Reading Week Trip to Oklahoma and Texas

8 days, 2 states, 3000km on the rental car and one visit to my future university.

This year's Reading Week involved very little reading but a whole lot of fun-having. My dad, Byron, and I flew to Dallas, Texas and made the drive to Stillwater, Oklahoma for the next morning. The purpose of this trip was to explore Oklahoma State University campus, meet with professors and advisers, and get everything in order for my big move to Oklahoma this fall. As it stands, everything is falling into place and I can't wait to get started as an Ag Communications and Ag Economics double major.

I look forward to this degree because it will provide practical training and education for a career that involves advocating for agriculture. Telling agriculture's story and educating the public are some of my biggest goals for my future career. The importance of primary agriculture and some common passions are well articulated in my classmate Dani's blogpost entitled "Appreciate and Educate: Primary Industry."

Thanks to the magic of Twitter, I was able to meet up with some good friends IRL (in real life) for the first time. The lovely and talented Katie Vaz was my unofficial OK State tour guide along with Professor Ferrell and Cara, showing me around campus and treating me to my first Eskimo Joe's experience.

I also got to meet up with Jessica and Levi, and that evening we had some excellent pizza and did some bowling. 

Verdict: professional bowling is not in my future. 

I fell in love with the campus. I'm sure it's not hard to see why.

I'm so happy with how everything went in Stillwater. I met friends I already knew I'd love, and was treated to some fantastic southern hospitality. I can't count how many times I was offered help for my transition to Oklahoma from new friends and contacts.

After all the paperwork was settled and we had seen the sights of Stillwater, it was time to move on. We spent a day in Oklahoma City and visited Express Ranches, the Cowboy Hall of Fame, an Oklahoma City Barons hockey game, and Cattlemen's Steakhouse in the OKC Stockyards.

Our Canadian friend Doug who manages the Express Clydesdales was kind enough to give us the grand tour.

I think these horses have better living conditions than most people!

Papa Byron and I with the Express Stagecoach

No family trip is complete without looking at cattle. Their bulls looked great.

Express was amazing. I'd heard about it countless times so it was great to finally make the visit.

From OKC we headed to Texas, and spent the next three days on a grand tour of West and North Texas and plenty of their historical points, western shops, and trailer dealers.

Palo Duro Canyon, one of Dad's big bucket list items.

Hereford, Texas in Whiteface County. Well worth the detour off the interstate.

West Texas. Flat, treeless, and beautiful.

Templeton's seem to have a problem with cowboy boot addictions. This trip was no exception.

I brought home this pair, some Corrals for my sister, and Dad found himself a pair of Lucchese's.

On our final day in Texas, we spent the evening at the Fort Worth Stockyards. This is definitely somewhere I'll be revisiting as we didn't have nearly enough time to explore. We had a delicious dinner at H3 Ranch with another Twitter friend, Mark!

I loved my time in Oklahoma and Texas. I can't wait to get the Oklahoma State this fall and do some more exploring of the southern states. It will be a big change for me and doesn't come without some pretty major sacrifices, but I know it will be one of the better decisions I ever make.