The Moos and Booze Road Trip

So, we’re still here. The question that Nikki and I are asked at least three times a day is, “So when do you leave?” We don’t know. It’s Ramadan in the Muslim world and that particular detail hasn’t been nailed down yet.

Now that all the hard throwing out and packing up work is done, we decided we needed some diversions. So we planned a road trip to Alva, Oklahoma. Why Alva of all places? I have an amazing friend there, Becky McCray.

Becky has cows and a liquor store which seemed like more than a good enough reason to head to Alva, a place where neither of us had been before.

We arrived about lunch time and Becky took us to lunch at The Sandwich Shop in downtown Alva. The sandwiches, all named after people, were amazing! I had the Ralph. Roast beef and swiss cheese on a hogie roll.

Becky pointed out some details of the downtown that indicated how old it was including the horse tie ups that still remain on some of the sidewalks.

Then we went to the booze portion of our trip, Allen’s Retail Liquor Store. Nikki and I each picked out some wine to take home.

Becky thought these would be a perfect choice for me.

And then this one, which I knew would match the shirt I photographed it with. 🙂

And then, Becky took a photo of Nikki and I. Our first! And what a perfect backdrop. 😉

We’d taken enough of Becky’s busy day so she gave us a big circle to drive with things to see along the way.

We first went to the Alabaster Caverns State Park.

I’ve never been on vacation with Nikki before so we had to do the silly head thing.

Then we went down a bunch of steps to start touring the caverns. Spelunking, if you will. 😉

Yeah, Nikki had great caving shoes on but I was the one who slipped. LOL! It is slick in there!

It’s also very cool, around 58 degrees. So after weeks of extra hot weather in Oklahoma, it was great to be in the cave. Even if there were bats in there.

We also saw a spotted salamander. And he just sat there, prettily, while I took his photo.

It was a cool tour in more ways than one. Alabaster Caverns is the largest gypsum cave in the world that is open to the public. All of the other caves are limestone according to our guide, Gail.

At the end of the tour, Gail loaded us into the tram and took us back to the top.

Then we went off in search of the Gloss Mountains. These are kind of like mountains, Oklahoma-style.

Nikki was thinking “Colorado” and wouldn’t believe we had truly found the Gloss Mountains until she saw a sign. 😉

We finished our big loop and ended up back in Alva for dinner at a restaurant that will remain nameless because it was just that bad. Who ever heard of a Mexican restaurant running out of chips? They were out of a lot.

After the disastrous dinner, I decided to check with Becky before making a breakfast decision. She assured me that Cookie’s Bowl and Cafe was good. I poked that into Tam Tam and we couldn’t find it. We drove up and down the street looking for it and still couldn’t find it.

I turned down a side street and decided to come back from a different direction. Nikki said, “What is that building with all the cars?” And then, “No, that’s the bowling alley.”

Lightbulb!

Cookie’s Bowl (as in BOWLING) and Cafe’. LOL!

So, yes, we ate breakfast at the bowling alley.

We probably should have had dinner there as well. They had the most amazing pancakes that were as big as the tabletop.

After fortifying ourselves with the fabu food, we headed for the “moos” part of our trip and to see the star, Bubby.

Becky took us to her farm and the cows were EXTREMELY interested in us when we pulled up. She said it was because they knew she was going to feed them.