Sand Spring....

....Oklahoma, near Tulsa, on US Four-Twelve,

on the Arkansas River, a very nice town is alive and well.

Interesting that they call Keystone a lake,

it's a reservoir on a damned up river for gripes sake!

But there's the beautiful and often explored,

Keystone Ancient Forest, open to this old Ford;

some trees have been here for five hundred years,

missed by the tornados, not the source of tears.

Top: A view of downtown
Middle: Old growth cedar, some are 500 years old, some oak are 300 years old.
Bottom:  Spring!  New green leaves

Enid....

....Oklahoma, hub of the Cherokee Strip,
lots of things here to make it worth the trip;
and many things too that are good to know,
like the third largest grain storage, it's all in a row.

Oil companies really like the place too,
and of course ranchers and farmers stick here like glue;
and for us visitors, well, there's a lot,
museums for all ages grandmoms to tot.

Top:  A look at Enid, the grain elevators are visable in the far background.
Middle:  An oil rig, drilling right here.
Bottom:  A twister coming at us, Enid was mentioned in the movie "Twister".

Fort Supply...

....Oklahoma, an historic site,

an old "wild western" fort, what a delight!

It got started up after the U S Civil War,

to keep peace between tribes Comanche and Kiowa.

Manned by white officers and black enlisted men,

the "Buffalo Soldiers" started up then,

it's worth the trip to see this place,

to understand out history or race.

Top:  Fort Supply as it is today
Middle: Lake Fort Supply - a reservoir
Bottom:  New day dawning in Oklahoma

Guymon....

...Oklahoma, on the high plains and the Panhandle too,
if you're interested in ranching this place is for you;
or maybe a weather guy would have lots to see,
if it's a tornado, it would be the cellar for me!

The famous "dust bowl" came through this town,
it was in April, 1935 it turned the town brown;
those were hard times, there was dispair,
even the prayers didn't help, it was just there.

Top: Thunder in the dark, downtown Guymon.

Middle: The 'black blizzard' came in April 1935

Middle: A 'super cell' approaches Guymon, see the funnel form?

Bottom: Two Curlews looking for supper:

Oh, I love these wild flowers in this dear land of ours;

                                                       The curlew I love to hear scream;

And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocks

That graze on the mountain tops green.

6th verse "Home on the Range"

Clayton...

Where dinosaurs once roamed, cattle drive cowboy dances,
this was a shipping point for Pecos River ranches;
located on the Santa Fe trail cutoff of the Cimarron trail,
the town is friendly and the folks here have never gotten frail.

There are still ranchers and cowboys out here,
but you can come and visit there is nothing to fear;
we're very close to Oklahoma, the pan-handle anyway,
we'll be in with the Okies, in just another day.

Top:  The Clayton mesas
Middle: Storm rolling in from the eastern edge of the Rockies
Bottom: The old railyard, no longer in use.

Raton....

...New Mexico, the name is Spanish for little rat,
and there's the Capulin Volcano and all that,
the town is historic, it's been well preserved,
it sits in place with a station that Wells Fargo served.   (stagecoach)

There were no badmen or desperados here,
to incite the population with fear,
this town was quiet like it should be,
after all it's named "mouse" you see.

Top:  Capulin Volcano, you can drive around the outside and walk down in the cone.
Middle:  Portion of the historic downtown.
Bottom:  Storm coming in from the Rocky Mountains.

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Cimarron....

"Everything is quiet at Cimarron.  Nobody has been killed in three days."
 - The Las Vegas Gazette in the late 1870's

A real wild west town, that's what we have here,
there was a time, long ago, when you could live in fear!
On the mountain end of the Santa Fe trail,
many a cowboy wished he'd turned tail.

The visitors that came to town included deperados too
including Davy Crockett, the real Davy's nephew,
along with Kit Carson and Buffalo Bill,
law was restored, and they filled up Boot Hill!

Top: Buffalo roaming (no roaming charges)
Middle: Cowboys at work - actually these two are of a vacation spot.
Bottom:  A town road

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Taos....

