I had a birthday recently. I turned 67. Somehow I still don’t feel old. I feel bad though, but too bad. When I got out of college and went to work in the oilfields I saw all these really old elderly guys and gals in the mid-30’s thinking boy they are burnt out. Now people that age seem like little puppies. All full of vim and vigor.
I guess I’ll have to end my “Being 66 on Route 66” schtick that I have been playing this past year. I don’t even know if there is Route 67. I like prime numbers and 67 is a dandy prime number.
Heather and Logan made the day great for me. I had banners.
And balloons.
And some cool sandals with a Jerry Garcia design on them. This my seventh pair of the same type sandals. Only one other has a Jerry Garcia design though. Just call me the Ferdinand Marcos of Oklahoma.
They took me to breakfast at a chic upscale place. The stuff on the plate is avocado toast. Most places that I have that I am still hungry. Not this place. We went to a movie afterward.
We also went to the Tulsa Botanic Garden and saw thousands of tulips.
Logan went to work and Heather took me to dinner.
Next day, not an official birthday event, I got a pedicure thanks to the generosity of Nana, the world’s greatest mother-in-law.
So hey, I had a great day. I recommend Happy Birthdays to everyone.
Sunday morning I got up and headed out to Turkey Mountain to meet up with a couple dozen other people for a Work Day sponsored by the RiverParks Authority and the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition. We were going to work on the recently completed new trails to kind of finish them off a little bit.
So I grabbed my loppers, trash bag, and a bottle of water and went with one crew down a new trail. We were using the loppers to cut out staubs that stuck up out the trail causing people to trip and possible tire problems with the mountain bikers. Cutting them things out is difficult! At least to me at was.
Others in the group were planting grass seed on the backside of the switchback berms and using axes to tackle the bigger stubs or staubs. I think the hardest job might have been pushing the wheelbarrow containing the equipment and seed.
It was hard work but scenic. We worked on about 2 miles of trail before going back to the parking lot for refreshments and a break. A bunch of people were going out again to finish the job but I was spent so I said goodbye. These trail maintenance volunteers are a hardy lot.
I went home a collapsed!! I guess that I’m not worthy but it was a morning well spent. I’m always in awe of these folks who show up with their own tools and spend their time helping out the community.
Check out the TUWC website for more information. Get involved.
And one of our big fat squirrels checking the bath action out.
And LJ and LIzzie sharing a spot of sun in the house.
And to Oxley Nature Center. I think these are Pelicans. They were way up high and I had my long lens as long as it would get.
And some geese cruising down Coal Creek. I was looking for otters. The staff tells me I need to get there at 6 am to have a chance. I don’t see that happening.
About it critterwise for this week. I’m linking with Eileen’sSaturday Critters. Lots of great posts there. Check it out.
Here’s is the almost Snow Moon from my back yard. I usually take it in the front yard but our neighbors across the street had some sort of ruckus going on that sounded like I needed to avoid. I think it is pretty much the same as the front yard offered at a lot lower sound level.
I went on a walk in a city park here. I love the trees against the blue sky.
More blue sky! We are supposed to have storms tomorrow (Thursday) and cold weather so be thinking about us.
Not my Photo!!
And I finished another online jigsaw puzzle. I’m loving this relaxation induced anxiety. All this stuff in Canada, and the Ukraine, and life in general, just rolls away while working jigsaw puzzles. Actually, the concerns don’t go away, I just escape having to worry about them for a while.
I hope everybody is having a good week. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Please join in!!
Wednesday morning, Heather and I, left the house at around 5 am, already prepacked the night before and headed for the Gulf of Mexico.
We were ready, it has been two years since we had a vacation and its our thirty second anniversary. So off we went childless. Son Logan is at college.
So we are staying about a week or so. If you are thinking about robbing our house know that we have a full time house sitter and they are kind of mean and ornery but they take good care of the dogs.
So we got there in about 13 hours stopping only for restroom breaks and gasoline. We unloaded our stuff, got dinner, and sat out on the balcony for a while.
First thing on the agenda was a three mile out and back walk to lifeguard station number one. Then reading on the beach, lunch and cocktails.
A good time is being had by all. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday but I may not return all comments right away.
I went on a bike ride on Tulsa’s RiverParks Trails last week. It was mid 90’s temperature with heat index at about 105. So I kind of took it easy and stopped a few times in my 16 miles to drink water. I had my GoPro knockoff camera on the handlebars set to take a photo every ten seconds. So I get hundreds of photos and I only save a few. I get passed a lot when I ride. You can tell this dude is passing me because he’s on my left.
I passed this guy several times. I’d pass him and I’d stop for a water break and then I take off and pass him again. You can tell that I’m passing him because he is on my right.
And then here is another person. At least he is not coming at me head on. That is what a really old guy did to me last year about this time. Veered right into me. I’m glad that I didn’t have my camera on the bike then except I still remember all the details except thinking at first I was going to evade him and then he turned further into me while he was screaming. I was glad I had my helmet on because my head hit the pavement. I’m all good now except I am extra special vigilant when riders come my way.
Another couple of innocent bystanders. I wish more people would wear helmets.
And a walker
Couldn’t do the loop because part of the trail is closed due to new bridge construction. It’ll be open again in a couple years.
Have a happy and safe Labor Day Weekend. I have pre-prepared the next two Skywatch Friday posts. We are heading off on vacation and we are supposed to have internet connectivity but didn’t want to hang everybody out to dry just in case it didn’t work. This post, I am linking with Our World Tuesday.
