Norman - Day 11 - part 2

  Since we were early to church, Don drove us through downtown Pauls Valley, showing me the streets he "cruised" when he was in high school and a few of his old hang outs. One point of true interest is the brick streets in all of the downtown area.

"Tall, stately trees arch over more brick streets, (17,986 square yards), than in any town in the United States."  That's quite something for this town to be proud of.  When all the other cities with brick streets are paving over them, Pauls Valley still has theirs. Can you imagine how many man-hours it took to "pave" these streets.  I love it when old buildings with awesome architectural design are preserved.  I should do some research on this clock.  As we made our way out of town, Don turned on a farm road that would take us to Beaty Baptist Church.  As we passed this race horse ranch, Don said "this belongs to Toby Keith."  I apologize for the quality... these were all taken through the window or windshield. Didn't seem to be much going on at the ranch, but we did see a few horses in the distance. And you can see there has been a lot of work done here, new buildings and groomed pastures.  This is not the ranch where Toby lives.  That's on the northeast side of Norman.

We enjoyed going to church with Don's mother at Beaty Baptist Church.  Their pastor, Stephen Reid, is very young, but seemed to possess a wisdom beyond his years.  We were impressed, but not surprised as it's wonderful to see someone so young so committed to God's plan for his life. 

After church, we all made our way into Pauls Valley and Punkin's Restaurant and of course, time for pictures.  I knew I needed to take them before the food arrived.  Here's Pauline, Don & Debbie's mother. Fifty years ago today, Mom Pauline made Don a big brother.  In fact, Debbie was almost Don's 10th birthday present, as Don's birthday will be the 30th.  Here's Debbie with her first grandson, Dylan.  He's visiting for a while but goes home next weekend. His little brother, Michael, misses him.  We were joined for lunch by Pauline's sister, Aunt Lois and hubby, Uncle Pete.  Uncle Pete closed his eyes in the first picture, so we told him to keep his eyes open for this one. Good job, Uncle Pete!!  Dylan is only five years old and he has already lost his two front teeth and one permanent tooth is already in. Nobody told him where to sit... he wanted by his Uncle Don.   Debbie had to get a picture of Don and I while Don is still 59. Doesn't he look handsome in his suit and tie?! We finished lunch and headed for Mom's house for that pie, pecan for Debbie and coconut cream for Don.  Don't worry, they shared.  It was so delicious.  We visited and showed pictures of people we've met and places we've been.  And watch Dylan be such a boy.

Around 4:00, we headed back to Norman, but not before getting a picture of the Birthday Pair and the pie Don brought home with us. And a good picture of Dylan... Mom's beautiful white Clematis are blooming. Did you know there is a Clematis Society of American? This afternoon, the clouds were gone and it was a beautiful 40 minute drive home. I think I've mentioned before that just down the road from Don's mom's is a wild horse farm.  The man that owns this farm goes out to the western states and "rescues" wild horses and brings them back to keep and/or sell to people who want to "adopt" them. <--- click and read about the Wild Horse & Burro program. Below is part of the

Pauls Valley Adoption Center

The Pauls Valley facility serves as a resting point for animals arriving from the West and being shipping to adoption locations in the central and eastern United States. With 12 pastures stretching across 400 acres of land, this facility provides wild horses and burros a natural and safe environment until they are placed in new homes. The facility can hold a maximum of 600 animals, although the actual number of wild horses and burros at the site varies throughout the year. A drive-up interpretation site situated near the pastures allows visitors to view the animals as they leisurely roam and graze on the land.

Adoptions are held quarterly at the Pauls Valley facility, with a mixed group of 70 - 80 animals being offered. Click here for schedule information and more details, or call the Wild Horse and Burro Information Line toll-free at 866-4MUSTANGS.
ADOPTION SPECIAL: At the scheduled March 14-15, 2008, adoption at Pauls Valley, approximately 20 wild mares (two years old and older) will be available for a reduced fee of $25 (the normal adoption fee is $125). There is a possibility that some of these mares may be pregnant, so this could be a "two-for-one" opportunity for some adopters. (There's also an adoption coming up on May 16-17) Here's a good picture showing off the famous Oklahoma red dirt. There are a lot of very pretty photo-opps along Interstate 35. Looks like a good fishing hole, doesn't it? Yep, this is Oklahoma... oil pumps every where. Everyone should have one of these in their front yard.  The wild flower, Indian Paint Brush, is blooming and we passed an area where there were just beautiful growing in big patches. When we got back to the 5'er, Don and I promptly went into pie comas, enjoying our regular Sunday afternoon naps.

As I end this post, I am thinking about how I love blogging and how it makes me feel heart connected to all the wonderful people we've met in our lives.  Thank you to all our friends for loving us and praying for us.  God bless you and we love you!