Our first “Oklahoma” thing to do was tour the Braum’s factory in Tuttle, Oklahoma. Braum’s is a restaurant famous for its delicious ice cream. Their food comes fresh to each store, which is why the majority of stores are in Oklahoma. They have to be within a 300 mile radius of the farm and factory so that the truck drivers can be home each night. At the tour, we learned that Braum’s takes no government subsidies; everything is paid for by private funds. In a day in which it seems that everyone everywhere is taking government money, this was refreshing.

We couldn’t take photos inside the plant, but we snapped a few before the tour began.

While we waited on the tour to begin, we snapped some photos in front of their display.

(He didn’t want his photo taken!)

This bus, which actually “mooed” like a cow, drove us from place to place.

It was a bitterly cold day in January when we took our tour, so we were thankful that all of it was indoors! We saw them making bread, cookies and cones. We saw where they packaged nuts – and no, they didn’t try to package me! We watched them make ice cream and bottle milk and juice. We saw where they make yogurt and cottage cheese. It was very interesting at the milk bottling place, because Terry once worked at Mountain Valley Water, running that same machine! He was able to share some personal experiences at that stop. 😉  At the end of the tour, we all got a free ice cream bar, and everyone enjoyed that!

If you’re ever in the Oklahoma City area for a few days, try to schedule a tour of Braum’s! If you can’t take the tour, at least plan to eat at one of the hundreds of restaurants they have around the state. You won’t regret it…unless you step on a scale! 😀