Bartlesville, Ho!

When you think "Oklahoma day-trips," what comes to your mind? (Or does your mind go blank, like mine?) Haha... well, it seems like a lot of people here travel to places like Dallas, or Branson, or even Kansas City for mini-vacations. Tim and I were in the market for a mini-vacation last weekend, when our month-long plan to go camping evaporated thanks to a firm forecast of rain (which never came... argh). We had been REALLY excited about our first family camping trip, which had the potential of being either spectacular or dreadful. We did our research, and I requested off work on Saturday while Tim requested to get off early on Friday. But instead, in light of the forecasted rain, we completely changed our plans at the last minute and decided instead to have an overnight in...

EXCITING, CHARMING, HISTORIC BARTLESVILLE, OKLAHOMA!! Wooooooohooooooo!!

Okay, I'm not even exaggerating. Bartlesville (about an hour north of Tulsa) is actually a pretty cool little town. Well, if you're a "Sooner" (aka, an Oklahoman). If you're, say, a Californian and accustomed to extreme attractions, then you might get kinda bored. But I headed out to Bartlesville with Tim, Weston, a tentative schedule, and a whole lotta gleeful optimism; after all, any adventure is a good adventure, right? And you can never go wrong with having 100% family time, free from work, errands, and chores. So anyway, I ended up photo-journaling our entire 21-hour mini-vacation there, for your pleasure.

[Editor's Note: this blog post is dedicated to Rob and Rebecca, because wouldn't you know it, but Bartlesville happens to be Rob's old stomping grounds!! Here's a tribute in your honor, Rob.]

On Friday evening, we checked in at our hotel (hahahahaha the Weston Inn):

... and then headed to dinner at Frank & Lola's, the talk of the town:
You can't beat a longhorn with a flower on its head:

I loved these huge picture windows (and hello, Random-Man-at-Bar):

We displayed our "smiles" for the camera...

... and ultimately got very full.

Then it was off to Crossroads Raceway, a sketchy little go-kart track, for some racing! (It was really fun, especially for Weston, but seriously, isn't it majorly sketch?? Maybe not so much in the daytime...):

Then of course we hit Braum's for a Mormon-style nightcap:

We spent the night in our hotel room with Weston sandwiched between me and Tim on the big king bed. We realized that Weston is much too big for those portable hotel cribs, but much too unstable to sleep in a bed by himself. So, we got to act as the barriers to keep him from rolling off, and he got to kick and punch us all night. (There's nothing like coming home to your OWN bed after a vacation, huh?) Anyway, all was well in the morning thanks to a few cartoons:

Then it was breakfast time! Our hotel offered a made-to-order complimentary breakfast, which I've never seen before. Pros: you get exactly what you want, hot and fresh. Cons: it takes 20 minutes, instead of zero minutes.

Pancakes AND eggs? Weston was in heaven:

Next up: a quick stop at Walmart, complete with a special new toy for the kid:

And then, off to the beautiful Frank Phillips home!

Frank Phillips (of Phillips 66 fame) struck it rich in Oklahoma on black gold, and then built a residence in Bartlesville for his family, plus a big ranch just outside of town. OIL!

We took a tour of the inside of the home (the kitchen was comprised of four different rooms); unfortunately, photos weren't permitted indoors. But it was lovely!! Back outside, we explored the yard:

... and played in the weeping willow (while taking pictures of Mommy's brilliant albino legs):

... and hid a little bit in the weeping willow:

... and looked at pretty flowers:

Then we made the one-minute drive from the Bartlesville suburbs into "downtown" Bartlesville for a drive-by of the Price Tower, a big tourist attraction and the only Frank Lloyd Wright skyscraper in existence. Doing a drive-by was pretty lame, as there's a lot to see inside the building; however, we were on a schedule!

And then it was off to the countryside and the Keepsake Candle Factory for some super smelly-goodness. (I bought, among other things, a mulberry candle, and it is heavenly.)

There were also train cars:

... and kitties:

... and even a couple cows across the street (this is the Oklahoma countryside, after all):

And finally, the Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve! (That's Mr. Phillips' big ranch that I mentioned before!)

We ended up really enjoying Woolaroc, and we definitely could've spent much longer than a couple hours there. Native American and Western heritage aren't exactly our passions, but the museum and the grounds were amazing. Just a word of advice, though: be careful around this big fella, and do NOT make him angry:

In addition to cattle, we saw bison:

... and butterflies:

... and lots of Western/mid-western art:

... and some interesting chairs (rustic Western meets Tim Burton?):

... and more Phillips 66 memorabilia:

... and a ridiculous number of Colt firearms (Tim and Weston were excited, I was bored):

... and a playground:

... and a petting zoo:

... and of course some zebras (??):

Haha! Overall, the trip was quick and interesting and fun, and I'm so glad that we still had a mini family vacation even though we couldn't go camping. Yay Bartlesville! After Woolaroc, we grabbed lunch at Sonic and then drove home, giving me just enough time to get dressed and head to church for a training meeting, a Relief Society dinner, and a Relief Society broadcast. It was a fun-filled weekend!