What do Sonic, parking meters, shoppinng carts, Reba McEntire, Lane Frost, Braum's, and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame have in common? That's right, they all came from "Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain..." (fyi: that's a song from the musical "Oklahoma"). There's only one thing from this great state that can top any #3 Extra-long cheese coney or cup of Braum's mint chocolate ice cream (a nearly impossible feat). What is that, you may ask? It's the Oklahoma FFA Convention, held every year in Oklahoma City during the month of April.
Kaleb and I arrived on Monday afternoon for a meal with the Fresh Country gang and a chit chat with the Oklahoma State FFA Officers. I must admit, it made me a teeny-tiny bit jittery inside to hear them practice opening ceremonies. There's just something completely exciting, overwhelming, and mind-blowing about a FANTASTIC rendition of those famous ceremony parts...(after reading that sentence over, I realized just how big of a nerd I am. ha ha.) Of course, that practice had nothing on the first general session of the 84th Oklahoma FFA Convention.
"Bring 'em out, bring 'em out" blared through the speakers, lasers danced onto the screens, and lights flashed into the crowd. Then, in the midst of anticipation, came Amy, McKenzie, Josh, Robby, Emily, Tara, Ariel, and Kelli emerged from backstage...each followed by chapter officer carrying a GIGANTIC, blown-up picture of the state officer's head (hard to explain but SO COOL!) With the tap of a gavel, the convention was brought to order...and thus, the beginning of a very fast 2 days.
We saw everything from video footage to inspirational speakers, heard everything from piano players to the final address of Amy Peel, and tasted everything from pasta to convention pretzels. We offered up some "awesome" greetings on behalf of Texas FFA, presented a workshop for 200 enthusiastic Oklahomans, showed off our Texas two-stepping moves, jammed out to Eli Young band, and made friends with the 2010-2011 State Officer candidates. Talk about a good time.
Before we knew it, we were headed back to Texas. Good-bye to the home of Sonic, parking meters, shopping carts, and cute cowboys...and hello, Lone Star state. Only 3 more days of travel left. So stay tuned as we head to our final destination of the year. It's gonna be great when we're in Area 8!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Area IV- Part II
We’ve been driving…and driving…and driving…and driving. Trust me, we have seen it all. We have seen a dozen beautiful red sunsets, a million bright yellow stars, and miles of fertile brown land. Then, on Monday, we were re-introduced to a color that we hadn’t seen in quite some time: GREEN. We saw green trees, green bushes, and even some green grass. Right about the time that we started to forget what the color green looked like, we pulled into good ole Area IV.
We started our week off in Quanah with a trip to Subway (a fabulous lunch despite the lack of black olives and the large Dr. Pepper Kaleb spilled all over the floor) and a history lesson on the success of their program. Did you know that Quanah FFA had 3 State FFA officers IN A ROW?! I, personally, was quite impressed. Before long, we were heading down the road to Crowell, where Aron played a quick tennis match against Wendy and JD. Kaleb and I never really got to the match part; it took us a while to even master swinging the racket correctly.
That night, the Vaughns cooked us up a feast of Windthorst classics: pork chops, German sausage, sour kraut, beans, pumpkin rolls, and apple crisp. In the words of Kaleb McLaurin, it was “awesome, just awesome, like really awesome. Man, it was awesome. It was so…” That’s right. “Awesome.” The next morning, we finished up the presentation in Windthorst and headed to Iowa Park. We were so early! Woo hoo! Go us! If only we had read the schedule correctly and gone to the right school…epic fail.
So, we trucked it on over to City View for our actual presentation. Before long, we were headed back to Iowa Park (this time, we got the time right) for a tasty lunch and a chit chat with the gang. With that, we had successfully completed our day. We had two hours of free time, so being the responsible, studious state officers that we are, we figured we would do some work on the computer. While on our way to Hastings, we spotted a Starbucks off in the distance and re-routed our trip…but instead of doing work, we had a nice, long chat with Mr. Alejandro. It wasn’t until later that we learned of the five people that were shot that afternoon…in the Hastings we had originally planned on going to. Talk about getting lucky.
A skip, a hop, and a jump later, we were in Olney for a bite to eat at Don Antonio’s. Mmm…nothing beats homemade tortillas. After a jam session, an intense basketball (which Kaleb surprisingly won), a viewing of Air Tractor, a meet-and-greet with the Olney administration, and a presentation, we were “on the road again”. This time, we were headed to Graham, where we had a great time cutting up with their FFA members and enjoying a TASTY burger at Burgers and Billiards. Lastly, we finished our travels in the thriving metropolis of Bryson, Texas.
