WELCOME TO RIVER DAVES PLACE

Oklahoma, anyone have experience there?

Not Important

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 16, 2014
Messages
274
Reaction score
450
I have been extended an offer to run a site in Oklahoma City. Does anyone have any experience in the area?

From online searches it seems like we would check out Edmond to live, good schools there. Our kids are 7 and 10.

It looked like the two good lakes to have a vacation home were “grand lake O the cherokees” and Texoma.

Any quality feedback is much appreciated.

Mike
 

monkeyswrench

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2018
Messages
26,077
Reaction score
71,738
I spent a few weeks there, here and there during the summer months. That said, been 10 years or so. Neighborhoods north and east of town, pretty cool. Older hoods were very "picturesque". Very green, even in summer...so there's humidity. A metric shit ton of it. People as a whole seemed pretty nice, even to outsiders.
South side of town had "Trapper's", kind of a Cajun bar and grille. Not bad. Across the street was a topless joint...went back to the bar and ordered more food 😏
 

rrrr

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
14,984
Reaction score
32,542
The only thing I know about Oklahoma is I couldn’t wait to get out of that state… it’s hot as all get out, ridiculously flat, and dry and dusty.

I rode just about flat out through that state, I’d be 110% ok if I never went back.
Driving from one border of a state to the other without stopping is a great way to form an opinion of its suitability for someplace to live.

:rolleyes:
 

Gelcoater

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2009
Messages
21,606
Reaction score
36,017
We went through there in 2015, I kinda liked it.
But then again I have kin from OK, so?
My at the time 15 year old daughter California born and raised was pretty impressed by how polite people are there.
Know not a stranger and no animosity given our way on account of our California plates.
In OKC we had one hell of a Tex-Mex bbq dinner at some joint down town.
And again, everyone was so polite.

If I had solid employment there I’d choose OKC over anywhere here in So Cal.
Lake O the Cherokee is giant!
Is typical of midwestern lakes. Muddy shore, no sand like us spoiled river people.

I’m not sure what fuel is going for there these days but I’m our trip I made the effort to take a sunset pic and in the background was a gas station sign saying $1.92 for diesel. It was over 3 bucks at home at the time.
 

Willie B

aberrant member
Joined
Sep 7, 2008
Messages
8,540
Reaction score
9,423
… Raised show horses from 06 through 07 in Harrah Oklahoma… never met a rotten person… being from LA I had never really seen four seasons… In Oklahoma I saw that plenty…Granted there is the danger of tornadoes and of course the problem with humidity but there’s plenty to do and enjoy to make up for those shortcomings…
…If I remember correctly Edmund was pretty much a suburban community… Had a friend who grew up there and with two other friends graduated from Oklahoma university… two of those friends eventually ended up moving back to Oklahoma from Los Angeles…
1633977444078.jpeg
 
Last edited:

rrrr

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
14,984
Reaction score
32,542
Edmond and Norman are nice suburbs. Lake Murray is south of OKC, small but really nice. The people are friendly, and the government doesn't fuck with you and your rights.

And if you wanna go to an Indian casino, they're like Starbucks...one every three miles.

😁

J/K
 

Sleek-Jet

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2007
Messages
12,709
Reaction score
15,369
LOTO is just a little farther from OKC as Havasu is from SoCal (at least from what I remember driving back and forth to AZ a few times), plus there are other destination lakes like Table Rock that are a bit closer.

It's flat, and humid in the summer. The horror. People are great.
 

USMC2010

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2014
Messages
4,115
Reaction score
6,359
I'll be in OKC tomorrow for the week, my first time there. All I can say after leaving the Arizona/California border is if you are asking from California, get out of that state, just about everywhere is better than there.
 

HB2Havasu

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2015
Messages
4,433
Reaction score
9,631
No recent experience with OKC but I lived there for 1 year in the late 90’s. Super friendly people living there. Home prices are very affordable. You get use to the daily tornado warnings after a while. The one thing that surprised me living there was that they had one of the highest divorce rates in the country. Didn’t expect that in the Bible Belt. It’s a decent place to live if the tornados and heat / humidity don’t bother you. (Basically it’s monsoon weather all summer long) I probably would have stayed but the job sucked ass so bad I had to bail !!
 
Last edited:

Xtrmwakeboarder

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2018
Messages
4,987
Reaction score
8,051
Friend lives in Yukon, and lived in Stroud for a while. I'd pass on both. Talking to him now and they are under tornado watch as we speak. It's not even tornado season.... lol
 

sintax

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2008
Messages
6,731
Reaction score
11,190
Driving from one border of a state to the other without stopping is a great way to form an opinion of its suitability for someplace to live.

:rolleyes:

Oh I’m with you, I spent 3 days zig zagging, but yea not a ton of stopping. It was just the lack of hills / mountains that really did it to me. It was so hard to orient myself, and it just messed with my head.

I saw enough to know it’s not for me.
 

