I am so looking forward to tomorrow! I love going to the fair in Oklahoma City. It is one of the few times I get to be a kid again. Of course, this time I am on official business for my website. I'll try to remain professional as I ride the rides and eat all the great food.
Oh, the food...I can eat fair food all the time. Funnel cakes. Cotton candy. Those giant turkey legs. Corn on the cob. Hot dogs. Snow cones. I'll probably gain 50 pounds in one day, but I don't care. It isn't like I can go to the fair all the time; it only happens once a year.
Don't tell anyone, but my favorite part of the fair is the petting zoo. I leave smelling like a barn. I hope my husband doesn't make me ride on top of the car on the way home. One year, I was able to feed baby animals (goats, calves, foals and the like) with a bottle. That was a thrill. My daughter is going to love it. I'm not sure who is going to be harder to pull away from there. Probably me. My daughter is much better at following directions than I am.
I also love to look at all the exhibits. The quilts have always fascinated me. I will never understand how all those intricate designs are made. My granny was a quilter. She had the big wooden whatever-you-call-them hanging from her bedroom ceiling year round. She tried to teach me, but I was more interested in looking through her button box and all the fabric. She told a story for each one. I have all those memories, but no quilt to call my own. I'll take the memories any day.
Of course, I get to meet great folks. I will strike up a conversation with just about anyone. Everyone is so friendly. How can they not be? It is one of the happiest places on the planet. Maybe I will even run into some old friends there. It has happened before. I can think of so many friends from school I've lost track of over the years.
I can't wait to take all the photos I can possibly take. My memory card only holds 715 photos and I hope that will be enough. I may stop and get another memory card. I'm going to be a photo-taking fool. There is so much to see and I want to have memories for a lifetime. I also want to have some nice ones to add to my website. Yes, the Oklahoma State Fair is another reason to visit Oklahoma!
The bag is packed and all of our clothes are laid out. The only problem I'm having is falling asleep. I'm too excited to sleep. I can't wait.
Perhaps my next post will be that of an adult. Well, no. I'll have to tell everyone about my day at the fair. Maybe the post after my fair post.
Let me be a kid for a while. We all need that. The Oklahoma State Fair is the perfect place to do that. If you see a grown woman, skipping through the crowd and pointing at everything that catches her eye, it is probably me. Stop and say "Hey!" I'd love to meet you.
Happy Oklahoma traveling,
Emma Riley Sutton
Showing posts with label memory card. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memory card. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Visiting the Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum
I have visited many museums, all over the country, in my life. Despite this, nothing compares to my recent trip to Pawnee in Green Country, the northeast corner of Oklahoma. In the past few weeks, since starting my TravelsOklahoma website, I have been visiting several museums each week. The Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum appeared to be "normal" on the outside, but that certainly wasn't the case.
The museum was full of fun and interesting items about Pawnee Bill, his wife May and their wild west show. Despite being a small museum, there was a lot of information to take in. Well taken care of by a staff that loves the museum, I felt welcomed - almost as if I were visiting someone's home. Walking around, waiting for the tour to of the home to start, I learned so much about Oklahoma, Pawnee Bill and life.
Once the tour of the home started, I was surprised by how well it was maintained and the lovely artwork and furnishings. As a member of the press, I was allowed to take photographs inside the home. Sort of. That is where this trip to a museum gets a bit more than strange...
In the view finder of my camera, I was seeing strange purple filmy and floating lights. I laughed about this as I explained I was probably catching the motion detectors in place behind the ropes that kept visitors from the antiques in the room. I was perfectly content with this explanation; I could have lived my entire life believing that was what I was seeing.
"The motion detectors are on the floor," the tour guide explained, pointing to them inches above the beautiful floors. She was right. Why did she have to right? I preferred my explanation to the unusual lights I was seeing.
Not wanting to speculate as to what my camera was picking up, I continued the tour. I was enthralled by the Tiffany chandeliers and gorgeous artwork. Upstairs an antique train set that was played with by Pawnee Bill and May's son caught my eye. Putting the experience of the purple lights behind me, I pulled out my digital camera to take a picture. No funny purple lights in this room. I pushed the button to take the photo and nothing happened. I looked at the camera - no memory. My memory card holds more than 700 photos. I was not out of memory.
The tour continued. I didn't want to appear uncomfortable (spooked?) to the others on the tour with me. I tried not to think about what had happened. Stepping outside the home, I looked at my camera. The message I was out of memory had disappeared.
"Come back and try again," the tour guide suggested.
