We have been at a campground about 30 miles outside of OKC in Choctaw since leaving the Cummins parking lot – Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We drive by Tinker Air Force Base to get to the campground and we get a great view of several large military aircraft parked there. On Friday morning we drove back into town to Richard and Cathy Malone’s home. I mentioned before that Richard is a banking friend from way back. We went to their favorite breakfast spot and then on to see Quail Creek Bank, where Richard works, which was conveniently right down the street. The bank’s main clientele is old. . . old. . . OLD Oklahoma oil money. Richard said their main challenge is to have all the techie bells and whistles (online banking, mobile banking, social media etc.) that will keep the younger generation with them. A must, since they only have one location! I know all this because Mike and Richard sat in the front seat talking shop all day and Cathy and I sat in the back and yacked. I kept one ear attuned to the front seat conversation.
We then got a tour of Cathy’s workplace – BankOnIT – a company that handles all IT services for banks. This is a new job for Cathy. She worked for over 19 years for the Federal Reserve Bank. (as you can see, Mike has a lot in common with these people. It was all Greek to me!) After a tour of her impressive, state-of-the-art facility, we headed downtown. Two major energy companies dominate the landscape here. Chesapeake Energy Arena is home to the OKC Thunder pro basketball team and Devon Energy built a towering skyscraper that dwarfs the other buildings around it. An old warehouse district has been transformed into Bricktown, a popular destination for locals and visitors alike. It is next to the arena, and also has a Triple A minor league baseball stadium. A man-made canal was put in, and the shops and restaurants followed – a smaller version of the Riverwalk in San Antonio. We walked around and went into Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill for a drink and appetizer.
After a drive by the state capitol building, we stopped at the Cowboy Museum. The guys stayed in the car, but Cathy and I ran in to look around and take a few pictures. That led us to Stockyards City – a part of town where they still hold livestock auctions weekly. The only difference between today and yesterday is now the cattle arrive in trucks instead of being driven by cowboys on horseback. Everything a cowboy or cowgirl could possibly want can be found at a store here called Langston’s and we browsed it all. Mike tried on numerous cowboy hats (wish I had taken a picture) and I tried on cowboy boots. It is amazing how much you can pay for a good felt hat or good pair of leather boots. Mike did buy a pair of Wrangler jeans – as close to cowboy attire he is probably going to get. The young lady who checked us out had on one of those big rhinestone belts. It was pretty and I told her so. She said, “Oh thanks. I got it at the NRF.” Like I was supposed to know what the NRF was. So I had to ask her. She was at the National Rodeo Finals.
We ended the day back at the Malone’s to catch the end of the televised golf.
Saturday was a perfect day. For the first time since leaving Florida, we didn’t have to get up and be on the road early for either another long day of driving or to get in all the sight seeing we wanted to do. We slept in and cooked breakfast and did some laundry. I drove the 5 miles into Choctaw to mail packages to the grandkids. We bought each of them a folding US map and a yellow highlighter for them to trace our travels and know where we are (via postcards and phone calls).
Mike wanted desperately to wash the motorhome as I don’t think it has ever gone this long without a good cleaning. I inquired in the office and they don’t allow RV washing here. (Thank you, Lord. Remember, I said you have to be thankful for the little things!) We spent a relaxing afternoon in our jeans and T-shirts watching the Masters and grilling steaks at the Malone’s.
Tomorrow is another early day (on the road at 6) to be at a campground halfway to Santa Fe in time to watch golf. Sunday at the Masters is not to be missed! Pictures today are the guys in Richard’s office at work, the girls at the baseball stadium, the statues of Mickey Mantle and Johnny Bench (both from Oklahoma) outside the stadium, the inside of Toby Keith’s bar (notice his tour bus coming through the wall on the right and the benches, which are truck tailgates with cushions), a sculpture called “The End of the Trail” and a statue of John Wayne – both at the Cowboy Museum, a street flag at Stockyards City and a pile of dirt. The dirt is red here in Oklahoma, and that just fascinated me.
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