Overnight Retreat and Pub Crawl

Saturday afternoon we dropped the kid off at Nana’s house and Heather and I headed downtown for a little parents night out action. We checked in at a swanky hotel and then headed to the Brady District for dinner at Sisserou’s.

Alan at Sisserous

We had some great shrimp appetizers and a salad a couple of fru-fru cocktails. We had a nice relaxing time.

DSCN3621

Afterwards we took a stroll around the Brady District and Guthrie Green and chatted with some friends.

IMG_20150502_193830

And then we hopped in the car and drove over to the Blue Dome District to see if would could catch some live music. First though we stopped in at McNellies for a pint. I love that place.

IMG_20150502_203212

We checked out a couple of other places that were supposed to have live music but the vibe wasn’t quite right or it was way too smoky, like at Arnie’s Bar. So we went to the Dust Bowl Lanes and had another pint. During our walking around me and coworker said hello.

Mayo Rooftop Bar Prairie Artisian Ales

So then it was like what the heck lets head back to the hotel. They have a fabulous rooftop bar so we just stayed up there and watched the people and enjoyed the breeze. We had a great time although we may have stayed up a little later than usual.

Sunday morning, we slept in and walked to a restaurant, ate a nice breakfast. The waitress recognized us from the Blue Dome Diner that we used to frequent about three years ago. That is Tulsa. You can’t get away from anything here. The biggest small town I’ve ever lived in.

And then it was time to retrieve the kid an get back to real life.

Proposed Dams on the Arkansas River

PowerPlant Skywatch Edit

One of Tulsa’s best attractions is the Arkansas River that runs through it. It is beautiful and Tulsa and suburbs have enhanced it by putting in miles of trails and parks on both sides of the river.

20100826_25

The River also separates the urban east side and the industrial west side of town. The east side has downtown, museums, nice subdivisions and such. The west side has two refineries, a power plant, concrete plants and a bunch of other industries. I like both sides actually.

DSCN1920

The only thing is that the river is most attractive where it has water in it dependably and that is only upstream of Zink Dam which was built in the last century and is showing its age plus the dam is beginning to build up silt behind it.  The city has an engineering report now and it describes a project to renovate the Zink Lake Dam and add three other dams to the river. The total cost is just over $300 million bucks. It is a lot of money but I think it may be a bargain.

The new dams will feature “Obermeyer Gates” which is a kind of hinged dam that raises and lowers by means of an air bladder. So when the gate is lowered, silt and sand can move downstream and fish can move upstream. I am not sure how often they would cycle the gates but it does sound like an interesting technology.

Check here to see a video of how the Obermeyer Gate works. I had the video embedded but it autostarted and drives everybody crazey.

All I know is that communities are either growing or dying, their isn’t too much room in between and if cities want to grow they have to invest in themselves. I’ll be watching this and seeing if we can pass a bond issue to address the river.

Woolaroc Skywatch

Woolaroc Sky Impressions Swirly Strokes I 47pct

The suddenly camera shy wife and kid off to the left. Note that painted look is because I used Topaz Labs Impressions software on the image. I backed it off about 50% on the strength of the effect.

More from our family trip to Woolaroc last weekend. We left Tulsa and it was all warm and everything and by the time we got to Woolaroc about an hour later it was chilly and windy but we had an interesting sky so it was all worth it.

Linking with Skywatch Friday and Good Fences

Nature Notes – The Woods of Woolaroc

Woolaroc Woods 1

Sunday the family journeyed from Tulsa north to Woolaroc, a museum and wildlife preserve that used to be Frank Phillips‘ Ranch (like in Phillips Petroleum). We toured the museum and the barn and looked at the critters but the best part was hiking through the woods. Everything was very green and fresh and magical.

Linking with Nature Notes

The Gardens of Philbrook Museum

Saturday I dropped the kid off at his comedy improv class and I headed over to the Philbrook Museum of Art to wander the grounds. My MIL Nana bought the family a season pass and I love it because I feel that I can just pop in and spend an hour without thinking that I have to get my money’s worth.

Philbrook - Timpietto

This is the Tempietto at Philbrook. It and the Praying Hands at Oral Roberts University are the most photographed scenes in Tulsa. I’ve taken my share of them. It is just so beautiful I never get tired of it. The guy in the pic had an easel and was painting. There were several other people out and about drawing and sketching the gardens on Saturday.

Philbrook - Villa Philbrook

And this is from the base of the Tempietto looking back to the house, Villa Philbrook it is called. I never tire of this scene either.

Philbrook - fountain with flowers

And this was on the east side of the grounds. There were purple tulips (I think they are tulips) and they were just beautiful.

The gardens at Philbrook Museum of Art are a great way to spend an hour or two when the weather is good. Do you have a go to place that you never get tired of going to?

Linking with Our World Tuesday

 

Scavenger Hunt Sunday – It’s All About Me!

I have been gone way too long from Ashley’s weekly scavenger hunt and it is time for me to come back.

1. Weather

Tulsa State Fair

This is an old shot from the Tulsa State Fair. I went there one Saturday morning and I was about the only one to show up. It looks like the sky was about to open up. They did a short time later. Not much money was made on the midway that day.

2. My Perspective

Snoqualmie Falls

One of my favorite cameras is an analog fisheye camera. It is cool. Fixed focus, not adjustment, no nothing. Just point and shoot and hope for the best. You pays your money and you see what you got. This is Snoqualmie Falls in Washington. The babe to the left is my lovely wife.

