Costa Rica Driving Adventure Day 2: Terre Haute, Indiana to McAlester, Oklahoma

We left the Travelodge in Terre Haute around 9 AM this morning. Oscar liked it there but I'm not too sure about anybody else.

The best thing I can say about it is, none of my property got stolen.

Yay. Then we got on I70 to head west through Illinois, Missouri and part of Oklahoma. It ended up being a long drive. Maybe too long. We ended up going 627 miles today and have now driven 1000 miles since we left Michigan. We have 3000 left to go. The sun came out about an hour into our drive. As soon as it got sunny, I stopped at a rest area in Illinois and took the pugs for a walk.

We actually saw another pug there too. It was nice to finally be in decent weather again. Then we passed through St. Louis today at lunch time.

We drove right by the Arch but the only arch I was interested in was the Golden Arches of McDonalds. We ate lunch there. The pugs split 2 bacon cheeseburgers. Midas decided when I was done with my drink by taking my straw. I took a picture of the Gateway Arch but my phone battery died as I snapped it. Oh well. Then we passed through the miserable state of Missouri. It sure does have a lot of nice grass...............and not much else. In Missouri, restrooms must be a very rare thing as we drove several hundred miles in Missouri today between rest areas. This was in the Ozark mountains though. I know people in the Ozark's don't generally have indoor plumbing so maybe it's just a cultural thing (LOL). I did see plenty of electronic boards that read "51% of motorcycle accidents occur on the weekend." Glad to know that Missouri. Next time save the money you spent on such boards and build a couple of roadside toilets. Nevertheless, I was glad to see the Oklahoma border. Oscar began panting excessively in Oklahoma so I gave him a xanax pill prescribed by his vet. That made his panting MUCH WORSE.

He seems to be doing better now. I'm hoping it was just a bad reaction to xanax. He has some dental problems now too, so his panting may have to do with that too or maybe the long drive today. I will monitor the situation closely and talk to his vet if necessary but NO MORE XANAX for him.I brought my Batwa doll along for the trip.

It is a doll I bought in Uganda from the Batwa (pygmy tribe). It was with me on the underwear bomber flight and I consider it a good luck charm. Unfortunately, soon after I took this picture of it, Midas ripped it apart. Just after he ripped it apart, Oscar's panting got much worse. Midas did try to make up for it later though by sleeping on his dad's shoulder.

Later, he got out one of his toys but was too tired to play with it.

We did finally make it to the Oak Tree Inn in McAlester, OK. It is a major upgrade to our hotel last night. Bugsy really likes it.

Gretel and Midas are using up the energy they saved all day by playing and being very loud. Lori ordered us pizza as I didn't want to leave Oscar alone and Gretel and Midas were misbehaving. We all ate pizza together. Tomorrow I pick up Barney and Dean and head for the border.