With that, we waved good-bye to the lush green lands of Area IV. Not to worry, though, we still have 3 whole days left of travel! Stay tuned for our final blog from the road!
We started our week off in Quanah with a trip to Subway (a fabulous lunch despite the lack of black olives and the large Dr. Pepper Kaleb spilled all over the floor) and a history lesson on the success of their program. Did you know that Quanah FFA had 3 State FFA officers IN A ROW?! I, personally, was quite impressed. Before long, we were heading down the road to Crowell, where Aron played a quick tennis match against Wendy and JD. Kaleb and I never really got to the match part; it took us a while to even master swinging the racket correctly.
That night, the Vaughns cooked us up a feast of Windthorst classics: pork chops, German sausage, sour kraut, beans, pumpkin rolls, and apple crisp. In the words of Kaleb McLaurin, it was “awesome, just awesome, like really awesome. Man, it was awesome. It was so…” That’s right. “Awesome.” The next morning, we finished up the presentation in Windthorst and headed to Iowa Park. We were so early! Woo hoo! Go us! If only we had read the schedule correctly and gone to the right school…epic fail.
So, we trucked it on over to City View for our actual presentation. Before long, we were headed back to Iowa Park (this time, we got the time right) for a tasty lunch and a chit chat with the gang. With that, we had successfully completed our day. We had two hours of free time, so being the responsible, studious state officers that we are, we figured we would do some work on the computer. While on our way to Hastings, we spotted a Starbucks off in the distance and re-routed our trip…but instead of doing work, we had a nice, long chat with Mr. Alejandro. It wasn’t until later that we learned of the five people that were shot that afternoon…in the Hastings we had originally planned on going to. Talk about getting lucky.
A skip, a hop, and a jump later, we were in Olney for a bite to eat at Don Antonio’s. Mmm…nothing beats homemade tortillas. After a jam session, an intense basketball (which Kaleb surprisingly won), a viewing of Air Tractor, a meet-and-greet with the Olney administration, and a presentation, we were “on the road again”. This time, we were headed to Graham, where we had a great time cutting up with their FFA members and enjoying a TASTY burger at Burgers and Billiards. Lastly, we finished our travels in the thriving metropolis of Bryson, Texas.
With that, we waved good-bye to the lush green lands of Area IV. Not to worry, though, we still have 3 whole days left of travel! Stay tuned for our final blog from the road!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Area I- Part II
I had been counting down the days, and the time had finally come. That’s right! It was time for another girl to be in the truck. Katie and I only get a few opportunities to out-number the boys, and this was one of them! Needless to say, we were quite stoked to be back in Area I; don’t worry though, we didn’t make Kaleb listen to Taylor Swift…not too often anyway.
We started our journey in Childress, Texas, with a FANTASTIC dinner (a failed attempt at starting a diet) and some tunes from Ty and the guys. Needless to say, we had a blast listening to the soon-to-be-famous musicians! Before long, we were making our way to Fort Elliot, home of Tommy Meek. We had quite a feast ready for us to eat at the Meek’s house: everything from shrimp to steak to tator tots to beans…and even some cereal (another failed attempt at starting a diet). At least we worked it off with some intense games of pool!
The next day, we stopped by to see our friends in Wheeler and to munch on some tasty food at Maxi’s. Thanks for lunch, guys! With full bellies and a decision to nix all ideas of starting a diet, we made our way to Miami to chit chat with their FFA members. It was about that time that Kaleb solicited Katie’s advice on directions…BAD DECISION. We figured we were going in the wrong direction when we turned around and saw “Welcome to Texas” in big letters. Oops. After a few games of Wii with Lynlee and Lane, a presentation in Follet, and a meal at The Cattle Exchange (the BEST RESTAURANT EVER!) in Canadian, we decided to leave the state again…this time, on purpose. In a matter of minutes, we had passed the “Welcome to Oklahoma” sign AND the “Welcome to Kansas” sign. It was quite the trip, if I do say so myself.
Of course, our stop in Liberal, Kansas had nothing on the breakfast that the Lefors FFA members cooked up or the hamburgers that the Pampa FFA members prepared. We certainly did NOT go hungry on that day! It was amazing that we had already completed one week in the Panhandle. No worries, though, we still had a good 5 days of power over Kaleb!
We began our second week in the Panhandle with a few classroom presentations in Claude, a stop by Highland Park, and a visit with the freshmen in Vega. That night, the Underwoods fed us a TON of delicious food (it’s a good thing we gave up on that diet), while we listened to David, Dennis, Tommy, and Kaley tell stories. After our presentation in Dimmit, we headed down the road to Springlake-Earth and then to our last stop of the day in Cotton Center; we had an amazing time hanging out with Mr. Howe and all of the students there.
