My uncle Jack has lived in Oklahoma for as long as I can remember, and on two road trips, I’ve visited him in Tulsa on the way out west. It’s always nice to see him, and to hang out with my cousins who live nearby.

The first time through, George and I took the opportunity to get the roof liner of our Jeep repaired; in the heat of the southern drive, the adhesive had melted enough that the fabric had begun to sag low enough that we’d brush it with our heads, so it needed to get fixed. We watched Speed 2, another in a line of fine summer of ’97 film fare we consumed along the trip.

Both times I’ve visited, Oral Roberts University and its mind-boggling architecture has been a must-see, and the Prayer Tower, pictured above, is the highlight of the tour. Amazing stuff. During our most recent trip, Aimee and I stopped at Robert’s in El Reno for breakfast, and Aimee took the wheel of the Golf for her first official stretch of driving a manual transmission car on a real road, which was exciting and uneventful, in a good way. She’ll always remember Oklahoma for that, I’m pretty sure…

Nearly halfway there as the map fills up.