TEXAS TO OKLAHOMA: A Roadtrip on ROUTE 66 through Elk City to Oklahoma City

There is the saying that the most promising words ever written on the maps of human knowledge are terra incognita, unknown territory. Traversing from New Mexico to the wide plains of Texas for me was exactly this. Unknown territory, the promise of a new adventure, of places that I had never visited before. Join the road trip through three states in the south central region of the USA, through New Mexico, Texas, all the way to vibrant and buzzing Oklahoma City. Leaving the mountains of New Mexico behind me now and, oh my god, how cute is this? This deer here is welcoming me at the entry sign of the town Cimarron and they are not shy at all. So cute. First getting some gas. I have no clue where the next town will be so better be safe. At the gas station I had a chat with a woman who recommended to have a swing into the village of Cimarron. The town has the motto where the west is still wild and you can do a self-guided historic walk if you bring a bit of time. The historic sites like the old mill museum or old jail are dating back to the mid-1800s. Make sure to not miss out on visiting St. James Hotel. The 43 rooms were witnesses to at least 26 murders during Cimarron's wilder days. Clay Ellison, Blackjack Ketchum and Buffalo Bill Cody have all left their mark. You can still see numerous bullet holes in the tin ceiling of the main dining room. I know many people think that these flatter parts of the country are boring to ride and not really worth a road trip but I love this as well. It's just mind-blowing how far you can look here and how beautiful and vast this area is. And that's the great thing about doing real road trips. It's so versatile and you might end up liking places a lot that you didn't even expect anything of beforehand. These endless trains are so cool. Now we're officially in Texas and I don't know if you can relate to this but I have never been in Texas before and I'm always so excited and curious when I enter territories I have never visited. Several highways cross in the town Delhart and I followed highway 87 to Hartley, Dumas and eventually to Borger where I tried to look for a place to stay. Maybe this budget inn here has a free room. Let's see. So Texas is not exactly very populated, at least where I am now. I now went to this town and I couldn't find a hotel here in Borger it's called. The only room left was like one for 300 euros. So I'm gonna go to the next town which is called Pampa. It's already quite late so hopefully I find a room there. On my way to Pampa now and I just booked a room online at the gas station because there were not many left and I wanted to avoid paying way too much for a not very scenic motel room and it's crazy how much online booking platforms change the way of traveling. That you don't need to go from motel to motel anymore and find a room that you can just google and find a room in your budget. So this is how it goes. It was a very very long day yesterday and initially I wanted to camp but I pretty soon realized that all the area that I drove through was super industrial and so I ended up at this place called Pampa where actually basically only truck drivers stopped with me. So that was not such an exciting ride. So this is very funny all of these parking spaces here were full with pickup trucks yesterday and now they're gone which means the pickup truck drivers are the early birds here and people like me who start at 7 30 are way too late. All righty let's do this. Destination for today is Oklahoma City and I will go more or less the straight way. Look how crazy windy it is. This is not in like a time lapse or so. This is just the original cloud. Look at the sign it says Miami 22 miles. Maybe my road trip will be shorter than expected if Miami is already here. My ride took me all the way on route 152 over the town's wheeler and sweetwater to Elk City and without even realizing I had crossed from the state Texas to Oklahoma. But Elk City surprised me with even more attractions that I had no clue about beforehand. There are all these signs here in town that say route 66 so I guess I somehow by accident am traveling on route 66 now and first I need to find some gas but then I will find out. I was right. The legendary route 66 runs through Elk City and the National Route 66 and Transportation Museum invites to experience the history and heritage of route 66 or in my case to pose in front of the huge sign. The National Route 66 and Transportation Museum is part of Elk City Museum Complex that consists of five unique museums. Get a glimpse into the lives of early settlers in western Oklahoma at the Old City Museum and the Farm and Ranch Museum and visit the replicas of an old schoolhouse, opera house, doctor's office and chapel and experience the pioneer history. Taking the highway now to Oklahoma City because I hope that I can be there early enough to explore the town a little and tomorrow morning I will get hopefully my new rear tire in a workshop close by. I want to be honest with you guys. When traveling I normally try to avoid big cities even though I live in a city and love city life. If I would not have ordered a rear tire to a workshop in Oklahoma City I would have probably skipped this one too. But oh what a shame that would have been. So this is Oklahoma City and I'm gonna do some touristic things and show you around a little bit. Oklahoma City has grown a lot in just the past 10 to 15 years as well because Oklahoma City has poured 350 million into itself through 20 years of capital improvement projects. Today Oklahoma City is a town that is quickly making it on many must-visit lists around the world. It has a vibrant dining, art and entertainment scene, world-class museums and a rich history itself. Once mostly known for stockyards, a tragic bombing and Route 66, Oklahoma City is now a new hotspot and not-so-secret hidden gem on many bucket lists. A must-visit in Oklahoma City is the Myriad Botanical Gardens and Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory. The park will transport you to a lush paradise. Open to the public since 1988, the Myriad Botanical Gardens have continually provided a gathering place and oasis from the busy city life. The design of the gardens was inspired by New York City Central Park and the garden features indoor and outdoor areas bursting with colors from ever-blooming flowers and plants, as well as winding pathways and a theme of water that is apparent throughout the outdoor gardens. A large water fountain was built to resemble an outcropping in the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma's northeast Green County. Having realized that Oklahoma City is quite an artsy town, I decided to visit the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. The permanent collection is presented in a quite joyful way and artworks by contemporary artists like Kehinde Wiley place icons like Renoir. But I was most fascinated by the exhibition of Dale Chihuly. The museum's collection represents over three decades of Chihuly's work, is one of the largest collections of Chihuly glass in the world and heralds the brilliant luminist as one of the most important artists working in glass. Good morning from Oklahoma City. Today is tire change day. These little ones, they don't actually look that bad, but as well not that good. I'm not 100% sure I would have made all the way to Miami. That's why I thought I better change now where I have the possibility to do so. Yay, getting a new rear tire today. And then I hope this will be the last workshop until I arrive in Miami that I see from inside. And I hope I didn't jinx it now with saying that. What a great choice here. Which one do I take? Maybe this. Here we are, workshop number two of this journey. I hope this goes quick now. I would like to cover a bit more distance today. The guys from Oklahoma Honda and Suzuki and Dell City were able to change my tire quickly. And after chatting with them for a while, it became quite obvious that adventure riding is maybe not the biggest thing in Oklahoma. Indeed, they told me that they never saw a rider as equipped as me. And I was not sure if I should take that as a compliment or just be embarrassed because I was the only one around looking like an astronaut. But one thing I was sure of, I was happy to be able to continue my ride to the next unknown states that I had never visited before. Thanks for joining the ride on the straightest roads of this whole trip. If you like this episode, leave me a thumbs up and subscribe the channel to not miss out on the next adventures. And leave me a comment about all the places that I missed out in Texas and that I should visit next time. On Thursday, the ride continues with one of my favorite days of this trip. A journey through the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas, including running out of gas and a lovely campsite. See you on the road!