Monday, May 13th – Day 41 – Chandler/Davenport to Tulsa

Best part of the day:    Staying with our Warm Showers hosts

Worst part of the day: Lack of a road shoulder and impatient drivers

Distance: 65 miles        Riding Time: 5hrs 54min

Bed count: 24                Sleeping Bag count: 17

Fay had a hard time sleeping last night. Some kind of animal was making a noise all night long. Had a quick breakfast and got on the road around 8ish. Last year on Mother’s Day, we slept in a barn with horses, pigs and other animals outside on our Atlantic Coast MS ride! So, yesterday was a big upgrade!!

Our route this morning brought back onto the same road on which we arrived yesterday. So, we were not looking forward to the no shoulder and fast cars. We got about 6 miles into the ride and Fay yells out “Phone, wallet, and glasses. ” Anytime we stop and start up again, that’s our checklist. Well this time, Rob says, “let’s pull over because I’m pretty sure that my wallet is still in the tent.” When Fay packed it away, she didn’t notice anything bulky or unusual. So, we open up the tent and sure enough, it was in the side pocket where he always keeps it. Just a small bump in the road to start off with, no biggie.

(On Main Street/Route 66 in the town of Stroud. Pretty much all of the business are on the roadway.)

At about 27 miles along, we stopped in the town of Bristow at a Sonic restaurant. We’d noticed that they’re all over here in the Midwest ever since we entered Texas. We found out it originated here in Oklahoma!. We each had one of their breakfast sandwiches which came with tater tots.

Approaching Sapulpa, our ACA route took us off the busy Route 66 road and onto a side road, West Ozark Trail. That road was a hazardous, broken concrete, accident-waiting-to-happen path!! Eastbound riders like us have a scary and bumpy downhill. Just trying to navigate around the road cracks in the shadows from the trees presented an extreme challenge! But, we managed to get through it without incident.

Reaching Sapulpa, we stopped at a Dollar General for a big container of O.J. and to use the restroom. We also let our Warm Showers hosts know where we were at so they had an idea of when to expect us. We still had about 14 miles left to go.

A fairly quiet and nice rural road brought us to the outskirts of Tulsa…(A welcoming sign into Tulsa!)

(At a display of the historic Sapulpa-Tulsa train and an old oil derrick leading into Tulsa.)

…and eventually over the Arkansas River. About a mile later, we arrived at our destination. We were greeted at the door by Becky and then her husband, Robert, came out to greet us. They graciously open up their home and even allowed us to park our bikes inside. Unloading our panniers from the bikes first (easier to take the bikes up stairs that way!), we wheeled them to a back family room. Their home is a neat, old, 2-story home built back in 1923!! Beautiful wooden floors and staircase!

Glasses of ice water immediately quenched our thirst! Becky even offered to do a load of laundry for us! Fantastic! She showed us up to our 2nd floor room. They even have a laundry chute for the 2nd floor! The laundry room was actually in the basement. Got a nice, hot shower and while we were doing that, Robert started getting dinner ready!

Back downstairs in the kitchen, Robert was “slaving” away making spaghetti and a marinara sauce with anchovies while he joined the three of us in enjoying glasses of pinot grigio with crackers and cheese. Also on the menu was a Caesar salad which included anchovies in the dressing!

They have nice garden patio in their backyard. With it being a very pleasant afternoon outside, that’s where we enjoyed our wonderful meal and lots more excellent conversation. It was the first time having a spaghetti sauce with anchovies. They give it a subtle, light fishy, taste! Very good!!

It was getting close to 6pm and Robert needed to head out. A bit early at dinner, we learned that he has a group of friends where on Mondays from 6-8:30 in the evening, they get together to play music in a bicycle shop of all places!! They have a core group of about 8-10, but, sometimes more show up. No audience, just fun, jazz jam sessions. He plays drums: a simple kit of a bass drum, snare and a high-hat. Pretty much everyone else plays guitar. They all have a good time! He’s been doing that for about a couple of years now.

Fay hit the sack around 9 while Rob watched the Sharks/Blues game 2 (not a happy ending from Rob’s perspective) getting to bed after game’s end.

It’s supposed to rain overnight tonight, but, be sunny tomorrow. It’s good to be indoors once again on a stormy night!

Until our next post….