So, after spending a night in lovely Arkansas, AEJ and I continued our cross-country drive. Next state: Oklahoma, where neither of us had been before.

Loki, by this time, was totally cool about the car.

When he wasn’t chilling on the armrest, he’d nap on AEJ’s lap.

Shortly into Oklahoma, we saw a highway sign that read, “Checotah, Oklahoma: Home of Carrie Underwood, American Idol.” HOLY CRAP! Seriously?! Did you watch American Idol last season? If you did, you were either a Carrie Underwood fan or a Bo Bice fan. I, personally, was a Bo Bice fan. Carrie Underwood was all about “well golly, I can’t believe this is happenin’ to lil’ ol’ me! I’m from a small town in Oklahoma!” I was always thinking it was just an act — until AEJ and I visited that town.

I couldn’t get a picture of the highway sign in time, but there was this sign on the fence of the local high school, as viewed from the freeway exit ramp.

Checotah is, it seems, truly a small town, and I think there may be a higher concentration of American flags there than actual residents.

Most of the downtown stores either had tributes to Carrie Underwood…

… or the upcoming OkraFest.

They really did make OkraFest seem really cool (hell, it’s “Fun in the Sun!”), but we had to move on. Sadly, we also didn’t get to stop at Frisbie’s Tackle shop, where you can get supplies for fishing, hunting, and archery — as well as an eye exam. Good lord. There are just too many jokes here.

Oklahoma had some beautiful scenery. There were fields of yellow…

… and these awesome wind farms, with mile after mile of massive windmills.

Then we reached Texas. I expected Texas to be completely flat and “big sky,” and a lot of it was, but it was a whole lot prettier than I expected. There were long, seemingly endless country roads…

… and beautiful fields…

… and stunning valleys.

And this weird, leaning water tower.

But then we spotted it. Or maybe we were “called.” I don’t know. But there It is in the distance (behind the seemingly equally inspirational telephone poles): The biggest man-made cross in the western hemisphere.

Here’s the plaque about it. And a big flag.

There’s really no way to convey how massive this thing is. Those tiny objects at the bottom of the photo? Those are people.

Just outside of parking lot for The Cross, there was a sign for some holy food. Some blessed Amer-Tex-Mex. What would Jesus eat?

That night, we decided to stay in Amarillo, Texas — the most fun city we visited during the drive. Why? Largely because of The Big Texan — home of the 72 oz steak! If you can eat the whole thing in an hour, it’s FREE!

The Big Texan has a hotel, too. Sadly, we’d already booked a room elsewhere, but the next time we’re in Amarillo, we are SO staying here.

We had our car, but if we hadn’t, The Big Texan would send this stretch limo with horns on the front to pick you up and bring you to dinner. Next time, AEJ, next time.

Here’s me, ready to dig in.

On the way in, we saw this sign. This struck us as very weird — a total throw-back cowboy gimmick theme restaurant, and it’s a WiFi Hot Spot. It felt more Seattle than Texas.

Once inside, we saw this guy, who had accepted the 72-oz challenge. When you make an attempt, they seat you at this elevated dining table in the center of the restaurant so everybody can watch you eat as a huge digital timer counts down from one hour. Neither of us tried it (we ordered 6oz filets, ’cause we’re wusses), but we, and the rest of the clientele at The Big Texan admired and respected this gentleman’s sense of adventure.

While you eat. these three guys go from table to table and play cowboy songs. They were awesome.

We saw this guy eating there, and thought he kind of looked like the offspring of Al Franken and Gollum.

Here’s my dinner — steak, mashed potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms. Delicious.

Hey! That guy finished his 72-oz steak! Hooray! People applauded, and we all took pictures.

On the way out of Texas, we passed Bushland. I had no idea he had a town there, other than Crawford. I’ll withhold further comment about Bushland, because I don’t want to be audited.

So, that’s Oklahoma and Texas! Next stop…