Oklahoma Part 2: Oklahoma Proper

There was a lot of visiting and activity that happened over a three day period, so I'm going to hit the highlights quick takes style. 

1.) The Museum

This is me next to a stuffed bison that you can pull full sized plastic guts out of. You know. Like the Native Americans did. 

It turns out Lawton has a really nice science and history museum. 

They have both outdoor and indoor exhibits; given the fact that it was 100 degrees outside, we stuck with the indoor stuff. 

The lower floor was some local environmental science stuff and lots and lots of local history exhibits. It was definitely aimed towards families with kids; there was a huge emphasis on interactive displays. 

I think the kids' favorite was the mock general store (which had some attached information about the settlers to the area in the early 20th century when the Comanche tribal lands were opened up to settlers by a government run lotto...see, I learned something!). It was stocked with plastic and cardboard mockups of products, aprons and hats for trying on, and an old time telephone that connected to the print shop display next door. 

There was also a checkerboard, so Little Boy learned how to play checkers with his daddy while the girls played store with their aunt. 

There was also a windmill you could change out and adjust blades on to make electricity for some toys houses, a working manuel print machine you could set type for and print on, a teepee you could sit in, and a leather shop display with little leather rosettes and tools to try your hand at leather working. 

And a whole bunch of tractors, stage coaches, and the like to look at. 

There were also some more general science type displays about the five senses, and an upstairs balcony with a bunch of activities (guide this ball through these tubes! Build with these big foam blocks! Weave a basket with this paper plate and yarn!). They honestly struck me as, "hey families, we want you to buy memberships. So here's a bunch of stuff your kids can do during the summer that's in an air conditioned space and moderately educational." 

Not a bad business model, really. 

The thing up there that most caught my kids' attention was probably the interactive display on elevation. 

There was sand in a box with some sort of light sensor that changed the light display based on how high or low you shaped the sand. Kinda neat. 

2.) Medicine Park 

Medicine Park was basically a developed area along a river with a swimming area and some places to eat and shop. Kind of like an Oklahoma version of a boardwalk or the Riverwalk in San Antonio. 

My brother wanted us to eat at a place called the Old Plantation Inn, which was an old house turned restaurant right in the thick of the area. There was a 30 minute wait time, so we ended up going for a walk. 

Where we saw this faintly disturbing giant duck sculpture mounted on an out of commission paddle boat. 

It had a window on the front to look out of. I can't imagine that thing any fun to be in, especially during the summer... maybe they use it for some kind of boat parade? 

We walked around a bit, and eventually got to eat. Pretty decent food. I had a glass of wine and ended up laughing for a long time at nothing. It was kind of nice to be around adults I felt comfortable doing that around. 

3.) Army Base 

We went and saw Ft. Sill at one point. My brother was able to get us on base with his credentials. 

We drove around and saw the office he works at, the equipment his unit is in charge of, and where he and his wife lived the first few months he was stationed there. 

Then we stopped by the Army Exchange. 

Now, my dad was military. I grew up in a military household, and I've been to exchanges on military bases before. I know that they carry a little of everything. 

Still, this one was basically a full sized mall. I don't think I've ever seen one that big. 

We started by eating lunch in the food court. 

Then we wandered around inside the shopping area. 

The men in our group wanted to stick around the gun counter for awhile (which was very large, well stocked, AND had cheap ammunition (almost impossible to find at the moment)) while the women took the kids and went to look at other stuff. For some reason, we ended up looking at furniture. 

I was amused to note that a LOT of it was obviously catered toward 19 year old boys. Lots of computer desks with gaming mats and desk chairs with wrap around headrests, embedded speakers and a red-and-black color scheme.

I commented on this to my sister in law, who told me it wasn't uncommon to see new recruits come into the PX then leave with huge big screen TVs or computer monitors. "Aw, someone just got their first paycheck!"

My brother was on the phone a lot during the time we were there putting out little fires with his soldiers. He did not have a particularly good opinion of their overall intelligence; apparently the enlisted Army life doesn't always attract our best and brightest. 

4.) Mount Scott and the Nature Reserve

After finishing up at the PX, around 2pm, we drove up to the [EDIT: not] highest point in Oklahoma. 

There were signs all over the entrance and the road, "ALL Hiking not allowed after 10am! Heat advisory!" 

Naturally, it was 105 degrees outside and we had to slow down several times because the road was covered in hikers. Only a few of which had water bottles. 

More power to them, I suppose. 

Despite the heat, the views from the summit were beautiful. 

From there we went to the bottom of the mountain and visited the nature preserve visitor's center. 

I was actually very impressed with it. They had a small museum with exhibits on the history of the preserve (set aside by Teddy Roosevelt), land management techniques (controlled burns!), and the different animals who lived there, many of whom had to be reintroduced. There's a herd of wild bison on the reserve that's descended from bison brought in by train from North Dakota, and wild turkeys that were reintroduced from the Rio Grande valley. 

There was a solitary bison grazing by the road on the way out. The kids were pretty excited about that. 

5.) Aldi's

The day before we had to head back, we stopped by Aldi's to get restocked for the trip. 

I'm aware of the reputation that Aldi's has as far as being some of the cheapest yet quality groceries currently available on the market. Unfortunately, I generally can't take advantage of that excellent value for my dollar, because they haven't built a location within 70 miles of where I live.

Yet here we were, in an Aldi's. 

And that's why a box full of tomato and chili cans and 200 diapers made the 12 hour drive back home with us to Texas. 

6.) Assorted Visiting

In between all these outings was a lot of visiting. I got to know my sister in law better, and my brother and Chris (who are best friends) got a lot of talking time in too (from 8pm to 4am at one point). The kids spent a lot of time with their aunt and uncle (both of whom love them to pieces), and I even managed to meet up with a couple old friends from college. 

It was just a really lovely trip all around. 

Next up, our intrepid explorers encounter a river, a lot of driving, a somewhat adequate gas station bathroom, and a deep appreciation for audiobooks.