A few years back, I was bless - ed with the opportunity to take a road trip with our youngest daughter, Marigrace. In the interest of brevity, I'll call her MG. This dad and daughter road trip began with some free tickets to see the Cubs play at Wrigley Field in Chicago. I have previously written, more than once, about our baseball ad - venture. But we did more than watch the Cubs play. Our trip was memorable. It was special, as time with your kids always is. In the mood this week to re - member one of our escapades, I thought I’d share some memo- ries. What follows is a chronicle of our travels, documented here for your enjoyment (or toler - ance) Since we would be driving through much of the Midwest (Texas to Chicago), MG and I de - cided to make some meaningful stops along the way, turning our trip into a combination family history tour and baseball adven - ture. First stop on the road was McAlester, Oklahoma. This is where my dad, MG's grandfather, grew up. I had driv - en through Oklahoma a number of times but had never visited my dad's hometown (he grew up on a farm outside of McAlester and would tell stories of riding on top of the cotton wagon headed into town to sell their crop each year). MG and I enjoyed our stay. The highlight of our brief stop (including an overnight stay at the Economy Inn clean rooms, but no A/C, and bath towels the size of gum wrappers) was a drive by the "Waggin' Tails Dog Wash" (open 24 hours), and the Brad Pitt look-a-like who was working the breakfast shift at the Sonic Drive-In the next morning. To clarify I am not interested in Brad Pitt - just thought it was kind of funny to see him (or his twin) working at Sonic on Mon - day morning in McAlester, Okla - homa. We took a few pictures on our way out of town and continued our journey.
Our second day on the road took us to Claremore, Oklahoma, hometown of Will Rogers (am counting him among my list of favorite Americans). Will and I share the same birthday, almost (he was born Nov. 4, me Nov. 3), we are both part Cherokee (his grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee, my grandmother was ½ Cherokee). He was a humorist, entertainer, writer, and cowboy. Me, I like to make jokes, work at writing a bit (as I sit here now and pound out these words first draft on my 1946 model Royal portable typewriter, I am remind - ed that Will used one too) and I wish I was a cowboy.
In Claremore we found the Will Rogers Memorial and mu - seum. MG and I enjoyed our vis - it there. Later, we stopped at the Rogers' family home and ranch in Oologah, Oklahoma. This was a great place to visit and ended our history lesson for the day.
