Chasing the sun to get home.
Get Rescued!
Beach Scene
Ruby Tuesday at the Beach
Arkansas Rainbow
“Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
Genesis 9:16 NIV
Professional Bull Riding – Express Classic
Friday night SuperPizzaBoy and I attended the Professional Bull Riders Express Classic here in Tulsa at the BOK Center.
I had never been to one before. It was a cross between a fireworks show, rock concert, and a rodeo. Their was fire, flame, and loud music.
The United States Air Force swore in a whole load of recruits. The crowd cheered the “Young Warriors.”
There was a mouthy, hip hop, sarcastic clown with his own mike. He was giving the crowd, the contestants, and the announcers a lot of lip. Apparently, he is famous. He is going to be at Bass Pro in Broken Arrow if you would like to go see him.
And of course, they had pretty girls who apparently were wearing theirlittle sister’s clothes because they didn’t quite fit or cover everything.
We had demonstrations on the latest on lawn mowing technology.
But mainly we had bulls and bull riders, lots of them. I grew up in small towns all over the west and attended lots of rodeos. The bull riding event was the favorite but it wasn’t like this.
These bulls are big and powerful. In the contest between cowboy and bull, the bulls won. Not very many riders were able to go the eight seconds.
Cowboys were flying left and right. One landed on his head, one got kicked in the face, and another got pushed down in the back. Professional Bull Riding was the original extreme sport and is considered the most dangerous event in sports.
Many of the cowboys are from Brazil. They are very tough looking guys.
We rate the event at five smiles out of five.
Check out the PBR web site, lots of good information there. There is an extensive section on their policies and procedures on animal welfare. Included is a lot of information on injury rates.
Kayaking on the Bon Secour River
The highlight of our recent vacation to Gulf Shores, Alabama was a kayaking adventure on the nearby Bon Secour River. “Beachn Betty” and “River Rick,” the owners of BeachnRiver Kayak Rentals set us up with the Kayaks and told us what to look for. They went above and beyond our expectations to make sure that we were taken care of.
Our big concern on this adventure was SuperPizzaBoy. He has a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. Among other things he has problems with coordination. So the initial plan was for us two have one single kayak and a double. SPB announced that he wanted his own kayak, so Rick and Betty set him up with one and showed him how to use the paddle to propel and steer.
So, our outing went from something that sounded like fun to something that was wonderful. It took him a while to figure out how to go straight and not run into the bank but he figured it out. Thanks Rick and Betty for your kindness and patience!
We started out on the upper reaches of the river where the banks are close and the tree cover dense. The river bottom is white sand and the water is crystal clear. As we went along we could see fish swimming along the bottom.
The further downriver we went the more the river opened up. There are lots and lots of houses with docks and boat houses. The river is crystal clear and very pristine. It is also very historic. Ships have sailed up the river since the 1700’s because of the fresh water and game in the woods. Some of the property along the river has been in the same family for ten generations.
Reportedly dolphins sometimes swim up the river, we didn’t see any though. The current is very slow so turning around and paddling back upriver to where we started was very easy.
It was a wonderful way to spend several hours cruising along. There were a few power boats that passed us but they were very courteous and slowed down to a crawl as they passed us.
This might be the best family outing the Yogi’s ever had. It was totally relaxing. SPB in particular had a great time.
When we came back we chatted for quite a while with Betty and Rick. We could tell that they love what they are doing and love the river and the area. They told us about the local places to eat at Gulf Shores. Gulf Shores is notorious for long waits in the summer at the popular eating places. The places Rick and Betty put us onto were just as good, but we never waited, ever. They really know the area well.
So anyways, I rate this place as five stars out of five, all thumbs up, whatever. If you are close to the Alabama Gulf Coast. You have to go see Betty and Rick. We are when we go back.
Purpley Redneck Riviera Sunset
Maybe a New Slogan is in Order?
I’m thinking, based on the sparsely populated parking lot at a busy time of day, that maybe many people are taking this Gulf Shores, Alabama restaurant at their word.
Do you think they have a clever slogan?
(We were not enticed into trying it.)
Gulf Shores
We just got back from a week of family vacation at Gulf Shores, Alabama. The locals call it the “Redneck Riviera.” No matter, the water is clear and the sand was very fine and white. The beaches go on forever.
We played in the sand, and took fuzzy photographs.
And we just hung out, and took even more fuzzy photos. That didn’t bother us, I hope it doesn’t bother you.
It’s very relaxing, it wasn’t crowded and our fellow beachgoer’s were very nice. Sometimes we didn’t care for their music, but we could move a 100 feet away and couldn’t hear them.
Basically, we just chilled out. Speaking of chilling. The temperature was typically in the high 80’s and low 90’s or about 15 to 20 degrees cooler than Tulsa. Have you ever heard of anybody going to lower Alabama to cool off in the summer?
We swam, walked, read, relaxed and did a lot of people watching. Something about watching somebody fishing is very relaxing to me.