It's Raining? Psh, what rain...

Hello again everybody! Due to a 21st century miracle of being able to have wi-fi on our charter bus, I write to you from the comfort of the front seat on our way to Lawton for the night! And sure enough...it's starting to rain again.

"No! Not again. I'm starting to really hate that sound!" - Alexis referring to the rain on the windshield (sitting behind me)

Seems to be a bit of a theme so far. However, it had to do a lot more than rain to keep us from having a great time!

The group woke up in Bricktown early this morning to the crashing of the loudest thunder claps I have ever heard. By the time we had all eaten breakfast and packed up and ready to go, the torrential rain had been falling for nearly 3 hours and had done its damage on the roads of OKC. Luckily, we have an amazing bus driver who managed to lead us to the safe confines of Norman! But not without first encountering about a half dozen cars completely sunk.


*Picture courtesy of Josh McAlister

Needless to say, we didn't go that way. We finally made it to Norman where the original plan was to participate in a ropes course all day, with both high and low. Well because of the weather, we relocated to an indoor facility where the TeamQuest coordinators led us in a multitude of icebreakers and leadership activities.

 After having lunch (delivered Jason’s Deli), the weather FINALLY let up enough to let us go out to the ropes course for the low ropes activities!

 Unfortunately, the storms returned and forced us to leave and find something else to do. Little did everyone know, that something else just happened to be an impromptu tour of the athletics training facilities and the Barry Switzer museum led by the famous voice of the Sooners, Merv Johnson! Quite the pleasant surprise, I’d say.

We even stumbled into Adrian Taylor rehabbing his injured ankle from the Sun Bowl! Interestingly, the stadium itself was in the process of testing the big screen in preparation for its public screening of “Oklahoma!” this Saturday night.

After a long and wet day, it was finally time to sit down to a wonderful dinner, catered by the best pizza in Oklahoma (in my opinion), Hideaway Pizza! Following dinner, Renzi Stone, Founder and CEO of Saxum PR, gave an incredibly moving speech on the importance of Oklahoma in the development of his life and career. Stone spoke in particular about how he came to be in his career as an entrepreneur, as well as the “Oklahoma standard” in responding to tragedy, such as the Oklahoma City bombing. Stone expanded on this Oklahoma standard by telling a personal story of the support received following a tragedy within his own family, in which he and his wife, Lee Anne, experienced recently at the death of their son, Isaiah. Lee Anne, who was also present for the evening, is the Youth Programs Coordinator for Leadership Oklahoma, and would normally accompany us during this week, but due to the unfortunate turn of events, she is unable to be with us. However, the group graciously showed their appreciation of Lee Anne’s work with forming the program, and we are thankful she was able to share the evening with us.

Then it was off to Lawton! It is now a few hours later and I have transferred to writing in the beautiful Holiday Inn hotel room. Due to storms in the vicinity, the outdoor pool was closed, so the youth spent some quality time playing cards and getting to know one another a bit better.

With that, I leave you looking forward to the upcoming day’s events, where we will tour Fort Sill! And maybe, just maybe, a few extra surprises in store. ;)

Stay tuned.

- Kurt