Oklahoma Part 5 - Hollis

Another reason I was looking forward to our Oklahoma Adventure was that my two college roommates live in Oklahoma. Rachel is a native of Atlanta (Newnan), GA and Misty is a native of Maryland. So the fact that they live in a place like Hollis is a huge stretch for them. Each of them live with their families on separate farms and are house parents for teenage boys for Westview Boys Home.

This is Rachel's house. You think you've seen the middle of no where? You haven't been to Hollis. Their house is 6 miles north of Texas and 3 miles east of Texas (or something like that). Go take a look at a map of the US and put your finger on the most southwestern part of Oklahoma. Yes, that area with no names of towns. There aren't that many.


Barren. Very long shadows.



But there are a few trees. And telephone lines. So there is some breaks in all the flatness.

Since they live on working farms each of them have animals of some sort. I only met the horses. And they were very polite and well mannered.

This horse became my new BFF. I forget it's name. But it loved me.

And while the land around Rachel and Misty is lonely and empty their homes are full of so much love, fun, laughter, and activity. They each have three children of their own plus the teen boys that live with them.

Misty and I were roommates for a short time but we were friends for a while before that. In 1998 Misty, Rachel, and I went to Scotland for six weeks with Harding's International Campaigns. We have enough old jokes and stories to last us a while.

Remember how I said she already has three kids? She recently found out she was pregnant with her fourth!! Go Misty and Jason! But wait! Uh oh.....two days after I left Hollis I got a call from her. She just had her thirteen week appointment to find out that indeed, she would be having her fourth child. AND HER FIFTH. Surprise!

And then there is Rachel. Rachel and I have been friends since our freshman year of college and roommates since we were sophomores. We watched a million episodes of A Wedding Story on TLC together. As she got up at 5am (or earlier!) for her nursing rotations I turned over in my warm bed and went back to sleep.

Group shot! I love these girls so much and I am so glad I was able to see their kids and talk with them about their lives. We were in each other's weddings and have still been able to keep close after being apart for so long. It would have been so much fun to see all our kids playing together since they're all the same age but that's for another trip.

What's nice is that we all have blogs and are on facebook so it's easier to stay in touch. It would help if Rachel would get her rear in gear and make a post since her last post was in OCTOBER.

So after two short days I drove back to Okmulgee to pack up my family and head to Oklahoma City for our flight home. As I drove home I had my camera ready. Driving through Hollis, it looks like there is a dusting of snow on the side. Anyone want to guess what it is? (excuse the dashboard of the car in the picture)

It's cotton! I've never seen cotton collect on the side of the road. That's how much cotton is around that area. I am sure there is a technical name of the facility below but I'll call it - the Cotton Processing Plant. That's a huge pile of cotton!! Part of me wanted to jump in it and wallow around and then another part of me felt like suffocating.

Note to self: when taking pictures from inside a car ROLL THE WINDOW ALL THE WAY DOWN.

About 45 minutes east of Hollis you start to come upon these odd hills. After looking them up apparently they're the Wichita Mountains (sorry I called you hills).

They look like they are just rocks piled on top of each other. Wikipedia explains some geological mumbo jumbo if you want to know how they came to be.

Something I didn't get a chance to photograph were the many casinos I passed. There are Indian reservations all over Oklahoma but I'm not sure if the casinos are on their land or not. Something I am sure of is that there are more casinos in Oklahoma then there are in Las Vegas. (ok, I'm not so sure. It's just a guess).

It was interesting to pass through the Indian reservations. If it weren't for the signs I'd have no idea but some of the ones I drove through were: Comanche, Apache (weren't they warrior nations?), Kickapoo (I don't think they named themselves), Citizen Band of Potawatomi (that's a mouthful but I guess it works for them), Creek, Chickasaw, and Wichita. Demeree and I saw New Moon when we were in Okmulgee and we figured that most people in these areas are Team Jacob.

Rachel & Misty-Thank you so much for inviting me into your homes, feeding me, answering my stupid questions, and letting me sleep in. I miss you guys and there is always an open invite to upstate NY if you can pile your bagillion kids in a large vehicle and drive up here.