Passow's Camel Farm near Perry OK

 A recent visit to Perry OK for a Red Carpet Country board meeting included a tour of a camel farm near Perry. There we met some really interesting folks whose occupation is raising and selling camels. The camel farm is out in the country, about three miles off the paved highway, so plan for that when you make a visit. You can find information at this site http://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.14653

This is Ralph, the camel man. He and his wife Winona operate a camel farm near Perry OK. Ralph was a fount of good information and what I call a "real character". 

They raise Dromedary Camels, or the one hump kind. The two hump camels are Bactrians and according to Ralph, not as much fun! In fact, he classified the Bactrians as MEAN! Camels have a 25 to 50 year life span. Ralph and his wife have had as many as 45 camels on the farm, and currently have about 18.

Winona Showed us that the camels are pretty tame, they don't bite and you can hand feed them. They were a little edgy when we visited because they are used to being outside in the pasture area. Camels are nervous animals and do not handle stress well according to Ralph. They, like some people, don't like strangers and are a suspicious breed. 

Camels are pretty valuable! In addition to being good "tree trimmers" and "pasture clearers" (they eat thistles) the camel milk is highly sought after. Females have a 13 month gestation period and calves can be weaned at 2 months. Female young sell for around $3500 and males are bringing up to $4500. A mom with calf can bring as much as $15,000 to $20,000. Color has a lot to do with determining value. White camels are more valuable that their darker color mates.

This is Karen Wilcox from Perry.  The farm also boasts some other interesting creatures like this mini donkey. They are very friendly and like to be petted!

This is a baby mini!

The trip was a lot of fun and the folks were memorable! Other things to do in Perry include visiting their Core of Engineers Lake, a nice place for a little fishing, hiking or camping and probably a great place to have a family event. They have some nice pavilions around the lake. And a visit to downtown Perry is fun too! Lots of history from the Land Run in this community.

Return to the Wichitas

this is a story in pictures. The Wichita's where the buffalo roam free, and yes, we got this close; from the car.

John, Misty and Robert checking out one of the many small lakes hidden in the middle of this wildlife preserve area.

Guess what they are looking at? believe it or not, it is lady bug mating season, and they were doing their thing on the rocks! 

John and Robert at the top of Mt. Scott, one of our favorite places.

From the education I got at the visitor center, I declare this to be a longhorn STEER. so here's something you probably don't know; steers, cows and bulls grow their horns differently, with the steers having the widest span. if you want to know more, go check out the visitor center at the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma.

one of several dam areas within the reserve. water levels seemed to be in pretty good condition in spite of recent drought.

My dear friend Misty Burdette just taking a break and enjoying the beauty at the top of the mountain. Misty is an avid nature photographer; bet she took 100 pictures today.

Robert commented on the serenity near the small lakes in the reserve. below is what he was seeing!

Ponies were our mode of travel today, well Mustangs anyway. There were supposed to be three, but our friends Jim and Darla had to cancel out. Theirs is red and a convertible!

view of the lake from the top of the mountain. We drove on around that lake and over to Medicine Park after a stop for our favorite burgers and cobbler at the Meers store. Check past posts for more on that place!

saw this coming around the corner and had hopes Jim and Darla had decided to show up after all, but it was the wrong color! visited briefly with them and they were enjoying the beauty of the Wichita's as much as we were. 

HOOKER! the Place to be!

Hooker holds its annual Classic Car Show this year on Saturday September 10. They will be turning lose of this great handmade quilt depicting cars, cars, and more cars!

you'll find memories of past car shows in this patchwork display. I saw Alva's Big Cruise & Car Show among the blocks.

And who could live in a town named HOOKER without having a signature t-shirt? This is just a sample of the many unique designs that promote life in Hooker.

Inside the Rexall Pharmacy you will find a wonderful surprise! Some great food! The fountain and grill serve up some great sandwiches and they have a very nice salad bar too.

The decor will keep you wandering around just looking at some of the nostalgic items on display. 

complete on the outside with a nice handicap ramp, this is a must see when going through Hooker. Take a minute, leave the highway and enjoy HOOKER!!

Guymon Gourmet

I went to Guymon last week on a business trip and stopped to visit with a lady I had worked with briefly a year ago when she and her husband first decided to open a coffee shop. One of Susan Barias's goals was to not only serve good coffee drinks (they told me they are both addicted to coffee) but to provide a healthy place to eat and a comfortable place for people of all ages to gather and connect. The result of that dream is Urban Bru, a coffee house that serves scrumptious frappe's  and out of this world smoothies like the Mocha frappe and the strawberry smoothie that Laura and I had for lunch. 

