Moving to OKC

Once again the black Audi took a drive. Just in early February it went 20 hours from Seattle to San Diego. Now the Audi took 20 hours (more or less) bound for Oklahoma City; and hoping this is where it would settle.

Passing on Route 66, it was fun to engage in the American culture that I had seen on TV. 

With the help of Greg Williams, the drive went quickly, and I even got to introduce him to Country Ham at Cracker Barrel. A Kentucky tradition I have come to cherish from the Steers/James family. Yes believe it, even Cracker Barrel can be Paleo with ordering eggs and country ham. The cured-ham has loads of salt, so not the bestest lean mean source. Just ask for no toast and hold the hash-browns. Then go get a salad somewhere else to get your greens in!

Once in OKC, I settled into the apartments called The Lincoln. Very nice modern town homes. A truly empty space that begged to be filled. An empty canvas that sent me running around to Target and Gordmans (a great cheap, fun furniture store) and then online to Anthropologie and Sierra Trading Post. My essentials started with a cast iron pan. I didn't even have plates or forks. I got paper plates and plastic spoons to start with. And sat on the floor in an empty living room. Then Lee came to town and helped me with a little more furniture. Table and Chairs. What a luxury. Thanks Lee!

The Lincoln only held me for a little while before I moved to another apartment complex called Isolda Belle. The pool is what it's was all about. A little further out from training, but the quaint 70's-built place has a charm of its own.

Next on my exploring of OKC was grocery shopping. I would go from practice to exploring where to buy food, to practice to where to buy food. My google maps was on overload. Unlike anywhere I have lived, grocery stores seem to be on the back burner in this city. And Walmart does not count as an option! However little diamonds on the dust cloud emerged like the OSU-OKC Farmer's Market on Saturdays. The buffalo meat there, perfect and the free ranging, all natural whole chickens simply awesome! The guy who sells the eggs is a treat to meet. And the mushroom guy fascinated me with what was inside the cooler. The variety of bags with dark green leafy things (kale) was just fabulous and made me smile.


Then I found some other fun grocery stores called Akins, Health Food Center and this crazy carpeted store called Crescent Market. All great, but definitely break the bank kinda-places. There is a Whole Foods on its way. Good but still Whole Paycheck right?! A Trader Joes in OKC would be the bomb! In the meantime, waiting for the spring to bring on more farmer's markets that will help sustain. Then just last week, I was introduced to Super Cao Nguyen Chinese Market. I saw kinds of yams that I had never seen. Coconut Yam! So amazing the exploring of food and its cultures! Yet it is researched that most American's spend the least amount on food and would rather buy cheap food than fashion. A website launched called This City is going on a Diet highlights that change is needed and recognized in OKC. (yay)


Restaurants in OKC have also come to surprise me. Most noticeable the 105degrees that not only serves the most interesting juices, but offers culinary classes that I'm dying to take. It's vegetarian meaning nothing is cooked above 105 degrees. I assume that's Fahrenheit. Then the Melting Pot, a beloved place in lower Queen Anne, Seattle also resides in the bricktown area of downtown OKC. There is a Keisers that serves buffalo burgers. (to make this Paleo just take out the bun, ask for a big lettuce leaf!)

As the days passed so to did the finish tower progress. The comforts of the Devon Boathouse now more known, and the staff faces now known to name. The routine settled. The wind comes and goes. The testing tornado siren moans on Saturday afternoons. And this is how life at OKC passes. Check out the official website:
http://okc-nhpc.org/