OKLAHOMA CITY, OK…THE SOONER STATE

Sunday, May 22 – Off to Oklahoma City, OK today. This is the first we have traveled outside of Texas in nearly 7-months. We traveled into Balmorhea, TX on October 24, 2010, after touring New Mexico, and have been in the state ever since.

We had an uneventful 5 hour drive arriving at Rockwell RV Park. This park is a little more expensive than we usually spend, but it has a good location for the sights we want to see. We may move to a different location on Thursday, but there aren't many RV choices in OKC.

The scenery at the beginning of the drive looked like this…

Once we entered

It looked like this…

AHHHHH…green grass, trees!

Rockwell RV Park is on the west side of the city. They have an indoor swimming pool and hot tub. They serve free coffee and muffins each day. And we get a daily paper free...none of which we need or use.  They raise buffalo on site  and sell the meat in the office. We may need to try this.

This one kept a close eye on Marsha.

Our Site #68

Looking down the road.

INTERESTING SIDE NOTE:
Lubbock, TX.....elevation 3400 feet
Amarillo, TX....elevation 3750 feet
OKC, OK.........elevation 1340 feet

Do you know why the state is called the "Sooner State"?  On April 22, 1889 the Indian Territory was opened to settlers. Thousands of people lined up on the border, and when the signal was given, they raced into the territory to claim their land. Some people went in early to claim their land. They became known as Sooners.  Now you know the rest of the story.

We drove downtown to get the lay of the land. We visited the famous warehouse area now known as Bricktown. There is a beautiful river walk meandering through this downtown area and entertainment district. Surprisingly, few of the restaurants and bars were open on Sunday.....just like the old days, when alcohol establishments weren't allowed to open on Sunday. A few were open, so there must not be a law forbidding it, but most open Tuesday through Saturday. Looks like a nice entertainment area.....we'll have to stop back!

We took a stroll along the mile-long Bricktown Canal.

They have a Water Taxi that takes passengers on a cruise.

Marsha LOVES baseball. The next two stops made her day.

Johnny Bench Plaza, home of Big 12 baseball.

Johnny Bench was born in OK City. He played for the "Big Red Machine" (Cincinnati Reds for those non-baseball fans.) for 17 seasons. Johnny was named Rookie of the Year in 1968, National League Most Valuable Player in 1970 and 1972. world Series MVP in 1976, a 14 time all-star and won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves.  He was elected in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989.

Mickey Charles Mantle was an American professional baseball player was also from OK City. He played his entire 18-year Major League Baseball career for the New York Yankees as an outfielder and first baseman. He won 3 American League MVP titles and played in 16 All-Star games. Mantle appeared in 12 World Series, winning 7 of them. He won the triple crown in 1956. He is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.

San Angelo has their sheep.

Odessa their rabbits.

Amarillo their horses…which Marsha hasn't blogged about yet but it is coming.

And now OK City with their buffalos. Where will it all end?

After our River Walk and site seeing of Bricktown, we had a beer at Toby Keith's Bar (“I Love This Bar”). The beer was nice and cold.

The pictures don't really show how big this place really is.

If you have to wait for a seat, the back of these pick up trucks will do the trick.

Says it all!

Toby Keith is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith has released thirteen studio albums, two Christmas albums, and multiple compilation albums. He has also charted more than forty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including nineteen Number One hits and sixteen additional Top Ten hits. His longest-lasting Number One hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each. The walls are full of pictures and gold records.

There’s so much to do and see in Bricktown, you won’t want to miss it!

We will end with…how did they do this?

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!