Eastward Ho

The sun set on the prairie in Oklahoma and I drove on. Daylight found me in a completely different country, though still Oklahoma. On this side of the state it is green with tall trees and riverbeds that actually have water in them. I don't know that I missed much by driving at night  because one could hardly see anything but the glaring lights of casino after casino after casino. I was told there are over 90 of them, all tribal, and that the government cannot mess with them.

I left the interstate in Arkansas, headed for crystal digging country the lady at the visitor center informed me would only be an hour out of my way. Three hours later, I came across this older gent at a rock stand just east of Mt Ida. He told me that the government had put many of the tourist mines out of business by requiring insurance and safety standards that are unaffordable. He mentioned one I might go to but told me they were just about played out, just a few little pieces left. I kept driving. Crystals, crystals and more crystals. They are as common as the petrified wood in Arizona, if not more so.

Arkansas humor? If you can't grow 'em, tie 'em on, them flowers.

Tennessee is much like Arkansas: green, rural, big rivers. Time to get off the highway again. So I went for this gem called Crystal Grotto, located in a Memphis cemetery. It was built by sculptor Dionecio Rodreguez who claims to hail from Aztec artist stock. That's what the sign says, anyway. A few other sculptors added their work to this grotto. Enter and its like walking into a strangely shaped cave in an even stranger place...it even has that heavy dank like a cave. Inside are murals and sculptures depicting the life of Jesus in and among the pillars of stone and quartz crystal. Outside is a pond, a sweet little log bridge and a huge stump replicating Abraham's Oak but crafted of concrete and steel. This is well worth taking a short hop off the highway to see.

Modern day Abraham's Oak

We've all heard of the walking dead. Now we have the running dead!