Claremore to Vinita

May 1, 2025

Me and My Shadow

I was followed all day by a dark profile of myself cast on the ground by a bright light shining in the sky, something I hadn’t seen for a few days. It was a lovely day with a cool start and variable winds that were never a problem, something I hadn’t experienced for a few days. It was the whole new world I was hoping for.

Something I wouldn’t have noticed if it were pouring rain or I were being blown off the road. Sure signs of spring in Oklahoma: storms, wind, robins nesting…

What? A brewery taproom in Claremore? I would have stopped at the the Cabin Boys Brewery in Tulsa yesterday (only a block from Marshall Brewery), but they weren’t open yet. Didn’t stop here. 9:30 am is a bit early for a beer, and besides, they weren’t open yet. 😬

A cattail marsh before they developed seed heads, I think.

The roads between Claremore and Foyil were dog infested. Lucky for me most were behind fences. Not all, though. Two dogs that came roaring out of a yard stopped in their tracks when I hollered “NO”, and then stood there looking like they forgot what they were doing. I heard one dog whose basso profundo bark sounded like it came from a horse sized body. It wandered lazily into the road after I passed, and you could have hitched it to a Conestoga wagon. Dog density was so high that they were telegraphing to their friends ahead of me that I was on the way. Once I got out of the hills and the road flattened out the dogs disappeared. Strange correlation.

I was tooling along and saw that I was on Blue Creek Road. Hmm…familiar name, I thought. A couple miles later I crossed Blue Creek itself. Once again, familiar. I went farther along until I saw a sign for Blue Creek Campground. That’s it! One of my overnight options was this campground, off the route by several miles. I had missed a turn. Nothing to do but turn around and backtrack. Heavy sigh.

There was a lot of this in dog country. That’s my road on the horizon. Hills? What hills?

Gratuitous picture of Oklahoma rock in the road cut. I am a geologist after all.

The most interesting place along my route.

Ed Galloway taught manual arts (okay, he was a shop teacher) at the Sand Springs Home, an orphanage, from 1915 to his retirement in 1937. He built a home on this property and then commenced construction of this cement totem pole.

Ed completed the totem pole in 1948, built entirely by his hand, 90’ tall and 18’ in diameter. He hand mixed all the cement and built the framework it was applied to. 100 tons of sand and rock. 28 tons of cement. 6 tons of steel. It used to have 7 floors inside that visitors could reach by ladder. At the top was a small hole where you could look out.

Ed originally used old house paint provided by his friends and neighbors to cover the surface, but it would fade and have to be reapplied. After the Rogers County Historical Society took it over, it was repainted with materials that should last decades. The turtle base is carved from a flat outcropping of sandstone.

There are a number of other smaller totems in the park.

Ed carved this sandstone lioness in 1915. He had no formal artistic training.

The small museum at the park is full of hundreds of fiddles that Ed carved over the years. Only five of them were ever strung. It was more about Ed showing off the more than 300 varieties of wood that he had in his collection.

The museum also held a number of chairs that had been built by Ed’s students at the orphanage. This one is well over 100 years old.

Ed died in 1962. The National Park Service refers to Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park as the oldest and largest example of a folk art environment in Oklahoma.

This is Joann, one of the three ladies from the historical society who operate the museum and gift shop. She was a wealth of information.

When I left the totem pole park going east I reached the edge of the hills and the scenery became more panoramic.

When you have the time and plenty of horseshoes, this is what can happen.

My route notes said that I would find the historic Pryor Creek iron bridge just east of Chelsea. When I reached this , my first thought was that they’re improving Route 66 out of existence.

Just at the other end of the modern bridge was a sign directing me to the historic bridge I was expecting to see.

I’ve lived in Bartlesville three times over the past 47 years. The first time Carol and I had no children. The second time we had two preschoolers who had been born in Norway, and our second daughter was born here. The third time we moved there with middle- and high-schoolers, and all three graduated from Bartlesville High School. We moved away the last time 21 years ago. Ah, memories.

Next door to the Western Motel is the Hi-way Café and Big Bill the Muffler Man.

The current owners have been awarded the Guinness World Record for Most Stickers on a Car.

Big Boy my foot. He could fit in Big Bill’s suitcase.

While rolling around the Hi-Way Cafe and reading the signage, I managed to fall off my bike at zero mph. Nothing bruised but my ego. I hope the couple from Kansas City who were wandering around as well didn’t see me fall over or hear the words that came out of my mouth.

In the hundreds of miles I’ve ridden across Oklahoma on this tour I never saw another cyclist until today. Next door to me in the almost empty Relax Inn I found Frank from Germany. We both spent last night in Claremore, but didn’t run into each other until late in the day today. What a coincidence.

Frank started in Santa Monica on March 13, and is headed to Chicago and then New York City, where he hopes to arrive by June 22. His wife will fly from Germany to meet him, and they’ll spend a few more weeks being tourists together.

Posted in the motel office and in my room.

Yes, today was a beautiful day, but I am in a motel room again tonight. This is what the weather radar looks like right now…

…this is what it is forecast to look like by the wee hours tomorrow morning. 100% chance of storms tonight and 90% chance tomorrow morning. Hiding out again.

I’ve already made reservations at the one motel in Baxter Springs, Kansas for tomorrow night. May as well make it a clean sweep and give my tent the rest it deserves. I’ll be at the end of my tour in Joplin on Saturday.

Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 391 miles (629 km)

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Nancy GrahamI found the Totem park very interesting. There are so many small and interesting places is different states that many of us don’t know about. You are seeing quite a bit of that on your travel in OK!
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