Expedition Oklahoma

The Oklahoma State Fair

After working on my page for nearly two years I realized that I have not visited the State Fair for the purpose of photographing it for my Expedition Oklahoma page.   So,  last weekend I went to the fair.  

The Oklahoma State Fair: 4-H, FFA, Exhibit halls, food and all kinds of people.  

I tried the fried peaches, not as good as fried oreos.  But not bad.  

I loved watching these ladies dancing to "5-1-5-0"  

More exhibits were set up with a blacksmith display 

A living history exhibit.  It is so good for kids to see how things were done in the past. 

The forge blowing air into the coals so the metal can be molded and formed into a useful product. 

It is interesting to try to catch the metal being worked in the flames. 

Now we move on to another area of the fair... 

This gentleman is making a wooden bowl, by hand.  Impressive. 

Pretty neat, wooden bowls.  

You have to have some roasted corn, or a turkey leg while at the fair. I had corn.  

Sit down and rest and watch the live entertainment! 

When in the course of human events, we hold these pink flamingos to be self evident.   

The fairway was busy when it was getting close to evening. 

I'm not feeling like doing a lot of writing today, so these images don't need a lot of explanation anyways.  But definitely fun for the family.  This is my Sister and her brother in law and his fiancee.  

Fall may have arrived, but it felt like a nice hot July day to me.  

More food! 

We ended the night watching Gary Allan perform:

Planting Okra

As tornadoes are touching down all over the state today... My Dad, Justin and I planted Okra this afternoon.   My Dad turns 75 tomorrow.  So happy birthday to my Daddy.  :-) 

He said the soil temperature was 70 degrees an inche down and 70 degrees four inches down.  Apparently that is warm.  He was an Ag teacher when he was younger and raised on a farm.  

Okra grows very well out here.   If we ever have to live off the land...I will grow to hate okra.  As much as I like it now.  

Making the furrows to plant the okra seed. 

My Daddy was born in 1937, in Arkansas.   He was born in the middle of the Great Depression and as a baby arrived in Oklahoma during the dustbowl.  His Parents were share-croppers and he was the youngest of five siblings.   He has told me he barely remembers World War II, and served in the military in the 1950s.  

Justin Edmond and his Namesake Papa Edmond, planting Okra.  This kid doesn't wear shoes outside. Its okay, he's a kid.  They're REALLY supposed to be like that.   If you have a problem with it, then you probably would hate the photos of him driving the tractor or shooting a gun.  

Three to four seeds, every six inches.  

Tornadoes hitting Norman an hour north of us, the severe storms seem to be missing us tonight.  Although I'm listening to the continuous weather coverage right now.  

Love these photos of Justin and Papa in the garden, those are memories he will always have.  

 

Tulsa

 

 

Finally! I made it to Tulsa, which is a part of Oklahoma, I discovered!  

 

 

Me...  photographer was my brother because I'm not that talented yet.  

 

 

downtown Tulsa with the fisheye lens

 

 

 

 

 

Oklahoma Morning

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.  ~John Muir

This rig just went up last week near Foster Country Store on Highway 29 as you are heading towards Elmore City.  

A Beautiful Summer

What a beautiful world we live in.  More pictures all taken within a few miles from my home in Rural Stephens county Oklahoma a few weeks ago. 

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament.  Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.  ~Walt Whitman

In summer, the song sings itself.  ~William Carlos Williams

Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.  ~Henry James

Wheat in May

I went out and got a few shots of the wheat down the road while the sun was setting last night.  I always think of this song when I look at a glowing, golden field.  

"I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries; as long as they are chiefly agricultural."- Thomas Jefferson

"I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world"- George Washington

“The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn't still be a farmer.”- Will Rogers

“Cows are my passion. What I have ever sighed for has been to retreat to a Swiss farm, and live entirely surrounded by cows - and china.”-Charles Dickens

As I returned home I got a shot of the sun going down reflecting in the storm clouds that were heading east.  Quite impressive.  May is beautiful in Oklahoma.  

 

The University Of Oklahoma

Last week I got my acceptance letter from OU.  Next year I will be attending the University of Oklahoma to pursue my Masters Degree!  So, I went to Norman last week to check out the campus and try to find out some information about enrolling.  Of course the camera went with me to check out the campus.  To say I'm excited about going back to school is an understatement!  

The stadium, I finished a 5K in this stadium last fall.  I've also been there to see U2 in concert...never for football. 

A love affair with knowledge will never end in heartbreak.  ~Michael Garrett Marino

Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing, the rest is mere sheep-herding.  ~Ezra Pound

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.  ~Henry Ford

Squirrel!!!  This little guy was watching me... posing.  Not afraid.  

The Little Sahara

Thursday I drove up to Waynoka to go to "The Little Sahara" state park.  This was the one park in NW Oklahoma that I haven't visited.  My intentions were to go up and hang around for an hour then go out and do more photography around the beautiful Cimarron river, which flows along magnificent bluffs in this part of the state.   I went up at my brother's invitation and he met me with his new "toy" - his four wheeler.   I, being a chicken, don't like four wheelers (perhaps I should say "didn't")  I don't ride roller coasters and am terrified of flying,  so I planned on going out and photographing these daredevils riding their ATV's, dune buggies and dirt bikes out in the sand briefly and going home.  

So with a seatbelt and not driving, I discovered that riding in this ATV was pretty fun! I took my camera with me despite the sand.  I ended up staying all afternoon- until sunset.  Yes, it is fun! 

Beautiful with the setting sun in the light of the moon.  Another great remnant of the ancient permian sea that once covered most of Oklahoma.   

Riding off into the sunset.  

Flipped!  I missed him flipping... but I got him setting it upright again.  

Riding

Stuck in the sand!

setting sun in the Little Sahara.  This is one of the neatest places I've been. I  really can't describe riding over these steep dunes, which can be up to 75 feet tall, in the ever shifting sands.   

Go dune buggy, go!

He's a little bit sideways..

Racing! 

Turner Falls

Today I went to visit Turner Falls.  Turner Falls is a park located in Davis Oklahoma.  Not a far drive for me, which is why I haven't been over there yet.  It is the off season and in the summer it is crowded with swimmers and campers.  Today was a nice quiet day to explore the park.  Plus it much cheaper if you visit in the off season.   

The scenic overlook 

An empty bench at Turner Falls 

I was craving some green scenery - and the moss is green.   

And those are the Going Fishin' Rules at Turner Falls.  

The fish didn't mind having their picture taken.  I couldn't say the same for the birds.  Birds know when you have a camera.  

Fort Nichols and The Santa Fe Trail on Highway 325

If by chance you happen to be on Oklahoma Highway 325 heading towards Kenton, Oklahoma you may run into the following Historical Markers.  I believe that the area around Kenton is one of the most beautiful places in the state.  The feel is truly the "American South West" complete with the historic Santa Fe Trail, distant ruins of abandoned Forts and mesas.  

There are other remnants of the old California trails near historic Fort Washita near Tishomingo. 

Historical Marker for Fort Nichols, located on Highway 325 in between Kenton and Boise City. This is the land that was devastated by the Dust Bowl in the 1930s.  

Looking back at these photos make me want to return to the Panhandle, it reminds me of that pleasant August day, which began rainy - I feared I would not get any great photos that day.  I spent the day driving around exploring a new place.  That has been the best part of this project; going to places that I have never visited.