Day 13 - October 14 - Weatherford, OK to Perryton, TX - 210 miles

I guess I have really been lucky with the weather. Yet another clear, dry, sunny day here in the midsection of the US. I left the hotel in Weatherford with two short-term goals: 1) look for the old route US 66 and ride on it a little, and 2) see if some decent coffee might be around somewhere. I accomplished both goals, as Route 66 was just down the road, and "The Cup" was in the center of town. Caffeine levels up, I headed west toward Texas. I still had some of Oklahoma to cross, but I was now off the main roads in my mind, and headed for the back country, that is, Perryton, TX, my father's boyhood home.

I did stop in Elk City, OK for a minor rigging repair (thanks to Bob's Boot and Saddle Shop there) before riding on the non-Interstate highways.

I should tell you that nothing focusses the mind of motorcycle rider quite like a large, orange diamond-shaped sign with the words: "Loose Gravel." Woh! I was zooming along just under the 55-mph limit on a two-land road in OK when I topped a rise, and saw the ominous sign in front of me. Fortunately, the gravel was not imminent, but it was shortly under me. Scary stuff. I continued on toward Texas treading as lightly as possible across the treacherous stuff. No incidents; shiny side stayed uppermost.

Anyway, it became clear to me that I was headed into that place where beef cattle and oil production facilities inhabit the same space. Also, once I got into Texas, the raising of wheat joins the other two products on the land.

More importantly, as I rode from Oklahoma to Texas,  it seemed to me that the scale of the land became greater...that is the space in Texas just was vast in a way that's hard to explain. I recall riding along a long highway which did not have a lot of traffic as I headed toward Perryton, and realized suddenly how huge the space was. It's not that it was empty. There were fences, and minor roads, oil production facilities and the occasional derrick of an exploratory well. Maybe the stark brightness of the sun and the cloudless sky enhanced this, but I'm still not over it. There's something very appealing to me about the impact the land of the Texas Panhandle had on me.

Back to reality. I was approaching Perryton with some trepidation. This was to be my physical goal for the journey, i.e. go to Perryton, learn about the Gamel forebears, meets cousins, etc., close the loop, etc. 

For those who don't know,  I began this exploration in 2003 when I made contact with Karin Heymer of  West Texas A&M University. Karin was part of the Registrar's Office of WT (that's how people call it) and provided me a lot of information about my father's life on the campus in the 1925-1929 time period.  Among the things Karin provided for me were photos of my father at West Texas State Teachers College.

Perhaps none of the readers of this will know that Perryton has called itself the "Wheatheart of the Nation" because of its substantial prominence in the production of wheat. The importance of wheat production around Perryton has possibly been supplanted by the oil and gas production that came into importance in the 1950's and later. As I arrived, I could see production derricks pumping, cotton being harvested, and a substantial number of trucks carting cattle north on US-83. I could smell each one as it passed. When I arrived at my hotel, the parking lot was filled with what I now consider to be the emblematic truck of the oil/pipeline service industry: a white Ford/Chevrolet F-250/2500 pickup, with racks behind the cab, a huge bumper-type system up front, and a bed filled with pipe, buckets, tools, water jugs and the like. In this tiny part of Texas, the economy seemed to be doing well. 

Tomorrow, I'll look back at the past, I hope.

Photos for this post at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jgamelpi/SouthernSwingDay13#