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Oklahoma in July July 2022	Back to Home Page

I visited my family in Oklahoma in July for a fun week of catching up and relaxing together.


The trip started out pretty rough what was supposed to be a 5 hour trip turned into a 26 hour ordeal, just to make it from Kalispell, MT to Tulsa, OK. I had an unscheduled stop in Salt Lake City before making it to Dallas at about 2am, then a short night at a hotel and a noon flight to Tulsa.	When I FINALLY reached Oklahoma, I was greeted by lots of smiling faces.

We started my vacation with a visit to Ted's - one of my favorite restaurants!	Brodie making designs with his tortillas.


Then we headed to Lake Tenkiller, our family's favorite vacation hangout spot.	Brodie in the setting sun.


Trying to capture the huge moon that night, it was pretty over the water.	The next day we spent the whole day out on the lake. Captain Brodie is getting really good at driving the boat!

	Brodie's favorite lake activity is "exploring", in which we search the shore for treasures.
He's always been a natural with anything that drives.


We found some fun stuff in this cove.	Brodie and my Dad making a further search.


Brodie had a new machete which kept him very entertained.	Lake Tenkiller. Being here always makes me feel like a kid again.

	Our wake as we explored the lake.
A home-made pontoon with 50- gallon drums for floats. This takes DIY to a new level.

	Taking a break for some fishing.
Brodie decided to put "just a dab" of sunscreen on.

	We could watch them work from the marina restaurant where we ate lunch. Here they are almost ready to start the launch.
This huge houseboat was our entertainment for the day. It was in pieces and we first watched them assemble it, then we watched them launch it.


The restaurant sells pellets for feeding the fish, and these fish are very happy to be fed! Also the turtles, ducks, and who knows what else all come out for some pellets.	The launch was successful and they motored it straight over to this boat slip. I guess now it's ready for the new owner to come take it for a spin.

	More lake time on the next day.
Stringing up some pretty lights around the camper.



On a visit to Casa Bloomer (Keith, Desirae, and Brodie's house.) This is my foot beside their puppy Chewy's foot. He is already a huge dog but he's not done growing yet.	Brodie with his goats, they are all buddies.


Chewy is meant to guard the goats. Not sure if he understands that quite yet.	Taking some pellets out to the cows. They liked the special treatment.


The bees do not like these blazing hot temperatures so they come out to cool off.


Desirae and I next took a trip to Fayetteville, AR - the town where I went to college. We had lunch just off the square at a nice Thai place.	Then we walked around the Farmer's Market on the square.


After some shopping, we checked in to our hotel which overlooks the AMP concert venue. We had VIP tickets to see Darius Rucker in concert and were ready to get started!	We got a fun backstage tour before the show started, as well as some merchandise. On the right side of this picture is "VIP Lee", the nicest guy who ran the tour and is also the keyboard player for both Darius Rucker and Hootie & the Blowfish. It was a great tour.



The guitars that Darius uses during one show.	They reused the same setlist from the Memphis show.


The stage, currently set up for the opening act, Ryan Hurd	Looking out into the stands. We had front row seats, but since the last time we'd been here they had relocated the front row WAY back there! Our seats were the first of those gray seats.

	Lee, answering all our questions and telling us the inside information.
Desirae, enjoying her moment of fame.


Part of our package was also a meet & greet with Darius himself. Unfortunately, he was feeling a bit grumpy that day, but at least he smiled for the camera.	Buddy has been his body guard for over 20 years, and was a very sweet man.


Ryan Hurd, he was good.	Darius put on a great concert that night.

	Crowd shot
Lee was so nice, we felt like we were friends with him at this point.


The following day we returned to Westville to pick up Brodie & Mom, and then headed to Tulsa. I had an early flight Monday morning so it was easier to be near the airport for that.	We decided to go to Cheddar's for dinner but there had just been a stabbing in the parking lot. Mom wasn't deterred by the 12 police cars, two ambulances, and a fire truck. She just drove around through a parking lot and we waltzed on into the restaurant. Here Desirae doesn't want her picture taken!





Here we are at "The Center of the Universe" a strange spot in downtown Tulsa where you can hear an echo of whatever you say there.	There had been a shooting at this spot about 10 hours before this was taken. Tulsa is a rough place!

We enjoyed some pool time with Brodie, and Desirae called in a GrubHub order so that I could have a Cherry Lime Aid while I was back in the land of Sonic.	This was a picture I took out of the plane as we came in for a landing in Montana. Thankfully the return flight was smooth and on time.



I wasn't present for these pictures being taken, but I thought they were so cute I am sharing them here anyway.


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