Heather Kindt's Blog, page 14
March 30, 2018
On the Trail of Dottie Gale: Texas
Our search continued in the great state of Texas. This is where Dottie first meets Shay Fields at the Cadillac Ranch.
The first stop we made when we reached Amarillo was the Big Texan. A friend of mine always heads to Amarillo to have a steak, so we had to check it out. If you decide to take the challenge, you can earn a free 72 ounce steak. All you have to do is eat the entire steak, a salad, a baked potato and a roll in under 60 minutes. The current world record holder is a 120 pound woman who apparently ate the entire meal in a little over four minutes. Yes, you read that correctly.
My two buckaroos split a sixteen ounce steak. I know, a little less impressive. But, you can tell they’re happy and just being in the atmosphere of the Big Texan brought me back to my childhood being reminiscent of places like Wall Drug and South of the Border.
Following our healthy dinner, we drove out to the Cadillac Ranch in search of Dottie. In the book Ruby Slips and Poker Chips, Dottie picks up the Scarecrow, Shay Fields at the Ranch. Their first meeting is hardly love at first sight and by the time they’re ready to continue the journey to Vegas, Dottie is ready to smack him a good one.
I didn’t find Dottie here, but she left behind a clue of her visit.
There was even evidence of Shay’s appearance. Look closely on the second car. Of course, he needed to get in on the painting action.
So, my trip through Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas was unsuccessful in finding Dottie Gale. I did get to see some great areas of our country and visualize some of the settings in the book. I hope to continue the trip this summer because I need to go back to work. Will I find Dottie in New Mexico, Arizona, or Nevada? You’ll have to wait to find out this summer. Thanks for taking the journey with me.
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March 29, 2018
On the Trail of Dottie Gale: Oklahoma
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Oklahoma. It’s where Dottie and Corbin go to prom. It’s also where Dottie decides, with a little help, to follow Route 66. I had a couple of goals heading into Oklahoma. First, I wanted to hit Ponca City because it’s an actual town I mention in the book. I also wanted to follow Route 66 for a while (which doesn’t seem like it’s always easy to do).
Because we went off the beaten path in Kansas, we didn’t enter Oklahoma on Interstate 35. We first drove over to Winfield, KS to see a friend’s old house and then took 77 down into Ponca City, OK. Corbin had a job after high school at an auto parts store there, so I snapped a picture of an Auto Zone.
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After Ponca City, we found the interstate again and headed for Edmond, OK. We have friends that moved there from Colorado about a year and a half ago, so we stayed with them for two days. As a side note, the science museum in Oklahoma City is awesome. One of my favorite things there is riding a Segway (I’ve always wanted to do that). We had two fourteen year olds and two twelve year olds and they were thoroughly entertained for over 5 hours! And so were the adults as you can see from the pictures.
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Leaving the City, we traveled along Route 66, just like Dottie. I tried to imagine the drive from southern Kansas, all the way to Amarillo. She drove a lot that day and had the trauma of meeting Shay for the first time! I’m sure she had a headache.
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Onto Texas tomorrow. By the way, Texas was my favorite state for Ruby Slips pictures, so don’t miss it!
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March 28, 2018
On the Trail of Dottie Gale: Kansas
I was pretty stoked when I found out my kids wanted to go on a youth group retreat in Clay Center, Kansas. Stacked with a trip to Oklahoma City to see some friends and rounding it out in Amarillo was a perfect Ruby Slips and Poker Chips vacation. I’ll have to admit here that there are parts of the country in my book that I’ve never been to. I’ve been to places like them, but not exactly the places I’m describing. Of course, Quandary, Kansas is fictional, but it has an approximate location.
While waiting on our kids at the youth retreat, my husband and I stayed at a great B&B called The Attwood House in Randolph, Kansas. The owner, Lillie, is a former teacher who taught in Japan and Italy. Her home is full of souvenirs from her journeys. Tom and I stayed in the Asian room.
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While in Kansas, we took a short trip over to Wamego to the Wizard of Oz museum. Of course, I was looking for Dottie in Kansas (the obvious place to look). Although this museum was small, we spent over an hour there snapping pictures and looking through all the fascinating Oz antiques and toys. The town of Wamego also has Toto’s Tacos and The Oz Winery. We had free samples at the winery, but Toto’s Tacos was closed on Sundays. Tom thought he found Dottie, but I had to tell him it was a fake.
After picking up the kids on Monday morning, we drove closer to Quandary. We went off the highway along more of a backroad to see what Dottie and Corbin’s world would look like along the Kansas/Oklahoma border. It’s flat. At times it is run-down. But it’s a perfect world for Dottie to run away from. I was just waiting for the next tornado to twist through and pick us up.
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We didn’t find Dottie in Kansas, so it’s off to Oklahoma!!
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