Looking Glass

1 = Well = Known = Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2020
Messages
8,290
Reaction score
13,934
Oh I’m with you, I spent 3 days zig zagging, but yea not a ton of stopping. It was just the lack of hills / mountains that really did it to me. It was so hard to orient myself, and it just messed with my head.

I saw enough to know it’s not for me.


"Messed With My Head" 🤣
 

rrrr

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
14,984
Reaction score
32,542
Oh I’m with you, I spent 3 days zig zagging, but yea not a ton of stopping. It was just the lack of hills / mountains that really did it to me. It was so hard to orient myself, and it just messed with my head.

I saw enough to know it’s not for me.

Sorry I was snippy. I have a dickhead attack once a week, and since it's Sunday afternoon, I was running out of time.

😶
 

Not Important

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 16, 2014
Messages
274
Reaction score
450
We went through there in 2015, I kinda liked it.
But then again I have kin from OK, so?
My at the time 15 year old daughter California born and raised was pretty impressed by how polite people are there.
Know not a stranger and no animosity given our way on account of our California plates.
In OKC we had one hell of a Tex-Mex bbq dinner at some joint down town.
And again, everyone was so polite.

If I had solid employment there I’d choose OKC over anywhere here in So Cal.
Lake O the Cherokee is giant!
Is typical of midwestern lakes. Muddy shore, no sand like us spoiled river people.

I’m not sure what fuel is going for there these days but I’m our trip I made the effort to take a sunset pic and in the background was a gas station sign saying $1.92 for diesel. It was over 3 bucks at home at the time.
Yeah I am pretty much done with most people here in California. 😂 thanks for your input.
 

Not Important

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 16, 2014
Messages
274
Reaction score
450
… Raised show horses from 06 through 07 in Harrah Oklahoma… never met a rotten person… being from LA I had never really seen four seasons… In Oklahoma I saw that plenty…Granted there is the danger of tornadoes and of course the problem with humidity but there’s plenty to do and enjoy to make up for those shortcomings…
…If I remember correctly Edmund was pretty much a suburban community… Had a friend who grew up there and with two other friends graduated from Oklahoma university… two of those friends eventually ended up moving back to Oklahoma from Los Angeles…
Good enough to go back is always nice to hear.
 

Not Important

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 16, 2014
Messages
274
Reaction score
450
Friend lives in Yukon, and lived in Stroud for a while. I'd pass on both. Talking to him now and they are under tornado watch as we speak. It's not even tornado season.... lol
Good to know, I’ll stay away from looking there.
 

Xtrmwakeboarder

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2018
Messages
4,987
Reaction score
8,051
Good to know, I’ll stay away from looking there
Just an FYI the current watch extends way down into Texas right now. Pretty sure it's just a fact of life. When visiting my buddy, Moore seemed OK. Bigger city that got crushed by a big tornado and probably learned how to build better buildings and put better systems in place.
 

rivermobster

Club Banned
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Messages
56,090
Reaction score
53,027
Oh I’m with you, I spent 3 days zig zagging, but yea not a ton of stopping. It was just the lack of hills / mountains that really did it to me. It was so hard to orient myself, and it just messed with my head.

I saw enough to know it’s not for me.

You ain't alone ...

My friend said the same thing about Texas. Said she was totally turned around with no way to orient herself.

Felt like she was in some weird horror movie, not knowing which way to go.

I've always lived next to some mountains. Not seeing em would be odd for me as well.

Different strokes!
 

Jimmyv

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2020
Messages
481
Reaction score
1,293
Never spent any real time there other than passing through Oklahoma City once with the wife on a cross country road trip.

Had dinner and late night drink a little pool bar called Cock of the Walk. Got a little drunk and the owners were super cool. Late that night they let us order a bunch of delivery pizzas. I think we fed the whole bar. Everyone was friendly, met some cool people, one lady my wife still occasionally talks with.

After close we walked down the block to a church where we parked our truck and Lance camper. Spent the night in the church parking lot and headed to Indiana in the morning.

Have no idea what it’s like to live there, but I wouldn’t hesitate to pass through again.
 

rrrr

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
14,984
Reaction score
32,542
I grew up in Albuquerque, and lived in Phoenix and Denver. I also spent time in Las Vegas over the years. In those cities, it's easy to keep track of the direction of travel because of the mountains.

I moved to Houston when I was 20, just after January 1st. I discovered at that time of year, there could be a solid overcast for weeks at a time. I would get turned around, and not have a clue where I was or what direction I was going.

One night I rolled into a strip club after having a couple of drinks elsewhere, and stayed until they closed at 2 AM. I turned right as I left the parking lot, and for three hours I didn't have the slightest clue about where I was. I finally found I-10, and went east until I saw my exit near Katy. I didn't know where the strip club was, and what path I had taken to arrive there.

One day ten years later, and I'm not exaggerating, I was driving east of downtown Houston and there it was. The club was tucked under a.freeway bridge support near an off ramp of US 59, almost thirty miles from my apartment.

Must have been all of that "free" champagne I drank at the club that night.

