Tuesday - Sunday, July 10 - 15, 2012
From Dallas we headed to Pryor, OK to visit former Virginia neighbors Karen and Tom Ryan who moved to Oklahoma about eight years ago. Karen and Tom have been very active in their Hudson lakeside community keeping the swimming pool grounds and common areas planted, watered and weed free. Karen recently designed and managed the remodeling of the pool club house and they have been involved in over seeing the new boat dock and swimming dock as well.
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| Tom, Karen, Doc, Candy, & Mel |
We started our visit with happy hour. Their dear neighbor, Doc (hmm, don't know him by any other name) stopped by and we spent some time catching up. We met Doc during our first visit to Pryor several years ago. He's known for his great BBQ skills and his ability to avoid goat herds on the Oklahoma highways...well, there was this one time that the goats might not have all made it. That was the same day Karen and Tom ran into a chest of drawers that had just fallen off the truck in front of them. You really have to be careful on the OK highways. Never know what you might run into.
Visiting the Ryans is much like spending time at a lakeside resort: good meals -- the lake just a few steps away with kayaks, noodles, and floats -- the pool just down the road -- interesting restaurants in the area...let me tell you about those restaurants. Hugo's in Claremore, OK is a hot spot for breakfast and known to be one of Garth Brook's favorite restaurants. Mel and I decided to share a breakfast which consisted of three eggs, 15 pieces of bacon, six "dollar" pancakes (each nearly the size of a dinner plate) and Mel decided on a side order of biscuits and gravy. All this for less than $10, if I'm remembering correctly. How can you go wrong? Oh my gosh, needless to say, we ate it all.
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| Fish's BBQ |
One evening we met up with Karen's sister, Ann, at Fish's BBQ in Tahlequah, OK. You would only know about this place if you were a local. It is located in a semi-industrial area on a little side street with not much of a sign to indicate the restaurant is even open. The sign was out by the road and the steel garage in which it is located was down a gravel road with no sign whatever that there was a restaurant inside. There was no indication that this wasn't just a place to have your oil changed. Wow, they must really go through the oil, however. The place was packed and so were the plates of pulled pork, chicken, brisket, ribs, curly fries, beans, coleslaw, potato salad. Check out the menu
here. I ordered the pulled pork and Mel ordered the ribs. We had enough leftovers in our doggie bags for another whole meal. Oh, they know how to do BBQ at Fish's.
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| Karen's cute sister, Ann |
That same evening Ann joined us for a musical review "Downtown Country Classics" by students from Northeastern Oklahoma State University at their theater in Tahlequah. The evening ended with a stop at Braum's Ice Cream. They were having a special on their double dip cones...$1.79 for two huge scoops in a large waffle cone. The same cone at our local Ben & Jerry's runs $6.94 before tax. As an ice cream lover, I made sure we hit every Braum's ice cream shop we saw as we made our way home to Virginia. Of course, we also had our eye out for those Culver Custard shops as well. It's a miracle I didn't gain weight on this trip. Hmm, didn't lose any either. As my mother used to say, "This (eating ice cream) is how I maintain my weight." A good rule for living a happy life.
Karen and Tom's lakeside community is one of those neighborhoods where everyone has a golf cart to run to the lake, pool, marina or tennis court. Tom, not to be outdone, has his own version of a golf cart, a Cushman. Unfortunately I failed to get photos while visiting, but did find this photo in my files. As you can see, he doesn't just use his Cushman for transportation...this is a working vehicle.
Hopefully we didn't overstay our welcome at Karen and Tom's. Mel did help Tom with a few projects around the house and pool, as well as a little computer tweaking. Karen and I managed a trip to Fabricut, a local discount fabric store, not that I really need any more fabric, but we had fun looking. We also spent several afternoons cooling off in the water. Tom got out the kayaks one day and we headed out along the lakeshore to admire the beautiful homes along the lakefront. We had a great time together.
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| Karen ready to paddle! |
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| The Roadtrek tucked nicely in the shade next to the Ryan's house. |
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| Sunset on the lake. |
Visiting the Ryans is much like spending time at a lakeside resort: good meals -- the lake just a few steps away with kayaks, noodles, and floats -- the pool just down the road -- interesting restaurants in the area...let me tell you about those restaurants. Hugo's in Claremore, OK is a hot spot for breakfast and known to be one of Garth Brook's favorite restaurants. Mel and I decided to share a breakfast which consisted of three eggs, 15 pieces of bacon, six "dollar" pancakes (each nearly the size of a dinner plate) and Mel decided on a side order of biscuits and gravy. All this for less than $10, if I'm remembering correctly. How can you go wrong? Oh my gosh, needless to say, we ate it all.
One evening we met up with Karen's sister, Ann, at Fish's BBQ in Tahlequah, OK. You would only know about this place if you were a local. It is located in a semi-industrial area on a little side street with not much of a sign to indicate the restaurant is even open. The sign was out by the road and the steel garage in which it is located was down a gravel road with no sign whatever that there was a restaurant inside. There was no indication that this wasn't just a place to have your oil changed. Wow, they must really go through the oil, however. The place was packed and so were the plates of pulled pork, chicken, brisket, ribs, curly fries, beans, coleslaw, potato salad. Check out the menu here. I ordered the pulled pork and Mel ordered the ribs. We had enough leftovers in our doggie bags for another whole meal. Oh, they know how to do BBQ at Fish's.
That same evening Ann joined us for a musical review "Downtown Country Classics" by students from Northeastern Oklahoma State University at their theater in Tahlequah. The evening ended with a stop at Braum's Ice Cream. They were having a special on their double dip cones...$1.79 for two huge scoops in a large waffle cone. The same cone at our local Ben & Jerry's runs $6.94 before tax. As an ice cream lover, I made sure we hit every Braum's ice cream shop we saw as we made our way home to Virginia. Of course, we also had our eye out for those Culver Custard shops as well. It's a miracle I didn't gain weight on this trip. Hmm, didn't lose any either. As my mother used to say, "This (eating ice cream) is how I maintain my weight." A good rule for living a happy life.
Karen and Tom's lakeside community is one of those neighborhoods where everyone has a golf cart to run to the lake, pool, marina or tennis court. Tom, not to be outdone, has his own version of a golf cart, a Cushman. Unfortunately I failed to get photos while visiting, but did find this photo in my files. As you can see, he doesn't just use his Cushman for transportation...this is a working vehicle. 
Hopefully we didn't overstay our welcome at Karen and Tom's. Mel did help Tom with a few projects around the house and pool, as well as a little computer tweaking. Karen and I managed a trip to Fabricut, a local discount fabric store, not that I really need any more fabric, but we had fun looking. We also spent several afternoons cooling off in the water. Tom got out the kayaks one day and we headed out along the lakeshore to admire the beautiful homes along the lakefront. We had a great time together.
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