We’ve been pretty busy getting ready for a house refresh, new floors, paint, and a few other things. Wednesday afternoon I had some time so I headed over to Tulsa’s RiverParks trails for some walking and geoaching. It is staying warm but the trees are starting to change color.
I went looking for a gadget geocache. A geocache that may be easy to find but difficult or tricky to open up and sign the paper log. If you don’t sign the log, then just spotting it doesn’t count for anything. This is one where I figured out the secret.
I figured it out and went walking to another one. It was really pretty.
Here is a view across the Arkansas River to Turkey Mountain. I spend a lot of time there.
We have a pretty good vantage of the sky at our home. Here it is looking west. No need sometimes to drive places for Skywatch photos.
And here is a netted sky at one of those fancy multi level golf driving ranges. Never been although it sounds like fun.
This is a sculpture of a bison that I photographed at a low angle through the glass. It is called Guardians of the Plains and is on the turnpike in Sapulpa, just west of Tulsa.
This is a short video of a geocache hunt at a car museum in Tulsa. That is supposed to be a huge gasoline pump.
One day recently we had the swirly winds and funny clouds indicative of atmospheric disturbances which in Oklahoma means tornadoes. We didn’t have tornadoes. I used the Hyperspektiv app to kind of give an idea of the atmosphere.
I went out for a bike ride the other day. One of the best days of the year, sunny and cool, about 68F and hardly any wind. It was perfect. About ten minutes after this photo was taken I had a head on collision with another bicyclist who veered right into me. Luckily I had seen that he was a little jittery and had put on the brakes and tried to go to the right to avoid him but he panicked at the last second steered right into me.
We both ended up on the ground, I hit my head pretty hard on the pavement but I was wearing my helmet. The other guy landed on a guard rail with his ribs and was in bad shape and his bike was all mangled. Several people stopped to help and we went to a nearby parking lot. A buddy of his came and got him and his bike and Heather came and got me. My bike is okay. People rib me about how heavy, old fashioned and slow it is but it suffered no damage at all that I can see. I am going to have my bicycle shop check it and my helmet out to ensure there is no damage.
I went to our Bone and Joint Urgent care and got some xrays and checked out by a doctor and prescribed some meds. I can’t drive or drink alcohol while on them. So I just have a sore back is all, and a gouge in my hip where my handlebars got torqued into me when the guy hit my wheel. I hope the other guy is okay. He was hurting when he left the scene.
So if you ride a bike, wear your helmet. I hit the ground pretty hard with my head and I didn’t have a concussion. The other guy was wearing his helmet as well. I am thankful also for all the people that stopped to stop and help us.
Heather and I on our recent short getaway to southeast Oklahoma had a great combination of activity and rest. We spent a lot of time at the cabin reading but we also spent a lot of time hiking and one afternoon we rented a kayak and a paddleboard at Broken Bow Lake.
The lake is also part of Beavers Bend State Park and we found a concession who is open on the weekend. I got the kayak and Heather got the paddle board. I can do paddle boards, I really can, kind of, but they are a lot of work. Kayaking is a lot easier. Heather loves paddle boards. She teaches a class in our gym’s pool where one stands on the boards and does things. I take the class but I am pretty shaky.
The lake was beautiful and the day was gorgeous. A slight haze in the air. I was wondering if was from the horrendous fires in California, Oregon, and other places in the west.
Being the weekend after Labor Day there were not that many people out on the lake. Seems like most of them were from Texas.
Heather showing her chops with the paddle.
And busting out some yoga moves for good measure.
We were out for two hours. We went here, there, and everywhere.
And then it was time to bring them in.
And of course I wore my Garmin watch to document the adventure. I mean it didn’t really happen if it wasn’t documented, right?
And then back to the cabin to chill. It was a great place to chill. We didn’t spend much times indoors. We spent most of the time on the deck with its sectional couch and the hot tub which I didn’t take a photo of for some reason. So if I didn’t take a picture of it, did it really exist?
