Moving Day

This was a big week for me.  It was moving week.  Saying goodbye to my house, my job, and the city and state I've called home for six years.

And how awesome is this?  We haven't received any rain of note in Oklahoma City in months but on moving day?  HELLO HURRICANE HERMINE!  Yep.  It started raining in the wee hours of the morning and didn't let up until that night!  I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.  I decided to look at it as a good luck omen since I'm moving to the Pacific NW where it rains a lot.

At 7:45 a.m. the movers arrived with a truck that, in all seriousness, could hold the contents of ten houses my size.  It was a bit intimidating for my little neighborhood street.

The organized chaos ensued and bit by bit they started moving my stuff out the door. 

Don't forget my cowboy hats!  A girl can never have enough cowboy hats.

When I ran to get lunch for the movers I got soaked.  THANKS HURRICANE HERMINE!

After about nine hours of packing and hauling and loading and arranging...all of my worldly contents were packed up in the giant truck that drove away...and in so doing hopped the curve and busted a low hanging limb off a neighbor's tree...and is now in transit to Washington as we speak.

And then my little house was empty.

Well, almost empty.

And so it is done.

I will miss my wonderful friends who gave me one of the best going away presents thanks to Holly's clever maneuvering.  One that bridged my home in Oklahoma with my new home in Washington...an OETA umbrella that everyone signed!  Because umbrellas are a big necessity where I'm going.  I love it.

And  I love that all of my wonderful colleagues signed...even my favorite six-year old colleague Max.  He gives me hugs when he sees me and it brightens my day.

Thank you for everything, Oklahoma.  We will miss you.

Girls Night Out

Mom was nice enough to come to Oklahoma City today to help me get ready for the movers to come on Wednesday.  She also gave me her dining room chairs with is about a million kinds of awesome!

For dinner she wanted me to choose since this is my LAST WEEKEND IN OKC.  That is so weird I can hardly believe it!  So I chose the legendary Cattleman's Steakhouse in the Stockyards of Oklahoma City.  Steak. Seriously...is there anything better?  Yum.

But there was a 45 minute wait!  Mom and I waited upstairs and chatted it up with a very nice woman from Montana who went to college in Colorado.  Guess what?  I grew up in Montana and went to college in Colorado!  Needless to say we had a had a lot to talk about.

And the best thing?  After waiting almost an hour...WE ATE!  We ate wonderful food and by wonderful food I mean STEAKS!

In between good conversation we had musical entertainment.  This guy on the harmonica was pretty good!

Over the last six years I've always had such a good time when Mom has come to OKC.  It's a little bit bittersweet that this is her last visit here to see me!  I had a  great time. 

And if you're ever in Oklahoma City, eat in the Stockyards at Cattleman's!  You'll love it.

100 Things To Do In Oklahoma

Saying goodbye to Oklahoma is really hard!  As my last day here approaches I can't help but reflect on what a great experience I have had here.

The other day I went to lunch with some friends and mentioned that my time here was running out and there were still so many Oklahoma things I wanted to do.  Next thing you know, my awesome friend Jenelle gave me the coolest gift...a set of beautiful cards "100 Things To Do In Oklahoma".

I love them and want to show some of them to you because these are Oklahoma things you should do!

I was pleased at how many of the things I had actually been able to do in the last almost six years.

Here are a few highlights.

Oklahoma has some truly amazing, world-class museums and I am hard-pressed to pick a favorite.  The Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, Fred Jones Museum, Philbrook Museum of Art, Gilcrease Museum, National Cowboy & Heritage Museum, Jazz Hall of Fame, Science Museum Oklahoma, Jasmine Moran Children's Museum...all house amazing art, culture, artifacts, and history.

I have a soft spot for the Gene Autry Museum in Gene Autry, Oklahoma.  Dad and I spent a great day there enjoying The Riders in the Sky.  It's a special memory I will always treasure.

Oklahoma has so many natural offerings.  Two of my favorites are the Quartz Mountain Lake and Resort near Altus and the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge not too far from Lawton.  Really impressive buffalo and longhorn cattle herds, a vineyard, the infamous Meers restaurant and beautiful scenery.

Gotta give a shout out to the zoos - I like both the Oklahoma City and the Tulsa Zoos.

I really like Tulsa.  It has such a different feel from Oklahoma City.  A bit more cosmopolitan, I guess.  Some of my favorite Tulsa sites to see are the Blue Dome District with great entertainment options (love, love, love live-music venue Cain's Ballroom) and the amazing art deco architecture seen throughout the city.  But because Oklahoma City will always be nearest and dearest to my heart I've included in this pic two fun things you should do when here...have dinner at the legendary Cattleman's Steakhouse in the Stockyards and then make your way to Bricktown for some downtown fun.

