Thinking of moving to beautiful Oklahoma

[TerryMiller]

Thank you all for the replies and suggestions.

How's the far southeast corner of the state along Highway 70 (Durant, Idabel, Broken Bow, etc)? Looks like they may not get as much snow (maybe 2" a year compared to as much as 9" in other parts!) while being in proximity to Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana for possible job opportunities for the wife as well. Just tossing some ideas around. Thanks again!

That could be good for you. Time was, SE Oklahoma had a reputation among law enforcement folks that we knew to be very strong in illegal marijuana growing. Otherwise, it is pretty forested from what I have seen. Central OK has both trees and open country while NW OK is pretty much treeless and windy.

With regards to the central OK area, within the last 11 years, I've personally seen temps as high as 115 degrees (2011) and as low as 016 degrees (2020/2021?) while living in our RV. These are extremes, but we definitely don't fit into the category of 50 degrees winter lows to 90 degrees summer highs. In addition, our ice storms can be pretty extreme. (See pics below.)

October of 2020, an ice storm came in and some trees were hurt bad because there were still leaves on the trees and the ice collected on all the extra that the leaves provided. The tree to the right was covering over the top and front of our 38 1/2-foot fifth wheel, and the tree behind the red Expedition was covering the Ford F450 we use to pull the RV.



January 2021 saw more ice and snow. Same RV, trees, and vehicles, except for the Ford Escape, which is our son's vehicle.

 

[Chief Sapulpa]

Stay the hell away from the tornado capital of Oklahoma. Moore. The thunderstorms start around Lawton and Chickasha and head NE right up I-44. They kind of like to stop and party in Bridgecreek and Moore. Sometimes they move on to Tinker AFB and Draper Lake. The ones that are north of those usually follow I-44 from OKC to Tulsa right up the turnpike. We always set outside on the porch with a beer watching them.

Oh yeah, I hope if you travel to your Cajun meals you like turnpikes. We voted for one in the 50's that was supposed to turn back into a free access road but it made so much money they kept adding to the system. Now we are lousy with them. Technology has kept up though. Now they just bill your tag, you don't have to buy a transponder anymore.

Speaking of Cajun, Trapper's Fish Camp is our goto in OKC on Reno Ave. right by H and H gunshop and range. We are a constitutional carry state unless you travel and the other states don't recognize non permit states, we have permits too.

I'm proud Okieland is the reddest state in the union, after all, Oklahoma means Red People.

Plus 1 on Trappers in OKC and highly recommend NOLA and Heberts in Tulsa for Cajun.

 

[Profreedomokie]

We moved to Ponca City from Va. in 1978 working construction. We didn't plan to stay but, we did. We don't plan on ever moving back to Va.. We miss our families and good seafood but, we go home when we can. North central Ok. is a good location if you don't want in a large city. We're about 100 miles from OKC, Tulsa, and Wichita. I've been here right at 44 years and never seen a tornado ( and I don't want to). There is a refinery here that pays well and our PD has openings. Come on down.

 

[John6185]

We've been house hunting for several years and the most reasonable that we've found along the newer homes was Piedmont, Yukon-basically west of OKC. Housing has gone up dramatically within the past few years around OKC.

 

[Snattlerake]

I'll just say this, where I grew up in Kingfisher County, when people on the back farm to market roads met while driving opposite directions, you lifted your fingers or your hand from the steering wheel and waved at them and they waved back. I recently drove to Altus on a day trip and Shidler the next day and liked to strained my hand waving so much. Let me tell you though it felt so good to be able to still do that in today's world, I had tears well up in my eyes when it happened the first time.

 

[dennishoddy]

I'll just say this, where I grew up in Kingfisher County, when people on the back farm to market roads met while driving opposite directions, you lifted your fingers or your hand from the steering wheel and waved at them and they waved back. I recently drove to Altus on a day trip and Shidler the next day and liked to strained my hand waving so much. Let me tell you though it felt so good to be able to still do that in today's world, I had tears well up in my eyes when it happened the first time.

I've seen so many people that move here from other states think they are being given the middle finger when that happens. When they find out it's really a "hello fellow traveler" sign with the digit finger, they embrace it.

 

[garytx]

Thank you all for the replies and suggestions.

How's the far southeast corner of the state along Highway 70 (Durant, Idabel, Broken Bow, etc)? Looks like they may not get as much snow (maybe 2" a year compared to as much as 9" in other parts!) while being in proximity to Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana for possible job opportunities for the wife as well. Just tossing some ideas around. Thanks again!

Durant is about 90 minutes from Dallas, large Choctaw casino south of Durant. Broken Bow is a tourist destination which is good and bad. Rural land prices between Dallas and Broken Bow are probably the highest in Oklahoma. Too da%n many speculator over paying for acreage because prices in the Texas counties on the south side of the Red River are outrageously high.

If you are a good handy-man you will keep very busy anywhere you go. Good trade workers are in very short supply.

 

[Gadsden]

Never thought I'd live in OK, but after being moved around and living pretty much everywhere else my wife, who is from Tulsa, suggested we settle down here after I retired. I'll admit I had my doubts, but I'm damn glad I listened to her. Even considering all the amazing and beautiful places we've lived in none can compare with life here.

 

[TerryMiller]

I'll just say this, where I grew up in Kingfisher County, when people on the back farm to market roads met while driving opposite directions, you lifted your fingers or your hand from the steering wheel and waved at them and they waved back. I recently drove to Altus on a day trip and Shidler the next day and liked to strained my hand waving so much. Let me tell you though it felt so good to be able to still do that in today's world, I had tears well up in my eyes when it happened the first time.

I can remember once about a fellow that traveled through the Oklahoma Panhandle coming back from Colorado. He mentioned the same in that lot of folks waved to oncoming traffic.

He said something to the effect that "those folks must have waved because it had been so long since they had seen another human on the road."

 

[Okie4570]

I'll just say this, where I grew up in Kingfisher County, when people on the back farm to market roads met while driving opposite directions, you lifted your fingers or your hand from the steering wheel and waved at them and they waved back. I recently drove to Altus on a day trip and Shidler the next day and liked to strained my hand waving so much. Let me tell you though it felt so good to be able to still do that in today's world, I had tears well up in my eyes when it happened the first time.

Who drives to Shidler on purpose???