Well, it was bound to happen eventually.  Sparkle’s starter died this morning.  I guess it didn’t heal itself naturally after all (symptoms about two weeks ago but nothing since).  I turned the key repeatedly but nothing happened.   So that repair delayed me a few hours in Dalhart, TX.  I can’t thank the guys at Pro Care enough for getting right to it.  A huge lucky break that I had turned off the engine just a few feet from their driveway.  $341 later, it was off to the races finishing up TX, hitting a dozen or so cities in the OK panhandle, starting on western OK stuff and landing in Enid for the evening.  Whew!

And it was HOT.  Back in the 90s.  Lots of panting dogs and resorting to the water jug method for keeping them cool.  Every couple of hours, I take the dogs out one and a time and douse them with water from my two half-gallon jugs.  Refill them at McDonald’s or gas station bathrooms.  It seems that streams and lakes not nearly as plentiful as they were in TX.  When we’d come to a bridge, Grem would get all excited and then let down when she’d see there was no water underneath.  I know she was thinking — “what’s up with THAT!?”.  Very late in the day, I did find a nice big lake at a park in Alva.  The forecast is for cooler weather the next couple days.

So, starting off with Dalhart then.  Sorry to see that this nice theatre is being gutted and turned into a church:

Moving on to Boise City, OK — where there are still loads of longhorn references.  This guy is at the Longhorn Motel:

Another sign from Boise City — different from the other GE sign I posted just a couple of days ago:

A neat ATM building with teepee top in Guymon:

I don’t know what to make of this one in Guymon.  One of the biggest canopies I’ve ever seen.  It must’ve been a gas station at one time and those sure look like the Phillips 66 trellis-y supports.  But P66 never did make such a big thing.  I think.

For comparison, here’s the typical “batwing” Phillips 66 station — shot a few today — this one in Perryton, TX:

From Shattuck, OK:

Also Shattuck — where they are not so concerned with political correctness evidently.  A vintage-ish sign:

And a brand new gas station being built in town:

The guys working on this one said there’s another El Tipi in Geary just off I-40 with a glass teepee.  I’ll be sure to check that out in the next couple days.

In Gage — I stumbled upon Jim’s Metal Art Museum.  Here are a couple of the statues in front:

I think this is a Jim Beam crow:

From Woodward — yes, another cowboy sign.  I can’t help myself:

More from Woodward — this place has been closed for at least a few years.   I don’t know the original name:

a close-up of the classic snoozing Mexican:

A tall one in Woodward:

Lots of  mid-century stuff in town as well — here are some details (two different buildings):

This one has circular openings in the canopy above the door:

On to Alva where the light was fading:

A tradition with these blog posts is to include a few over-the-top uglies.  Both of these are on the main square in Alva:

So, I’ve got 11 more days (I think) to play in Oklahoma and then one nasty interstate day to get home in time for my real job.  I’ve got 3 stacks of lists/maps for OK — but thinner than the Texas ones.  I think I might be able to bang through these if I keep today’s pace and there are no other mishaps.  Lots of small towns tomorrow and probably starting on OKC on Wednesday.