Kansas to Texas

Today was yet another travel day. We took it easy leaving our Wichita hotel room, giving us plenty of time to workout (no more hills thank goodness) and time to get some real work in before getting in the car.

Then we were on the road again! The first half was pretty quiet, just more prairie buuut we made it into Oklahoma. Zack says it's Kansas "with a little spice. There were a few more trees and a few more hills, but not a lot much else!




For lunch we stopped at Nic's Grill in Oklahoma City. It's this small little spot with very little space, basically a bar and three tables. Also it's cash only - which thankfully we had some on hand. The menu was simple enough, either a burger + fries or their special of the day + fries and while this seems like a boring menu, their burgers were amazing! They were MASSIVE and the patties were thick and sooo juicy. They offered a few different toppings but my favorite was the grilled onions. They were almost charred, black even, but it added so much flavor to the burger. The fries were also freshly cut - sorta how In-n-Out does it.




In my opinion, Nic's was better. 10/10 would recommend to a friend.

After lunch we went to check out the state capitol before leaving town. I was surprised that it was nowhere near the heart of the city because, well, I have never seen that before. Most capitol buildings that I have seen (not that I have seen SO many in my lifetime) have been right in downtown or on some hill that is on the edge of the city but overlooks it. Clearly this trip will be very educational for me as well.

Commentary by Z: the state capitol had a big oil tower in the parking lot. What? Why? Apparently they found oil underneath the capitol building so they drilled a diagonal shaft to get to it... chill guys. It's the capitol building. Leave it alone and go find oil somewhere else.






After our extended lunch break, we resumed our drive to Dallas but before we made it to the Texas border we headed off the freeway to Turner Falls. This waterfall is one of the tallest waterfalls in OK (there is another in a state park that matches its height of 77ft - so the internet says). We had to pay to get into the park, but at $8.50 it was well worth it. The river was so blue with natural deep pools where locals and tourists come swim in the summer.




An easy path took us right to the falls. It seemed so random in a place that had been flat for so long to suddenly have the gorgeous hills and a waterfall nestled in between it.






(We are only a little weird)


The park also has a castle that was built in the 30's as a summer home. And yes, I said castle. The building sits on the mountainside and is open to the public to explore which we most definitely did!








Another great stop in this trip!

Commentary by Z: this "castle" is like every boy scout's dream... even for a grown up boy scout like myself. It's like somebody just got bored and decided "hey, there's tons of rocks around here, I bet I could build myself a sweet little fort up on this hillside" and then before you know it, it becomes this massive project with multiple rooms and 10 fireplaces and secret staircases. There were a few other families/couples there, and from each one it was the man that was way overly excited and was followed around by his polite spouse and kids. Was kind of sad to leave it but I def spent the next 20 minutes in the car thinking about how I could make one of those in my own backyard.
We finally made it to Dallas and met up with some friends of ours at Velvet Taco for dinner. This place had their own twist on tacos. They offered a variety of protein: chicken, steak, fish, tofu, etc. but then topped them off with different salsas, dressings, and other yummy things. I got a fish taco and a rotisserie chicken taco. Both were excellent but my favorite was the fish taco. It was great to catch up with old friends and enjoy dinner in the city. After dinner Zack bought a slice of red velvet cake because dessert is always a good way to finish off dinner. The cake was delicious! So moist and dense with lots of frosting, just the way I like it.

3rd leg of the Journey: ~8 hours. 412 miles.