Category Archives: My Corner of the World

WOMPA, WOMPA, and Baseball

The other day, my bride, Heather and I, got all dressed up and went to an event. A gallery opening for a friend of Heather. Not only that the gallery was at a “coworking space.” Doesn’t that sound hip and with it. It is called WOMPA and is located in an old industrial building on the west side of Tulsa. An old factory or something. They wine and finger foods, and art and cool people, “including Heather and I, or at least Heather.”

A coworking space seems kind of like a hangout place. You can pay a fee and hang out one of the sofas, or pay more and get a cubicle or something. More yet and you get your place with a key and you can even live there.

You can have a party or other events there. It’s all cool.

We had a lot of fun!!

And then a day or two after that. Son, Logan, and I went to a baseball game. The Tulsa Drillers. I love live baseball. Nothing better, nothing worse on television though.

A pre-game brew at the restaurant.

We had some great burgers before the game outside the parka and then walked to ONEOK Field.

I even scored the game. I score all the games where I am in charge of when we leave. Nothing worse than scoring starting at the top of the second inning.

And then in the bottom of the 4th the Drillers were behind 9 to zip. Time to go home is what I say. It was pathetic. Sorry Drillers. We’ll be back.

At the top of the stands we saw this beautiful sunset.

On the way out I saw this beautiful blue motorcycle.

So WOMPA was a hit, and the Drillers were a miss!

I am linking with My Corner of the World.

Skywatch Friday – Turkey Mountain Hike

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The other day I grabbed up my hiking gear and headed out to Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness. I took my “grabbers” and a small grocery bag to gather trash. People are pretty good about picking up after themselves so I used to take a small garbage bag but I usually only find an item or two during my hikes.

I took a little side trail pretty soon after the trailhead to find a geocache.

And yep I found it. Another use of grabbers is to grab into places you can’t see so that mr snake doesn’t clamp down on my hand. That would ruin my whole day.

I didn’t see too many critters. A few squirrels maybe, no big critters. I took along my Merlin Bird ID app on the phone. It’s amazing. Turn it on audio mode and it identified:
Red-eyed vireo
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Northern Cardinal
I didn’t see a one of them!! I glimpsed small birds flitting around in the thick woods but I couldn’t vouch for any of them. One I did get a good look at looked like a small woodpecker with a redhead but it wasn’t making any sounds. I don’t know what it is though. It’s kind of frustrating but kind of fun as well. I think being able to spot and ID them will come with practice and patience.

I came upon a fallen tree on one of the small legacy trails. I took a photo of it with my Solocator app which puts the coordinates on the photos and posted it on Turkey Mountain’s facebook page and they had it cleared before I ended my hike. You gotta have the apps folks.

I got to Pepsi Lake and looked around.

I found a mess that somebody left, including a styrofoam cup and some fishing spinner bait packaging. Why can people not haul out what they haul in?

And a Pepsi can, at Pepsi Lake! All the trash fit into my shopping bag that I brought.

I kept heading north and heard some construction type noise. Excited that more trails might be under construction made me hurry to find the source.

It was pipeline construction going on. Ironically my former employer is having to relocate a line because of some highway construction and they cut a deal with my employer before that to lay in their right of way.

That’s not the way the energy industry typically was back in the old days. You had to have sharp elbows to survive. We didn’t spend too much time holding hands and singing Kumbaya with competitors let alone helping each other out. So maybe it is a kinder and gentler industry now?

So I followed the construction from a distance just to make sure that they are doing it right. I guess they are and I was getting tired so I headed back to the parking lot.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World.

My Corner of the World – Route 66 Geocaching

Sunday morning I went geocaching in midtown Tulsa roughly along Route 66. I found this cute Little Free Library during my search. A couple of other searches took me to church parking lots. I avoid church parking lots on Sunday mornings. I avoid church also. (Just joking, I haven’t been since covid and have turned into a total heathen since.)

Parks are always a good place for geocaches.

And parking lots, if nobody is around.

A fellow geocacher maybe trying to get a hint on where to look.

Stopped by Route 66. A local business put up another muffler man, only this is a muffler girl. Stella Atom, the Space Cowgirl.

I love the kitschy Route 66 attractions. I don’t like driving Route 66 that much. It sure makes for slow going. Why do that when you are paralleling a nice freeway?

