Category Archives: Oklahoma

Violence in America

Red Dog Saloon

Red Dog Saloon

Okay, I admit it. I’ve been reading too much and I came across some statements that I simply found difficult to believe. So I go to the CDC website and find the latest statistics (2013) on Causes of Death. It seems that there were 821.5 deaths for every 100,000 people in this country during the latest year on record. Of those, 185 were from malignant neoplasms, 252 were from major cardiovascular diseases, 24 from diabetes, 2 from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), 27 from Alzheimer’s disease, 18 from influenza and pneumonia, 47 from chronic lower respiratory diseases, 101 from all other diseases, 41 from accidents and 13 from intentional self-harm (suicide). It seems that almost 15 people per 100,000 die from drug-induced causes and a little over 9 die from alcohol-induced reasons. At his juncture you might be wondering why I made a point of citing these numbers. It’s because I read that a person in America is much more likely to die from taking their own life or partying than from violence. It seems that the CDC found that only 1.6 people per 100,000 people in America die from assault (homicide). You don’t have to take my word for it. Simply Google “death statistics 2013″ and look for cdc.gov to find the data. To put it mildly, I was amazed. I looked through all that data, did a little pondering, and wondered how 10 times as many people could take their own life as opposed to people committing all the violence I hear about and in the end I was totally clueless about it. Then I realized that the odds were that I was 15 times as likely to have died from partying than from someone trying to kill me. After I thought about that for a while I really only had one question – I wondered “Is the Red Dog is still in operation?”

COE Campgrounds in Oklahoma

ALLSTAYS MapI like the Corp of Engineers (COE). They built lots of nice lakes in my home state. On the other hand, thanks to them we have lots of acres of lake surface and the local humidity can be out-of-sight for somewhere that should have a much lower humidity. That being said, the COE campgrounds are great for a person like me. Since I get half-price camping there, it’s a really cheap place to stop. Also, I can usually get a site with electricity for less than $10. One of the best maps I know of for COE only campgrounds in Oklahoma is the one at ALLSTAYS.  Actually, ALLSTAYS is a good place for finding lots of things quickly and accurately. Need a map of Rest Stops, Wal-Marts, Truck Stops, or some other travel parameter? They have them. Plus, they have listings for the whole U.S. making it a good site for when I wander a little farther from home.

Oklahoma Tent Camping

tent_camping_sitesIt seems that it’s pretty certain I will not be riding between San Francisco and LA this fall. But, I will be riding my bicycle around Oklahoma. I have just finished phase one of my mapping project of Oklahoma Tent Camping locations. So far I’ve found about 350 locations in the state where I can set up a tent and camp overnight. I’ve made a map that gives their location along with one or more references on each site. Within the references a person can find more information about the site. That information may include GPS location, number of campsites, rates and other information such as whether showers or a laundry are available. It may also include whether the site is primitive their are such amenities as electricity and water are available. The map is a public Google map and is located here. Now I have over 250 new places to visit in the next year or two.

Purcell City Campground

The campground is located west of I-35 close to Exit 91. You have to go over the Interstate to get to it. There are currently signs to assist you. The campground is located across the street from the golf course. Camping fees are paid at the golf course. If you get there late and get up really early, the golf shop will probably be closed. There is a McDonald’s and a Wal-Mart where you turn to go to the campground which is about 1/4 to 1/2 mile west of the main street and the business section. There is also a Braums located there (great ice cream and burgers). The Wal-Mart is a Supercenter (24 hrs?). The McDonald’s is currently open from 5 AM to 11 PM and has plenty of electrical outlets. Purcell has a Carl’s Jr., Taco Bell, KFC, McDonald’s, Sonic Drive In, Subway, Long John Silver’s, Pizza Hut, Taco Mayo and a couple of places I like – Jo’s Pizza (very, very yummy but pricey) and Ruby’s (24 hour – great breakfast, plate lunches and homemade chocolate/coconut cream and baked pies).