July Trip to OKC

Frank and I visited our daughter and her family in Oklahoma City July 16th through July 25th. This trip was very quilt intensive and had been planned to coincide with Robin's guild's biannual quilt show. This post has an overview of our stay and the highlights that were not overly quilt focused. I published other quilt related posts for those aspects of the trip in my DianeLoves2Quilt blog.

Wednesday July 16: Arrival
Our flight from San Jose CA via Phoenix arrived mid afternoon. Jeremy, Autumn, and Isaiah picked us up from the airport. Jeremy had taken a break from helping Robin tape out the floor areas for the vendor booths for her guild's quilt show. She was vendor chair. 

July 16th was also Isaiah's 10th birthday and so we celebrated with a cake, candles, and opening gifts shortly after getting to their house once Robin joined us.

Then I gave Robin the quilt I'd been working on. I had made it from the T-shirts from her childhood years. My post about Ski's Tees was published on July 17th, the day after I presented it to her.

Thursday July 17: Post Travel Day of Rest

Thursday Frank and I chilled and unpacked at home while Robin and Jeremy did quilt show prep. The vendors would be moving in their wares and setting up their booths at one end of the fairgrounds building. The quilts would be being hung for display on the remaining larger section of the building. One lady fell from a ladder while hanging a quilt, hurt her head (it was bleeding), and also injured her back and part of her hand. Jeremy is still certified as a paramedic from his first responder and fireman days. Another guild member was a retired ER head trauma nurse. Together they went to her aid until an ambulance could take her away. They later heard back that she had a cracked vertebrae, but no brain injury, and is recovering. Never a dull moment ...

Also, while the big roll up doors to the large commercial building were open, a bird flew in. Lots of failed efforts were made to shoo him out. No one wanted to risk bird poop on their quilts, fabrics, or other selling stock. Eventually the bird flew into the men's room and one of the vendors happened to be in there. He contacted security who gave him permission to open the window and let the bird escape. At last! Another non-dull moment ...

Friday July 18 and Saturday July 19: COQG Show +
Both days were heavily involved with quilt show visiting. Robin would go in earlier before opening to handle any potential vendor issues. Friday I attended with Robin and Autumn. In the afternoon Robin got a phone call from Jeremy that she was not supposed to relay to me. Frank had asked Jeremy to take him to an ER with abdominal pain. Not a critical intestinal blockage but strong discomfort never the less. Scans confirmed surgical intervention was not needed and with some medicinal intervention Frank was feeling better by evening. Yet another non-dull moment...

Saturday Jeremy took his mom and Isaiah to the show in the morning. Frank felt better enough to go to the show with me Saturday afternoon. Frank and I stayed till closing and even got to watch some of the take down maneuvers for the quilt displays and vendor booths. Robin and Jeremy were tied up with aiding and organizing a smooth vendor exit. Photos of both our days, with a selection of the quilts and a video of the take down, is available in my August 6 blog post titled OKC Quilt Show. This is the shirt Jeremy wore that got rave reviews. He was a VERY involved husband.

In the hubbub of our arrival I never gave Autumn her special socks. When I did, she wore a big smile, tried them on, and ran off to show them to one of her friends. For a near teenager, this was great praise and a thank-you. She liked being set apart for learning to play the saxophone.

Sunday July 20: Relaxing then Drive to Hennessey
Sunday morning we got up late and relaxed, Robin still busily working away at email business as follow-up from the show. Late afternoon Robin and I left for our three day quilt class in Hennessey, OK. The ride was a 72.5 mile drive north to our hotel The Sleep Inn and Suites.

The drive was across flat, peaceful, lands with views of windmills, cattle, and trains.

The Sleep Inn and Suites was only a few blocks away from where we would be taking our class. We checked out the class venue and were able to drop off our sewing machines and tools and fabric. Folks were still in there sewing late at night. They shared with us an access code to be able to get in to the building at the rear of Prairie Quilts any time of night should the sewing bug bite win out over sleep. We set up our machines and workspace and then headed to the hotel. We'd brought enough food to snack on and had eaten just a couple of hours ago so we were good to settle in for the night. 

Monday July 21 through Wednesday July 23: In Class
Breakfast was provided the next morning so let the quilting begin! After our first day in class with Jacqueline de Jonge at Prairie Quilts, we learned that no restaurants are open in Hennessey on Mondays. We were grateful for the fantastic lunch the retreat services had served. That evening we drove to the "adjacent" town of Kingfisher, 18 miles due south on Route 81, the only road to there, and ate at a place called Stack Grill. Robin's meal was OK, but my fried chicken meal was so dry I told them it was inedible. They comped me for half of it and asked if there was anything else they could do. I said, "Yes. Make the cook try to choke it down." I had assumed that out in the middle of the country, fried chicken would have been a good choice, like ordering seafood at a restaurant with a view of the ocean. My mistake. However, the evening was not lost. After dinner, we did go back to the retreat center, since it was open 24 hours, and did some more sewing.