....New Mexico, famous for art and ski slopes too,
and we dropped in for a look or maybe two,
in the land of the Pueblo the days are nice;
and the mountains in winter are just like ice.

Top:  A view from the Rio Grande Bridge, long way down
Middle:  Waiting for a skier
Middle:  Taos at sunrise
Bottom:  It's fall and the snow is on the peaks

Dulce...

There's an urban legend that's been going around,
about a 'secret base', hidden under ground;
where there are aliens and our Air Force too;
conducting experiments on people like you!

There's no truth to it, there are Apaches in place,
this is their home here in the high desert place,
the Tribe is the Jicarilla (hek-a-REH-ya) is how to say it,
they've been here for centuries, and want you to know it.

Top:  Dulce is near this mesa
Middle(1) Ladies going to the Pow Wow
Middle(2) Jicarilla means 'little' basket people
Bottom: Apache 'warriors' at the Pow Wow

Four Corners......

,,,,USA. Here we are in four states in one chair,
just get on all fours, one leg here, one leg there...
..get the idea?  We're out in the desert, in this place,
the only place in the country where this is the case.

Top:  The 'marker' at the exact spot

Middle: Four states at once, is that Miley Cyrus?

Bottom:  Looking into Arizona's Monument Valley

Shiprock...

....New Mexico, poking up out of the ground,
the curious rock, under-earth found;
there's not a lot like it, try to understand,
look at the following - it's a lesson plan.

You see the piece called volcanic neck?
that's what we have now, volcano blown to heck,
wait until you see the 'trail' left by the eruption then,
what's left now is a large crack, filled in - not by men.

The bottom two photos show the 'trail' from different angles.  The 'trail' was made by a type of lava blown out by small eruptions, the bottom photo shows how high they are.  So very interesting!
go to -  www.emporia.edu/earthsci/student/kuss1/shiprock.html for more info.  I really like this place.

Gallup...

...New Mexico! We're in a different state. Look at these cabins, back before motels,

built on the 'mother road', US66, back when things were slower, now time sells;

so we have the interstate, 40 goes through here,

I yearn for the past some times, things were more clear.

But today in Gallup, it's still an active place,

probably there are days when they'd like a slower pace.

Now the city hosts a balloon fest every year,

it's some thing people travel to see and to cheer.

Top:  Tourist Cabins - before motels, there were a lot of 'different' designs

Middle:  Red sandstone cliffs line US6

Bottom:  Part of the flying during baloon fest.

Petrified Forest National Park...

Petrified, not scary, these rocks are all stone,
harder than anything, harder than bone;
they were growing taller many years ago,
now they've tumbled down, part of a show.

We are in the Painted Desert, it's grassland I'm told,
the grass may grow, but most of all, everything is old!
It's very dry here all the time, I don't think it has rain,
maybe so of us should live out here, it may help the pain.

Top:  The log tumble
Middle: The Devils Playground
Bottom: A wider view of the Painted Desert

Winslow...

...Arizona, another stop of Highway Sixty-Six,
in the song Winslow, Barstow, San Bernidino,
but that's the wrong direction, we are headed east,
but not before we stop and look at the La Posada beast.

The Grand hotel, a Harvey House, built some time ago,
the land has changed, they've been exchanged, we may be at a low,
let these buildings and these towns, become a pile of dust,
just the way, back some time, when we let the railroads rust.

Top:  Interior, the La Posada (art deco)
Middle: Exterior, the La Posada
Bottom: Well, I'm a standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, and such a fine sight to see
             It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford,
             slowin' down to take a look at me
  The Eagles

More on the hotel at: http://www.laposada.org/
                                          

Williams...

Arizona,  located right on the Highway Sixty-six,
a lot of nice things, an it's not out in the sticks,
the Grand Canyon Railroad, both diesel and steam,
go ahead and ride one, it's a lot of peoples dream.

The landscape has changed some, this is new,
more grass and less "canyon" view,
but it's still in Arizona, so one can expect,
to see mountains and desert, no big city wreck.

Top:  One of the steam locomotives, GCRR
Middle: Golf anyone?  Look at the view
Bottom: Portion of US66 a national treasure, mostly gone now:(