"Was it everything you were expecting?"

Asks Keri as we drive away from the grass parking lot, Farris Wheel, and funnel cakes. "I think so," I honestly replied, "I'm really not sure what I was expecting."

The Oklahoma State Fair is in many ways the premier event in Oklahoma and also where we spent the better part of our Saturday. And being that it was a fair and carnies being the people they are, Andrew was tempted into trading his better judgement for pride in a bid to win his lovely lady a prize.

When Andrew failed, Keri traded her better judgement for an attempt to show Andrew up in throwing skills. In the end, the carny was the only winner.

Looking to reconcile his pride, Andrew quickly sought a carny that peddled a game he would have a better chance of winning.

Brawn for brawn the Randalf lovers proved equally matched in a demonstration of Marine Core fitness. Winning a water bottle and key-chain for their efforts.

Goaded by Andrew, I abandoned my modesty and looked up to the unnecessarily high bar. In this moment I recalled the two previous times I've tested my lats for a Marine. Once because my father wanted to prove how strong his eight year old was and the second time later in high school in an effort to impress a girl. Now once again, here I was - high bar and Marine - tasked to win Andrew a shirt. In the 45 seconds that followed, I learned doing pull-ups to win a shirt is a whole lot easier than doing pull-ups to win a heart.

So I'm not really sure what I was expecting from the state fair - but after eating enough funnel cake and smelling enough stockyard animals - you stop thinking do deeply and just reflect pleasantly, thankful this kind of thing only happens once a year.

Horseshoe Canyon Ranch

So I've lived in Enid, OK, for just over a year now. This special anniversary was marked by the in coming academy kids - graduating class of FY2010 - recently making their way out into the "real Air Force" at Vance AFB. Their arrival - of course - makes me, officially, no longer the absolute bottom of the officer core.

Not yet worn down into complacency by oppressive Oklahoman heat, a new comer, 2LT Sam Peplin (a former Tiger Ten-er) invited me to come climb with him in Arkansas at the Horseshoe Canyon Ranch.

I had nothing else going on, so I said "yes."

So the Horseshoe Canyon Ranch is a goat-herding dude ranch named for an exposed 60' sandstone cliff band that encloses the property somewhere in the Ozark mountains. In recent years, climbers have tapped the sport climbing potential of the area and provided numerous classic routes for the region. The quality of the climbing attracted weekend warriors from states as far away as Texas, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Minnesota (Sam) and Colorado (me).

The rock was a super solid, uniquely featured, brilliantly colored sandstone similar to Horse Pens 40 in Alabama. Incredible stuff.

Nearby, Kyle's Landing, a national forest river access point provided a serene post-climbing soak in the warm, clear water. Positively sublime.

After three days of climbing, I'm now physically exhausted but super stoked for sending Love Slave (5.12a) on my third try amongst other remarkable routes.

The weekend proved productive for all members of 2901. Andrew and Keri finally found an affordable priced, aesthetic, and most importantly soild dining table from the good folks at K-Mart. They put their purchase to immediate use, serving a Meadowlake duck Andrew caught and broiled for dinner.

The stink of his mess permeates the house. A rather vile predicament for a snobby vegetarian.