D & B DeWitt Family

I recently had the privilege to drive with Brian, taking him to the state of Oklahoma to do a months residency of radiology at the hospital in Tulsa.  Here are a few pictures of our 'grand' trip.  Can I say that I found myself feeling if I was any help to him at all, he driving 15 hours of a 17 hour trip, but we talked nonstop and I enjoyed every minute.  And as you will see, we did make a few stops along the way that would 'rewake' us if we were on the tired side but driving with Bri, gave me an opportunity to see the great son he has become and hoping a great husband and father as well. 

 I was looking forward to this trip because of places that I hadn't ever been before, but I have been to New Mexico and I didn't find the land enchanting at all, sorry NM.  However, one happy moment....when Brian and I stopped in Holbrook, AZ., we bought a western states map just for me to look at as he drove along.....after passing the border of New Mexico, I noticed on the map a city called Yah-Ta-Hey.  Only the DeWitt side will smile about that, for the rest of you, it is one of Grandpa DeWitt's favorite sayings of all time.  Apparently he played an Indian in a parade or play or something, and he has hung on to this one line saying and has a pretty good accent to boot when he says it.  Okay, so Brian and I decided to take a detour, about 10 miles round trip off of the highway to visit Yah-Ta-Hey, hoping to pick up a mug, t-shirt, hat or anything with this towns name on it.  What we found was a rundown little 4 mile square town, population in 2010 - 590.   Can you even call if a town?  Two buildings, one being a tire/recycling shop that I'm sure you had to call only in case of an emergency flat tire or if you had cans to turn in for cash.  The second one looked promising from the road but there was a layer of dust so deep on all of the fixtures inside that I'm sure the building was now being used only as a billboard.  Sorry, no birthday gift for Grandpa.

After a nights sleep in Albuquerque, NM., at the Suburban Hotel, we headed into Texas, where we had to drive friendly - I hate that...It's a good thing I wasn't the driver in this 190 mile stretch.  

Along the highway, we saw this huge cross.  I had to come home and look it up, finding out it is called the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ found in Groom, Texas.  It stands 19 stories tall! and can be seen 20 miles away.  Look it up and read about it and also the the other statues found there.  

Another site we saw but didn't get a picture of was the Cadillac Ranch.  Look them up too, it is quite interesting.  

After only 3 hours we found ourselves in OKLAHOMA!  

Another detour off of the direct route was a stop at the Oklahoma City Temple.  Yep, closed to cleaning so we weren't going to be able to visit it while I was there. Bummer, but we did get photos.  It sat on the same lot as an LDS church building and Brian snuck in to use the bathroom and I noticed on the door these 'Welcome' words, but spelled without the E.  And it was done twice, so it wasn't a misspell just on one door - unless of course the 'e' was defective and fell off....of every door.....hmm...

Another thing that we Arizonan's don't see often - toll roads.  So, silly me, I'm snapping pictures as we drive through.  The toll person, I'm sure, was wondering, 'What the Heck?".  In total we paid about $7 to drive in Oklahoma.  (Luckily me rental car to take me to the airport had a 'fastpass' that allowed me to zoom right through and not pay again).

After finding my hotel and finding Brian's new 'home', we went out to dinner at Pancho's!

Yes, we had fun raising the flag. Are you jealous Shannon and Allan?

In my hotel, it had 3 locks.  Hmm....should I be worried?

 My rental car .....so cute....and bluish!  I loved it.

Lastly, a few signs we saw along the way.  Some funny, some really funny.

If you say it fast, it sounds like you studder.

Too funny.  And the 'Nation' was only about 5 miles wide on the highway.  I don't know high 'tall' the nation was, but wide, not so big.

Believe it or not, this tree looked like a heart - but by the time I got the car stopped one the other side of the hill, it looked pretty sad.  The hills there were really nice and green.  I enjoyed the state of Oklahoma very much.

All in all, I enjoyed being with Brian in our 2 day, 17 hour drive (plus stops along the way).  Thanks Brian!