Category Archives: Skywatch Friday

Stagecoach Skywatch

Last weekend I drove up to southeast South Dakota for a family reunion. I met up with my aunt and uncle from the east coast and my cousin and his family from the west coast and joined countless others in a weekend of learning about the family, visiting, seeing the sights and other activities. One evening under a beautiful blue sky at a relative’s farm a gorgeous stagecoach powered by two beautiful horses showed up. A “Surprise” by our host.

And it wasn’t just for looking at, we were all offered rides and I do believe every single person there had a short ride or two.

Some even got to ride shotgun with the driver.

It was a beautiful sight.

Smiles all around inside. You can’t ride a coach and be unhappy.

My aunt and uncle from the east coast loved it.

They were there for a while making sure everybody got to ride. I loved the shadows on the stage. The workmanship and finish on the coach was exquisite.

Shotgun was a favorite of the younger set. They had the ability to climb up the wheel to get there!

It was a get together that nobody there will soon forget.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Morning Sky

Morning Clouds Topaz Impressions

Some beach trips I get early every morning and go running or walking on the beach. This trip I mainly slept in and got up in time for the first dolphin run of the day. It was pretty amazing watching them cruising along parallel to the beach anywhere from maybe 50 yards to the show to maybe 300 yards. Just cruising along in a widely dispersed pod, some of them had a smaller dolphin with them. They come and they go on down the shore. A few hours later they come back the opposite direction and generally a lot further out. So we got to see them twice a day generally.

But being a dedicated skywatcher I got up one morning and got a good shot from the balcony. Most days were cloudless, but this one day they formed and went marching along the shore. I love the morning light on the cloud above.

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We had a really good time. We ate well, we went kayaking and stand up paddleboarding, lots of walks on the beach, read a lot of books, played some board games and didn’t turn the television on once!! So we are back at work now and son is getting ready to go away to college and we are very excited about that.

I hope things are going well for you.

Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Tower of Power

Powerline tower studio

An tower for electric power lines alongside the Arkansas River. I am fascinated by the infrastructure network that ties us together. From electric power lines to cable television and telephone lines. Many of which are overhead and much underground, to water, sewer, and natural gas lines, and of course roads, and waterways along with drainage systems. It just boggles my mind. Couple that with railroads other pipelines for crude oil, gasoline, propane and butane, and even ammonia and it is amazing how interconnected all parts of the country. are to each other.

Okay, I got carried away, I hope you have a great week.

Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Bicycling and Michael Buble

Last Friday Heather and I went bicycling on Tulsa’s Riverparks Trails. It was very nice. Not too many people and not much wind, not much hills and a lot of fun. Kind of tricky navigating around the kids on the E scooters near the Gathering Place. Anybody besides me think that electric scooters and bikes should be banned from pedestrian and bicycle trails?

We finished up with a nice sunset, sorry for the blurry image.

Monday at lunchtime I noticed a bunch of Rock Star busses lined up at the Mayo Hotel. Except I don’t think it was a rock star, I am guessing that they were for Michael Buble.

That evening Heather and I went to the Penthouse Bar at the Mayo for a pre-concert drink. The concert itself was great. He is a consummate singer and really has a sense of humor. I have never seen an entertainer connect with their audience like he does. This is the third time that we have seen him and we will be back for me.

I hope that you are having a good week. I am linking with Skywatch Friday. Come join us!!

Still Hiking Skywatch

This is kind of an “add on” to my last post about hiking on Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain last Sunday morning. Don’t tell me that I am the only blogger that milks all the posts he or she can out of an experience.

Turkey Mountain Pond Topaz

What are called ponds everywhere else are called lakes on Turkey Mountain. Don’t ask me why, its just the way it is. Whatever you call them, they are full which is unheard of this late in the summer. Want to know something else? (I am going to tell you anyway, so say yes, okay) I didn’t activate our lawn sprinkler system until this past weekend. It has rained so much we have not watered our yard once.

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The ponds are overflowing and the vegetation is lush. I was soaking in DEET so I didn’t get any tick or chigger hitchhikers thank goodness but I was kind of dumb and didn’t take any water which was a mistake even in just a three mile hike.

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It always lifts my spirits being out in nature. I didn’t really see anybody else. I love getting back home after my outings and checking instagram for Turkey Mountain. There were at least 25 other people claiming they were all by themselves. It is a testament on how big the area is that we can all be there and not get in each others way.

Do you have a place you can go to get away from it all? I hope so.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – 4th of July Edition 2019

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July 4, 2019 Tulsa Fireworks Display

It is July 4 Season where we celebrate the Declaration of Independence gaining our freedom from Great Britain. A day of fireworks and eating way too much. Our family will be going to Tulsa’s Veteran’s Park to watch the fireworks show, and eat too much.

Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum has a certified copy of the Declarations of Independence and for the first time in several years they brought it out of the vaults and put it on display to the public and so I went and checked it out. It was awe inspiring to see it and astonishing to see how faded it was. They were allowing photographs and I did not take one because it would not have been a good photo. Still, being able to view such an ancient, important, and foundational document was uplifting.

Gilcrease purple blooms Topaz studio

After I viewed the Declaration of Independence I wandered outside and found some flowers.

Gilcrease Lensball fabric installation

I also found a fabric art installation by Rachel Hayes. I used by Lensball to take a photo of it.

Gilcrease Pioneer Woman

And I ventured further into their grounds (which are not gated and are free!!!) to the far end to see the Frontier Woman Statue. That lady has been churning butter and looking to see something for about twenty years now. Probably waiting on her husband to come home.

Gilcrease Cabin

And their is this cabin nearby. The door is always open and I always close it because there is nothing worth looking at inside and it takes a better photo with the door shut. Otherwise I get this big dark spot right in the middle of the photo.

Gilcrease Deer Sculpture

And I stopped by on the way back to the parking lot I stopped to say hello to the Twins. That is the name of this sculpture by Jay O’Meilia. I love it.

July 4, 2019 Tulsa, Oklahoma

Thanks for staying with me on this meandering SWF post, that doesn’t show much sky.

Skywatch Friday

High Plains Skywatch

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This past week we ventured to Colorado Springs from Tulsa for our great nephew’s high school graduation. We had quite the adventure going up, wind, rain, snow. Yep snow in May!!

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Yep, snow, luckily it was very slushy and not icy and Heather’s new car has all wheel drive with a “snow mode.” I love snow mode but not snow.

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Heather found this cool little Casita for us to stay in an older part of Colorado Springs. Ultra cool and snug in the freezing May weather. It was adobe and I love the look of snow and adobe.

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We went to my sister Ellen’s place out in the plains east of town. Here is son Logan out in the pasture.

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Ellen is an artist and she showed off her new “She Shed” where she does her painting.

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And we got to see her horses.

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And I found my BIL Irvin’s geocache out in front of their house.

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The trip home had some great skies that looked threatening but we didn’t have the rain and snow that we had going out. While we were gone Tulsa had some pretty bad flooding that is continuing. Our home is high and dry I can report.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Arkansas River Views

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Since daylight savings time I am bicycling along the Arkansas River Trails here in Tulsa so I get to see lots of sunsets and other views of the river.

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I love the old Railroad Bridge converted to a cool pedestrian bridge. It is blocked off and is going to be replaced soon.

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How romantic is this, a golden sunset at the tank farm of one of our local refineries. Ah, the sweet smell of sour crude.

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The redbuds have lost their blooms by now but hey, I am showing you a photo anyway.

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And some purplish tones from another sunset.

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