Wednesday

With our next destination to be El Reno, Oklahoma, we had a short trip after leaving Amarillo. I couldn't talk Tom into taking the offer of a steak house in Amarillo. The offer is for a free 72-ounce steak. The only catch is that the huge chunk of meat must be consumed in less than one hour. If not eaten in an hour, the steak must be paid for, a sum of $60.

It seems as if I am unable to drive past the big cross near Groom, Texas without taking a picture of the very large structure. Our drive from Amarillo to El Reno would be short enough to allow us plenty of time to stop for a visit to the large cross. The last time Kay and I were here, we were with Kevin and Tina. They seemed to really enjoy taking the tour, so I thought that Tom and Nora would also be interested in stopping for a visit.

The cross near Groom, Texas

The Numbers of the Cross: Height: 190 feet (19 stories) Width: 110 feet Weight: 2 1/2 Million Pounds (1250 tons) Cross Section 12 feet by 12 feet Steel Tubular Frame Construction 16" X 16" X 5/8" Thick Wall Tubing (Largest square tubing in the world) 7" diameter pins 300 pounds each Foundation: 65 truckloads of concrete delivered from Amarillo and poured in one day 80,000 pounds of 1 1/4" diameter rebar

The official name of the big structure is the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I saw several additions since our last visit. The construction of the visitors center was well underway. A new sculpture with a small pond had been built in front of the visitors center. With only the support beams in place, the traffic on I-40 can be seen and heard in the background. I'm always impressed with the size of the big cross.

Looking up from the base of the cross

New statue near the visitors center entrance

After visiting the Groom Cross for about an hour, we headed for Archie's home state. It wasn't very long until we were seeing red soil in the plowed fields of Oklahoma. There was an occasional oil well in a farmer's field that dotted the countryside. When we reached the Cherokee Trading Post just west of El Reno we pulled off the highway to check it out.

We found a place for both motorhomes among the trucker's parking area. Our stop coincided with lunchtime, so it was decided that we should have lunch at the restaurant next to the trading post. For the first time, I tried a buffalo burger and I found it to be quite good. It seemed to be leaner than a regular hamburger.

After lunch Tom and I made a visit to the local truck stop store while Kay and Nora visited the trading post itself. I found a great pair of funnels for the motorhome. Yes, I said funnels. You would have to see them to know what I mean about the funnels being special. I plan to use one for engine oil and the other for transmission fluid.

Then Tom and I went over to the trading post to see how much stuff the women had purchased. The Cherokee trading post is one of the best roadside places to shop for local souvenirs and items made by Native Americans. A favorite for me is a set of small baskets made of porcupine quills. I usually look at a set each time I visit the trading post, however, these baskets are too pricey to take them with us. After leaving a small amount of money behind, we headed for a campground in El Reno, Oklahoma.

We turned off the highway at exit 123 and found the Hensley's RV Park behind the local Denny's restaurant (formerly Hensley's Restaurant.) The campground was affiliated with a nearby motel. It is a small place with a few campsites; all pull-through sites with full hookups. The price was very reasonable, especially when you consider that a buffet breakfast was included in the price. Because of the short distance traveled, we were set up in our campsites in the early afternoon. This would give us a chance to do some touristy stuff.

A fun place to buy souvenirs in Old Town El Reno

On the drive from Amarillo to El Reno, the signal on Tom's CB radio had become very weak. In the campground in El Reno, Tom discovered the reason for the poor signal performance; the CB antenna on his motorhome had broken off. Fortunately, he had a spare antenna that he installed.

Old Rock Island railroad depot — home of Canadian County Museum

I disconnected our Saturn from the towbar so we could visit the place of Archie's birth. I drove into El Reno and quickly found the Old Town section of town. This area, at one time, was a bustling center of railroading in the area. We visited a neat little museum, the Canadian County Museum and Train Depot in the old Rock Island Railroad train depot.

The sign says it all — The Red Cross log cabin

Across the street, from the depot, there is a log cabin that we figured was Archie's boyhood home. Actually, the log cabin was the first location of the El Reno Red Cross. Next to the log house is a petrified tree stump. The stone stump was found, during a Rock Island Railroad construction project, at a depth of 40 feet.

Petrified cottonwood tree trunk

Old hotel across the street from the log cabin

Near the train depot is "The Heritage Express Trolley" that takes people on a roundtrip ride around the downtown area. We bought tickets to ride. (Hey, I think there may be a song somewhere in that last line.) The trolley driver was a fun, colorful character by the name of Wiley.

The Heritage Express Trolley with Wiley welcoming us aboard

He filled us in on the history of what we saw along the trolley route. Hey Archie, we saw the TNT Cafe, the home of the onion burger. After our ride, Tom spent a lot of time talking to a guy who told us about the project to build the trolley we had just ridden.

Learning about the trolley project

After spending a little more time driving around beautiful downtown El Reno, it was time to go back to camp for our evening meal. Tom fired up his barbecue. I put a couple pieces of chicken on the grill. The evening was comfortable, so we all had our meal on a picnic table across from our campsites. The table and benches were made of cast-concrete in a circular shape with a design of ancient Rome.

Our rigs in campsites at Hensley's RV Park

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