😜
 
Last edited:

HB2Havasu

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2015
Messages
4,433
Reaction score
9,631
Yeah that Moore Tornado got my ex-coworker to move back to California. F5 Tornados can fuck with your head. Seeing entire swaths of homes being sucked off their foundations let’s mortality sink in 😱. It totally freaked his wife out and she said I’m moving with or without you, lol

Details
 
Last edited:

pixrthis

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2008
Messages
1,918
Reaction score
4,684
I was offered a job in Oklahoma City last year and spent a month there. They have places to ride dirt bikes, Harleys, and a bunch of places to go boating so it worked for me. The offer wasn’t enough to uproot but after looking around I was actually looking forward to relocating. For the right money I’d go for sure.
 

nowski

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2013
Messages
6,954
Reaction score
9,258
A buddy of mine had a home built in Governor's Retreat on Grand Lake, beautiful area and the people are the friendliest. I can't speak for the rest of the state but this place is the bomb...
 

Cdog

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2008
Messages
8,056
Reaction score
16,226
A lot of beautiful ranches up and down the toll roads from Dallas to Tulsa and OK City and Tulsa. I go to Hallett Raceway (30 min W of Tulsa) at least once a year and the folks I know there are always great. My good friend I race with owns a dental practice in Tulsa and seems to enjoy living there. I do believe it's the most conservative state in the union. All counties go red during national elections.


i
tempImage19yNQv.png
 
Last edited:

OkHallett270

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2020
Messages
264
Reaction score
628
I’m from eastern Oklahoma. My hometown is south of Tulsa about an hour. Eastern Oklahoma is a lot prettier than the rest of the state. It’s my home and I love it. SE Oklahoma is beautiful. Lots of hills and pines and cedars down there. Lots of off-roading, hunting and fishing all over the state. I personally don’t care for the OKC area, but Edmond is nice. Grand lake isn’t as big as everyone seems to think. There are so many huge boats on that lake that you will need at least a 27 or 28 deep Vee to keep from taking water over the bow on a busy weekend once folks start moving around. Broken Bow lake is one of Oklahoma’s best kept secrets. Eufaula is my “home” lake I guess. If you know where to go Eufaula is really nice. Most of it is really muddy though, like brown water most of the year muddy. Lake Tenkiller is worth a trip, Ft. Gibson lake is decent and lake Hudson. I’ve never been on Texoma, but it looks awesome from the road and online pics. One of these days I’m gonna her down there for a long weekend. It does get humid and hot there in the summer. I am used to it because I was raised there. The weather isn’t that bad if you pay attention to certain weather people who are really on top of shit. Stay away from Moore, there’s a reason why property is way cheaper there, and if you’re going to live on the I-44 corridor you will want a good storm shelter. Overall it’s literally my favorite place on earth, but I’m biased. I look forward to the day I am back there full time again!
 

OLDRAAT

inadequate member
Joined
Oct 3, 2007
Messages
2,617
Reaction score
4,068
Oklahoma's "little Sahara" west of Enid OK has quite a bit if activity with sand cars, offroad vehicles, etc., but not as large, nor as crowded as many West Coast areas have become. Decent mix of urban and rural areas with many options. Like any state, there are plus and minuses but most issues are tolerable.

After retiring we moved to Grand Lake full time after 23 yrs of having a weekend place and have not regretted it.
 
Last edited:

Cobalt232

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2018
Messages
1,163
Reaction score
1,501
When I was a kid in the late 70's, our neighbor across the street worked for Clorox. He got offered a new position in OK. He had a maroon BMW 2002 that he drove straight out there to move ahead of the family. They had a daughter still in high school in Irvine. He spend two nights and drove back home to Irvine without stopping.

He decided to retire and eventually move to Aspen.
 

petie6464

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
1,285
Reaction score
2,368
I lived up on Skiatoik Lake. Beautiful and OK is/was a great state, nice people. The lakes are beautiful from afar but typically muddy and a little freaky if you're coming from Havasu or other clear water lakes.

The humidity could bring you down, they have huge copper heads and water moccasins that are not to be taken lightly, crazy ice and electrical storms along with endless spiders that will cover everything overnight.

My wife at the time couldn't handle the humidity and bugs so I put her on a plane in Tulsa, 🤠 Thank you Oklahoma!
 

Riverhound

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Messages
246
Reaction score
522
I had a division in OKC during my previous life so I spent a fair amount of time there and really enjoyed it. People were great, very hospitable, kind folks who go out their way to help someone out. I didn't care for OKC proper, just like any big city, but, I did like the surrounding areas. As others have said, the weather would be the toughest part.
 

OLDRAAT

inadequate member
Joined
Oct 3, 2007
Messages
2,617
Reaction score
4,068
Milky's gone. Quality of life improved. :p
 

coz

-------------------
Joined
Sep 25, 2008
Messages
4,349
Reaction score
954
Did my basic training at Ft. Sill (Lawton) so between that and the 3 tornados (1 extremely close) I vowed to never go back to that state. That's my experience. 🤣👍
 
Top