Day 12 - October 13 - Muskogee, OK to Weatherford OK - 207 miles

Candidly, what is becoming an endless stream of similar hotels is taking on a life of its own, outside of the rest of the day. I guess it's a little strange to find the greatest event in the first hours of a long day to discover a Starbucks coffee place on my route. I have a view that coffee generally gets less interesting, weaker, and with less flavor as I travel south and west. After more than a week at this, I have yet to find a good cup of coffee in a hotel as part of the inevitable breakfast.  This leads me to a story: I was in the Muskogee hotel this morning, after downing some oatmeal, wheat toast and a hard-boiled (really HARD-boiled) egg. While Fox News droned on on the TV in the corner, I overheard the hotel's breakfast person speak with her daughter and boyfriend. Seems the boyfriend was headed back to court today to see if he'd "have to go back in." Daughter was going to move from Muskogee to Tulsa. Boyfriend seemed to enjoy the biscuits and gravy as he had three plates full. Perhaps he was anticipating something. Mom thought the problems of the country could be solved if "they'd just raise the minimum wage." A Fox News story about a young man killed by pirates in Mexico elicited the comment from Mom: "I'm never traveling outside this country...it's too dangerous." But I digress...

Long story shortened, I was soon out of that place and zipping down the highway. As I approached Shawnee, OK, I left the main road, headed into see how the old downtown looked today. Apropos of the boyfriend's comments (above), there were four multiple-member attorneys' offices in downtown, but nothing else memorable. Shawnee PD cars were clean, and new.

Anyway, on my way back to I-40 to OK City, I tested the limits of the ABS on the RT when I saw a Starbucks coffee place on the RH side of the road. For those who know,  a Grande Americano (with an inch of room) is my drink. Damn, it was good. End of coffee story for now, but I think there's a bleak future ahead in the Texas Panhandle, coffee-wise.

Moving on, I had a plan for the day. Stop in at the BMW dealer in OK City, get the fuel system problem fixed, buy some heated clothes, and move on to Weatherford, OK for the night. Long story shortened, I got to the BMW dealer, but things took a little longer than I expected. That said, there's alway someone with whom I can chat, and chat I did. I learned a lot about the motorcycle business in OK City, and all of the various attractions of the area. Out of the blue, Steve Micka and his girlfriend arrived on two motorcycles. Seems he needed an oil-change in his LT, and two new tires. The pair was headed to FL, having been in the Northwest. They live in Northampton, MA and he'd never heard of Yankee Beemers. Soon he will. We traded road stories, looked at the g/f's interesting bike, and traded email addresses.

Anyway, on to Weatherford, OK. When I arrived at (where else?) a Comfort Inn, I noted that the place seemed to be populated by a number of my contemporaries (and older). As I was doing laundry tonight, I talked with Gary LNU (last name unknown) who was waiting for the dryer to stop. Anyway, seems that Gary is from Michigan, and he and two friends are driving the length of the old US-66. This route doesn't exist officially any more, but there is plenty of information around about the old road. Gary said that he and his pals have been planning this for a year, are driving a bright red 2004 Ford Thunderbird convertible from Chicago (where the old Route 66 started) to California where it ended. Gary's no technophobe, and pulled out his iPhone to show me photos of a bunch of things he and pals have seen so far. So, between and among those in Weatherford for Route 66, or perhaps the Tom Stafford (he was a local fellow who became an astronaut) Airport and Museum, the town's a hopping place.

Big Day tomorrow: Perryton, TX, my Dad's home town.