And I finished up at Oaklawn Cemetery. It is the oldest cemetery in Tulsa. The city has spent some considerable time and money excavating some old graves that were suspected to be those of Tulsa Race Massacre victims based on eyewitness accounts. I don’t think they have found anything conclusive yet. They have recovered genetic material and have encouraged local residents who think they may have relatives who were massacre survivors to report any DNA information they have. This past May the city reported that they have determined numerous people who have genetic ties to the bodies that were exhumed. Interestingly, none of the people contacted had any idea that they had relatives buried at Oaklawn or could have possible ties to the Tulsa Race Massacre.

There are other old graves there including several veterans of World War I, like the one above. The 804 Pioneer Infantry was a unit that did construction and maintenance work during the war. The enlisted men were almost all black serving under white officers.

And that was my Sunday morning!

My Corner of the World

Cars and More from the 2024 Route66 Roadfest in Tulsa

Heather and I attended the Route 66 Roadfest here in Tulsa a few weeks ago. I’ve been in years past but this was her first time. The event has lots of Route 66 information and speakers, displays, and all that and I have seen all that and loved it. This year I was there for the cars and trailers.

They had a group of old travel trailers. They were all dolled up for glamping. When I was a kid, we used similar units for traveling. Talk about tight!! Squeezing a family of five in there. It all worked though. My sister has told me that she felt sorry for my brother and I when Dad got a tent for us to sleep outside. She can rest her conscience. We loved it.

This one had a custom handhold to help get yourself in the trailer. All the old folks checking out the trailers were bumping our heads on the doors.

And here is a two story unit. We went in and shuffled around with everybody else. We didn’t go upstairs. It was very cramped up there.

For the cars. This old Mercury Woody Station Wagon might have been my favorite. Talk about beautiful.

Or maybe this old Chevrolet Corvette Singray might be my favorite.

How about an old Edsel. Very stylish but forever stained by the failure of the cars in the market.

How about a nice Shelby Cobra?

Or a Ford Thunderbird. Lots of Tbirds at the show. That’s my wife right besides the front passenger door.

A heavily modified Chevrolet Camaro.

Lots of chrome to go with the supercharger.

Here is a Chevrolet with a supercharger.

How about gold toned quad carburetors.

This Thunderbird had the best paint job at the show, IMHO.

I especially like the custom hood ornament.

And an old Plymouth Duster. They were all the rage back in the day. A big engine wrapped in a cheap car.

You don’t see too many of them around.

Another old Woody Station Wagoni.

And a vintage Ford Truck. Dad had one similar to this. Except it was yellow.

How about an old Model A?

How about a hub cap selfie?

I’m linking with My Corner of the World.

Skywatch Friday – Father’s Day at the Tulsa Botanic Garden

For Father’s Day early this month, Heather and Logan treated me to an outing at the Tulsa Botanic Garden.

I see where taking photos at an angle is artistic, so here we are.

I loaded up my macro lens and off we went. I love taking photos of the blooms as wells as the whole plant. I know very little about flowers but I love the colors.

I loved the colorful yarrow

And all the other flowers

Daylillies were putting on a show.

I couldn’t get enough of them.

Zinnias are always a favorite.

The garden arranged for several sports cars at a local museum to be on display as well. I love the Jaguar E type. Who doesn’t love a twelve cylinder engine.

Vintage Corvette’s are the best.

And an MG-TC. A beautiful car.

I posted this photo on my of my blog entries last week. I didn’t know what the deal was. I called the Garden’s office on Wednesday and they told me that these bison are moved down to the gardens as part of their Christmas light show. So I will have to check it out later this year. Mystery solved.

So I had a great Father’s Day.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World

Tulsa’s Backyard Blaze Trail Race – 2024 Edition

As reported earlier I walked/trotted a 5K race on June 1 here in Tulsa: The Backyard Trail Race at the Herman and Kate Kaiser YMCA on Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain. That Y calls themselves, Tulsa’s Backyard, and if you have been there you can see why. It is a beautiful Y situated on the edge of an Urban Wilderness. Tulsa RiverParks, who administers the Turkey Mountain Wilderness Area, call themselves “Tulsa’s Front Yard.” So now you know that Tulsa has both a front and a back yard. And sorry, I haven’t even started the post yet. I am already way off topic.

