OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKLAHOMA!

Friends are a funny old thing aren´t they ? Some you only see once or twice a year and when you see them you feel as if you've never been apart. Some you meet on the weekend and they´re your new best friend ... until next weekend that is ! Luckily my friend in Oklahoma was of the former type...a long distance friend separated from me by time and distance (9 years and 4,613 miles to be exact!)  
When I told Kate that we were coming to the States to do this trip. i hoped that she would invite us to OK - well she not only invited us but put us up in her home that she shares with her husband Rob (spooky) and her dog and 3 cats !

Oklahoma City is not somewhere that we would necessarily have visited if we had not had a reason to; but it turns out that anywhere can be fun with the company of good friends and we certainly made a few that week both human and animal.

Rob and Kate took us for some lovely meals, a trip round the fantastic Oklahoma City Zoo and Rob went somewhere that he´ll tell you about himself. Kate was in OK City because her husband Rob, is in the US Airforce and is currently stationed at the Tinker City airbase nearby. They share their home with three gorgeous cats and the new love of Rob's (my one!) life, their wonderful Corgi, Roxy.   

It was a wrench to leave Kate and Rob but we had to continue with our trip into the (not so) unknown. Never underestimate the power of good conversation, good wine and a very comfy sofa. It´s very weird the things that become creature comforts when you're travelling the world. (don´t worry girls I have my hair straighteners !)

Here's a big thank you once more to Kate and Rob for being fantastic hosts and making us feel completely at home. We owe you one !

pn

Do you know the way to Amarillo...

..it's mostly on the route 66 actually.


After arriving during one of the worst thunderstorms we've seen (which are becoming more and more frequent the further east we get) we dumped our stuff and watched Hurricane Week on the Weather Channel. Slightly concerned, we listened out for news about the storm; it turned out the storm was just above us. "Do not go outside - if you can see lightning, you can be stuck by it", it read. These words have scared me ever since. I now see lightning and look for all the ways I could die! I definitely shouldn't have watched Final Destination.

When the great storm of Amarillo ended, we called a cab and went to the World Famous Big Texan Steak Ranch, during which time we were clearly informed that the storm we had witnessed was just a baby one and absolutely nothing to worry about. Phew!

The Big Texan Steak Ranch is world famous for just one thing really, it holds the original 72 ounce steak competition, like the

one John Candy entered in the film 'The Great Outdoors'. Unfortunately for the competitors, you don't have to just eat steak. Altogether you must eat; an enormous 72oz steak, a baked potato with sour cream, a prawn cocktail, dinner salad and a bread roll, and it must all be completed within an hour! We saw a Scottish lady try, and fail; and was probably sick within that hour... tit.

Somehow every cab journey we took, we had the same driver, who we got talking to. He suggested that we should go to the Amarillo Dillas baseball game, which just happed to be on $2 Tuesday. Guess how much the beer was? $2! And the food? Yes, $2!! And the entrance fee? YES, YOU GUESSED IT $2!!! To top it all off the Dillas won the game and our old mate the cab driver drove us back to the hotel.

We went to Amarillo with the pre-conception that there wouldn't be much to do, but we were wrong. I don't think we'd write a song about it, but perhaps we'll choreograph a dance. Give us a hand Ed ?


ps