A open letter to tourism Oklahoma.

Every state has good features an Oklahoma is no different.

They have Interstate I-35

They have Interstate I-40

They have Interstate I-44

All offer a very quick way to exit the State or to quickly pass through.

This was my third visit to the State of Oklahama and like I said on the last two it should be my last.

Every visit to this State provides the same frustrations and lack of gaining a worthwhile experience.

Out of 87 nights fortunately only one was spent in the State.

That as usual was marred by the operator taking from me an amount of money in excess of what I saw on booking the motel. He did refund and tried to blame exchange rates!

Perhaps my attitude towards operators in this state may not invoke a warm business transaction but why should I as a customer be continually treated as a money making object rather then a valued customer.

Last night I was the only customer at this motel, could my initial contact with the owner operator being totally correct.

I pressed the buzzer at the disfunctional office and a man appeared from the family kitchen. I greeted him with "Punjah, is this dump where I have a booking?" "Goodness me, this is a Route 66 historical motel not a dump, he replied. Funny the office appeared to be a untidy extension of his home and it looked like his workshop was blocking access to one room and his horse float two others!

I went for dinner at the local Chinese, the food was good, but should a customer have to content with staff's young children riding their bicycles between the tables on a filthy carpet.

To his credit Punjah, did appear next morning and offer to talk and listen to my ideas as to how he should run his establishment which he has owned for only a month. He offered a towel to wipe down my motorcycle after the evenings storm.His offer of coffee in the morning at 9am, well I turned up at the still locked office at 9.30 and eventually was given a 8oz foam cup of coffee, for the same money in Missouri my motel had both an indoor and outdoor pools, a free hot breakfast, a gym and 24hr desk.

However that's not all offered to the tourist in Oklahoma, you have the vast array of turnpikes that charge small amounts eg 40c but have signage demanding the exact change, try fumbling in leather riding pants with long lines of traffic behind you for exactly 40c. I found out some have attendants who will give change but do they tell you that NO.

So if I was travelling Route 66 what was I doing on turnpikes (paying motorways)?

Unlike all the other States from the start of route 66 in Chicago the route has been very well marked. Does that happen in Oklahoma, well up to Oklahamo City it was not too bad then as I followed I-35 South (also 66) in towards the city it disappeared, In fact it was some two hours later thyat I exited OK city on I-40 (also 66) and got well almost back on Historical 66 at Shamrock.

Oklahoma has a problem of detours, often very little advance warning then a detour of like today over 34kms. The detour signage like that shown in the lead photo shows the detour turning eg Left, whereas they really want you to stay on I-40 for another few hundred metres before turning. Locals may now this but the tourist ends up heading to Dallas or some other town that requires some travel before one is given the opportunity to change direction. Today I managed to see vast amounts of downtown "Spanish ghettoville" before being speared in the right direction.

The value economically of Route 66 tourism must not register as little support is given to enchance Route 66 tourism. I acquired my Oklahama Route 66 map in Missouri, thankfully as no where did I get offered one and no where could I get one for Texas this is the reverse to what has happened in all the other Route 66 States, infact I dont even recall seeing a welcome centre in my travels across the State. Guess they want you to realise tourists dont matter in Oklahama.'

Some tourist Route 66 opertators strugglw without assistance to keep the spirit of Route 66 alive and assist the touist while making a dollar for their businesses.

One such smart operator is Gerry at Seba Station Motorcycle Museum in Warwick who has a stunning collection of over 100 motorcycles from 1910 onwards along with a vast and assorted shopof saleable memobilia.

He promotes his business as a Historic Route 66 stop and genuinally welcomes each and every person as a guest whether they have an interest in motorcycles or what he tells us is probably Oklahoma's oldest plumbed outhouse. Lucky for him the route is marked at his location otherwise he would be sitting waiting for the tourist who never came.