3. Technology

IMG_3319

How about a cool 4-H STEM poster for technology. You know what STEM is right? It stands for “Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.” I think that is great but I (and many others) think we should change to “STEAM” Which is STEM with Arts added in. Of course I live in Oklahoma where we are happy with just many of high school graduates learning how to read.

4. Fresh

IMG_3838

Oh man, I cannot resist a trail and fresh air. How about you?

5. Me

033

That’s me, and Heather. Isn’t she beautiful? And know those leaves on the my shirt is not marijuana plants. At least I don’t think they are. And no, those are not my cows. And GOODNESS NO!!!!, I didn’t go to the University of Oklahoma. (AKA “The University of Texas at Norman). Its a great school and all. I mean they have done a great job the last few years building a university that the football team can be proud of. (I know, don’t end sentences in prepositions. I tried and it didn’t read very well, go ahead and make suggestions if you want.)

Well that’s it for the Scavenger Hunt this week. Come and join in the fun. Check it out at Scavenger Hunt Sunday.

2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat

 

Dodge Challenger Hellcat

Heather and I went to the Tulsa Car Show on Friday. I’m just freshly turned 60 and hey guess what, I got in for half price!!  I have to tell you that I have mixed feelings about that. Of course the worse thing was that the lady taking the money didn’t ask for ID or anything. Same thing happened when I turned 21 and went out to bars with my friends. Not a one asked me for my ID except at a strip bar and then the guy didn’t want to let me in anyway. I talked him into letting me in so that I could see the snaggletoothed strippers. And really it is not so much that I wanted to see the strippers as I didn’t want to be outside on my birthday while my friends checked out the snaggletoothed strippers.  Oops, I’m digressing and offending at the same time. Hey folks, that was 39 years ago!!! Get over yourselves. Anyway, back at the car show.

IMG_1553

Anyway there were lots of cars there. Most of them look like Toyotas. Sorry if hurt your feelings but there it is.

IMG_1552

They had one car there though that was special. The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. It has a supercharged engine with 707 horsepower.

IMG_1548

For people of a certain age, like those who turned 60 +/- recently and are reluctantly enjoying senior citizen discounts, the Dodge Hemi Challenger has a special place in our hearts exemplified by one of the strangest and wonderful movies of 1971 starring not an actor but a car, the Doge Hemi Challenger, which back then generated a measly 426 horsepower. Of course the naked girl on a motorcycle generated some interest also with me, especially back then.

I can’t tell you how many times I watched that movie. I like cars but I don’t generally covet cars. The cars that I own have tended to be practical and economical. The Hellcat is an exception.  I hope that the people who buy them really enjoy them.

IMG_1550

What about you? Have you ever wanted a muscle car?

2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat – Overview from driveSRT on Vimeo.

 

Related articles

(Bad) Judgement Day on Turkey Mountain

DSCN3575

Last Tuesday night I went over to Turkey Mountain and did a little (darned little) trail running and geocaching. I started out on the Red Trail to go find some caches. I passed a couple that was walking along really slowly looking at their GPSr and I asked if they were geocaching. The guy put the GPSr behind his back and said, “What’s that.” Newbies, why are they so embarrassed? Cuz they should be is the answer.

DSCN3579

It took a while for my GPSr to lock on so I kind of wibble wobbled as you might see from the Garmin Connect map at the end of this post but it finally synched with the satellites (thank you my fellow American taxpayers for those satellites I’ll add here.) My first cache was difficult. It required a double backward flip off this fallen tree and a clean landing. Believe it or not I did it and so claimed the cache. Proof, you say? Well I told you that I did it didn’t I?

DSCN3586

Then the next one not too far away. All I had to do was stick my hand somewhere I didn’t want to. Nothing bit me, this time.

DSCN3581

And I climbed out of the Red Tail area via the Fro Flo trail. I love going the wrong way is all I can say. I went uphill on the Fro Flo guys. Gasps from the Turkey Mountain free riders.

There are several videos on Youtube of the Fro Flo by riders using their Go Pro cameras. This one had some good views of the jumps.

DSCN3580

I’m trying to figure out what this is for.

DSCN3588

This one looks fun. Would you ride your bike up this ramp and then down the length of the log. Yeah, well me neither.

So anyway I got back to the parking lot and started up the blue trail to the top of Lipbuster and looked for a cache (and didn’t find it) near the water tanks and then I noticed another cache on my GPSr about a quarter mile away. I thought, maybe I could bushwhack it over there.

DSCN3592

Not a good idea. One thing led to another. Thorns, tall grass, thickets, scratches, blood, insects. No snakes though. That I could see anyway. Fortunately I had used deet before my run so no ticks or chiggers.

DSCN3594

I finally found a clearing. Where I could make some headway.

DSCN3593

And then out in the middle of nowhere I found Little Miss Blue Eyes. Kind of cute don’t you think. Kind of spooky is what I think. Eventually I found a trail and made it to the cache site and found it and then I kind of took a wrong turn.

DSCN3596

You see there were some new trails up there and I didn’t know how they ran so I just went with it and took quite a tour of the southwestern side of the mountain before I made it back to the Snake Trail. By then it was pitch dark and I didn’t do a whole lot of running.

DSCN3597

I passed a cop car with its lights on. I think they were looking for the old fat guy going up the wrong way on Fro Flo.

Here is my route. Slow and sloppy was the mode.

Continue reading →