Entry for Saturday, 16 September 2000

Moon over Clayton, NM in the early morning.

Interesting homemade mailbox just outside of Clayton, NM.

Looking back on New Mexico at the Oklahoma state line. There's not much traffic on this road. The only sound of civilization out here is the occasional irrigation pump.

Ray entering Oklahoma. Self portrait.

Don and Leta Stark in their restaurant.

Don and Leta Stark's restaurant in Felt, OK

Entering Boise City, OK. These were the first grain elevators I have seen. I guess we're leaving ranching country and coming into farming country.

Inside the Townsman Restaurant in Boise City, OK where we had lunch.

Last Modified on 9/27/2000 at 20:20:17

Day's Narrative: Last night I was unable to logon to the web site and could not upload yesterday's photos. That's why two sets appeared today.

I left the motel at 6:30 this morning and went to the Hi Ho Cafe for breakfast. I had my standard one, two eggs sunny side up, hash browns, toast, orange juice and coffee. I wished for grits instead of hash browns but this isn't the South. They don't have grits here.

The Hi Ho Cafe served coffee in their own coffee mug with their name on the side. It was a nice mug so I bought one as I left for $5.

It was a beautiful morning when I left about 7:15; cool but not cold, and there was a tail breeze from the southwest instead of the predicted headwind from the Northeast. Still, it was morning and a weak front was supposed to cross the state and it could easily change to a headwind later. It never did.

The road did change at the Oklahoma state line. The nice wide shoulder disappeared.

Twenty seven miles down the road toward Boise City I came to the small town of Felt, OK. It's the only town between Clayton, NM and Boise City, OK. There was one store on the main highway and it was closed. I was running through my options of conserving water and continuing on and going into the town to see if there was another store there, when a pickup drove up and asked what I wanted. I replied a Coke, and he answered "Well come on in, the door's unlocked." I was a bit taken back that his closed store would be unlocked, but discovered later that there was a workman installing a rug on the second floor, so the building wasn't empty.

The owner got me a Coke with some ice and we sat down at one of the tables to talk. It was an interesting conversation which lasted for 40 minutes or so, until I really did have to get back to the road.

His name was Don Stark and he is formerly a high school science teacher. His wife, Leta, who came in later, is also a teacher and teaches English, history and Spanish among other subjects. Now they run the restaurant and Don also is a beekeeper who sells honey in the restaurant.

During the course of our conversation Don told me that he worried about the farmers pumping so much water from the aquifer. Sometimes during the growing season the farmers irrigate 24 hours a day for three months. Apparently a few home wells have had to be deepened. Wells for homes here are about 100 feet deep and the irrigation wells are about 250 feet deep.

We also discussed the current energy problems and he remarked that there was plenty of wind here, other than in the Summer, and that the energy potential was largely untapped. He said he could see windmills storing energy into large flywheels during windy times and then using the flywheels to charge electric car batteries at other times. He envisioned flywheels supported by low friction magnetic field "bearings", turning at very high revolutions.

Recently he said that a group of bicyclers came through in a race and that they were riding 24 hours a day. The only race I could think that this might be is the Race Across America (RAAM). He said that he met a doctor (MD) and gave him a jar of honey. A few weeks later a bottle of Maple syrup arrived in the mail. He said he got the best end of that trade. The maple syrup was delicious.

Reluctantly I left Don and Leta and the conversation and headed out for Boise City again. Connie caught up with me about six miles out of Boise City. We met for lunch in Boise City before looking for a motel.

Tomorrow it's 65 miles to Guymon, OK. After that the Oklahoma road has no motels for well over 100 miles, so we will go down to Perryton, Texas and then the day after that probably to Woodward, OK.

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© Ray & Connie Poore, 2000