I’m so thankful that we could take this little trip.
Anyway, we had a great time. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Go check it out.
We had our son with us for the Labor Day weekend. On the way from college to home, we jumped off the interstate and got on a short section of Route 66, “The Mother Road” just for a change. We stopped at Pops. A convenience store with several hundred kinds of soda and a cafe in Arcadia, Oklahoma just northeast of Oklahoma City.
They feature this gigantic soda bottle. The bottle has a geocache that I found years ago.
Logan got a triple cola something.
And I got this peach soda. I generally try and get a blackberry cream soda of some sort but we were trying to maintain social distancing and there were people paralyzed with indecision crowding around the cooler in one area so I moved to the Peach section. It was really good!!
Anyway we downed our sodas and were on our way.
We are traveling this week and so I won’t be spending as much time online as what I usually do so I apologize for not being able to comment on your blog like I usually do. The Skywatch Friday meme is set up and should be okay. There is a fourteen minute delay in the Linky’s clock compared to everybody else’s in the world. I don’t know what to do about it.
This is the beloved Pedestrian Bridge across the Arkansas River that I posted earlier. I posted a similar photo on the Abandoned Oklahoma facebook group and boy talk about a strong response. Most people want to keep it and are outraged that nobody got any notice. Seriously folks, its been in the news for three years. It’s a little late because the demolition contractor moved this last Monday. I got messages asking if it would be possible to get a bridge section. I don’t know folks, I’m just the picture taker. Call the River Parks!! I’ll miss the bridge but am looking forward to the new one.
A play castle at Tulsa’s fabulous Gathering Place. Oh to be a kid again.
A cool sign on the drive to Sequoyah State Park. I was by a year or so ago and the motel was all run down with a for sale sign. It sold, the place is spruced up and it looked like they had a lot of people there. I love it.
And a 90% full moon. We had a big bright moon, but it wasn’t full but with rain in the forecast I went ahead and took this photo.
I hope that everybody is staying healthy. Here in Oklahoma, Covid is surging and our Governor is not really doing anything about so our family is still hiding out, wearing our masks, and avoiding clusters.
We had some color in the sky the other day so I fired up the drone and sent it up from the back yard. The color was not to the west because there were no clouds. The above shot is to the north.
This is to the east.
And northeast across the greenbelt.
I am thinking about the victims of Hurricane Laura which made landfall early Thursday morning in southwest Louisiana and is still causing damage far inland as I write this.
The past week I’ve been walking the paved trails in Tulsa and suburbs checking out the condition of the pavement. INCOG (“Indian Nations Council of Governments”) asked trail users to participate so they can determine the condition of the various trails. INCOG is an agency that works with the various city and country governments on infrastructure planning and coordination.
This section has it all, transverse, longitudinal and alligator cracking.
They gave us a cool GIS (“Geographical Information System”) app on our phones to report what we find. Plus we got some materials on what to look for. So I have found out about longitrudinal, transverse, and net cracking along with skreveling and other technical terms.
Easy to find, hard to open. Bring Deet and don’t come if you allergic to poison ivy. Pro tip, if you don’t know if allergic to poison ivy, just assume that you are.
I’ve taken the opportunity to chase after a few geocaches in the adjacent woods. This one is a “gadget cache”. Easy to find but hard to get into. I pondered this one for a several minutes before I figured out what to do then about 20 minutes to open it up, sign the log, and put it back together.
Here is another one that I found. Unfortunately it has been vandalized by somebody so it didn’t work right. Gadget caches are all the rage now in geocaching.
I also found this deer feeder deep in the woods on public land.
And I did a daily good deed in helping this little old turtle across the road like a good former boy scout.
So far I have only done about 4 miles. That takes 8 miles of walking because I have to walk back to my car. Not too many loops of reasonable distance. There were about fifty volunteers I am guestimating but it doesn’t look like very many of them are actually doing anything. There is about 200 miles of trails all told, I think.
