[flintysooner]

Originally Posted by Abe2111

How far is Norman from OKC anyway?

That really depends on where you are in one and where you want to go in the other and how you decide to get there.

There are places where the south side of Oklahoma City touches the north side of Norman. On the other hand if you wanted to go from far southeast Norman to far Northwest Oklahoma City you need to pack a lunch.

[checotahkid]

Well Abe, welcome to Sooner Nation. Soon you will be able to tell the folks back home, you know the difference between a Boomer and a Sooner.I take it your buddy is USAF. Here are some suggestions 1): Edmond about a 20-30 minute drive all interstate. Edmond is a very fast growing city, culturally diversified by the University ( Central Oklahoma), 23rd.& Blackwelder in OKC by the campus of Oklahoma City University, again cultural diversity, and Norman home of the University of Oklahoma. Those three areas will lend themselves to you, if you are planning on continuing your education. I forgot the downtown area, and the medical center area, great living areas, night life, education, and very reasonable housing cost. OKC & Tulsa and the rest of the Sooner nation was rated by Forbes Mag. as a recession proof enviroment, granted there are layoffs, but not to the extent as some other cities and states are experiencing. If you want to learn the gas and oil business, you have just hit the " well of your dreams ".Good luck, but you might want to google these areas I have mentioned. Daniel

[Silvermoon]

Originally Posted by Abe2111

Greetings,

So I was born and raised in NY, I'm 21, and I am more then likely moving out to OK in a few months with a buddy of mine. He's in the military and getting stationed out there and I'm heading out with him.

I haven't really heard much about the place and I'm trying to find out as much as I can. I think I'm heading out to the Midwest City area if that matters.

I'm a pretty progressive thinker, Closer to Liberal then Conservative but it does depend on the issue, I'm a White Middle Easterner, Agnostic, etc.

I'm not a snobby Yankee by any means, pretty mellow and what have you.

So what can you guys tell me that I should expect?

I hope you will read the post I wrote to the woman asking about Spencer Oklahoma, as it will give you a pretty clear idea of the area. I will update it some for your age group as the younger writers seem to have concerns I have not been addressing so I feel the need to write something. First you can "party " as little or as much as you want in this area. It goes from the big county bars like you have seen on TV, one such place is called Grams over off of Reno and Portland and that is a massive country / POP rock bar. Line dancing is still a popular way to met people ,so they tell me. The downtown Oklahoma City area has a tremendous night life with clubs of all kinds and action well we have casino's all over the state you can't throw a rock without hitting one these days. If you like hoses racing we have a beautiful track with a casino called Remington park that has a Thursday night all you can eat Crab buffet. If you find you have done everything, clubs, baseball , football, basketball, then run down/up the road for the weekend and try Dallas for Stars Hockey and more clubs or Tulsa. You can always take the train it is a quick three and a half hour drive and once you are done with those hit Grapevine / and Texas rangers area and Fort Worth. All of this should be done responsibly of course and you will find your money will go a long way here. Tonni C / Spencer, OK

[Goodpasture]

Originally Posted by Silvermoon

........a casino called Remington park that has a Thursday night all you can eat Crab buffet.........

I understand the casino in Davis, on Friday's, has all you can eat calf fries.......

[StillwaterTownie]

Yuck, I'd rather eat liver!

[Goodpasture]

with onions and bacon? yum.........

[CyberCop]

not very much emphasis on the weather. OKC has all the extremes, probably doesnt get as cold in the winter as what you're used to, but VERY hot in July and August, BEAUTIFUL in Fall and Spring, and UGLY in the winter, what i mean by ugly is brown snow, LOTS of ice, sleet, freezing rain and what-not. every winter the state will shut down at least once because of the ice (frozen highways, falling trees/power lines).

Also in the spring it has already been mentioned but you really gotta prepare yourself for the thunderstorms. truly spectacular if you're used to them but terrifying to most people their first time encountering them.

Here in Biloxi, (I'm stationed at Keesler AFB) we have a lot of weather guys here. No joke, i had the following conversation with an airman about a month ago:
Airman: "man, its gettin kinda chilli out"
me: yeah, cold front movin in. probably rain in a couple of hours. but it'll clear up before your football game
Airman: How do you know? technically im not supposed to aknowledge that if your not weather(weather technician).
me: No, im not weather, but i am from Oklahoma.
Airman: Oh! well, in that case, when will warm back up?

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by CyberCop

OKC has all the extremes, probably doesnt get as cold in the winter as what you're used to, but VERY hot in July and August, BEAUTIFUL in Fall and Spring, and UGLY in the winter, what i mean by ugly is brown snow, LOTS of ice, sleet, freezing rain and what-not. every winter the state will shut down at least once because of the ice (frozen highways, falling trees/power lines).

No, to set the record straight, Oklahoma City does not get lots of winter stuff, unless it's a rare and unusually harsh winter. A typical snow is only several inches. That's not much to a lot of people. Since the century began Stillwater has only had one ice storm. Probably about the same can be said for OKC. Schools usually close down in Oklahoma due to snow, not ice on the roads.

And I forget how far before back before 2000 since Stillwater had an actual ice storm that caused the trees to bend sharply. Ice storms are probably almost as rare as tornadoes. In other words, more than a decade will probably have to go by before a locality in Oklahoma really experiences extreme weather such as an ice storm or a touch down of a tornado. People can insist upon citing exceptions to the rule, such as bringing up Moore, if they want to, but, still, they are rare.

As a native Oklahoman I don't relate to this mention of brown snow. It's always been a beautiful shiny white to me.

[Okey Dokie]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

In other words, more than a decade will probably have to go by before a locality in Oklahoma really experiences extreme weather such as an ice storm or a touch down of a tornado. People can insist upon citing exceptions to the rule, such as bringing up Moore, if they want to, but, still, they are rare.

I disagree.....I've lived here three years. Been through the end of a drought, one of the wettest years ever, tornado damage one mile north of us, tornado damage one mile south of us, funnel cloud directly over our house, sleet storm, a couple ice storms, and a tropical storm!

[CyberCop]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

No, to set the record straight, Oklahoma City does not get lots of winter stuff, unless it's a rare and unusually harsh winter. A typical snow is only several inches. That's not much to a lot of people. Since the century began Stillwater has only had one ice storm. Probably about the same can be said for OKC. Schools usually close down in Oklahoma due to snow, not ice on the roads.

sorry, didn't mean to mislead. i agree, winter typically lasts about 3 months and at the most OK will get about 10 days worth of ice and or snow(9-10 inches a year). Very little compared to other cities that have a winter.

While at UCO, i had a buddy of mine, who was from Chicago, drive me around everytime it would snow. Simply because I'm just as bad at driving on the stuff as everyone else in OKC. He would always give the same speech "I don't know why everyone in this state freaks out everytime there is two inches of snow? Try gettin 8 inches in a day!"

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

As a native Oklahoman I don't relate to this mention of brown snow. It's always been a beautiful shiny white to me.

again, I shoulda been a little more clear. To me, the snow looks brown (or a reddish tint) after it hits the ground. Then again, it may just be me.