This past weekend I was lucky to experience a unique journey through southwest Oklahoma. I wasn't on Route 66 this time, nor was I sitting behind the wheel of my Mustang. This journey put me in a vehicle that was altogether new to me on a path quite a bit older than any highway: the … Continue reading Speeder Excursion and the K&T Motor 9
I love trains. I'm not a "foamer" (a term used by some for die-hard train enthusiasts). I can't tell you what all the parts and pieces do or differences between one train line and the next but I can tell you how they make me feel. There's something about the sight and sound that taps … Continue reading Welcome Back, Big Boy
In late November, my friend Nic asked if I had been down to Oklahoma City to see the Railway Museum. I told him I hadn't, and that was as good an excuse as any to get out of town. I had been stuck in a loop of book-related activity and really needed a break. The … Continue reading America’s Corner
It's been a little over seven years since I received that terrible phone call, the one that signaled a new age of my life. It's a little surreal to look back at my world at the time of my father's sudden passing. I feel like I was just a kid then, even though I was … Continue reading The March of Time
Most of my free time lately has been going towards research and writing of my book on Lost Tulsa Restaurants -- and I'm happy to say it's going well! But all that time at the Tulsa Historical Society and other archives has taken away from my time on the road. Not to mention it's been … Continue reading Eleventh Hour Bridgehunting
The last few weeks have been hectic in the Martin household. In fact, the Martin household no longer includes a house! We listed our home for sale in early March...and it sold in five hours. We found a house we want to move into, but, the schedule just didn't work out. We've been spending nearly every … Continue reading A Much-Needed Escape
On Wednesday, I left the house at seven in the morning. Not for work, as usual...but for a day of tracking. My friend Nic picked me up and we headed southeast. We weren't tracking a storm, or the historic journey of an Oklahoma settler, or a pack of wild animals...we were tracking a beast that's been … Continue reading Chasing Steam
I worked this past weekend. In my current role, my rotating weekends start at 6:00 AM and last until 3:00 PM. That schedule typically discourages me from travel, but there was an event in Oklahoma on Saturday that I couldn't miss. A couple of my friends were gathering in the Sooner State's capital city to say … Continue reading Farewell to the Charcoal Oven
This past summer, I took a road trip out west to experience Route 66 through California, Arizona, and New Mexico. It was a delightful experience, spending a week among the mesas and scrub brush of the American West. I wrote about those travels as I took them, though there were a few places that I skipped … Continue reading The Crookton Overpass
Rhys' Pieces 