2009 Okie Blog Awards

Well folks it appears that I have made the cut for 2 categories in the 2009 Okie Blog Awards.  I have been selected for the "Best Photography Blog" and "Best Representation of Oklahoma" categories.  Let me start by saying that I'm shocked and humbled.  I really didn't expect to see my blog on the list, but somehow I managed to make the cut.

Two of the nominees in photography are Erin Conrad and Zach Gray. I have followed each of them on Flickr and was very happy to see them both make the list as well.  They both do such great work.  I hope to spend more time viewing the work of the other nominees over the next week before casting my own ballot.

Being in the Best Representation of Oklahoma category really means a lot as well.  I have often been critical of my home state.  There are many reasons that I don't like Oklahoma.  I often said while going through high school and college that I wanted to get far away from Oklahoma once I got my graduated.  Lo and behold I'm still here.  I've learned over the years how extremely diverse this state is if you just get out and enjoy it.  For every thing I don't like I have found many other reasons why I do like Oklahoma.  Let's just say that I've been to 42 other states over the years and it always feels good to come back home.

For those of you visiting for the first time, I guess I should tell you a little more about myself and this project.  I'm not a photographer by trade.  Photography has always been something I have enjoyed looking at.  In 2007 I finally broke down bought a Pentax DSLR and started creating my own visions.  I've had a lot of practice since then and I hope it shows.  My goal for this blog is two fold, one to bring you a little taste of the great state of Oklahoma, and two to help my kids get a better understanding of what their home state has to offer.

This blog/project will be a slow process, but we will complete it eventually.  We are often hampered by weather, the kids weekend sporting events, my busy work schedule, and just plain old life.  You shouldn't expect to see daily posts here, but there are a few ways you can follow us to know when updates do happen.  Subscribe to the blog's RSS feed, follow our Twitter stream, or follow our Tumblr page.

(In case you are wondering about the photo above it's just me being goofy as usual.  I'm standing on top of a marker that you can learn more about here.)
  

I Tumblr for you

One of my complaints about my blog is that there is no nice way to just view the photos. Well that is not entirely true, you can look at them on the Flickr groups and sets I have created. My main complaint with Flickr has always been the annoying white backgrounds. I tend to work in dark colors and prefer to view most of my photos on black. I realize that there are several plugins and websites that allow you to view photos on black. Still I wanted something that I am in control of that doesn't require my users to run and special scripts or visit 3rd party API sites that cull Flickr photos.

With that in mind, I decided to run my photos through a tumblr page. Tumblr is simply put, a "Tumblelog" or microblogging site that usually works best with small short informative posts or simply photos. Microblogs tend to be a small stream of conscience from the author and by nature often more artistic. So I created a 77counties page on Tumblr using a black 3x3 page that allows you to look at 9 photos on one page. Clicking the photos will take you to the Flickr page for that photo.

This blog will still remain here, it is not going away anytime soon. I will continue to update the blog with photos and complete commentary about the trips. I will also continue to provide informative posts about the photo and what you are seeing. The Tumblr page is simply meant as a place for you to appreciate the photos by themselves without the text.

I realize the photos on the tumblr page are presented very small. At some point I may release them in a larger format if there is enough request for such. For now they will be presented as shown.

View 77counties on Tumblr

4....3....2....1....

4....3....2....1...., originally uploaded by okbeatnik.

Happy New Year from 77Counties! We look forward to another new year full of images from around the state. Our new years resolution is to hit an average of no less than 2 counties per month in 2010. We have 64 more counties to work our way through, we hope you will join us in our travels.

Happy Holiday Travels

Season's Greeting from the family here at 77 Counties. I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and are looking forward to the rest of the holiday season. Perhaps your holiday plans involve travel across this great state of ours. Hopefully you are taking time to take the road less traveled on your journeys.

It's been awhile since I have posted our travel map, so here is the current view of where we stand on counties. A long way to go for sure. Although we have progressed pretty well in the past six months. On our current pace we have 2 counties per month knocked out. Which would put us on course to finish the project in a total of 3 years time. Although I figure we will make much larger strides once we branch out on some of our future big road trips. However as I have said before this project is going to be a slow marathon and not a sprint to the finish. Please stick with us, as I promise there will be more photos in the future. You can always follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our feed if you want to be updated when things happen.

