000 children, mostly Catholic, to live in rural farming communities.
The first time I had heard of this was a couple a years ago when my book club read the book, The Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline. A great read but so sad in many cases.
We crossed the border into Texas and had an uneventful drive. While driving through TX my husband started listening to an audible book by Steven Pinker called, How the Mind Works. Some very interesting and insightful information but some times so repetitive in explaining his point that I again dosed off!
We didn't stop too many times each day for pit stops but when we did, we always looked for exits that had Love's Travel Stops. While traveling in the past, I had noticed that the Love's locations were always nice but didn't think to much more about them. Since I had so much time of my hands during this trip, I decided to research them. They are a family owned company that was founded in 1964 by Tom and Judy Love. They have over 450 locations in 41 states and are based in Oklahoma City.
As we drove along the highway I began to notice signs that said Texas Plains Trail. That made me curious so I looked it up. In checking on it, I found out that this is a 52 county region of over 50,000 square miles of short grass prairie and spectacular canyon vistas. The TX Heritage Trails Program is the TX Historical Commissions tourism initiative - an economic development initiative that encourages communities and the state to partner and promote Texas' historic and cultural resources. See texasplainstrail.com for more info.
The scenery was definitely gorgeous except for the oil wells! They are not pretty but I did find myself mesmerized by the number of them and where they were placed, which was pretty much anywhere! I found myself nodding my head up and down as they pumped away. They kind of reminded me of the old wooden rocking horses we had as children for some reason.
The US has oil wells in 10 states that produce approximately 90% of the US oil production. Texas accounts for about 1/3 of this oil production.
It wasn't too long after seeing the first oil wells that we also began to see wind turbines. I had never seen one except on television so it was quite exciting to see how massive they are and how many we have working in the country. In 2017, electric power generated from wind provided 8% or more of the power in 12 states - CO, ID, IA, KS, ME, MN, ND, OK, OR, SD, VT and TX.
Interesting facts about TX
* There are 5 main rivers in TX - the Rio Grande, the Colorado River, the San Antonio River (which runs through the city of San Antonio), the Guadalupe River and Devils River
* The elevation varies in TX from Galveston at 3' above sea level to Guadalupe Peak in West Texas the highest point at 8,751 feet
* There are too many military bases in TX to list here! The same can be said about famous people and 4 year colleges.
* The official gemstone of TX is the Texas Topaz but you can also find gold, silver, agate, gypsum, smoky quartz, onyx, pyrite, feldspar, mica, garnet, fluorite, hematite, tourmaline, opal and over 100 minerals
* Major industries included, petroleum, natural gas, farming, steel, banking and tourism
* The climate varies widely for the state from arid west to the humid east - central Texas is semi-arid - southern TX is mostly within the tropical classification
* Animals native to TX are many but the state animal is the armadillo (1927) and the Mexican free-tailed bat (1955) - the longhorn became the large mammal symbol of TX in 1995
* The state bird is the Northern Mockingbird
* The Alamo is perhaps the most famous site in TX and is located in San Antonio
* Texas is popularly known as the Lone Star State
* The King Ranch is bigger than the state of Rhode Island
* More wool comes from TX than any other state
* Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885 (there is no period after the r in Dr)
* The word Texas comes from the Hasinal Indian word meaning friends or allies
* The worst natural disaster in the state was caused by a hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900 when about 8,000 lives were lost - A great book about this was written by Erik Larson - Issac's Storm
We drove about 60 miles through Arkansas before entering Oklahoma. One big thing we noticed about driving through the mid west is that you see fewer of what we call "leftist" - you know those people who insist on driving in the left lane. Come on people! The left lane is supposed to be for passing and for those people who are driving at speeds that do not slow the people behind you. We live in the Atlanta area which has become quite a large city since were were born her in the 50's. The traffic has become a nightmare so we were delighted to see road signs that said Do Not Impede the Left Lane and people actually obeyed them!
But, back to Tulsa! We arrived in the evening and checked in to the Mayo Hotel. The Mayo is in a historic building in downtown Tulsa. The Chicago School building was built in 1925. It originally had 600 rooms, ceiling fans in each room and Tulsa's first running ice water. Many famous people frequented the hotel including President John F. Kennedy, Bob Hope, Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, Charlie Chaplin, Mae West and Elvis Presley. The hotel was abandoned for 30 years after it closed. The Snyder family purchased the building in 2001 for $250,000 and began renovations. The lower floors were restored first and many events were held in the beautiful lobby area. A project to convert the 7 upper floors into 70 lofts began in 2008.
