Category Archives: Our World

Our World – Faces of Geocaching

Sunday afternoon was a very pretty and very nice day so SuperPizzaBoy and I took off to Turkey Mountain here in Tulsa to do some maintenance on our geocache “Rock City” that I posted about originally in September 2011.

The trails were glorious. The sun was shining and the trees are just beginning to leaf out. There is nothing like the new green of Spring.

When we got the Rock City area of Turkey Mountain where the cache was we find a group of guys maneuvering their radio controlled vehicles around on the boulders. They were very nice and showed us what they were doing. Turns out they are here a lot and had found the cache months ago. They signed the log and otherwise left it alone. It always amazes me the variety of recreation that people find to do on Turkey Mountain. Geocaching, trail running, hiking, biking, riding horses and now radio controlled vehicles.

The cache was in good shape. Somebody reported that the recyclable camera I had planted there was full so I replaced it and had it processed. That was actually the second camera. Somebody took the first camera. So here are the photos of the people who have found the cache and took photos of themselves or others.

As you can see geocachers come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, ages, and gender.

Dogs and even a ferret.

They come in warm weather and cold weather.

They just love finding things way deep in the woods.

The Radio Control Guys told me that they used the last exposure to take a pic of their machines.

Have you ever hid a camera out in the woods?

Our World Tuesday

The Lightship Swiftsure – Seattle

The lightship Swiftsure is retired at the Northwest Seaport in Seattle. She was launched in 1904 and worked on the west coast at various places as a lightship for 56 years and was retired from service in 1960.

During World War II she worked for the Coast Guard challenging vessels trying to enter San Francisco Bay.

She is looking good and is still afloat in her retirement and is a National Historic Landmark.

Our World Tuesday

Our World – The Prom

I’m kind of slow, I graduated from high school in the early 1970’s but this year I finally got to go to the Prom.

(for all you smart alecks out there, I am smiling. I’m very expressive you know.)

Of course it was SuperPizzaBoy’s Prom, but hey a prom is a prom right!

SPB didn’t really want to go but his mother talked him into it. Mother’s know best as a friend of mine put it.

Sweetie went because she was in charge of the food. I went because I didn’t want to spend the night home alone.

SPB started out in good shape, all tucked in and buttoned down. He checked out the chips and dip first.

The other kids started out a little slowly also. The girls looked very nice in their prom dresses.

Things slowly heated up. When Psy’s Gangnam Style started up, SPB couldn’t contain himself any longer. He loves that song. If you have not heard of it, count yourself lucky.

Things heated up rapidly after that.

Until everybody was fully into it. He was totally into it. Totally untucked and wrinkled and I don’t think his mother minded a bit.

Then a little rest while the King and Queen of the Prom were crowned and recognized. SPB and I left soon after that. He and will be back next year!

My advice is to not wait 40 years until after you graduate to go to the Prom. What is your advice?

Our World Tuesday

Our World – Houston

If you are in the energy biz you probably spend a lot of time in Houston. I know that I do. It is only a 75 minute flight from Tulsa so most of the time I just run down and back for the day.

Last week I spent a rare overnight trip there. I spent the night downtown. It had been years since I’ve done that. I thought I would go geocaching. I found one and then was done. It was cold, I mean freezing.

So I retreated to the tunnels. Downtown Houston has about 6.4 miles of tunnels downtown. I called it quits after a dozen blocks or so. The thing about tunnels. They all look the same. Especially after hours. During the day there is a lot going on and lots of shops and restaurants and such. After work it is all deserted and not very much fun. It is warm though!

I finally found a decent sushi place and had me some very good raw fish and a couple of malted beverages for dinner and then made the long, cold, windy, dark, deserted walk back to my hotel.

The next morning I had a meeting with a customer and then headed back to Tulsa.

Our World

Our World – Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area Cleanup Day

Saturday morning almost a hundred people showed up at Turkey Mountain for a cleanup day.

