Dennis R Neil Equality Center
Centennial Park
American Legion
Adah Robinson Residence – Early Day Tulsa Architect
I guess he ran out of paint. Or maybe he got ran out.
It is amazing, if you look closely, how many people sleep outside in and around downtown.
I finally made it to a Tulsa Tough Bike Race and Crybaby Hill today (Sunday). I’ve missed out in past years but this was my year.
Tulsa Tough is a series of bike races held in Tulsa every June. It has grown and grown. It includes everything from a “Townie Ride” open to everybody to amateur and professional level criterium events. A criterium race, I’m told from Wikipedia, is a race on a short course consisting of closed off city streets. The race is a set number of laps. In other words they go around and around.
The formal name for the Crybaby Hill event is the “River Parks Criterium.” It is brutal. The riders start on Riverside drive and go for a short while and then climb up a steep hill and then make a right turn and then back down to Riverside drive down a very steep hill and then a greater than 90 degree turn. And then they repeat the lap, over and over. It looks brutal. Check this Tulsa World link for the story behind the Tulsa Tough races and Crybaby Hill.
They have classes all the way from youth to old guys and gals and professional levels. All sorts of very skinny yet muscular people speaking foreign languages this week in Tulsa.
Crybaby Hill is also a party. Check here for the origin of the name (if you didn’t before). Basically people get to the top of the hill and cheer the riders on.
I left today before it really got crazy. Next year I’m staying for the whole thing.
People wear strange outfits to the event.
In between laps the contractor handing the portapotties was racing to finish the installation. Everybody was yelling “clear the way for the *******. The orange lines are where the spectators are supposed to stay behind. They had to put those in because in years past, from what I’m told, the gap the riders could ride through got narrower and narrower as the day went on.
My favorite sign. Take that Westboro Baptist so called Church. The guys in the striped shirts are the supposed to keep everybody behind the orange lines. They enjoy their jobs.
The theme was “Under the Sea” so I guess that makes this guy King Neptune or something.
I’m not sure what she was supposed to be.
And some more characters. Notice the baby’s for sale. This is Crybaby Hill after all.
This is a brief video of the scene at the top of the hill where the riders are just about tuckered out and the crowd is cheering them on with cowbells, whistles, sirens and beer.
And this is a video at the bottom of the hill where they have to make a greater than 90 degree right turn on a steep downhill. You’d better have a precise line and good brakes to get through this unscathed.
Anyway a good time was had by all. And bikes were raced.
Hot weather means less people running and cycling on the Trails.
While we were in Hawaii the weather here in Tulsa got hot. We are now approaching full blown summer weather. Last Wednesday I went for a run after work in the 96F heat. I know how to run in the heat. Run slow, which comes naturally to me, carry water, take lots of breaks and listen to your body is what I do.
With the construction of a gathering place going on, running is limited on the east side so I cross over to the west side of the river. With all the rain we have had the river is up and there are lots more fishermen that what I normally see. I don’t know what they are fishing for but they are hard at it.
I found a little cross stuck in the ground. A memorial to somebody obviously. I don’t know who and there were no names. I say a little prayer for peace to whoever put it there and move on.
The main function of Tulsa Power Station is to bolster the rate base. I think it is the last unit on and the first one off during the summertime heat loads. It sure seems to fire up during smog alerts in the summer.
I only went about a mile and a half down the river to the PSO Tulsa Power Station and went down to the long forgotten kayak run (now visited only by geocachers I think) to where you can right down on the river.
180 degree panorma
The river is up several feet and was pretty wild. It would be easy to drown in this water if you were not careful.
A 12 second video of the water. Loud and fast. Thank goodness and the Corps of Engineers for Keystone Dam upstream of Tulsa or things could really be interesting. Tulsa used to have bad flooding way back when before the dam was put in.
Running back I got this subtle reflection of the river of a condo across the way. You can tell why we call northeast Oklahoma “Green Country.” Everything is greening up this year with all the rain we have had.
The shadows are longer. Time to go home, shower, eat dinner and down a cold one ( or two.)
Have you gone any adventures yet?