Tuesday Rooster's
After our second day of class on Tuesday, we asked for eating suggestions. Folks told us that there was a gas station that made excellent burgers, "the best they'd ever tasted".  As a "bonus" there was a fly swatter at every table. We found it a few blocks away and went inside. We then swiftly came back outside and searched for someplace else to eat. 

Instead, Robin drove 2.6 miles south but still in Hennessey to a restaurant, Rooster's, that we had passed the previous night but it had been closed. It looked pretty shabby from the outside but we were told the food was good and not to let the appearance dissuade us.

Once inside we agreed it was clean plus the decor and table tops were kinda cute. There was a pretty expansive salad bar where we were invited to help ourselves while waiting for our entrées. 

The food was good and plentiful. For one of my sides I ordered corn nuggets, wondering what they were. What they were, was DELICIOUS! They looked like tater tots but they were breaded corn. By goggling corn nuggets I learned that corn nuggets are bite-sized fritters, made from a simple batter filled with sweet corn kernels. They fry up crispy and golden on the outside, with a tender, soft interior. These nuggets likely originated in the South, inspired by dishes like hush puppies and other types of fritters. They must be a middle of the country thing because I looked for them at a store once I returned to California and they were not available in my locale.

On our way out, Robin and I posed for pix of "chicks among the chicks". Rooster's was a fun place and a happy, lucky find.

On the way to Rooster's I had spotted metal sculptures of cattle in a field near the road. After our meal we looked for them on the way back and could not see them. They were in a pasture that was a bit depressed below road level. Robin made a U-turn and humored me by backtracking in the opposite direction so I could take some photos. 

Upon research I learned that this prominent cattle sculpture in Hennessey, Oklahoma is located in Bull Foot Park. Bull Foot Station in Hennessey, once a re-supply stop on the Chisholm Trail, is now a park with a cattle drive sculpture garden. This park holds historical significance as a former supply and watering point for drovers on the Chisholm Trail. The sculpture itself is a representation of the historical cattle drive that once passed through the area. These metal sculptures were quasi-two dimensional and not as powerful and extensive as the three dimensional bronze sculptures in Oklahoma City depicting the land rush. These cattle however, were worth taking note for their historical significance and for the just plain whimsy they provide seeing them scattered across the field. 

For comparison here is a photo of part of the Oklahoma Centennial Land Run Monument. This sculpture was erected in 2019 and features either 45 or 47 bronze statues, each one being "one-and-a-half times life-size". The work depicts "horsemen and wagons racing over the Oklahoma landscape", with a total area slightly "larger than a football field".

Wednesday Final Day of Class and Drive Home
Robin and I told our husbands that three days of quilting in a row was a lot and that we would probably head home early on the final day, if we stayed at all. We stayed. We stayed for the entire three day class.  The following photo shows our progress and the post in my DianeLves2Quilt blog dated 8/7/25 tells more details.

Thursday July 24:  Games and Prep to Leave
Both Robin and Jeremy had to work so Frank and I were at their home with the kids. Autumn was ensconced in her room most of the time as befits someone within months of turning 13. Isaiah had video games to keep him engaged. Frank and I needed to pack. We did take breaks though and played Quirkle with Isaiah; he was within one Quirkle of winning per the score sheet. Later when Robin was home we did a jigsaw puzzle.

Friday Jul 25: Posed Photos and Travel
Robin came home from work on her lunch time to take Frank and me to the airport. We posed for commemorative photos on the front porch: Frank and me with Robin and then Frank and me with Autumn and Isaiah.

Then we present the hug series. Jeremy was at work and so missed out on the love fest but we'd said our goodbyes to him earlier in the morning.

Our flight home was to be direct with only one stop in Phoenix. That changed though and so we had to get off and switch planes. The flight number stayed the same but the physical plane was different and left from a nearby gate. We thought this to be a somewhat weird turn of events, but not an unexpected glitch in travel plans. Apparently there was something wrong with the plane we'd been on initially. Ignorance is bliss. We flew back to San Jose relatively on time and took an Uber home from the airport.

Trip Aftermath
We rested up on Saturday, and on Sunday we were to go bowling with Alex. There was one more lingering memento from the trip. Vintage Crafts & Gifts from Typer TX was one of the vendors from the quilt show. Robin bought a stuffed rabbit for Alex. It was a big hit. The bunny even went bowling with us.