Second day -- from Joplin, MO to Clovis, NM through Oklahoma and northern Texas

We start the second day by following the base of the old Route 66 from Joplin to Tulsa. Time to time, the historic route magically disappears, and in order not to cross anyone's corn field, we find our way back to the interstate 44. From Tulsa up to Oklahoma City Route 66 is better marked and preserved. We pass some very idyllic small towns: Sapulpa, Bristow, Stroud, Chandler etc. Who would remember them all, since they all look the same. They all have a gas station and a library, and numerous billboards promoting sheriff candidates for the election to be kept soon.

What else do I have to say about Oklahoma? Nothing much can be said about the plains, but the winds can be dangerously strong, at least for an inexperienced driver like me.

After driving over 10 hours we finally reach the state where only cows travel by train. On our way through the first miles of Texas I have my first chance of practising tornado watch. However, the storm turns out to be an ordinary thunderstorm (we are not struck by it, though), and it might be a bit out of season for tornadoes, too.

We pass Amarillo and turn south. The only thing I remember about the rest of Texas is cows, miles and miles of cows, packed into corrals tightly next to each other. And the smell that sneaks into our car and stays there up to the end of our trip. The smell of millions of cows, not happy cows. We don't overnight in Hereford, TX, but continue to Clovis, New Mexico.

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