Going Walkabout - what I did on my vacation

When I decided to retire smack in the middle of Iowa winter, I knew that date wasn't ideal for basking in my home state during my new found idle time. So Paul and I began plotting our escape (mostly Paul). He planned while I finished up my last few weeks of work. As we put together our itinerary, we tried to emulate our daughter-in-law Kara, trip planner supreme to figure out where we'd go, hotels (or friends to visit), what, and even food ideas!

We were going Walkabout (from the dictionary: a journey on foot undertaken by an Australian Aboriginal in order to live in the traditional manner.
Sure we drove, and we are not Australian Aboriginals - but you get the idea. When you drive places, you get a better idea of how people live in the places you visit.

Our trip was planned for places south - from January 16 to around January 29. After travel scares (highway 360, unplanned overnights), in early adulthood, Paul always keeps a close eye on is the weather. We are not those who plunge into icy snowy conditions unprepared. In fact, we don't plunge at all! We are Scout travelers who utilize today's technology to plan ahead. Now retired, we have the luxury of flexibility - yippy!

Our windshield crack - it grew during our trip! 

We left a day early to beat the snow, rain, ice that hit Iowa on Thursday. We noted the stuff never left Des Moines while we were gone. Good move! Just south of Kansas City, some jerk who had the nerve to drive in front of us kicked up a tiny missile that cracked our windshield. Ugh!

The first stop was Wichita. We decided later that we could have made it to Oklahoma City, but now we've seen Wichita. That night we checked out a local place - Bite Me Barbecue, downtown. The place got an A for atmosphere, but the food was not fabulous. But hey, the beer was cold!

Downtown art - OKC

On to Oklahoma City (OKC) on Thursday the 16th - a mere 2.5 hours south. I started booking all our motels on Hotels.com. Once I got everything set up on the mobile app, it was pretty simple. Plus after 10 stays, you get a free stay. We're up to 7 after that trip! We didn't book most until the day we arrived for the night before - most billed the card upon booking. I did notice that we didn't get the primo room assignments - welcome to the room by the elevator/ice maker.

Oklahoma City National Monument

We really enjoyed OKC  - despite some soggy weather, staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Brick Town 2 nights. After we arrived we walked to the Oklahoma City National Monument, which honors all affected by the bombing of the federal building on April 19, 1995. It is so informative and well-done - showing with such pride how well the people of this city stepped up to meet the terrible crisis head-on. Just like 9/11, the country rushed in to help and to hold those who needed holding in their arms. There are videos, interactive displays, information about victims and perpetrators and evidence on how they built the case against them. It was cold and a bit rainy so we didn't get to spend as much time out in the actual site of the former federal building - it was beautiful.

National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

On day two we visited the Jim Thorpe Museum and Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in the morning - just around the corner from our motel. It was free (donation) and we spent over an hour there. We now realize we need to get to the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame soon.

That afternoon we took an Uber to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. It was very cool and is in the process of adding an outdoor interactive area that is sure to draw a younger crowd. If you are a fan of movie westerns, native American art, western art, settlers, Native Americans history, and more - this is for you. We spent several hours there and could have spent more, but our brains were bursting and we were hungry. It was interesting talking with Uber drivers about the economy and their stories of what the area was like. The hotel had a nice bar/restaurant. We sat at the bar one night and had a nice conversation with a woman from Stillwater. It's interesting to hear what life is like in Oklahoma.

That night we took in an OKC Thunder pro basketball game - two ISU basketball players are on that team though one is injured. Deonte Burton didn't score but played. It was fun, though pro hoops will never replace college ball in my viewpoint. The Bricktown area has a riverwalk - filled with cool eateries. Due to the rainy weather, we didn't get to investigate the riverwalk area, but it looks like fun!

Then we were off to Austin, Texas on Saturday. It's amazing how from the Texas border on, it seems to be a continuous city. We had no idea that Waco is on the road to Fort Worth. We drove smack through the Baylor campus and pictured the MacLane Stadium (where Baylor plays) featuring shiplap.

There are no toll roads in Iowa. Kansas does - and they make sense to me, you get a ticket when you enter and pay at the end. Hmmm. Not in Texas! We followed Google around/through Austin and ended up on a fancy road where fancy cameras took our car's picture. I suppose we'll get a bill from the Great Republic soon so I'm looking forward to that. Not. It did take us very nicely to our friend Paula Bacon's house.

Did I mention the weather? By then, it was over 60 degrees and sunny. The sun followed us the rest of our trip until just north of Wichita on the day we returned. In the meantime, Iowa was getting hit with white stuff over and over.

Austin is a wonderful place. That blog is up next!

Packed weekend

Whooo coach - I'm still exhausted. That was a brisk pace for this not quite so youngster. We got up Friday morning and headed south on I-35 towards Oklahoma. There is a toll road through Kansas and they collect some change, boy - $12! But we finally crossed the line into the windy state - and it was whipping on the plains.

About 10 minutes after we checked into the Sooner Legends Hotel, the McKims pulled in the parking lot - Don, Diana along with Diana's sis Barb and Katie's pup Lena. Quite a hotel - full of Sooner memorabilia. Later, Ryan's girlfriend was due to arrive with her folks - they're from Clinton. Laura is still in school at ISU and is a nanny for the children of one of the ISU coach's children.

We stopped at the attached bar for a couple drinks - but we sat outside so Lena could join us. Oklahoma allows smokers in their bars - it was like a time warp. Yuck! We had supper plans for a local legend restaurant - The Mont.

We headed there to meet up with the Conovers. Dwight, Marilyn and their son Phillip had driven down from Des Moines, arriving shortly after we did. They with friends they were staying with from Tulsa who own a condo in town. After we were there a while, Don's sister Denise showed up with McKim's daughter Katie who had stayed been bunking with them. OU Sooner staffer Ryan McKim joined us as well. Along with the Sooner marching band...playing - you guessed it - Boomer Sooner. I had a nice chat with Denise - she is a guidance counselor at a school near Dallas. Nice lady, as are all the McKims.

Saturday was game day baby! Thanks to our local hosts and tickets and a parking pass courtesy of Ryan McKim, we had a great time. If only the Cyclones could have played a whole game! Tailgating at OU is quite gentrified - not at all rowdy as it can be in Ames. That might be due to the early start (11 a.m.) but I was amazed how quiet everyone was. No rowdy music or loud cornhole games going on in the parking lot!

The guys went to pick up our tickets at Will Call and ended up at the Conover's hosts' tailgate location - right by the OU Daily paper building on campus. I enjoyed walking on campus - there were actually trees there! I pushed a strange button on my camera so pay no attention to the weird face on the photo!

 

Marilyn and Phil with Laura (Ryan's GF) and Dee in the background

 

Paul with Laura's dad on the left

Dwight points out the thing to Laura's Mom

Finally, it was game time. The good stuff all happened when we sat in our real seats. We eventually moved down by Laura and her folks - next to all the OU recruits. It's fun to sit that close to the action - but I wish ISU could have supplied some excitement. We did get to see OU coach Barry Switzer up close and personal.  The second half was brutal - OU scored something like 38 points straight.

Love this couple's reaction to ISU scoring first!

Barry Switzer - red shirt

After the game - we needed a drink!

We drove out to see the football coach's mansion (from outside the gate) after the game. Then we watched football in our hotel room and ordered pizza. The next day we had a big ISU basketball game to catch! But that's another blog...

Selfie - an OU guy carved from a tree stump