Florida Went by Quickly

So the blogging aspect got away from us....

We established residency and ended up spending the better part of the winter in Kissimmee, FL.  We were able to catch up with old friends, make new ones, and explore Disney and Universal.  We are currently in Maine, so I guess I will have to make some "flashback" posts to catch up.  But I will catch up!!!

Life Is A Beach

Lisa and I wrapped up our Oklahoma City visit and headed down to a state park near Ardmore, OK.  Lake Murray State Park was quite the find.  The staff were friendly, the sites were great.  They had a large lake and golf course.  The cost was low, so this one was a welcome week away from civilization. 

We played golf, took lots of walks by the lake, and used our bikes to explore nearby areas along the path.  It had been quite a while since we had been in a park that allowed campfires, but this place allowed us to enjoy a bit of pyromania.  Our time there really recharged our batteries.  Maybe a bit too much. 

We were rested, but restless.  So we made the rash decision to turn to the east and drive to Florida and establish residency there.  The original plan was to drive leisurely, but that quickly flew out the window and we drove to Texas.  The next day we drove to Mobile, AL and now we are in Pensacola Beach, FL.  Almost to our destination in Jacksonville.

As the Zac Brown Bandsaid:

I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand
Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand
Life is good today.
Life is good today.

We were in Oklahoma City

On the Oklahoma City University campus, to be precise.  I like the wild guess of London, but Dallas was the closest, so Heidi is better than everyone else reading this.  :)

The statue is actually of 3 winners of the Miss America pageant.  Oklahoma City University has a long history of pageants and this statue is of the three alumni that have been Miss America:  Jayne Jayroe (1967), Susan Powell (1981), and Shawntel Smith (1996).  They also have a Hall of Queens for pageant champions at the state level.   So we did that in OKC...

Where Are We Now? Oct 2015

Since we haven't played the game in a while, where are we now? 

The statue of the three ladies below has an interesting history.  I will highlight that history tomorrow night along with the winner.  So, where are we now?

 

 

The Sort of Biggest Cross

So this is what you see from the interstate near Groom, TX.

It is 190 feet tall and had the claim of being the largest cross in the western hemisphere.  But someone in Illinois built one that was 8 feet taller.  Florida also got in on the act and has one that is 208 feet. 

I guess this was pretty impressive back in 1995 when it was built.  I'm sure that the contrast of this against the flat prairie was impressive.  Now there is a wind farm on the other side of the interstate.  Seeing these taller wind turbines for a few miles made spotting the actual cross a bit anti-climatic.  Oh well, I guess they had a good run.

AQHA Museum

With time to kill, we headed over to see the American Quarter Horse Association Museum.

We were not expecting much, but it was a way to kill an hour before dinner.   It was about what you would expect.  There were some exhibits talking about the lineage of quarter horses vs. thoroughbreds.  There were some exhibits on how much they eat (20-25 lbs.).  And lastly, there was also an art exhibit with some paintings, drawings, and bronze sculptures. That was a nice touch. 

Because of that alone, I would recommend stopping by, but what I didn't expect were the many exhibits about people that bred the horses.  It was almost as if some Texas ranchers decided they needed to have the largest "I love me wall" in the world.  There were so many trophies, Lisa started to have a contest to decide which one was most like the Goblet of Fire.  That was when we could tell it was time to wrap it up and head over to Rudy's and enjoy some Texas BBQ.  

The Big Texan

So when in Amarillo, the thing to do is to go to the Big Texan.  We did our research and this is a true monument to American excess.  Count us in!

The legend is that the local cowboys had a steak eating contest to see who could eat the most 1 pound steaks in an hour.  The gentleman that won eat 4.5 of them (72 oz.) and the owner declared that anyone who could replicate the "accomplishment" could eat for free.

On the website above, there was a 125 pound woman that ate 3 of them in an hour.  She ate the first one in under 5 minutes.  Not sure if I'm suppose to be impressed or horrified.  Welcome to America!

So Lisa and I decide to try this place out and get a "taste" of what it is all about.  We were seated near the raised table in the center where all the action is.  They have a table for up to 6 eaters with clocks for the Final Countdown.

We ordered and waited.  No one was taking the challenge.  I guess a Monday night is not the night to do this.  I started to size up each person as they walked through the door.  The likely takers seemed to come in 2 categories.  First, the fatties.  Everyone that was a little overweight was a likely candidate.  I'm sure a few people thought I was "the guy" as I walked though the door.  Little did they know I was stuffed after a 16 oz. prime rib.   The second category was the stingy person.  These are harder to spot at first glance, but I didn't hesitate to judge them and hope.

One guy down the row from us was asking a lot of questions.  I thought he might be the guy.  He was overweight and he was concerned that he had to pay the $72 up front and would not be reimbursed until the end.  Both categories!  I thought we had a winner, but no luck.  So the next time we are in Amarillo, we will go on the weekend.  We had to entertain ourselves afterwards in the big chairs instead, but the steaks were very good.  Worth a stop if you are on I-40.