McClain County -- Blanchard

If you're looking for small town living, yet want to be near the conveniences of a big city, I just may have found the place for you. McClain County, Oklahoma, offers all of that and a little bit more. Just a short drive south and west of Oklahoma City and you'll find yourself in Quarter Horse country and the heart of Oklahoma. And, you might even find yourself unexpectedly on dirt roads, which I didn't even know we had in this part of the country anymore!

Time didn't allow me to visit all the towns in McClain County, but after much debating with myself, I finally pointed my Jeep towards Blanchard, Goldsby, Purcell and Byars.

First on my list was Blanchard. They were opening their farmer's market this weekend and since I'm a sucker for those, I decided that would be a good place to start. So, I was out of the house by 7 am and on my way to 222 W. Main in Blanchard. 222 W. Main Street turns out to be more of a parking lot than anything else and on this particular Saturday there were only five vendors selling anything. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed, at first. Out of the five vendors, under their little blue tents, not one of them was selling any fruits or vegetables! Two of the vendors were selling plants, two of the vendors were selling eggs, and the other vendor, a boy who looked to be about 11 or 12, was selling soap made from goat's milk.

I decided to go ahead and take a closer look. After all, I was pretty sure I was out of soap made from goat's milk. The boy, I think his name was Joshua, turned out to be a natural salesman and before I left his table, he'd sold me a bar of jasmine soap and eye cream, both made from goat's milk. He assured me the eye cream "really helps my mom with lines around her eyes". He told me his mother made the soap and eye cream. One of his chores, besides selling the soap, was to milk the goats. The name of their dairy farm is the Swinging K.

The Swinging K is a family run operation by KC and Dawn Kreger and their eight children, in Blanchard. They will also make other things for you like yogurt or ice cream, from the goat's milk, by special request. And, of course, you can get just goat's milk, too.

One of the other vendors, who was selling eggs, also caught my eye. Besides selling eggs, there was a sign behind the woman and daughter team, that said, "Springcreek Dairy Farm, fresh milk." Also, what caught my eye, was the way the two were dressed. Both were in long, simple dresses and wore bonnets. I'm not sure if they were Amish or Mennonites, and I wasn't sure if it would be rude to ask. So, instead I asked what kind of dairy products they had. I saw a couple of ice chests, but nothing was laid out on the table.

The mother, Shannon Unruh, told me they couldn't actually sell their milk at the farmer's market without licenses, but they could give me a sample, if I would like. She said the milk was from a Jersey cow that grazed on their pasture and there were no hormones or antibiotics in the milk. So, I said, sure, thinking she would give me something about the size of a shot glass. Instead, she reached into the ice chest and pulled out a quart of milk for me to take home!

I asked her if she had anything smaller, and she just laughed and said, no. I hesitated about taking it because it seemed a bit excessive for a sample, but she insisted. So then, I went ahead and bought some of her eggs, which apparently, was okay to sell at the farmer's market.

So, even though a quart of milk, eggs, and jasmine soap and eye cream made from goat's milk is not what I usually get when I go to a farmer's market, it was still a pretty cool trip. I think I'm happier when things don't go as planned, anyway.

By the way,I used the goat-milk since then and it really did leave my skin feeling softer and smelling just barely of jasmine. I'm hooked.

I left the farmer's market to explore the rest of Main Street in Blanchard. Below is a picture of the sidewalks along Main Street.

There were several interesting antique shops along Main Street, but, unfortunately, they were closed. However, I did see one shop open, The Outlaw Trading Post, so I went in to check it out.

It turns out, it was opening day for the store and I was their second customer. The husband and wife team had been wanting to open a retail store for a long time, but couldn't agree on what to sell. So, they came up with an interesting compromise. They split the store down the middle. On one side, the husband was selling guns and ammo with some camping equipment. Rifles lined the 20 ft-something walls on his side from the ceiling to the floor. I don't know much about guns, but it looked very impressive. Glass cabinets had all kinds of pistols and ammo behind them, too.

On the other side of the store his wife was selling some very high-priced western decor items. Expensive bedding, western-style purses, jewelry, pictures of the old west, knickknacks, just about anything you could put a horse motif on, is all there.

Despite the shop's split personality, it somehow seemed to work. I spent a lot of time looking at everything and I really wanted to buy something, since it was their opening day, but there was truly nothing in there that would go with my house. I wasn't in the market for a gun, and I just didn't have a need for a picture of horses running down a ravine or a lamp made out of horse shoes. But if you're looking for any of those things, this would definitely be the place to go. And, it's fun just to look around the shop, too.

Next stop, Goldsby, Oklahoma!