A Day in Oklahoma

For the first time on our trip, we are camping at a campground for the second night in a row. Last night, we stayed in Choctaw, Oklahoma, just east of Oklahoma City, and here we are again tonight! It's a very nice campground, wooded and spacious, with a mile-long trail around the outskirts that Molly enjoys. She also enjoys sitting on the picnic tables, at all of our campsites! We're here twice, though, not because of the comfortable picnic tables but because the Pawnee Bill Museum in Pawnee, Oklahoma, is closed Tuesdays.

For those reading the blog who are not related to me, Pawnee Bill, or Gordon Lillie, is a mythic relative of my father's family (my maiden name was Lillie). He had quite a life, working with the Pawnee tribe and then running a Wild West show. He eventually partnered with Buffalo Bill, and their joint show was known as the Two Bills show. His wife, May Lillie, was a fascinating character, too; she was a Philadelphia debutante before she married Gordon, but went on to perform as a bareback rider and sharpshooter in his show. Gordon and May settled on a ranch in Oklahoma, which is now a museum and state park. I've been looking forward to visiting the museum, so we spent an extra day in the area, waiting until Wednesday!

We did have a nice day; we visited the town of Guthrie, just a bit north of Oklahoma City. Guthrie was once the state capital and it has a lovely old downtown, all fancy brick buildings and wide streets. We walked around, admiring the architecture and visiting the shops. Also, Sandeep got a haircut.

I liked the old Coca-Cola advertisement, painted on the side of a building, that I photographed. I wondered if it was painted during the era in which Coca-Cola still contained cocaine... "Relieves fatigue," indeed! The man in the ad looks a bit like he is pouring it in his eye, though, so maybe it was originally meant to be taken topically.