In the blink of an eye, we were already in Idalou for a home-town baseball game, a bite of Mexican food, and a ride in “The Little Red Truck”. Next, we made our way to Petersburg, where Tracey announced that given a choice of any animal, he’d be a tiger. Good choice, Tracey! After an Oreo blizzard from Dairy Queen, we headed to Floydada High School and then to Kaleb’s aunt and uncle’s house. They had the most comfortable chair in the whole, wide world. I didn’t even realize that I had fallen asleep until Kaleb woke me up…3 hours later.
That night, we ate a delicious steak dinner at the Burson’s house in Silverton. After hearing the crazy stories of their boys growing up, I have come to a conclusion: I’m glad I grew up with a sister. Ha ha. Just kidding…well, kind of. The next morning, we traveled to Valley for the most delicious homemade cinnamon rolls ever created and a long conversation with their chapter members. We even found out why they call Blake “little pig”: his last name is pig. Who would have guessed? Before long, we were eating pizza in Tulia and finishing up the day in Plainview.
Before we knew it, we had reached our final moments of out-numbering Kaleb. It was okay, though. Our breakfast with the Frenship FFA officers certainly made up for it. After those pancakes, even the rain couldn’t get us down! We may have looked like drowned rats during our presentation, but we didn’t mind. We left Frenship for our last presentation of Area I at Lubbock-Cooper High School, home of Miss Katie Heinrich. I must say, it was a great ending to a fun-filled journey through the top of Texas.
Those two weeks of girl power may be over, but our travels through Texas are not. We only have a few days left, but there is no doubt that they will be filled with a lifetime of memories.
We started our journey in Childress, Texas, with a FANTASTIC dinner (a failed attempt at starting a diet) and some tunes from Ty and the guys. Needless to say, we had a blast listening to the soon-to-be-famous musicians! Before long, we were making our way to Fort Elliot, home of Tommy Meek. We had quite a feast ready for us to eat at the Meek’s house: everything from shrimp to steak to tator tots to beans…and even some cereal (another failed attempt at starting a diet). At least we worked it off with some intense games of pool!
The next day, we stopped by to see our friends in Wheeler and to munch on some tasty food at Maxi’s. Thanks for lunch, guys! With full bellies and a decision to nix all ideas of starting a diet, we made our way to Miami to chit chat with their FFA members. It was about that time that Kaleb solicited Katie’s advice on directions…BAD DECISION. We figured we were going in the wrong direction when we turned around and saw “Welcome to Texas” in big letters. Oops. After a few games of Wii with Lynlee and Lane, a presentation in Follet, and a meal at The Cattle Exchange (the BEST RESTAURANT EVER!) in Canadian, we decided to leave the state again…this time, on purpose. In a matter of minutes, we had passed the “Welcome to Oklahoma” sign AND the “Welcome to Kansas” sign. It was quite the trip, if I do say so myself.
Of course, our stop in Liberal, Kansas had nothing on the breakfast that the Lefors FFA members cooked up or the hamburgers that the Pampa FFA members prepared. We certainly did NOT go hungry on that day! It was amazing that we had already completed one week in the Panhandle. No worries, though, we still had a good 5 days of power over Kaleb!
We began our second week in the Panhandle with a few classroom presentations in Claude, a stop by Highland Park, and a visit with the freshmen in Vega. That night, the Underwoods fed us a TON of delicious food (it’s a good thing we gave up on that diet), while we listened to David, Dennis, Tommy, and Kaley tell stories. After our presentation in Dimmit, we headed down the road to Springlake-Earth and then to our last stop of the day in Cotton Center; we had an amazing time hanging out with Mr. Howe and all of the students there.
In the blink of an eye, we were already in Idalou for a home-town baseball game, a bite of Mexican food, and a ride in “The Little Red Truck”. Next, we made our way to Petersburg, where Tracey announced that given a choice of any animal, he’d be a tiger. Good choice, Tracey! After an Oreo blizzard from Dairy Queen, we headed to Floydada High School and then to Kaleb’s aunt and uncle’s house. They had the most comfortable chair in the whole, wide world. I didn’t even realize that I had fallen asleep until Kaleb woke me up…3 hours later.
