We have just one state left to visit (Alabama) and then we will have been to all 50 states. We won't reach Alabama for a few days, so I am not counting my chickens yet!! Still, 49 out of 50 is a pretty good achievement in my book.
The main reason for staying in Bartlesville was to visit the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, the largest remaining area of tall grass prairie in the United States. The preserve covers an area of 39,000 acres.
As Bob and Thelma had visited it yesterday, they went on a different route, while we drove to the preserve, about 25 miles from our hotel. As we drove through Bartlesville, we saw these three tanks labelled Hot, Warm and Cold. Any ideas as to what they might have contained?
We later discovered they are water towers which were frequently defaced by pranksters painting Hot, Warm and Cold on them. The City Council spent a lot of money cleaning up the graffiti until someone suggested a solution to the problem. The Council painted the words officially on the sides of the tanks, where they remain to this day!
The drive to the Preserve took us about 45 minutes with the last few miles on gravel roads.
We reached the boundary sign...
..and, shortly after, this warning sign about bison.
The entrance to the Preserve.
As we drove through the prairie, there were lovely white flowers on the edge of the track.
Here are a few of the photos we took of the magnificent views across the grasslands. As it is spring, the grass is only about two feet tall, but by late summer it will have reached up to nine feet! There were wild flowers growing everywhere.
The Preserve is home to about 3,000 bison. The population is controlled, so that they do not take over and damage the delicate grassland ecosystem.
Further views over the prairie.
We spent about an hour in the Preserve including a stop at the visitor centre, where we learned about how they are working to improve and safeguard the prairie.
We left the Preserve and, as we drove away, we passed this herd of longhorn cattle. They are magnificent-looking beasts with their beautiful curved horns.
We then drove about fifty miles to the town of Tulsa, made famous by the Gene Pitney song, "Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa". We drove through the centre and were really impressed by the wonderful buildings, both old and new. We wished we could have spent more time there.
As we were driving out of the town, we stopped to see the Oral Roberts University. Oral Roberts was an American television evangelist who died in 2009.
The huge statue of hands in prayer at the entrance to the university.
One of the buildings on the campus.
In my opinion, the glass prayer tower is ugly. There is an eternal flame at the top of the spire.
We left Tulsa for the remaining 150 miles to our overnight stop in Mena, Arkansas. We stopped on the way by this giant dam across the Arkansas River to have our standard picnic lunch of cheese and tomato rolls.
The bridge over the river that we crossed before we drove down to the riverbank.
As we were having our picnic, Bob and Thelma drove over the bridge and came down and joined us.
We had disturbed two herons that appeared to have a nest near the river. This one perched on top of a concrete pier, posing for me!
We left after a very enjoyable half an hour and drove the final few miles through the magnificent scenery of the Ouachita Mountains. We went along a wonderful mountain road that followed the ridge line of the mountains for over thirty miles, during which we entered number 12 of our 13 states - Arkansas.
I hope the photos do justice to the marvellous views we had of the Arkansas landscape.
We reached our hotel in Mena at about 6pm. We had travelled another 320 miles and we have driven nearly 4,700 miles on this drive across the States. What great fun it has been!
I like these pictures of this place
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