The Y has a lot going on. A huge deluxe swimming pool, sports areas, splash pads, a gym, a ropes course, kayaking, fishing, hiking. They got it all going on.

And a really nice lodge with offices, reception, and checking in a large multipurpose room, verandas. It’s great.

And a really nice scenic pond.

There was a light cool fog in the area that morning.

And then we had the start for everybody. I’m not sure how many raced. Not that many but those that did had a good time. I stood right by the starting line and took this video. When I was done I stepped to the left and crossed the start line myself.

By that time, everybody was way ahead of me.

Didn’t bother me in the least. Do I look bothered?

So I got to hike by myself during the cool morning. I trotted the sections that were smooth, flat and slightly downhill.

Don’t you just love a twisty turny trail in the woods? I do.

We went through a small meadow.

And alongside some pipeline construction. The original route went on the right of way but had to be rerouted during construction. Trail race organizers have to be flexible that way. No whiny babies. It turns out that my most recent employer was letting my previous employer use their right of way for the their own pipeline after they lost their right of way due to some highway construction. Tell you what, when I was still working we talked cooperation but we didn’t do it. You would just string it out until they figured out something else in pure desperation. In the Oklahoma natural gas industry you had to have sharp elbows. It was rough!! Now I guess everybody is holding hands and singing Kumbaya. I don’t quite believe that and I don’t think you should either. And here I am digressing again.

Anyways, I digress, We started at the north end of the photo above and headed south. You can see the big mix master we went through in the middle before we headed back. I passed a few people so I didn’t finish last. The main thing is that I finished, vertically. I didn’t have to crawl past the finish line.

I got myself a bottle of water and a pancake. I could have had more but all I wanted was one.

And they had some decent swag: A nice shirt and a wooden branded in medal. I am not a fan of medals but I like this one. I’m using it for a bookmark. People are all wound up about race medals now days. Hey give me a nice tee shirt and I am happy.

I’ll be back next year if the run this race again. It is a great, well run, race with a wonderful vibe.

I’m linking with My Corner of the World.

Tulsa Tough – 2024 Edition – FC Tulsa Arts District Criterium

Tulsa Tough is a series of bicycle races held in Tulsa every year during a long weekend in June. They have distance races of various lengths over two days. They have a bunch of short races close to downtown called Criteriums where the racers are on a closed course of a mile or two and they go round and round a bunch of times. One races is in the Blue Dome District, one in the Arts District and another on Riverside (Crybaby Hill). They have a bunch of categories from kids divisions to men and women amateurs of various ages and then the professional divisions. They also have a five mile or so “Townie Ride” that is free, so you just show up with your bicycle and ride.

Just the way things have been I always go check out the Riverside criteriums on Sunday. For one thing it is home of the infamous crybaby hill which is more of a drunken party with a bicycle race going on. (Check this link about my first visit to Crybaby Hill in 2015.)

I’ve only participated in one event. That was in 2019 when I rode in the “Picolo” event. The shortest distance event they offer at 32 miles or so. It kicked my butt pretty hard and I didn’t even finish. I was close to the finish line and I passed my car and said, heck with this I’m done so I pulled out of the race, and loaded up my bicycle and went home. Read about it here.

I had a conflict this Sunday so I checked out the Arts District Criterium on Saturday. It’s not near the party but it is still lots of fun.

Oh look at the time! I’ve droned on and on and spent the whole time yakking about me instead of the race I went on Saturday. Figures though, aren’t blogs just about the writer? So I’ll shut and show you the photos I took Saturday afternoon. I had places to be so I wasn’t there very long.

The thing about the criteriums is that riders are all very good and in great shape so they get kind of bunched up. At least right at first and it takes time to separate the faster ones from the slower ones.

I like the intense competition. Everybody is in it to win it and they don’t want embarrass themselves.

And also they are very close to one another. If somebody falls or makes a wrong move then a bunch of people are going down also

So I had found a spot right on a turn where nobody else was so I set up and was taking photos wondering why nobody else was there. Along comes a course marshall and we start chatting and finally ask him if I was okay where I was and he said sure no problem. Then he says hey you know something if you could get your camera down close to the ground and shoot up that might make a more dynamic photo.

So I did experimented with that a little bit with my camera down below the barricade but not intruding on the course and wow. I thought it made a big difference.