Monday morning I took my bike for a ride on the RiverParks Trails here in Tulsa. It was about 15 miles which is a good ride for me. I have found if I start around 9 am or so then I avoid all the idiots on the E-scooters and E-bikes. I hate those things. They cause a lot of problems but that ship has sailed. They are here to stay
. The Gathering Place was all lit up with wildflowers. I think they are grooming things better now. Previously it looked unkempt and they got a lot of complaints. I like the new balance. I think it is still low maintenance and low water usage.
Stopped to take a phone call. Nobody on the trails but me!
I had a great time!! It’s like a moving meditation to me.
A few nights ago we had the Full Pink Moon on a clear evening. I love taking moon photographs.
This is Howard Park in Tulsa. A funky little park, bounded on the west by a Freeway and to the north and south by decrepit commercial properties and to the east, right across Route 66, a refinery. There are no houses anywhere close with children to play in its playground but you know I like the park. You can see the refinery storage tanks on the left side of the photo.
Speaking of Route 66, this is the “Route 66 Rising” in east Tulsa, where Route 66 enters the city. It is in the middle of a traffic circle so to get a decent photo you have to park on private property and cross a busy street but you know, it’s my bloggers duty to do so. I don’t think one person in a hundred in Tulsa know about it.
We took a few days off last week and headed to southwest Oklahoma to the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge just north of Lawton, Oklahoma.
We stayed in a beautiful spacious cabin on top of a hill just a little ways out of town.
Talk about dark skies. We were able to track satellites as they passed overhead including the International Space Station. It really flew. Our Cabin was about a half mile from Fort Sill, on of the Army’s major training sites. They shot artillery all day long (big echoing booms) and at night hell really broke out. Some sort of big automatic gunfire and helicopters. We couldn’t see anything because of the mountains but we could sure here it. They keep those 20,000 stationed there busy, it sounded like.
We drove to the top of Mount Scott and made a shadow selfie.
We saw lots of longhorn cattle.
And grumpy looking bison. This was with a telephoto. We are not tourons when it comes to critters.
This critter wasn’t too happy about it. I have a strict no handouts policy.
We even saw some wild turkeys.
The Ferguson house, rebuilt by the Friends of the Wichitas.
We looked at a recently preserved homesteaders house that burned down to the walls about ten years ago.
We checked out the Holy City of the Wichitas, home of a long running passion play.
In nearby Medicine Park, OK we saw some birdhouse cottages going up right by a lake. Aren’t they the cutest things? Or maybe they are the most darling things? You tell me.
We did lots of hiking. Some of was kind of rocky. This is not a spoof. See the trail marker by my wife’s left hand? This was the route.
But we were rewarded with some great views.
And magnificent vistas. Have to tell you though, on our last full day Heather tripped twice on our last trail and is feeling it. She’s an exercise instructor so she has cancelled her more demanding classes.
And now a blast from the past. I took my father down here in 2007. He’d always wanted to see the refuge and we did. He’s an old Forest Service guy and the refuge was started by the Forest Service and he made sure to set the record straight with the volunteer at the visitor center.
Anyways we visited the Holy City as part of our trip and I found a geocache in a boat they had as part of their set. Dad was pretty amazing. His mentor when Dad was a young Forest Ranger used to be Supervisor of the National Forest that included what is now the refuge. Dad knew the whole history. He could also look at woods miles off and spot old forest fires and guess at how long ago they ocurred.
And here I am fourteen years later, older, older, a bit plumper, and still geocaching!! The one they had in the boat is gone though. I think the boat used to represent the Ark and now is the boat that the disciples were in during the storm and Jesus walked across the water to them.
Here is another photo from our trip. We got into Fort Sill and got lost looking for Geronimo’s grave. Went down lots of back roads with ominous military warning signs saying we were off limits. but hey we got there. Geronimo’s grave is out in the middle of nowhere. It was a virtual geocache so at least I could use my GPS, I just couldn’t figure out the roads. Dad’s been gone a few years now and I sure do miss him. We had a good time on our little road trip.
So anyway we had a great time, my wife and I. One thing I’ll leave you with is: Oklahoma is no Colorado or Montana, but…
Don’t let anybody tell you that Oklahoma doesn’t have mountains.
Saturday afternoon my wife went to visit her friends and I drove out to Lake Keystone, northwest of Tulsa to find five geocaches that I had noticed earlier
The place I was going to was an almost island on the lake called Appalachia Bay. Little did I know that it was a designated area for dirt bikes and All Terrain Vehicles.
The guy at the gate good naturedly said you better be careful these guys will run you over. So I said okay then. Cost me $5 to get access.
It was like a Mad Max movie. The vehicles going this way and that way and making a heck of a racket. I just stayed out of their way. You have to look real close at the photo above. There is some deer hidden in there. Just steps away from one of the trails. I don’t know how they stand it. I saw two other groups of deer during my outing. I guess they get used to the racket.
After I got used to the racket, I had a pretty good time. The woods were clear so I was able to bushwhack without too much difficulty. Many of the trails were deeply rutted and so I avoided those in case someone came over a hill or around a corner too fast. People were pretty good natured and courteous toward me.
There were five caches. The smileys are ones I found, the frownie is one I didn’t find, the green one I saw but it was up in a tree and I was not in a climbing mood.
Above is a video of one my finds.
And above in another one of my finds.
And my relive app video showing the route from the first cache to the others and then back to the parking lot.
I had a good time. I didn’t know that dirt bikes and ATVs had designated areas. My attitude was that I was in their territory so I watched out for myself. Not a place I would recommend for a peaceful hike. I’m told that it is actually quite nice during the week. If you like geocaches that you can hike to I strongly recommend this but don’t go on the weekend.
