Another Singular Oklahoma Experience

One day Eric comes home from "work" and says "Did you hear about the Rattlesnake Derby???" Turns out it's the big thing around here. EV-ER-Y-BOD-Y goes to it. Super Bummer- it's on the same weekend as my race........What the heck are we thinking? It's a freaking RATTLESNAKE DERBY! We'll make time! So Saturday morning piled in our palace on wheels and headed for Mangum, OK.

Well, suffice it to say, it was worth the extra hour drive. Just the people watching alone was worth it.
I was tempted to call a P.E.T.A. rep and tattle on one disturbing thing I witnessed. There was a booth where you could get your photo taken holding a barely alive rattlesnake that had had it's mouth sewn shut. It was just sad. I don't even mind so much that they kill these rattlesnakes- I mean in the first place, they are super scary and dangerous, in the second place they sell and use every bit of those slimy things. But just torturing one so that crazy okies can force it on their screaming kids and get their pictures taken is just MEAN.

My girls were thoroughly enthralled by the whole spectacle. There was also a street fair/flea market going on and Liv and Fran each chose one small memento to take home. I was really surprised and amused by their choices. Franny chose a beautiful foil-heart crown with cascading curling ribbon that went all the way to her waist. I had a photo of it but apparently it didn't pass muster when transferred to the computer. Olivia chose a real, gen-u-wine rattlesnake head keychain. I told her if we were going to pay for it she had to at least touch it so she reaches out and pokes it with her finger. When we bought it, they put it in a zip-loc and it has rarely come out since, but Livi loves it!

We were only in Mangum for 90 minutes but the memories we made will last a lifetime. It's going pretty high up on our list of crazy Oklahoma experiences.