Continuing Our Drive Northeast to Collinsville, Illinois

Today's drive northeast starts
on Interstate 44 East.

St. Louis is 134 miles away.

We will pass through it today.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
& Stuckey's billboards

The sign for the Uranus
Fudge Factory...

The smudge on the Flying
Saucer is a bug splat.

This oversize load is

very long.

A white-flowered tree
peeks out of the
surrounding trees.

Antire Quarry advertises with

 a huge green dump truck.

GRG Grant's Trail is a
Rails to Trails Project.

The highway is nearly empty

as we approach St. Louis.

Pick a lane... any lane...

Eric & I follow Interstates
44 & 55.

St. Louis' Gateway Arch

Crossing the Mississippi
River...

... into Illinois. 

Eric & I leave Interstate 55
at Exit 11.

Welcome to Collinsville

Eric & I are spending another

night in a Walmart parking lot.

There is no edge to park next to.







We park far from the store so cars and trucks can park close for easy shopping access.  

Driving Northeast to Lebanon, Missouri

Eric & I continue northeast

towards Missouri on

 US Routes 60 East/69 North.

Follow the arrows...

... through the construction
zone.

Indigo Sky Casino is closed

because of Covid-19.

Missouri Welcomes You

We follow another arrow...

toward Joplin.

A stop at Flying J for
Propane, to dump
tanks, fill our water
tank & get Diesel.

The rest of today's drive

is on Interstate 44 East.

Ozarkland is at Exit 29.

The Mount Vernon

Water Tower

Spring blooms across
Missouri.

A billboard for the World's

Largest Toy Museum

I drive for a bit.

Eric gets another construction

photo.

Downtown Springfield
is the home of Missouri's
State Capitol.

Uranus Fudge Factory is

47 miles up the road.

Redmon's Candy Factory
looks very inviting.

Explore the Heart of Route 66

 in Lebanon

Eric & I are spending the night
at the Walmart in Lebanon.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Bartlesville has a number of
 high rise buildings in its
 downtown.

Older buildings from the early

20th Century show the City's

architectural history.

Frank Lloyd Wright's design for

the Price Tower is much different

from other brick & glass high

rise buildings in Bartlesville.

He designed for Harold C. Price to be the headquarters of H.C. Price Company, an oil pipeline and chemical firm.

Its Tower is the major
feature of this building.







Wright described this project as "the tree that escaped from the crowded forest."  Its Copper cladding's green patina reinforces his statement.

The Price Family planned to rent out apartments in the building to provide a second income stream.  Wright "split" the floor layout into quarters, providing three quarters for business use and one quarter for two-floor residential spaces.

Phillips Petroleum bought Price Tower in 1981.  The building now has a hotel, restaurant, bar, and museum.

The Museum is closed because

of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The Buffalo roam near
a cantilevered section
of the building.

In 1974 The Price Tower was

added to the National

 Registry of Historic places.

This is a great example of the joys of travel...  The ability to explore the new, the different, the unique, historic places and buildings, old and new.  

East to West, Oklahoma Is Miles 465 Miles Long....

Eric and I are driving 200 - 240 miles a day on our long, leisurely drive back to Upstate New York.  We have one more overnight stop to make before waving goodbye to Oklahoma.

Returning to Interstate 40 East.

Garth Brooks & the

Yukon Millers are

honored on the 

Yukon Water Tower.

Hauling a very long metal beam

westward.

The Oklahoma City
skyline

We turn north onto

  Interstate 35 North.

Another large road
construction project

Eric & I continue today's

 drive on US Route 60.

A Refinery

In this state, it's a safe
guess that processes oil.

My childhood comes to life

before my eyes when I see a

Sinclair Gas Station with its

mascot, Dino the Dinosaur.

US 60 follows the Osage
National Heritage Trail.

Was the fire started purposefully

or the result of an engine fire,

a lit cigarette tossed out of a

car window?

The Cattle are social
distancing.

Burning is allowed in this

region of Oklahoma.

Honoring Osage history &
culture in Pawhuska.

Nest stop... Bartlesville

Our first sighting of the
Price Tower in downtown
Bartlesville.

 Why leave the Interstate to see a skyscraper?  It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  Built in 1955 this unique tower opened to the public in February 1956.

Back on US Route 60...

We pass an Airport.

Route 60 is very quiet

this afternoon.

Cattle roam within sight

of an Oil Derrick.

Eric & I are spending the

night at Walmart in Vinita.

We like to park near a grassy edge, when possible.  Open land is a buffer between businesses and helps creates a quiet area in parking lots.