I spent Tuesday travelling around Bartlesville, Oklahoma, with my aunt. The has been sustained by money from oil and was the original headquarters of Phillips 66. Consequently the town is characterized by an mix of rural farmland, small town U.S.A., modern suburb, and major city center, all with a population of only 35,000. The architecture is eclectic; on a walk in my aunt and uncle's neighborhood, we houses in Romanesque, Gothic, Tudor, colonial, and Spanish styles all within a one block span.
The most famous building in town is Price Tower, one of the only skyscrapers designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was originally designed for the New York skyline, so it has been nicknamed "the tree that escaped the forest". Price Tower has hotel rooms in its upper floors, making it the only Frank Lloyd Wright building in which you can spend the night.
Price Tower is designed to remind the viewer of a tree.
On Wednesday I left early, since I had a 10.5 hour drive ahead to get to Cedar Crest, New Mexico. Although the Texas panhandle has arbitrary longitudinal borders to the east and west, I was surprised how much those borders affected the topography and climate. Although it had been overcast throughout my entire drive in Oklahoma, the moment I crossed into Texas the sun came out for the first time. At the other end of the panhandle, the border lines up with an unusual geological feature. Most of the Texas panhandle sits atop the Llano Estacado, one of the largest plateaus in North America. Just fifteen miles from the border with New Mexico the plateau gives way to the Canadian River valley and the hilly scrubland that characterizes most of New Mexico. Driving over the edge of the plateau is quite a spectacle:
It's a good clue that you've reached New Mexico when the welcome center is built of adobe.
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