On another note, last week after I went to the Will Rogers Fly-In I drove over to Ed Galway’s Totem Pole Park near the small town of Foyil. I had been there before but this time I took my drone so I could take a better look.
It is right off US 66 and is a must see stop if you are touring the highway.
It was built by a guy, Ed Galway. The main totem pole was built by him between 1937 and 1948. The park has other totems but on this trip I was just interested in the main pole. I think this is my third trip to the park. Here are some links of previous posts.
Ed Galways’s Park is one of my favorite Route 66 Stops. It is so over the top and unique. And it is free!! I like free. They have a gift shop. Go get a cap or something.
Ginger, RIP
And finally, our beloved Ginger went to the big puppy park in the sky yesterday. She was fourteen years old and had multiple issues. She is in a much better place now. Our critters just don’t live long enough.
This week has not been a good one for picture taking. We are getting our son ready to go back to college and working with contracts getting ready to freshen the house up a little. So I am off into my archives. I searched for photos taken in August.
This is Tulsa’s Lafortune Park. A regular 18 hole golf course, par three course, little league and Pony League baseball fields, Tennis Center, Memorial High School, a Library, Gardens with fishing ponds, and wrapped up by a three mile walking path. If I had a dollar for every lap I have run or walked on that route, I would be a major thousandaire.
Two years ago in August I visited my sister Ellen, working as a Seasonal Park Ranger at Yellowstone Park. We had a great time. The forest fires out west that year made for great sunrises. (and sunsets).
And of course we visited Old Faithful, and she blew off a steam to a big crowd.
A workover rig on a recently fracked well in western Oklahoma a couple years ago. Not too much drilling or fracking going on right now!!
Morning sky over some horse stables north of Tulsa. Son did therapeutic horseback riding for years at this place.
We are still having nice skies along with a lot cooler weather. Yesterday morning I walked outside to get the paper and was greeted with a great sky. (And yes, I did use a filter, I hope you don’t mind).
I’m still flying my drone, mainly in periscope mode. The above video is an example. I just take it straight up and the gps in the drone holds its position. I couldn’t take it too far up because of windy conditions in this video.
Earlier, I got it higher and took some pics of the neighborhood and sky. I used a filter on these because otherwise the items on the ground were black.
Another view looking soutwest showing the local elementary school.
And straight west, one can see clouds starting to pile up.
And straight north across the greenspace.
And we had a Full Moon the other day. Since it is August, they call it the Sturgeon Moon. I love full moons, what about you.
Prior to the Trump Rally in Tulsa way back in June some local community members went out and painted this mural on Greenwood Avenue. Now the local community and the city are trying to figure out what to do with it. Many people would like to keep it but the problem is of course what keeps other groups from painting streets with their own messages. I’m hoping that they can keep it somehow.
After a dry June things have been rainy in July. Makes for green country side and interesting skies. Northeast Oklahoma is called Green Country for a reason.
Here’s a shot from directly over our house to son Logan’s first elementary school less than a block away. Remember when schools were open and had classes. Good times right! The state of Oklahoma is letting every district decide for themselves how to handle the coming school year and it is amazing the variety of programs the administrators of the various districts have come up with.
Went on a walk yesterday at Lafortune Park and got rained on a little bit. I don’t mind, as long as I can keep the phone dry.
Here is a beer truck Skywatch shot. Too bad it is crap beer.
Lafortune Park has the prettiest crepe myrtle I have ever seen. It has all sorts of room to itself and gets full sun all day long. I think the staff has been taking very good care of it as well.
Son and I took the drone to north Tulsa’s Reservoir Hill subdivision and took some shots of the Tulsa Arrow. The Tulsa Arrow was originally put up for Charles Lindbergh’s transcontinental flight to show the way to the airport. Apparently all sorts of cities put arrows for that purpose way back when. A few years ago the subdivision’s residents recreated the arrow. You can see the story here. I think it is pretty cool. I have a geocache nearby.
That’s it for this week. I am linking with Skywatch Friday. Come join in!!