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Payne County

Payne County
County seat - Stillwater / County population per 2000 Census - 68,190

Hello fellow travelers, it's been awhile since my last post, but without further delay I bring you Payne County. The county is named for Captain David Lewis Payne who was responsible for leading the Boomer Movement. Payne and his Boomers were the first to attempt to settle in the unassigned lands in the center of Oklahoma that were not part of Indian Territory. Payne and his supporters argued that the federal government had no right to restrict their settlement on these lands and fought back. The term Boomer was reserved for white settlers who believed the Unassigned Lands were public property and open to anyone for settlement, not just Indian tribes. The Homestead Act of 1862, said that any settler could claim 160 acres of public land and thus Payne and his supporters believed it was their right to claim these lands. His work and persistence against the federal government would lead to the future settlement of Oklahoma and the land run of 1889, 4 years after his death.

Of course the county seat of Stillwater is also known for being the home of Oklahoma State University.  Seen in the picture above, Theta pond is a popular place for reading, relaxing, and feeding the ducks. Even on some rowdy campus occasions people have taken swims, often not by choice.  The pond is an icon of Oklahoma State University that is held near and dear to countless students and alumni.  A favorite moment of mine is when hundreds if not thousands of students gathered here at the pond to celebrate our 1995 Final Four appearance.  However, as an alumnus myself, I am most fond of Theta pond for one very important reason.  It has to do with the little bench you see at the bottom right hand corner of this photo.  It is in front of that very bench that I proposed to my wife on one cold late December evening almost 16 years ago.  For that reason the bench and Theta pond will always be in my memories.

If you have a favorite memory of Theta Pond please feel free to share it here as well.  Until next time, we bid you happy travels.

Muskogee County

Muskogee County

County seat - Muskogee / County population per 2000 Census - 69,451

There is nothing better than a good old fashion spontaneous road trip.  Brought upon this time by an online scavenger hunt for free stuff.  I won't go further into the details of how I ended up with my two boys in Muskogee on a work day.  That is because I already wrote a blog post about it here.  Let's just say that I somehow found myself standing at the retired USS Batfish. near the northeast corner of Muskogee.  Muskogee has one of several inland ports located in Oklahoma that allow transfer of cargo all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

After we were done at the Batfish we decided that we should at least take a tour of Muskogee and virtually plant our flag on another Oklahoma County.  So we ventured on into Muskogee where we took a quick visit to the County Court House.  Thus marking our "official" visit to the county.  Perhaps we should have made a visit to city hall as well to see if the Mayor was in.  He is the youngest mayor in Oklahoma, and one of the youngest Mayors in the entire US.  Muskogee Mayor John Tyler Hammons was actually only 19 when elected Mayor.

Our next stop is the perhaps the grand jewel of Muskogee.  Honor Heights Park is one place you must visit if you live in Oklahoma.  Although not particularly in bloom right now, they will be stringing up the park soon for the annual Garden of Lights holiday display.  The real time to visit the park is during the spring when the Annual Azalea Festival is in full swing.  Along with the thousands of azalea blooms there are hundreds of roses, tulips, dogwoods and other vegetation.  It is said to be a top spot for viewing butterflies as well.

In the photo above you see a shot of the "Lake" on the park grounds with one of the many friendly ducks.  We enjoyed a short stroll along the lake where we passed at least one other photographer out shooting.  All in all it was an enjoyable morning, the kids were getting tired and hungry so we decided to call it a day and head back home for the afternoon.

New County Coming Soon

Greetings once again travelers. As you can see by the updated map, we have finished all the trip reports from our trip to NM and back through the panhandle. Next trip report will be coming by the end of this week. Last week we made an unexpected and completely spontaneous trip to Muskogee County thanks to a world famous skateboarder and his Twitter hunt. Some of you may have all ready read the story on my other blog. If not feel free to check it out.

As always, we look forward to reporting our future trips and adventures. If you have a twitter account feel free to follow us for updates when we post to the blog.