It was organized by the Tulsa River Parks Authority and sponsored by Hammerhead Bicycles and Tatur Racing. Anytime you can get the mountain bikers and the trail runners working together it has to be important.

Lots of trash was picked up along with old worn out grills, a camo recliner and couch, and several mattresses. Four meth labs were found.

An extremely rare photo of Yogi actually doing anything. I stole this photo from Trail Zombie’s facebook page. If he sues me, I’m going to depend on you to contribute to my legal defense fund. Sweetie is going to think this was photoshopped. Trail Zombie reported on the cleanup on his blog.

Several of us went to an active campsite to dismantle it and haul it off. In addition to the tent, tarp, sleeping bags, and other stuff, we filled up two or three contractor size garbage bags with the garbage strewn in all directions around the site. By the time we left there was no trace that anybody had ever been there. Before you start crying tears over the lost home of whoever I’ll just say the contents of the tent might have indicated that he was up to nothing good.

We loaded it all up on a wagon we had and hauled it off.

There is still a lot of work left for the next clean up day. This is a non active homeless camp with garbage spread in all directions.

Our World Tuesday

Our World – Oklahoma’s Natural Falls State Park

Saturday, SuperPizzaBoy and I took a road trip about 75 miles east of Tulsa into the Ozarks to Natural Falls State Park. It used to be a private park called Dripping Springs and when Oklahoma took it over they renamed it because we already had a Dripping Springs Park.

We pretty much had the park to ourselves because of the cold and windy weather. One of the things we did was log an Earth Cache named “Dripping Springs.” Earth Caches are part of Geocaching except that you don’t look for a container. They are more educational in nature and lots of fun.

The star of the park is of course the waterfall. You can’t tell it from the photographs but the water falls about 77 feet.

Down in the canyon where the water lands it was much warmer. No wind of course but I would guess the temperature seemed at least five degrees higher than up top.

There is something about falling water that is very peaceful. The park was used in the filming of the 1974 version of “Where the Red Fern Grows” based on the book by Wilson Rawls.

There is a bridge across the chasm. Hey, who’s that kid up there?

SuperPizzaBoy, that’s who. I wondered where he got off to.

There is more to the park than the falls. The creek flows from the falls to a small lake.

You can tell this dam has been here for a while. Full disclosure, to keep the falls falling, they pump water from this lake back up to the falls. We have been having a drought here and the falls would probably be a trickle if anything.

Son and I did a big part of all the trails until we called it quits.

I love the goofiness found in some of the State Parks.

We only went about two and a half miles but it was fun.

The trails vary from easy level hikes through the woods to “where did the trail go?”

You can follow our very slow route on Garmin Connect by clicking on the green tag above. It will take you to another screen. Click on the button that looks like your “play” button on your dvd player.

Anyway a great time was had by all.

Our World

Geocaching 101 Video

Our World – Crystal Bridges Museum

Saturday I loaded up my brother, who was in from Corpus Christi, my father who flew down from Idaho Falls, and son SuperPizzaBoy and we took a guy trip to Bentonville, Arkansas a couple hours away to visit the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

(Mark Rothko – Greek Tragedy)

It was the second trip for SPB and I. The first for my father and brother. I think they liked it. I know that I loved it better this time than the first time. The first time I see a museum I want to see every single thing. From then on I go for more of what attracts my eye.

(Maxxfield Parrish – The Lantern Bearers)

The museum specializes in American art. They have both great quantity and great quality.

(Alexander Stirling Calder – Stretching Girl)

The museum building itself is a work of art.

The museum was founded by a Walmart heir. Walmart itself is now paying for everyone’s admission. Priceless art for free, show me a black Friday deal like that.

Our World

Our World – Underground Seattle Tour

You know I’m almost embarrassed by how much I’ve been posting about our family vacation to Seattle. Almost but not quite. It is hard to embarrass me. I’m a Dallas Cowboy fan. If that doesn’t embarrass somebody to admit that then nothing will. Seattle is such a great city and there is such a lot to see and do and we were on the go morning, noon, and night. We had a great time but we were exhausted. Next year, we are going to the beach and planting our little butts down.