I stepped back inside the house and the memory had, once again, disappeared.
"I'm being asked very politely not to take pictures," I stammered to the tour guide, who smiled understandingly.
I made my way back to the museum where I was greeted with "Are you okay? Do you need anything?" by the woman at the desk. I was fine. All I needed was directions to the Pasture Exhibit. I wanted to see the buffalo that still lived on the ranch.
I drove around the half mile dirt road in the pasture. I saw cattle and draft horses. Towards the end of the exhibit, I saw the buffalo. There were several buffalo calves in the herd. Once again, I got out my camera, thinking I would be able to take a few photos of the baby buffalo. The batteries were dead.
Once back in my hometown, I went to the store where I had purchased the camera less than a month ago. The batteries were removed and worked fine in a camera they had behind the counter. A technician looked at my camera. The technical term she used was "fried" when she checked both the camera's internal memory and the memory card. She placed my "fried camera" in a box and gave me a new one. Thankfully, it was still under warranty.
I offer no explanation as to what happened that Saturday in Pawnee. I don't believe in ghosts. Well, I don't think I believe in ghosts. I am currently re-examining my views on that subject.
By the way, I am going back to the Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum. Once I recover from my last visit. I am going to try to take more photos to add to the slide show at TravelsOklahoma. We will have to wait and see how that works out.
Happy Oklahoma traveling,
Emma Riley Sutton
The museum was full of fun and interesting items about Pawnee Bill, his wife May and their wild west show. Despite being a small museum, there was a lot of information to take in. Well taken care of by a staff that loves the museum, I felt welcomed - almost as if I were visiting someone's home. Walking around, waiting for the tour to of the home to start, I learned so much about Oklahoma, Pawnee Bill and life.
Once the tour of the home started, I was surprised by how well it was maintained and the lovely artwork and furnishings. As a member of the press, I was allowed to take photographs inside the home. Sort of. That is where this trip to a museum gets a bit more than strange...
In the view finder of my camera, I was seeing strange purple filmy and floating lights. I laughed about this as I explained I was probably catching the motion detectors in place behind the ropes that kept visitors from the antiques in the room. I was perfectly content with this explanation; I could have lived my entire life believing that was what I was seeing.
"The motion detectors are on the floor," the tour guide explained, pointing to them inches above the beautiful floors. She was right. Why did she have to right? I preferred my explanation to the unusual lights I was seeing.
Not wanting to speculate as to what my camera was picking up, I continued the tour. I was enthralled by the Tiffany chandeliers and gorgeous artwork. Upstairs an antique train set that was played with by Pawnee Bill and May's son caught my eye. Putting the experience of the purple lights behind me, I pulled out my digital camera to take a picture. No funny purple lights in this room. I pushed the button to take the photo and nothing happened. I looked at the camera - no memory. My memory card holds more than 700 photos. I was not out of memory.
The tour continued. I didn't want to appear uncomfortable (spooked?) to the others on the tour with me. I tried not to think about what had happened. Stepping outside the home, I looked at my camera. The message I was out of memory had disappeared.
"Come back and try again," the tour guide suggested.
I stepped back inside the house and the memory had, once again, disappeared.
"I'm being asked very politely not to take pictures," I stammered to the tour guide, who smiled understandingly.
I made my way back to the museum where I was greeted with "Are you okay? Do you need anything?" by the woman at the desk. I was fine. All I needed was directions to the Pasture Exhibit. I wanted to see the buffalo that still lived on the ranch.
I drove around the half mile dirt road in the pasture. I saw cattle and draft horses. Towards the end of the exhibit, I saw the buffalo. There were several buffalo calves in the herd. Once again, I got out my camera, thinking I would be able to take a few photos of the baby buffalo. The batteries were dead.
Once back in my hometown, I went to the store where I had purchased the camera less than a month ago. The batteries were removed and worked fine in a camera they had behind the counter. A technician looked at my camera. The technical term she used was "fried" when she checked both the camera's internal memory and the memory card. She placed my "fried camera" in a box and gave me a new one. Thankfully, it was still under warranty.
I offer no explanation as to what happened that Saturday in Pawnee. I don't believe in ghosts. Well, I don't think I believe in ghosts. I am currently re-examining my views on that subject.
By the way, I am going back to the Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum. Once I recover from my last visit. I am going to try to take more photos to add to the slide show at TravelsOklahoma. We will have to wait and see how that works out.
Happy Oklahoma traveling,
Emma Riley Sutton
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