That night, we ate a delicious steak dinner at the Burson’s house in Silverton. After hearing the crazy stories of their boys growing up, I have come to a conclusion: I’m glad I grew up with a sister. Ha ha. Just kidding…well, kind of. The next morning, we traveled to Valley for the most delicious homemade cinnamon rolls ever created and a long conversation with their chapter members. We even found out why they call Blake “little pig”: his last name is pig. Who would have guessed? Before long, we were eating pizza in Tulia and finishing up the day in Plainview.
Before we knew it, we had reached our final moments of out-numbering Kaleb. It was okay, though. Our breakfast with the Frenship FFA officers certainly made up for it. After those pancakes, even the rain couldn’t get us down! We may have looked like drowned rats during our presentation, but we didn’t mind. We left Frenship for our last presentation of Area I at Lubbock-Cooper High School, home of Miss Katie Heinrich. I must say, it was a great ending to a fun-filled journey through the top of Texas.
Those two weeks of girl power may be over, but our travels through Texas are not. We only have a few days left, but there is no doubt that they will be filled with a lifetime of memories.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Area II- Part II
It starts with one…pair of clothes. It was the week we had all been looking forward to. The one we had dreamed about since the beginning of our year. The one that almost every state officer wanted to be a part of. It was the week we traveled to the very edge of Texas. It was our final week in Area II.
It all began with a trip to Austin for the Texas FFA Board meeting. At one o’ clock, we were set to head out for the trip of our lives. At the last minute, we had an open spot for the road. Who jumped up to opportunity? Our Area VI Vice-President, Layton Norwood. He is a man of many talents…and only one pair of clothes. The rest had been left at home, as he had no previous plans to travel. No worries, though! We would surely find a Walmart somewhere…
Five hours later, there was still no Walmart. It wasn’t until later that we learned that West Texas does NOT believe in Walmart. Or cell phone service. They do, however, have the GREATEST trash can burritos that you have ever tasted! “What is a trash can burrito?” you may ask. Well, we aren’t exactly sure. In the words of Mr. Fox (the Alpine FFA advisor), “It’s everything that they would otherwise put in the trash…So, don’t ask. Just eat.” We certainly did a lot of that! We made our way to Ft. Davis, Texas with a full belly. If you ever wonder what the 8th world wonder is, you can find it there. I’ve never been anywhere more beautiful than Ft. Davis. That drive will change your life. I promise. And the students there aren’t too far off from the magnificent scenery. We loved getting to sit back and chit chat with them.
Before long, Mr. Womack sent us on our way to Pecos. It was here that we saw where the 1st rodeo was held, the same arena where they filmed the movie “8 Seconds”. Talk about a Texas landmark! Soon enough, we began the long trek to Dell City. We drove. And drove. And drove. And drove. And drove. What did we see? Nothing. Not a gas station. Not a car. Not any sign of life for a good 179.12 miles. We did, however, find the tallest peak in Texas: the Guadalupe Mountains. Naturally, we stopped for a photo op and a hike up McKitrick Canyon. We were out of breath by the first mile, though. So, we turned around, hopped back in the truck, and kept on truckin’. Finally, we made it to the thriving metropolis of Dell City, Texas, where we visited with a majority of the high school. All 28 of them. In Dell City, it’s all about quality over quantity, and they certainly have mastered the quality part.
96 miles down the road, we spotted something we hadn’t seen in quite some time: a gas station. Poor old Mr. Truck was getting quite thirsty after all of his hard work! And we were starting to get hungry. Luckily, the Wittes had PLENTY of food for us. We ate hamburgers, chips, salsa, popsicles, you name it, and we worked it all off with an intense basketball game, an exciting pool tournament, and a relaxing visit to Olga the Massage Chair. To top it all off, we took our picture with the fence on the US/Mexico border the next morning before an awesome presentation at Clint High School. We love you guys!!
Our last stop was Coronado High School in El Paso. We tried out the famous queso at Avilas and watched the dust storm make the mountains disappear before our eyes. We ended our day with a campfire and some good conversations. What better way is there to end a perfect week? Well…almost end, that is.
We had been told that the fastest way to get from El Paso back to Lubbock was through New Mexico. After lunch with Dusty Anderson, New Mexico FFA officer, and his friends: Cooper and Seth, we continued our trek back to Lubbock. It was then, though, that we “accidently” missed a turn and drove to Ruidoso, New Mexico (only a few minutes out of the way) for a spontaneous ski trip. We spent 3 hours searching for a cheap hotel on the internet, dumped out all of Kaleb’s clothes to find the appropriate layers (for once, it’s a good thing he packs like a girl!), and hadn’t quite thought through how Layton would get home BUT we had the BEST TIME EVER! Despite the fact that Layton couldn’t get off the lift without falling, Kaleb couldn’t keep his skis on, and I landed with every article of equipment in a different direction, we all came out alive!
