Day 19 - Guymon, OK -Liberal, KS
40.2 official miles
3:03 time, 13.3 average
Well, I have to change one of my favorite expressions which is “This ain’t Kansas Dorothy”. Well now it is, because we ARE in Kansas. Liberal, Kansas that is. Down home cooking, oil wells, cowboys, wheat that is (try singing this to Scruggs & Flatt’s Beverly Hillbillies theme song)
Today was a fun day where we only biked 40 miles. So three of us lollygagged along for most of the morning. Lollygagged is a proper word, just look it up. Ever since Webster included all these goofy words in the 70’s its been in the dictionary. Noah or is it Daniel would roll over in his grave. We went through Hooker, OK where the Chamber of Commerce building also served as a gift shop. They sold tee shirts with sayings like “all my friends are hookers”, “hooker is a location not a vocation” and “I’m proud to be a hooker”. Somehow none seemed appropriate for my wife or daughters so I had to pass. We ate lunch at a little restaurant in Tyrone, Oklahoma. Dave served us some barbeque ribs and brisket (see the pics) and his own barbeque sauce. We topped that off with some home made pie. I’m certainly glad we were only 10 miles outside of town otherwise we wouldn’t have made it. The restaurant was decked out in football paraphernalia with the showpiece being a Lynn Scott jersey who is a member of the Dallas Cowboys. He was a graduate of Tyrone High. Last year in six games he had no sacks, no assts, and 2 tackles. He is the pride of Tyrone. Personally, I think they should hang Dave’s apron on the wall. Well that’s about all there is on Tyrone.
We stopped along the way where Jim and Elmer saw their first prairie dog town. They were all popping their heads out of their holes. That is until we got out our cameras when all the prairie dogs nearest to us disappeared as their friends warned them that we still watching. I think they were all laughing. So ten minutes later, I had a couple of pictures of prairie dog mounds sans the dogs. Today, I also got to point out the various weeds to Elmer and Jim like thistle and potato weeds. The worthless information this cranium spits out.
Liberal, Kansas is a big oil and gas town. The Hugoton gas field is located here. At one time it was the largest gas field in the world. Liberal is also the Land of OZ. Truly it is. There is a Wizard of Oz museum complete with a yellow brick road and a farmhouse just like the movie. It probably sounds more exciting than it was regardless of your level of excitement. But, I can say I went to the Wizard of Oz museum.
One question which I’m sure all our readers want to know. How did Liberal get its name. Well, the first settler was a generous soul named S.S. Rogers and he gave water to all of the travelers that passed by. Water was a very scarce resource and they frequently commented “that’s mighty liberal of you”. Hence the name Liberal. And that’s about all there is ‘bout today.
Signing off for another day.