And speaking of lunch, Laura enjoyed this fabulous Strawberry Fields salad made with spinach and fresh strawberries and laced with nuts and cheese! She ate every bite!

 My choice was this Southwestern sandwich, filled with chicken and a spicy southwest sauce. It was HUGE, the bread was awesome and I sure did enjoy it!

 Melyn Johnson joined us for lunch and she enjoyed this Mandarin Salad along with a croissant filled with a cranberry chicken salad. (I went back that night and tried this sandwich and it was also wonderful!)

My friends Laura Girty and Melyn Johnson as we prepared to enjoy a leisurely lunch.

 Melyn's final touch to her meal is this Mocha Locha, and doesn't it look wonderful!

 Did I mention dessert? Looks good enough to eat, doesn't it?

Urban Bru is located at 418 NW 21st St in Guymon. Stop in and check out the delights when you are there. Everything they serve is made fresh right there in their kitchen every day! Stop in, sit and relax, you may see some customers engaged in a lively game of Monopoly or Scrabble, or a quiet corner may be the preferred spot for the checker game. Young, old and in between all seem to enjoy the hospitality at Urban Bru!

Meers OK home of the Meersburger

Meers is just north of the Wichita Mountains right at a bend in the road. This tourist attraction has been in business with the current owners since the 80's and has been a continuous business since the 40's or 50's depending. They are famous for a unique dining experience. The line waiting outside to get in the door is almost always there. We arrived around 1:30 p.m. and we were outside about 20 minutes. One interesting side note is that beside the building in a shaded area there are a number of small wire kennels. They ask folks to NOT leave pets in a hot car, and they go the extra mile to help those folks who travel with pets to see to their safety.

Then you get inside and see how long the line is there as well! This is our first time and while we waited we got the good news that the food would be well worth the wait from a young Wichita Falls Texas couple behind us who visit as often as they can.

Robert and Misty waiting for food as we all took the time to read the informative menu with some interesting bits of information. For instance, the Meersburgers are prepared with their own beef, fresh from longhorn steers. No frozen patties here! They come with mustard, pickles, red onion, lettuce and tomato. You can order it your way, but be warned, the cooks consider mayonnaise is for SISSIES, ketchup belongs on fries, not hamburger and several other interesting comments. They have their own brand of beer, Meers Beer, brewed by the folks that brew Choc in Krebs Oklahoma and it comes in a 22 ounce bottle. 

I can verify that the homemade ice cream and cherry cobbler on the menu are out of this world. Misty and Robert tried the peach and declared it outstanding.

the decor in the building keeps your mind busy and even though the wait for the food is about as long as the wait to get in, you don't notice it so much with all the interesting things to see!

drinks like this iced tea are served in Mason jars, and they keep them full for you. 

and then came the food! The Meersburger is served in a metal pie tin, cut in fourths to make it easier to eat (we shared this burger) and you can see the Fries and onion rings (they are beer batter dipped) were plentiful as well. 

It's standing room only in this great little restaurant. Oh, and did I mention that Meers has been recognized in places like the New York Times and the Food Channel and is widely known as one of the top 10 places in the whole United States of America to get a great  hamburger! and, when we left, our tummy full, the line was still long outside the building. 

Arcadia OK

Took a road trip to Arcadia. First stop was Pop's famous for the many flavors of pop! When we got there the awning first caught our eye. Note there are no support beams at the outside end of that canopy! The wind was typical Oklahoma wind the day we were there, probably gusting to 40 mph. so it must be structurally sound!

The walls are glass so that when you walk up you can see all of the different bottles of pop gleaming on shelves in the windows. Inside or out side, the color are bright and cheerful and we enjoyed walking around and checking out the different labels.

 

the big bottle outside is pretty cool. At night it is all lit up and attracts passers by.

 

The sign says Please do not climb on the bottle, and of course we know "someone" can't ever resist a chance to do it anyway!

Enjoyed the day with a good friend Jim Waldrop from Laverne!

This is the famous round barn in Arcadia. The entire bottom floor is a museum with the history of the barn told in pictures and story by the "barn man".

The top floor is used for dances and parties. Great structure, solid wood, nice view out the windows!

the grounds surrounding the barn have a lot of interesting things to see too. The guys found this old outhouse humorous! there is a sign that says out of order to keep visitors from trying to use it!

Just a couple of the old cars we saw while we were looking around! Quite a collection of old farm equipment as well.

Not old classics but what I like to call NEW CLASSICS, Jim's Mustang and our new Challenger were fun to drive on the trip.

Take a trip to Arcadia, the burgers at Pop's are very good, the selection of "pops" is virtually endless and the Round Barn and its history are well worth the trip!