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My SIL and her hubby recently visited and we took them to see a couple local sights.
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www.meersstore.com/main.html The Meers store and its famous burgers was our lunch stop.
Oklahoma is celebrating its centennial now as it achieved statehood in 1907. The Meers store is older.
We drove up the spiral road to the top of Mt. Scott near the Wichita Wildlife area (close to Ft. Sill/Lawton, Oklahoma.)
Yes, Oklahoma has some hills here and there, we don't look like Kansas. You can see some lakes down below. We have oodles of lakes (more miles of shoreline to fish than Minnesota.)
I'm the one in the black hat (or is it just the way she is holding the grapefruit?) Note, I do not have a death grip on the railing or a safety harness.
Another direction, another lake...
Ok, enough of the lakes visible from Mt. Scott...
Here is where we had a picnic by one of our ponds. There wasn't a feeding frenzy but there was a few fish taking turns jumping out of the water while taking bugs to eat.
Some willows and cat tails around the picnic site.
We also took them to Wide Open Wednesday at the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum. (FoMoCo paid for all admissions for several consecutive Wednesdays)
I won't post a jillion pix but here is one exhibit that is widely regarded. It is entitles "The End of the Trail."
In this larger than life sized statuary the highest point of the work (the lance) is about 20 ft above the floor.
Duke Wayne's eye patch from "True Grit" lots of his pistols and on and on and on are on exhibit. The "Quigly Down Under" rifle on loan previously by Tom S. was not there this time.
I believe it is impossible to actually see all the exhibits in a single day even if you are an honor graduate of a speed reading course and wear track shoes. So many original Remington's and such to view. Oodles of Indian jewelry, artifacts and so much as to boggle the mind.
A good lunch spot too with cloth napkins and table cloths as well as metal utensils! Extensive bill of fare to select from or a terrific buffet. Also soup and sandwiches.
Pat
Nice photos. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Did you drive the prius, the dodge or the ford?? [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
It's been 40 years since I was up around Lawton and Ft. Sill. In fact, I was up there 40 years ago recruiting and spent most of my time at the USO in Lawton. I hope to get back up that way one of these days.
Egon and Bird, Thanks for the replies my friends. I drove the Prius which is comfortable for 4 people and very fuel economical. The Ford is great for 4 too but gets less than 1/3 the fuel economy of the Prius. However one night on the way to Ada for BBQ at the famous Bob's BBQ I wanted to drop off my tractor for some maint so I took the Ford as the Prius doesn't do trailers with tractors on them.
I pulled into the parking lot and tried a turn. Another couple cars got in the way and things got confused and went from mediocre to yuck in about 10 seconds. I unhitched the now empty trailer, put a chain on the tongue and turned it 90 degrees and re hitched now facing OUT of the parking lot.
I got a family sampler which the waitress said would feed 7 (we were 4) and it was magnificient. The left overs went into an insulated bag which the restaurant filled with ice. The leftovers made a dinner and a lunch for 4. The total at the restaurant including ice tea was almost $30. We were not an expensive date!
We got fairly close in an area of open range to a small herd of buffalo (American Bison). My SIL in tan with back to camera was designated photographer for the great shaggy beasts and I am still waiting for copies of those shots which I will sort through for a few to post here.
I previously parked the Prius on the edge of a blacktop road in the wildlife area and a HUGE buffalo walked slowly by on the edge of the road. We could have reached out the window and touched it. You could hear the breathing very clearly and also hear the animal rip a mouthful of grass and chew. It was fun and interesting but not a good photo op as we were too close to get the animal in the frame and the pilot in command (me) refused to let anyone out of the car (as if there wre volunteers.)
Bird, You may have some difficulty adjusting to the changes that have evolved in the Lawton area, including Ft. Sill. The area has grown considerably and the population has grown a bunch. Lots of sub divisions within a few miles of "town" where before there was just scrub and prairie. My aunt is still living in the same house as from the 50's. A cousin, her daughter, lives out near Cache in a subdivision where everyone has a small acreage. Houses are so far apart you can sneeze with a window open and not have neighbors shout back gesundheit!