Layton still only has his one pair of clothes (official dress shoes, basketball shorts, and the shirts that FFA chapters gave him), but it was all worth it. It doesn’t get much better than a trash can burrito, a viewing of the 1st rodeo arena in the world, a hike through the canyon, a basketball game, a dust storm, a meal with our New Mexico buddies, and a ski trip…all in one. Ladies and gentleman, they were right. This was the week that we had been looking forward to. The one that every state officer wanted to be a part of. The one that we had all dreamed about. Only better.
It all began with a trip to Austin for the Texas FFA Board meeting. At one o’ clock, we were set to head out for the trip of our lives. At the last minute, we had an open spot for the road. Who jumped up to opportunity? Our Area VI Vice-President, Layton Norwood. He is a man of many talents…and only one pair of clothes. The rest had been left at home, as he had no previous plans to travel. No worries, though! We would surely find a Walmart somewhere…
Five hours later, there was still no Walmart. It wasn’t until later that we learned that West Texas does NOT believe in Walmart. Or cell phone service. They do, however, have the GREATEST trash can burritos that you have ever tasted! “What is a trash can burrito?” you may ask. Well, we aren’t exactly sure. In the words of Mr. Fox (the Alpine FFA advisor), “It’s everything that they would otherwise put in the trash…So, don’t ask. Just eat.” We certainly did a lot of that! We made our way to Ft. Davis, Texas with a full belly. If you ever wonder what the 8th world wonder is, you can find it there. I’ve never been anywhere more beautiful than Ft. Davis. That drive will change your life. I promise. And the students there aren’t too far off from the magnificent scenery. We loved getting to sit back and chit chat with them.
Before long, Mr. Womack sent us on our way to Pecos. It was here that we saw where the 1st rodeo was held, the same arena where they filmed the movie “8 Seconds”. Talk about a Texas landmark! Soon enough, we began the long trek to Dell City. We drove. And drove. And drove. And drove. And drove. What did we see? Nothing. Not a gas station. Not a car. Not any sign of life for a good 179.12 miles. We did, however, find the tallest peak in Texas: the Guadalupe Mountains. Naturally, we stopped for a photo op and a hike up McKitrick Canyon. We were out of breath by the first mile, though. So, we turned around, hopped back in the truck, and kept on truckin’. Finally, we made it to the thriving metropolis of Dell City, Texas, where we visited with a majority of the high school. All 28 of them. In Dell City, it’s all about quality over quantity, and they certainly have mastered the quality part.
96 miles down the road, we spotted something we hadn’t seen in quite some time: a gas station. Poor old Mr. Truck was getting quite thirsty after all of his hard work! And we were starting to get hungry. Luckily, the Wittes had PLENTY of food for us. We ate hamburgers, chips, salsa, popsicles, you name it, and we worked it all off with an intense basketball game, an exciting pool tournament, and a relaxing visit to Olga the Massage Chair. To top it all off, we took our picture with the fence on the US/Mexico border the next morning before an awesome presentation at Clint High School. We love you guys!!
Our last stop was Coronado High School in El Paso. We tried out the famous queso at Avilas and watched the dust storm make the mountains disappear before our eyes. We ended our day with a campfire and some good conversations. What better way is there to end a perfect week? Well…almost end, that is.
We had been told that the fastest way to get from El Paso back to Lubbock was through New Mexico. After lunch with Dusty Anderson, New Mexico FFA officer, and his friends: Cooper and Seth, we continued our trek back to Lubbock. It was then, though, that we “accidently” missed a turn and drove to Ruidoso, New Mexico (only a few minutes out of the way) for a spontaneous ski trip. We spent 3 hours searching for a cheap hotel on the internet, dumped out all of Kaleb’s clothes to find the appropriate layers (for once, it’s a good thing he packs like a girl!), and hadn’t quite thought through how Layton would get home BUT we had the BEST TIME EVER! Despite the fact that Layton couldn’t get off the lift without falling, Kaleb couldn’t keep his skis on, and I landed with every article of equipment in a different direction, we all came out alive!
Layton still only has his one pair of clothes (official dress shoes, basketball shorts, and the shirts that FFA chapters gave him), but it was all worth it. It doesn’t get much better than a trash can burrito, a viewing of the 1st rodeo arena in the world, a hike through the canyon, a basketball game, a dust storm, a meal with our New Mexico buddies, and a ski trip…all in one. Ladies and gentleman, they were right. This was the week that we had been looking forward to. The one that every state officer wanted to be a part of. The one that we had all dreamed about. Only better.
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