Oooooooooo-klahoma! (Not the musical) - Day 2 of 3

Prior to the trip to Oklahoma, Bonnie and Ray made arrangements for a tour of the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, at the Oklahoma University campus in Norman.

The closest I want to get to a real buffalo! 

Back in the day, Bonnie's father was a big game hunter and had a very large collection of trophies/heads.  Sadly, he passed away when he was relatively young (51).  A number of years ago, Bonnie's mother donated the trophies to the Museum where they were in storage for some time until the new museum was built.  The Museum has taken very good care of them and some pieces are on permanent display.  The other pieces continue to be well cared for and are in the mammal section of the research part of the museum.

Dr. Janet Braun, curator of the mammalogy department, gave us an in-depth (and sometimes hands on) behind the scenes tour. 

There is so much that goes into the 'care' of all the specimen that come to them.  And there are many environmental controls they have to keep "just so" in order to preserve and protect.  (Temperature, humidity, light, etc.)  All of the pieces from Bonnie's father's collection have small black-framed placards.

If the heads are not on the wall, the museum uses foam blocks to prop them up under the head and horns/antlers to take the pressure off and not break or damage the horns.

It was very special to experience the museum with Bonnie.  Her eyes lit up when she saw the huge African buffalo on the wall, recalling a picture and shared the story of how her parents came across it.  The same thing with a leopard.

These bears came from a different collection and show how the light has faded their fur over the years. 

New arrivals - bats from Mexico

Janet explains how the desert rats can survive without water because they get all they need from the foods they forage for and collect like chipmunks.

Janet holding a vampire bat.  She explained that vampire bats don't suck blood (as portrayed by the Hollywood bats), but they do have very sharp teeth that create incisions.  Their saliva contains anticoagulants which prevent the blood from clotting and therefore creates a 'free flowing meal'.  Then they use their tongues to lap up the blood.  She also explained that vampire bats have a "thumb" they use for walking around when looking for victims.

Three freezers where a gajillion (ok, maybe a few less than that) tissue samples are kept at -81 degrees. 

After finishing the behind-the-scenes tour, we ventured down to the museum.  It was interesting to learn this is one of the larger museums of natural history - and they have pieces going back to prehistoric times.  There have also been a lot of archaeological finds in Oklahoma, with a dig happening over the weekend. 

If you enlarge the picture, you can see some metal bracing around some of the bones.  These are real bones and are braced because if the weight.  They have the original bones but because of the enormous weight, have made lighter-weight casts for display.

The hanging skeleton is a replica of the real fossil skeleton beneath it.

Frank, Janet, Pam, Bonnie, Ray and Leann

James Donn (Bonnie's Father)

Mary Anna Fowler (Bonnie's Mother), Joseph Fowler (Mary Anna's second husband) and

Thank you Bonnie and Ray for making arrangements and including us in the tour!

By the time we were finished at the museum, we were all starving and could have eaten one of those dinosaurs!  Janet suggested a BBQ place, Rudy's,  not to far from the museum. 

Sam, our new best friend and general manager, walked us through the process.  And in order to help with our decision, he brought some samples of the brisket and turkey.  Let's just say that Texas BBQ ain't southern BBQ - it's way better!  The brisket was moist, juicy, fall-apart delicious and the turkey was amazing!

Bonnie, Ray, Cindee, Leann and Frank

We ordered a little of everything - ribs, brisket and turkey.  While they had sauce on the table, you really didn't need it - all the meats were so flavorful and tasty!  BBQ in Oklahoma IS NOT southern BBQ.


Sam continued to check on us and as a thank you/parting gift, gave us each a bottle of their sauce.

We rolled out to the car and headed back to the hotel.  We needed a nap after that lunch and in order to get ready to great the FSU football team when they arrived.  (Yes, cheering on the Seminoles was the whole reason we were in Oklahoma.)

But before we reached the hotel, it was suggested we stop in Stockyard City.  Just so happens there were some stores there and maybe we would have some luck finding a treasure or two.  :o)  (Needless to say, we never made it to the actual stockyards, but we did see lots of big trucks full of cattle leaving the area.)

After a refreshing nap, we hopped in the car and headed to the Team Hotel.  With this being Jimbo's first away game, nobody was sure what his plan was or what time the team would arrive.  But there were a lot of Seminoles (probably 500-700) in the hotel lobby ready to greet them.    There was a lot of speculation about which entrance the team would come through, but we found the right one and captured their arrival: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=libEMTBQ6JY 

The small "back door" where the buses unloaded the players.

The players looking down from their rooms at the sea of garnet and gold there to greet them.

Our friends Rick and Joanne had an opportunity to ride on the team plane.  In this case, being the first ones on, means you're the last ones off.  But we were there to greet them too.  :o)

After a well-attended reception at the Convention Center across the street from the team's hotel, we met up with a small some other Boosters from south Florida for dinner at the Coach House.  It was nice to meet new people and one of the fellows was in ROTC with Frank when he was at FSU.  Another small world!

A good time was had by all and a generous invitation was extended for the trip to the stadium the next day.  Stay tuned!