See Norman!

Be Sure to Check Out My Previous Post: Texas to Oklahoma!

See Norman!

Ohhhh Oklahoma. OHHHHHH Oklahoma. Ever wonder whats in Oklahoma? Well Normans in Oklahoma. That's right, I am in Oklahoma. Well to get technical, I WAS in Oklahoma. But there is a city called Norman, OK and its right outside Oklahoma City where I was staying. Apparently its known for festivals, Bed and Breakfasts and Indian Art. But I'll just take the big sign with my name on it.
So this was my first city on my own, and I was very nervous. If you're wondering why, here's a little insight into what I do. I audit waterpark's, resorts, and pools that use our risk management services. These audits are done randomly and undercover for our clients, and they do not know when we come. When I go, I go in as a guest and video tape the lifeguards with a concealed video camera in order to make sure they are up to standards. After that I test guards on their skills and review the facilities paperwork. Its pretty cool! Now heres a few questions that you are probably wondering:

-So you look like a creeper with a video camera?Yes unfortunately. However a big portion of our training is learning how to conceal the video cameras in order to not get spotted by park employees, but at most to keep their guests at ease.

Oceans of Fun!

-Do guests get upset if they see your camera? Yes... 99% of the time. We carry an auditor ID badge with us at all times in the park, so in the event that a guest confronts us (or most of the time they just start giving us weird looks), I simply explain to them what i'm doing and show them my ID badge and they usually are quite accepting. In the event that a guest is unhappy still, they will usually go to a park official, who will again explain what we do. Unfortunately at that point the cover is blown, however that is still better than getting the cops called!

-Do you get to ride the rides and swim in the pool? Yes and No. There are 2 general rules for this. The first is it must not make the audit any different, by drastically altering our daily timeline. The second is that if it helps you blend in, it is definitely beneficial. Essentially this means be smart about it. Don't go waiting in a line for a slide if its an hour long and will then make the client have to stay an hour later that night. For me, getting in the water depends on a lot of factors. Here are a few: if the weather is nice, if I feel comfortable leaving my items alone (or else I have to pay for a locker), and if swimming laps will make me seem more normal. Its a fine line, but I do have a job to do :)

University of Oklahoma

Moore Tornado Damage

OK, back to Oklahoma (haha, get it?). So Oklahoma City was alright. There were some neat sights. The University of Oklahoma was very impressive, there was a rock climbing gym housed in an old grain elevator, and the Moore tornado damage. Seeing the damage was incredible. It truly made me feel small in this world, over how short of a time something could be destroyed. The cars on the freeway slowed almost to a crawl in this area and that's the only reason that I was able to take photos. Normally I would think that taking photos of this devastation is morally wrong, but despite this I feel that is was important for the world to understand how significant this damage was. My heart goes out to all the families affected by this tragedy.

Tulsa Lightning

The rest of my time in Oklahoma City was pretty uneventful. From there I travelled to Tulsa, OK. Theres not much to say about Tulsa, besides that a killer thunderstom passed through. Pictured is some of the lightning that I was able to capture. From here I travelled to Stillwater, OK and that will be in the next post (yes that's where the TBS and KKY National Headquarters is located!).


For more photos check out the #LyfInFocus-Oklahoma Album!

Be Sure to Check Out my Next Post: Stillwater Station!

Texas to Oklahoma

Be Sure to Check Out My Previous Post: Bucky The Beaver!

Margaret with Bucky

Well now that we have Bucky all buckled up safely into the passenger seat, it was time to leave Texas, on the road to my first audits on my own.

Sky with Bucky

Drive time was looking to be roughly 7 hours. However today, was going to be one of my favorite drive days all summer for one reason, and that was because in the course of my 500 miles, I would get to stop and see 3 friends whom I hadn't seen in about a year each.

My first stop was in Austin, where they're trying to... keep it weird. I didn't fully understand the concept, but I also didn't spend much time in the city. Once I arrived in Austin, I met my friends Sky and Margaret for a nice lunch at a local Chinese food joint. It wasn't bad at all, you cant go wrong with orange chicken. After about an hour, I said my farewells, but not before taking photos with Bucky!