The Underground Seattle Tour is in the oldest part of Seattle near what is called Pioneer Square. Pioneer Square is a funky little area that is still struggling. I love the mix of the old and seedy with the new and seedy.

SuperPizzaBoy loved it to. He’s a city kid but he has never been around pigeons too much. I think pigeons are rats with wings but SPB loved them. He chased them all over the square waiting for our tour to start.

The guides of the Underground Seattle Tour had a long and confusing story about early Seattle’s need for redoing their sewer system and the the graft and corruption that went on. The basic thing is that the city decided that they needed to raise street level by one building story. So all the sidewalks and first floors became underground and forgotten for a long time.

The new street level was made and the buildings took second level windows and made street level entrances and built new sidewalks over the old sidewalks. The original building levels became basements and the original sidewalks were forgotten except by drug dealers, prostitutes, and other criminals.

After the orientation tour they guides take us on a tour of the complex of sidewalks entering and exiting in obscure doorways in nasty alleys. I loved it. Above is a space that you can reserve for a wedding reception.

Above is an old skylight over one of the sidewalks.

Here is the above view. I just love this kind of stuff. I love secrets and knowing stuff that other people don’t. Downtown Tulsa has a public tunnel complex that I don’t think one person in a thousand knows about.

The tour ends at a combination gift store and museum. Above is a simple still.

I’m sure you know what this is.

Our World Tuesday

Our World – Philbrook Museum of Art

Last week me and SuperPizzaBoy had some time to ourselves to we went to the Philbrook Museum of Art. We are members thanks to the world’s great MIL, SPB’s Grandmother “Nana.”

We di the whole thing, inside and out, we saw great murals.

Native American Pottery

Modern Native American Art

People brunching.

We love the entry hall at museum, it is grand and very geometric.

A painting of the Grand Canyon by Thomas Moran.

Their collection on Modern Design

We even liked the fireplace screens.

And in a house built by a oil tycoon do you expect the wild naked fish riding women to stay under covers? So to speak.

We also love the gardens of the museum.

We saw both Philbrook cats.

SPB went to say hello, the cat had things to do and places to be.

Philbrook is the place to be if you find yourself in Tulsa.

OurWorld Tuesday

The Tree That Escaped From the Crowded Forest…

The Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma is the only Frank Lloyd Wright skyscraper actually built. Frank Lloyd Wright called it “The Tree that Escaped from the Forest.” It was occupied in 1956.

The building is 221 feet tall with nineteen stories. It was conceived as a mult-use building with offices, apartments, and shops. These days it has an Art Center on the ground floor, a hotel, and a restaurant and bar.

The tree metaphor is reflected in its design. It has a very strong central core and the floors are cantilevered from that core. The exterior is not load bearing and consists of copper and glass panels. These are the “leaves” of the tree.

The building has lots of details like window shades and terraces.

The design of the building was recycled from an abandoned 1929 housing project in New York City that was abandoned because of the depression. When the Price Tower opened in the mid 50’s many considered its design to be outmoded. What was in fashion at the time was the International Style buildings such as the United Nations building in New York City.

For some reason as a fifth grader in Price, Utah, long before I even knew where Bartlesville, Oklahoma was I read about the Price Tower and was really interested by it. I think I was interested because the name of the building was the name of the town that I lived in.

Fast Forward a dozen or so years and I’m on a job interview trip with Phillips Petroleum Company. The lady from HR is driving me from the hotel to the office. I see the building and said “Is that the Price Tower.” She told me she didn’t know except that it was supposed to be famous. I about choked and said, “Yeah it’s famous, it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and it was his only skyscraper.” I couldn’t hide my dismay that she didn’t know about the building. People skills have never been my strong suit. She said, “How does somebody from New Mexico know that?” What I wanted to say was “How does somebody who works in the building’s shadow not know it?” I stuffed those words down though. I got a job offer though. I still don’t understand people who are not curious about the world around them.