I had put the camera on sport mode so when I pressed the shutter it would take a bunch of photos until it buffered out so I ended up with a ton of photos but I only kept a few and am posting just a few of them here.

The guy had a bunch of other tips and then had to go. His last words were you need to remember that the place you are taking pictures from is also a good place to crash and if you are down low right behind the barricade and you get hit, it is going to hurt. I said yep I had already figured that out.

So any way I got to see a great bicycle race and learned something at the same time. And got out unscathed.

How about you? Have you been to any bicycle races lately?

I am linking with My Corner of the World

Skywatching and Other Watching

I launched my drone the other day and went up 50 meters over the back yard. We had a little color for the sunset, not much, but some great clouds.

Sunday morning I went geocaching up in the Tulsa suburb of Catoosa. Came across this ammonia plant. I’m a chemical engineer so I like this kind of thing plus they use lots of natural gas both as a feedstock and for fuel for their processes.

Also in Catoosa, there are lots of pecan orchards up there. People hide geocaches near them and deer like to graze in the grass underneath. That is all coming to a screeching halt soon. They are subdividing this huge orchard. Makes me want to cry.

Went on a walk around Tulsa’s Lafortune Park. A big sprawling park that incorporates a high school and their various ball fields, a regular and par three golf course, several little league baseball fields, an American Legion baseball field, this high school baseball field as well as a softball diamond for the women, a public library, some gardens, an indoor and outdoor tennis complex, a public swimming pool, some great picnic areas and wonderful playparks for kids, and a three mile long walking/running path winding around all these facilities. I love it. Great photo ops.

Still at Lafortune, I love construction equipment.

A pond,

And lastly at Lafortune. My favorite moose.

My wife and I took a 2.7 mile hike at Turkey Mountain. Went by the hub, the highest point on Turkey Mountain. It’s about 300 feet above the lowest point on Turkey Mountain but hey it has a great view.

I ran a 5K trail race on Turkey Mountain last Saturday. When I say I ran it, I meant I walked it although I did trot some of the flat slightly downhill segments. I started out in last place but I passed a lot of people during the course of the race. Funny thing is that when I finished the race there were people already there who I had passed. I didn’t care but that happens in these races sometimes. Nobody cares especially since it wasn’t anybody who was in contention to place. I’ll have a separate post about the race later. Maybe.

So that is about it for this week. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World

Beavers Bend State Park Getaway 2024

Last week we went to southeast Oklahoma’s Beavers Bend State Park for a few nights. So we had only two full days and we packed a lot of fun during that time. Two hikes, a kayak ride, several dog walks and lots of sitting by the fire, making smores, grilling burgers, playing cornhole, and sitting in the hot tub.

The first hike was along the Mountain Fork River below the Broken Bow dam on what I think was an old logging road.

It was kind of fun paralleling the river.

The farther we went the smaller the trail became. It ends at about 1.5 miles in so it makes a good out and back route of about three miles.

The second hike was alongside the Broken Bow Lake formed by the dam. It was also fun.

53737957397_6e7e6f26ac_o_HDR — Toe Cam!!

And we went for a short kayak paddle on the Mountain Fork River just below the dam. I’m not much a kayaker but I was able to handle the little rapids they had right at first (most would call those rapids a ripple). It was calm water and there were not many people.

It was a very calm time.

It made for some great reflections.

You may notice however that I blew out the sky on these photos. Sorry excuse for Skywatch Friday, right! I have the technology to put whatever sky I want on but that seems like cheating. And you know here at Skywatch Friday, we are very inclusive our various skies, even the ones blown out by untalented amateurs.

Gray skies and all we had a great time.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World.

Tired on the Trails – Work Day on Turkey Mountain

Last Saturday a good sized group got together early on Turkey Mountain here in Tusla for a work day. On the agenda was lots of lopping of trees and shrubs along the trail and for the hale and hearty guys and gals some heavy duty dirt work. The Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition and the RiverParks Authority were over the project.

(Note: TUWC photo from their facebook site.)

Me and two others grabbed loppers and headed out to our designated trails. It was hard work especially as the day warmed up and humidity rose.

We ended up lopping on over three miles of trail. Everybody else was tired and satisfied with the work they had done. It was a good day on the mountain.

Linking with My Corner of the World

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