I'm not a gambler and that is too bad because Oklahoma is thick with casinos.  But they just aren't my thing.  With that said, I have had a few outings to Riverwind Casino and had a blast.  Okay, I mainly had a blast because I was with my Nigerian friend Gbadabo Shola (aka "Sam") Adoeye and he was the hit of the casino.  Talk about one of my favorite Oklahoma attractions....meeting Sam was an amazing experience.  I've written about him here before (but fair warning...that post was from the early days of the Dotopotamus when I used to write rambling novel length posts that went on FOREVER and this one involves not only Sam but a dating experience gone horribly wrong!)

You know my love of small towns.  Oklahoma's got a lot of 'em!  A couple of my favorite small town stops were Guthrie (lots of Oklahoma early statehood history and good antique stores) and Pauls Valley where I did stop at the Toy and Action Figure Museum one time on my way back from Texas.  That place was so funny and so weird that it was a little bit trippy!

And roadside attractions?  You gotta love them.  I really enjoyed seeing the many retro sights along Route 66 including the Blue Whale in Catoosa and Pops in Arcadia.  Dad and I spent some time picking out Frosty Rootbeer and Grape Nehis!

And if you can, you really need to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum honoring those who were killed in the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building.  It is a moving experience.

Of course there are so many things I regret not doing when I had the time.  Almost all of the things I wish I had done are visiting different parks and lakes.  I'd like to see Beaver Bend State Park, Talimena National Scenic Byway, Robbers Cave State Park, Tallgrass Prairie, Grand Lake of the Cherokees and Turner Falls.  Please go visit these places and send me some pictures!

I have to say that I agreed that these 100 Things To Do In Oklahoma were great suggestions.  Okay, actually  I thought 99 of them were great suggestions.  I hate to say it, but I'd have to be pretty desperate for a day trip before driving the American Wind Power Trail would sound like a good idea!

Thanks again for the cards, Jenelle.  They provide great memories of the good times I've had in Oklahoma and a to do list for when we come back to visit!

Christmas in July

Hi!  This is me in December.

Today?  I'm melting!  Triple digit heat means summer in Oklahoma.  So, to cool off I thought I'd share a little bit of Christmas in July.

We had some amazing blizzard and ice storms here in Oklahoma this past winter.

On Christmas Eve I left Oklahoma City at 7:00 a.m. to make my way to Altus to meet up with Randy.  I was leaving early enough to beat the storm and Dot and I were ready.

Oh but oh...was I ever wrong.  As we drove the snow got worse and worse until it was near white-out conditions.  At one point I actually spun 180 degrees and went off the road, but somehow was able to keep the forward momentum going and got out of the ditch and back on the road without getting stuck.  I have no idea why I was that lucky given that so many cars were off the road, stuck in the snow.

After THREE HOURS I got to Lawton (this usually takes me about an hour) and was right here...1 miles from my exit!...where they shut down the highway and I sat for another THREE HOURS!

Luckily while the blizzard raged around me I had plenty of gas and a good heater and finally three hours later the state troopers let us exit off of the highway and I crept along to a convenience store where I called Randy and told him I was done!  All of my I-grew-up-in-Montana-and-know-how-to-drive-in-snow! bravado was long gone and my shattered nerves were having no more of it.  I told Randy I was sitting right there until the storm passed.  Christmas Eve at the Quickie Mart!  Woo hoo!

But Randy would have none of that so he saddled up and my knight in shining armour came to my rescue, driving from Altus to Lawton to save me, and together we drove back to Altus with Randy following closely behind me in case I ended up in the ditch again.  (I couldn't decide if I was mad at Randy for risking his own life or completely swept off my feet by the sweetness of it all!)

Finally, NINE HOURS after leaving OKC, we left my car in Altus and headed south to Eastland, TX where we drove through some of the worst snow I had ever seen in Texas, ever.  At least 18 inches of snow on the road at some points.  Luckily, with Randy's 4-wheel drive and my constant freaking out encouragement, we made it to the Last Stop in one piece.  Can you say frazzled?  That was me.

But the next day?  Christmas 2009?  Wow...the blizzard passed, the sun came out and we were gifted with one of the most beautiful days ever.  I have never seen so much snow at the Last Stop and we had a great Christmas day being outside.

Big Jack probably had more fun than anyone.

Even Dot was having a good time. 

She was on high alert around those shifty cows!

Dad spent most of his day with the flame thrower burning off the needles of the prickly pear, which the cows love to eat.  It's their favorite candy.

It is written that you must celebrate a rare Texas blizzard by building snowmen.  And who knew that I was marrying the valedictorian of snowmen builders?

I thought I was doing pretty well...

 
But Randy and Jack had me so beat.

So we went for a spin around the Last Stop to check out the snow up on Scorpion Ridge.

And when we returned?  Something had gone wrong...very wrong!  The sun was getting to our snowmen.

So the snow didn't last long, but our white Christmas was fun while it lasted.

And if you're still hot from today's blazing sun, here is the entire snowy set to offer some chill.