The Wrap Up

 The Wrap Up

 I had two goals for the trip – genealogical research and reliving High School memories. I accomplished enough of each to make the trip worthwhile. I learned quite a bit about where various family connections lived, visited graves of some I knew & some I didn’t, and discovered the name of one of the 2 sons my great-grandparents lost as babies. I saw my old haunts around Lake Charles, and visited with my HS BFF. I did get some good pictures on my side-trip to the Gulf of Mexico.

 

The low point was food. I couldn’t find any Cajun food (gumbo, etc.) that didn’t include sausage – which I need to avoid because of testing positive for alpha-gal. I tried Popeye’s chicken and discovered it’s fried in beef suet and ended up with the trots. Mexican chicken dishes are generally safe, but the places where I dined weren’t very good. I doubt if I would voluntarily return to most of them.

 

I stayed at three Holiday Inn Express hotels, one Comfort Inn and one Quality Inn. All were acceptable; the best was the HIE in Opelousas. The HIE in Lake Charles and the Comfort Inn in Idabel were undergoing renovations. The HIE I canceled in Tahlequah looked relatively new and modern.

 

Lodging costs for 6 nights at HIEs was 119,000 points, the equivalent of a bit under $100 per night. The other two nights cost about $120 each. Food cost about $125 and gas under $150 (a bit under 8 cents/mile). Boarding 1 cat cost almost as much as food & gas combined. I also wrote a $200 check to help support my high school’s memorial.

 

Ratings:

• Best Roads: Louisiana, surprisingly enough. Every major road was 4-lane, and most of the others were straight.
• Worst Roads: Mountain sections in Oklahoma & Arkansas, although the ones in OK were scenic.
• Best food: No awards given
• Worst food: Have you ever had diced chicken cubes in a Mexican dish?
• Best scenery mountains: Oklahoma
• Best scenery water: Rutherford Beach, Cameron Parish, LA

Miles by State:

• Louisiana: 838.8

• Missouri: 370.3

• Arkansas: 335.9

• Oklahoma: 247.4

• Texas: 78.9

 

Lake Charles Trip, Day 9, Tuesday, June 30, 2026 – Idabel to Warrensburg

 Lake Charles Trip, Day 9, Tuesday, June 30, 2026 – Idabel to Warrensburg

Oops! What happened to Tahlequah? Here’s the story…

 

After a motel breakfast I hit the road at 0700. US-259 runs with US-70, a road that shows up in other trip reports, for a bit. The road crosses a couple of bridges named for Choctaw code talkers in WW I., passes a big Tyson plant and several Choctaw casinos and Broken Bow (Choctaw gas, $3.19). Smith’s Good Eats is a roadside cafe, and a sign a bit further on advertises Grateful Head Pizza Ovens. Hochatown is near a lake, so is busy with all the usual stores, etc. It’s home to Gutter Chaos – apparently a roof gutter company. 

 

I’m getting into some real mountains. The Bethel Cutoff takes me to Indian Road 144 and deep into the Blue Ouachitas and Kiamichis. Weyerhauser appears to have a large presence here, as pine plantations cover hill sides, some of which appear fire-scarred. I come to a crossroads – all options are labeled as Rt. 144, and there are no helpful signs. I pull out a map that doesn’t show the road I’m on. A pick-up truck pulls in behind me and I wave them to pass. It stops next to me, and a redneck leans out the window and solves my problem – Talihina is straight ahead, about 30 more miles of mountains.

 

 144 ends at US-271 8 mi. south of Talihina. This is flat land, but not for long. Out of Talihina on OK-82, I’m back into mountains: the winding road over the Winding Stairs, then a modern one over the Sans Bois. Somewhere in between at Red Oak, I see the Totally Hitched Trailer Park. A quick jog west on OK-31 to Kinta., then OK-2 north past Whitefield over the Canadian River. I’ve crossed the Canadian in New Mexico & Texas, as well – it flows into the Arkansas. 

 

I pass a mail box mounted on aircraft landing gear. Poorum was a hangout for the infamous Belle Starr. Her birthday was February 3^rd, same as Sandra’s. There’s a sign for Rickety Ridge Taxidermy. This area is prairie country. At Warrner, I turn east onto US-64 to Weber’s Falls and Gore, then north on OK-10 to OK 10-A. This takes me to Indian Road, which wanders by the side of Tenkiller Lake. I pass the Burnt Cabin Campground., and finally reach Tahlequah at 1130 AM.

 

First stop in Tahlequah is the Cherokee Heritage Center & Museum, supposedly open Tuesday-Sunday. Uh, no. They’re closed for renovations. So, it’s not even noon, I have a non-cancellable reservation at the HIE and nothing to do here except maybe investigate a casino or two. I buy gas for $3.07, decide to eat the loss on the room, and head home – it’s only another 250 miles or so.

 

US-62 north/east is another winding, hilly road with no place to pass, but it takes me to US-59, a nice, modern road, to Siloam Springs. I decide to skip the stop at the John Brown University library to see pictures of my dad & mom from their time there as instructor & student, respectively. From there, I take AR-43 north to AR-72, thence through Gravette past the Ruff Inn pet boarding, and on to I-49.

 

I-49 is fast; I set my cruise control at 75 and head north. Only one tid-bit recorded: the dueling silo trees on opposite sides of I-49 just south of Nevada. I get off onto MO-52 east (limit 60 in Bates & St. Clair, 55 in Henry) and have pretty clear sailing on MO-13. I arrive at home at 1700, unpack, then run to town for supper and groceries, set up computer, take care of trip accounting, and crash!.

 For the day: 468.0 miles, for the trip 1874.