Have you heard the news!! Simon Property Group is abandoning their Turkey Mountain outlet mall project. They are going to put it in a much more appropriate site in the Tulsa suburb of Jenks. Read about it here. A site that people repeatedly brought up during the discussions on the project. The site should work better for Simon. You can also read more info here to learn how to enhance the view of property with the help of experts.
Of course the city of Jenks will get the sales tax revenue, or at least the promise of it given the huge subsidies that Simon was looking for in terms of paying for infrastructure and other types of corporate welfare they were looking for to help with the economics of the their project.
I couldn’t be happier for all involved. Now comes the real work. Money needs to be raised to buy the remaining land on Turkey Mountain at market value in order to preserve it. Tulsa is growing and it is just a matter of time before somebody else tries to develop it. It is not fair to the landowners to expect them to provide people like me free land to enjoy.
In the meantime, I’m happy that Simon came to their senses. I don’t think they expected the buzzsaw of opposition that they riled up with their proposal. I’m also proud of my fellow Tulsans. Despite Oklahoma’s populist roots, large corporations do pretty much what they want to do in Oklahoma these days. It is nice to see a little push back in a case like this where something bad was fixing to happen (as we say in Oklahoma.)
Tulsa had a Craft Beer and Music Festival last Sunday sponsored by the Tulsa’s own Hanson Brothers. It was quite the shindig. The music part was free and featured some great bands including the Hanson Brothers. We couldn’t stay for them but we sure had a good time listening to the music, sampling the beer, and just hanging out. It was all happening on under a big ole Oklahoma Sky.
Here is Isaac Hanson at the family beer tent. He was very gracious talking to fans and getting selfies taken with them.
Topaz Impressions
The Philbrook Museum of Art is one of my favorite picture taking places. From the galleries to the gardens to the building itself it is a great place to take your camera. It is an “Italian Renaissance Villa” built in the late 1920’s by Tulsa oilman Waite Phillips for his home. He later donated it to the City of Tulsa for use as a museum. It has grown since then and is a treasure. We have a membership, courtesy of my sweet MIL, so I go there ever month or so just to walk around with my camera. I have been there dozens of times over the years and always find something new.
It is Mayfest time again in Tulsa. The downtown festival featuring food, music, crafts, and people watching happens every year and kind of ebbs and flows with the economy.
Apple Ipod Touch and Waterlogue
This year found me kind of busy so I wasn’t able to spend as much time as usual but i still made the rounds with my trusty ipod touch and its Waterlogue and Snapseed Apps.
Apple Ipod Touch and Snapseed
The food stands are my favorite, for taking pictures. Goodness knows I’m not going to eat at one of them. Basically you have to buy coupons to pay for the food and drink. I just want to pay to pay for my food and drink in cash. Not do the deal where I have to see how many coupons I want and then go stand in the coupon line and then go get the food. Lets do something different next year folks. I always thought cash was king.
Apple Ipod Touch and Waterlogue
Plus, I didn’t see the Indian Tacos nor the Gyros. Sorry, if I am going to eat festival food it has to be something different. Also, many of the craft vendors had “No photography” signs up. What is up with that. I don’t think they can make it stick but I don’t really like to mess with people when it comes to a conflict between my hobby of blogging and their livelihood.
So anyway, check out Tulsa International Mayfest
I found this dancing tree during one of my evening runs on Turkey Mountain. I love the way the leaves reflect the low sun on its way down. A few minutes after this, it starts getting dark up on the mountain and it would be time to head back to the parking lot but I’m always wanting to go a little bit further. I love the feeling of being out in the middle of nowhere.
I love it when the weather warms up enough to go running in the morning outside rather than the gerbil activity on a treadmill in a gym. This time of year the sun is just barely rising when I pass the ponds on one of my routes. I love how quiet and peaceful it is very early. It is like every day is born with new hope. Of course, other days I just want to sit, read the paper, and browse the blogs I follow.
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.
We had some great shrimp appetizers and a salad a couple of fru-fru cocktails. We had a nice relaxing time.
Afterwards we took a stroll around the Brady District and Guthrie Green and chatted with some friends.
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.
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.
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.
