When we got to Amarillo, Texas I tried to arrange a Urologist visit but couldn't do so within our timetable so I went to another ER. After 7 hours the radiologist look at the CT scan I had brought with me and declared my stone small enough to pass. The ER doctor told me nobody ever died from a kidney stone. He gave me a prescription for pain killers and sent me on my way. I filled the prescription but never used it I guess I have a high pain threshold. We hung around Amarillo for another day and went to the outdoor theater to see a show "Texas" at Palo Duro Canyon. Its a 10% grade into the canyon and I am glad we didn't try and camp there. The canyon was spectacular.
It seems that ceramic figures are very popular as this long horn steer demonstrates
The musical in the outdoor amphitheater was about the start of ranching in the Palo Duro Canyon.
At the end of the civil war The 4th U.S. Calvary under command of Cornel Ranald Mackenzie a New York, West Point graduate defeated the local Comanche tribe under the leadership of Quanah Parker. The Comanche went to the Reservation and the Canyon was safe for ranching. As these shows go it wasn't as good as some of the others we have seen. The acting seemed up to it, but the script and dialogue was a little one dimensional. The music was not written for the show but used such songs as Tenting Tonight, In the Sweet by and by, The Girl I Left Behind Me, and Turkey In the Straw to name a few. In several other shows we have seen the music is original and integral to the story. Maybe it's why we had the feeling of one dimensional dialogue. None the less the evening was enjoyable and I would recommend the show to anyone finding themselves in or near Amarillo, TX in the summertime.
We left Amarillo the next morning and drove to Tulsa, Oklahoma. As we drove you could see the scenery changing from desert to forest and agriculture as opposed to ranching. Tulsa had experienced significant rainfall and was almost tropical in the heat that accosted us. We went to the Oxley Nature Center to walk and then to the Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum before driving on. The museum was quite impressive with four main exhibits representing the continents. They even had a mock up of an African village amongst the animals and exhibits. I was still trying to pass the Kidney stone so I carried a urinal and strainer with me to catch it and took Ibuprofen several times along the way.
I was still in discomfort so we limited our driving to four hours a day and stopped overnight in a non remarkable campground outside of Springfield, Missouri. There are several Civil War battlefields and a famous Bass shop in Springfield but we didn't visit any of them. The next day we drove to the very pleasant Robertsville State Park on the Merimec River close to St Louis, Missouri.
The next day we visited Grant's Farm operated by the Anheuser- Busch Company. The farm which is located on property once owned by president Ulysses S. Grant is free and has farm animals on display along with some the Famous Budweiser Clydesdale horses. The park also has a log cabin built by Grant when he married and settled near St Louis before the Civil War.
We weren't able to visit the cabin but saw it from a distance as only people on a special tour could stop at the cabin. The tours cost $100 and take 10 people. Unfortunately there was no way to create an ad hock group and we had nobody with us to make a group of 10. The Farm was a nice place to take kids but there really wasn't much for us except the Cabin and Clydesdales so I wouldn't recommend this as a place to visit unless you are a Civil War buff or have children to take.
We sandwiched our stop at State Park by a stop in a nice county park in Springfield, Illinois. while there are several historic sites connected with Abraham Lincoln, I was not in the mood for sight seeing so I drove Debby to a greenway walking trail. After Springfield, we drove to Starved Rock State Park. You may remember we stayed there on our trip out. By this time my pain and discomfort had subsided so I joined Debby in walking the canal trail. From there we drove to the Lazy Days Campground in West Bend, Wisconsin where we were to spend the weekend with Michael, Jennie and the kids along with both dogs.