The hotel opened in 2009 for it first guest - Britney Spears. She booked 80 rooms for her tour stop in Tulsa. Many more famous guests have stayed there since then - Lady Gaga, Bob Seger, Josh Groban and One Republic to name a few.
Tulsa is a city on the Arkansas River. It is 722' above sea level. The population is approximately 394,500. For most of the 20th century, the city held the nickname "Oil Capital of the World". The economy now is more diversified and includes sectors of finance, aviation, telecommunications and technology.
The city was first settled around 1836 by Trail of Tears survivors from the Lochapoka and Creek Indians. The area around Tulsa was also settled by members of the Five Civilized Tribes. Most of modern Tulsa is located in the Creek Nation with parts located in the Cherokee Nation and Osage Nation.
Tulsa has a temperate climate of the humid subtropical variety. The city is subject to severe thunderstorms.
I will cover more on the the state of Oklahoma in our return trip home at a later date.
As I said earlier, there was not a lot to see in the part of Louisiana that we drove through and I did sleep part of the way through the state. However, after I woke up we did talk some about the history of Louisiana - specifically about the Louisiana Purchase. After being out of school for so long my memory of learning about US history is dim. So of course, I "Googled" it! According to Wikipedia, the Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory by the US from France in 1803. The territory included land from 15 present day states and 2 Canadian provinces. It contained land that forms AR, MO, IA, OK, KS, NE, the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, a large portion of ND, a large portion of SD, the north east section of NM, the northern portion of TX, the area of MT, Wyoming and Colorado east of the continental divide, LA west of the Mississippi River (plus New Orleans) and small portions of land withing the present Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The purchase doubled the size of the US.
Louisiana has a diverse culture - two prominent ethic groups are Cajuns (descendants of a French speaking group of Acadians from Canada) and Creoles a mixture of French, Spanish, Caribbean, African and or Indian background people.
Interesting facts about Louisiana:
* The state bird is the Brown Pelican
* Gemstones found in LA - Agate is the state mineral, oyster shell is the state gemstone, "palm wood" is the state fossil - palm wood is petrified wood which is a sedimentary rock
* The Mississippi River is the border for Louisiana and Mississippi
* There are 4 military bases in the state
* Famous people - Trace Adkins, Terry Bradshaw, Ellen Degeneres, Louis Armstrong, Truman Capoti, Harry Connick Jr. and Warren Dunn to name a few!
* Population in 2018 is 4,684 million people
* Highest elevation is 535' and the lowest is 8'
* LA has a humid subtropical climate with hot humid summers and short mild winters
* New Orleans most well know city - Bourbon Street is the best known street in LA
* Economy consists of natural resource production and agriculture - oil, natural gas, commercial fishing, chemicals and agriculture are 5 vital industries
* LA is the only state that does not have counties - it has parishes
* LA is named in honor of King Louis XIV
* Metaire is home to the longest bridge over water in the world, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway which is 24 miles long
I know most people have heard of the famous Mardi Gras celebration that takes place every year in New Orleans. Mardi Gras is also known as Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday refers to events of the carnival celebrations beginning on or after the Christian Feasts of Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday reflects the last night of eating richer fatty foods before the ritual of the Lenten season.
The event arrived in North America as a French Catholic tradition with the Le Moyne brothers in the late 17 century when King Louis XIV sent the pair to defend Frances' claim on the territory of LA. The first organized Mardi Gras celebrations was in 1703. The first Mardi Gras parade held in New Orleans took place in 1837.
Here is something you may or may not have heard about - The Orphan Train Movement. From 1854 to 1929, almost 200,000 orphaned, abandoned or homeless children from eastern cities such as NYC were relocated to other parts of the country. Opelonsas was a destination for at least 3 of the orphan trains. Families there took in over 2,000 children, mostly Catholic, to live in rural farming communities.
The first time I had heard of this was a couple a years ago when my book club read the book, The Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline. A great read but so sad in many cases.
We crossed the border into Texas and had an uneventful drive. While driving through TX my husband started listening to an audible book by Steven Pinker called, How the Mind Works. Some very interesting and insightful information but some times so repetitive in explaining his point that I again dosed off!
We didn't stop too many times each day for pit stops but when we did, we always looked for exits that had Love's Travel Stops. While traveling in the past, I had noticed that the Love's locations were always nice but didn't think to much more about them. Since I had so much time of my hands during this trip, I decided to research them. They are a family owned company that was founded in 1964 by Tom and Judy Love. They have over 450 locations in 41 states and are based in Oklahoma City.