Oh, and if anyone cares, I'm the one in the Johny Cash suit (all black.)
Pat
Yep, Pat, I'm sure there wouldn't be much I'd recognize in that area anymore. We moved from Marlow 51 years ago and I think I've only been back to Marlow once, in 1962, and then twice to Lawton in 1967. But I have fond memories of Marlow; still think it was just about the best place I ever lived.
I like the hat Pat! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Parking lots with trailers are really no problem. Just use the Braille method of backing and turning! [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]
Back in Alberta there are a few parks with Woodland Bison? and quite a few Buffalo raising farms so they are a pretty common sight. As are elk and deer in several of the parks.
Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Taken on the streets of Tombstone yesterday sunday the 21 of Oct. Local sites? Click to enlarge.
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Nice Deuce! Is it yours? I have a buddy with a deuce as one of his cars. He calls it his military surplus RV. Put in a pallet of firewood, a 55 gal water barrel, some supplies and stuff and head for the desert.
Seeing the "western color" (folks with iron on their hips) reminds me of a Hamilton Avnet (electronic component supplier) customer appreciation blowout I attended near San Diego. My then partner and I wore sixguns (with blanks) and I got conscripted to participate in a staged shootout. I imagine these days wearing a .44 mag on your hip in public would get you arrested, psychiatrically examined, chemically calmed and locked away for the rest of your life. That was about 72-73.
Neat pix. Thanks for sharing.
I'm still waiting for the buffalo pix but will get them.... some day.
Pat
I think Tombstone wouldn't be a bad area to live in. We only spent a few hours there in January, 1990, but as tourists found the Birdcage Threater to be one of the most interesting places, although Boothill and the OK Corral were also interesting.
Not my deuce. That one is kinda a basteredized one way far from original. There is a real nice M35 in town also. Won't find many .44mag's here but a whole lot of .45 colt and .44/40.
Bird they got two new touristy things going I have not done either but I hear they are good . A ghost tour of all the haunted places that takes place at night including the Birdcage. And an underground tour of one of the mines.
Here is a cow calf pair running in open range at the Wichita National Wildlife Refuge near Lawton, OK.
A couple more grazers.
And here is da MAN!
Anyone have a clue why I can't post a JPG photo larger than about 450x317 ?
I'd have thought 600x400 would be OK but NO WAY!
Pat
Of course many years ago I saw the bison in the Lawton, OK, area, but I'll also never forget when I was a teenager and Ardmore, OK, tried to get a zoo started at the county fair grounds. One of the exhibits was a cow, calf, and bull bison in a chain link fenced pen. I walked up to the fence and the calf was right on the other side of the fence. I didn't try to touch the calf or anything like that, and the adults didn't "charge", but the bull slowly walked toward me (I thought maybe to see if I had something for him to eat) and when he got about a foot from the fence, he lowered his head, and just walked into the fence and moved both me and the fence back 3 or 4 feet. Needless to say, I very promptly decided to put a lot more distance between me and that bull.
My uncle who lived in Lawton, got chased around a tree one time by a mama whose calf he approached too closely to get a better picture with his Brownie box camera. Another time he spent several hours in a pond because a buffalo took after him , chased him into a pond, went after him ever time he tried to get out and hung out waiting for him for several hours.
Here is one of the four we kept to make a dinner for the four of us after the big adventure to Lawton. To put the fish into perspective, I wear size XXL gloves.
Pat
We have lots of these little aerial acrobats.
This has been quite a year for butterflies and moths. Some of them are nice to look at but their caterpillars slicked hole sections of my wheat and rye before we noticed and sprayed them. Luckily the wheat recovered but since it had been eaten to the ground it came up looking like it had been mowed with flat tops to the leaves not pointed ones.
Pat
My SIL took this snap of sunrise over our homestead.
Pat