After Austin, I continued on my way up to Dallas, passing by Baylor University. It was a beautiful campus. It was at this point that I decided one of my constant stops would be major colleges and universities. I love seeing the different campus', especially their football stadiums.

So in Dallas I was meeting my friend Andrew for dinner, but before I decided to make a stop and the

Dallas Cowboys Stadium

Cowboys stadium and Six Flags Over Texas. Conveniently they were across the parking lot from each other. Now I don't know how many of you have seen the Dallas Cowboy's stadium, but its massive! the giant glass and metal structure shines in the Sun and has a very intimidating atmosphere to it. Inside they have 2 Jumbotron's that span nearly the entire length of the field! Someday I hope to be able to go inside.

Texas Sky Screamer

Across the street at the Six Flags I got to see their water park, whose slide tower structures almost looked UFO like. I also was able to see a few of the coasters from the road. The Sky Screamer was also running which was pretty cool. If you don't know what those are, think of those spinning swing set carnival rides, and put it on steroids.

Shortly after I met Andrew for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, which was quite delicious! I love Mexican food, and am quite the critic on it, but it was quite enjoyable. Plus getting to catch up with Andrew was nice. After a short tour of his home, and of course a photo with Bucky, I was back on the road for the last 3 hours of my trip.

See Norman!

Night fell shortly after I entered Oklahoma, and arrived right about 10PM. I was staying in a Holiday Inn Express, and it was my first night on my own on the road. While I missed my new friends, it was quite nice having the entire room to myself.

For More Photos Check out the #LyfInFocus-Texas to Oklahoma Album! (The photo quality of these is not my best and I aplogize for this! They get better I promise!)

Stay Tuned for the next post: See Norman!

Bucky The Beaver!

Bucky The Beaver

 Be Sure to Check out My Previous Post:San Antonio!

Bucky The Beaver. Some of you may have seen pictures of him, and a few of you have actually met him. But for the rest of you, you're probably wondering who he is and why there is an entire post about him.

Well Bucky is a Beaver, and he is from Buc-ee's in New Braunfels, TX. Buc-ee's is a small chain of GIANT roadside gas stations/travel stores. These stores are quite incredible, and as soon as I found out that I was in Texas, I knew I had to stop there. Why may you ask did I make stopping at a gas station a top priority? Well that's actually a funny story.

Back in March, one of my friends went to Texas for spring break, and when she returned we talked about how it went... but there was a point in the conversation that turned quite humorous. She said "OMG, I went to the coolest place ever.... but you need to brace for it.... you ready??? It was a gas station!". I just started laughing. I was expecting like getting to see a great white shark in a tank and feed it sheep or something. But she went on to explain how massive this place was, the beaver mascot on everything, and how it was totally worth the hype on the road trip.

Buc-ee's Convenience Store

Inside a Buc-ee's

Well she wasn't kidding! There were about 60 gas pumps, 20 chests of bagged ice outside, and once you walked inside.. WOW. There were 4 main parts to the store. On the right was any soda or snack you could want for the road, the middle was a restaurant (complete with salads, sandwich's, burgers and more!), a fresh jerky counter, and on the left was a gift shop with all sorts of Buc-ee's branded items and other random bits and gobs, and finally tucked into the far back left was a hunting store! This place was incredible. Completely worth the stop and honestly disappointing that I couldn't spend more time there.

Check Out This Video about Buc-ee's!


However, before I left, I picked up a souvenir who became my best friend on the road. I appropriately named him Bucky, and hes ridden in the passenger seat of my car all summer. When you are alone for most of the summer, it is comforting to have someone right there next to me, even if he was a stuffed animal. Some people told me it was OK as long as I didn't talk to him, and if I did talk to him, it was OK as long as he didn't talk back. Well I must have lost it pretty quick because before I was even out of Texas I was having full on conversations with my little buddy.

As the summer progressed and I met friends along the road, I had them take a picture with Bucky. Here are a few of them:

Megan and Bucky

Stella and Bucky

Pam and Mary with Bucky

So Thanks to my little buddy who helped me back it out the other end of the summer with a smile on my face! If you want to see more of Bucky's adventures, check out his own #LyfInFocus Album!

Be sure to check out my next post: Texas to Oklahoma!