As we drove along the highway I began to notice signs that said Texas Plains Trail. That made me curious so I looked it up. In checking on it, I found out that this is a 52 county region of over 50,000 square miles of short grass prairie and spectacular canyon vistas. The TX Heritage Trails Program is the TX Historical Commissions tourism initiative - an economic development initiative that encourages communities and the state to partner and promote Texas' historic and cultural resources. See texasplainstrail.com for more info.
The scenery was definitely gorgeous except for the oil wells! They are not pretty but I did find myself mesmerized by the number of them and where they were placed, which was pretty much anywhere! I found myself nodding my head up and down as they pumped away. They kind of reminded me of the old wooden rocking horses we had as children for some reason.
The US has oil wells in 10 states that produce approximately 90% of the US oil production. Texas accounts for about 1/3 of this oil production.
It wasn't too long after seeing the first oil wells that we also began to see wind turbines. I had never seen one except on television so it was quite exciting to see how massive they are and how many we have working in the country. In 2017, electric power generated from wind provided 8% or more of the power in 12 states - CO, ID, IA, KS, ME, MN, ND, OK, OR, SD, VT and TX.
Interesting facts about TX
* There are 5 main rivers in TX - the Rio Grande, the Colorado River, the San Antonio River (which runs through the city of San Antonio), the Guadalupe River and Devils River
* The elevation varies in TX from Galveston at 3' above sea level to Guadalupe Peak in West Texas the highest point at 8,751 feet
* There are too many military bases in TX to list here! The same can be said about famous people and 4 year colleges.
* The official gemstone of TX is the Texas Topaz but you can also find gold, silver, agate, gypsum, smoky quartz, onyx, pyrite, feldspar, mica, garnet, fluorite, hematite, tourmaline, opal and over 100 minerals
* Major industries included, petroleum, natural gas, farming, steel, banking and tourism
* The climate varies widely for the state from arid west to the humid east - central Texas is semi-arid - southern TX is mostly within the tropical classification
* Animals native to TX are many but the state animal is the armadillo (1927) and the Mexican free-tailed bat (1955) - the longhorn became the large mammal symbol of TX in 1995
* The state bird is the Northern Mockingbird
* The Alamo is perhaps the most famous site in TX and is located in San Antonio
* Texas is popularly known as the Lone Star State
* The King Ranch is bigger than the state of Rhode Island
* More wool comes from TX than any other state
* Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885 (there is no period after the r in Dr)
* The word Texas comes from the Hasinal Indian word meaning friends or allies
* The worst natural disaster in the state was caused by a hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900 when about 8,000 lives were lost - A great book about this was written by Erik Larson - Issac's Storm
We drove about 60 miles through Arkansas before entering Oklahoma. One big thing we noticed about driving through the mid west is that you see fewer of what we call "leftist" - you know those people who insist on driving in the left lane. Come on people! The left lane is supposed to be for passing and for those people who are driving at speeds that do not slow the people behind you. We live in the Atlanta area which has become quite a large city since were were born her in the 50's. The traffic has become a nightmare so we were delighted to see road signs that said Do Not Impede the Left Lane and people actually obeyed them!
But, back to Tulsa! We arrived in the evening and checked in to the Mayo Hotel. The Mayo is in a historic building in downtown Tulsa. The Chicago School building was built in 1925. It originally had 600 rooms, ceiling fans in each room and Tulsa's first running ice water. Many famous people frequented the hotel including President John F. Kennedy, Bob Hope, Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, Charlie Chaplin, Mae West and Elvis Presley. The hotel was abandoned for 30 years after it closed. The Snyder family purchased the building in 2001 for $250,000 and began renovations. The lower floors were restored first and many events were held in the beautiful lobby area. A project to convert the 7 upper floors into 70 lofts began in 2008.
The hotel opened in 2009 for it first guest - Britney Spears. She booked 80 rooms for her tour stop in Tulsa. Many more famous guests have stayed there since then - Lady Gaga, Bob Seger, Josh Groban and One Republic to name a few.
Tulsa is a city on the Arkansas River. It is 722' above sea level. The population is approximately 394,500. For most of the 20th century, the city held the nickname "Oil Capital of the World". The economy now is more diversified and includes sectors of finance, aviation, telecommunications and technology.
The city was first settled around 1836 by Trail of Tears survivors from the Lochapoka and Creek Indians. The area around Tulsa was also settled by members of the Five Civilized Tribes. Most of modern Tulsa is located in the Creek Nation with parts located in the Cherokee Nation and Osage Nation.
Tulsa has a temperate climate of the humid subtropical variety. The city is subject to severe thunderstorms.
I will cover more on the the state of Oklahoma in our return trip home at a later date.
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