Yesterday, my entire family traveled west to the town of Stillwater for the Oklahoma State 4-H archery competition.     We had to be there at 8:30am, so we got up EARLY.   

Stillwater is the hub for all state 4-H events.    Archers from all Oklahoma counties were invited.   Because of the number of kids signed up to shoot, the administrators arranged shooters in a morning group and an afternoon group.   Our county was in the morning group.   

Cristin is in the grey jacket.  Chance is on the right.   

***We didn’t wait in Stillwater until the afternoon group finished shooting.   We found out later in the day that Cristin won 1st!!!!!!

Hannah is in the pink.  She is one of the girls from our county.   She is also one of Cristin’s best buds. 

From left…Hannah M, Hannah T, Alexis, and Chance.  

Chance shooting his compound bow. 

Michael and Clay.   Clay didn’t have to work so he went along to watch his brother and sister shoot.     Right after I took this picture, Clay and I left to look around in Stillwater and tour the OSU campus.  

Stillwater is a farm town.   When you drive down the streets of Stillwater, every other vehicle is a farm truck covered in red dirt.    In western Oklahoma, the dirt contains some kind of mineral that makes the dirt a rich maroon color.    That’s why it’s called “red dirt” country.     

Stillwater has two of the biggest grain towers that I’ve ever seen (see pic above).

Another grain tower.  

Right in the middle of this old farm town is one of the two big universities in our state.     Stillwater is home to OSU (Oklahoma State University).     When your talking about NATIONAL football teams, OSU is usually in the top 12.  Oklahoma is ALL about football.  

OSU has a mixture of old and new buildings.   Nevertheless,  all of the building are big and impressive and made with the same red brick.

The OSU campus is a sight to behold.   It makes a person proud to be an Oklahoman.  

The pictures don’t do the grandeur of the buildings justice. 

OSU is  sponsor of the state 4-H program.    During the summer, my kids go to the OSU campus for Round-up.  It’s a 3 day educational event held at the campus.   The building above is where the girls stay during the event.    This building has a twin where the boys stay.  

Clay said that the student union (above) at OSU is the biggest student union in the world.   He is right, we verified that information on Wikipedia.   It’s over 543,000 square feet.  It was completed in 1951. 

I think Clay is entertaining the idea of finishing the last year of his education at OSU.  

OSU is known for it’s Agricultural and Engineering studies. 

There is no mistaking the school colors.   The entire town is bathed in orange and black. 

Pistol Pete is the school mascot.   This statue is inside the doors of Gallagher Iba arena.  

Clay is 6 feet tall.  That should give you an idea to how tall the statue really is.  

Boone Pickens.

The football stadium is named after Boone Pickens.   He is still alive and attends most of the games.   You can read about him above.  

Clay and I were touring the arena which is attached to  the stadium.   This is a photo of Cowboy stadium.   All of my kids have been on the field during 4-H events.    Yesterday, was the first time I’ve seen it.

This logo was inside the arena elevator. 

Clay and I went inside the  trophy room.   On the left is a photo of the Fiesta Bowl trophy won in 2012.    On the right is a photo of Mike Gundy.  He is the current OSU football coach.  

Eskimo Joes is a local “must”.   You can’t go to Stillwater without eating at one of the “Joes” locations.    This is the original Joes location.   It sits on the edge of the OSU campus.    I’ve eaten here 3 or 4 times.   They have the best chili-cheese French fries in the world.    You can’t mention OSU or Stillwater without including Eskimo Joes.  

This is the “Joes” location we chose yesterday.   We like the “Mexican” food Joes.    See the Joseppi’s sign in the distance?   That’s the Italian food “Joes”.    Something tells me that “Joe” does very well for himself. 

Yes…yes…yes…..this is the kind of food my family likes to eat.     And just so you know….my boys get a little jumpy when I pull out my DSLR in a restaurant so I can photo our food.  

My boys got up at 5:00 am.   They also stuffed their bellies to the brim.   They crashed hard in the car after eating at Mexico Joes.   Cristin rode home with Hannah T, so she wasn’t with us.  

“Get us home Pa….Ma needs a nap”.