A scoop of American White Pelicans in the Arkansas River that I saw earlier this week.
A lone great blue heron fishing by himself.
A small colony of great blue herons along with a single egret in the river.
This cardinal looks like he is attacking my trailcam. My wife laughs when birds land on the camera and then poop on it.
And a cardinal behaving himself at the feeder.
And a female getting a bite to eat.
I’m linking to Saturday’s Critters
The other day I went on a bike ride on the RiverParks Trails around the Arkansas River in Tulsa.
I always check my weather app to check the prevailing winds. I like to go against the wind on the outbound leg and with the wind on the inbound leg. So today I started on the south end because the wind was from the northwest. I crossed the 71st bridge. It is always nice when the river has water in it.
Got across the bridge and hung a right onto Elwood to pass through Turkey Mountain.
I love riding the west side trails. I haven’t done it too much since the last several years since some of the trails have been closed for construction of the new Zink Lake Dam.
This fully enclosed bridge over Mooser Creek always tickles me. Why is it enclosed?
I got up to the soccer fields and checked out the detour map. The trails are opening back up on Labor Day Weekend. They are having a Big Dam Party to celebrate the completion of the Zink Lake Dam, construction of the new Pedestrian Bridge, and reopening of the closed west side trails. I’ll be celebrating, at home, and I’ll check out everything when the hubbub dies down. That’s how I roll.
Oh, yeah, I found a geocache near the sign.
And a guy passed by on this recumbent three wheeler complete with flags. Thankfully, they were right side up.
I deadheaded up the trail past the old PSO Power Plant. I love old infrastructure, even when it doesn’t run.
And go to the sign, “No Public Access” one sign says, the other says “No Bicycles or Scooter.” If you look to the right of the gate, it is propped open and there is a well worn trail there.
I had been wondering how these folks were getting to the river to go fishing. Now I know!! I don’t have a problem with it. These people have had to walk about a mile to get there and by gum. They deserve to fish!! (I am not being sarcastic. I love it when rules are bent to the will of the people, unless it is an insurrection of course.)
So I turned my bike around and headed back down to the soccer field and headed out on the trail detour.
This part used to be scary on southwest boulevard. The road was all torn up and with gravel and such. Plus they had four lanes which made for a tight bike lane especially with tanker trucks going to and from the refinery, dump trucks and other big vehicles that are part of Tulsa’s industrial west side. Then they had a long construction project to redo the road. That was a disaster. No bike lanes, no nothing. The one time I rode it I had to ride on the west side business parking lots cuz I didn’t dare get on the road. I drove the section last week and noticed construction was over and that is why I was riding the bike lane today. I felt pretty comfortable in the bike lane.
So I got up to Route 66 and went across the bridge.
And headed back down south to the car. Didn’t take too many photos. I took some photos of some critters and you can check those out on my post Saturday.
Anyway, almost 18 miles, going slow, stopping and taking photos plus found one geocache. My longest ride in a while.
I’m linking with Skywatch Friday.
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!
I was coming out of a convenience store with a cool drink and noticed this shadow flower on the ground.
Here is another view!
I went for a bike ride on the trails alongside the Arkansas River July 5. The weather broke and the temperature was quite nice for a change. I took one of “good cameras” with me and this is part of what I saw.
A slider turtle basking on a rock.
I saw a bunch of great blue herons. Lonesome sentries all up and down the river.
And several white egrets.
And one of each in the same frame.
So this blurry photo was at the far end of my camera’s range. iNaturalist thinks it might be a golden eagle. I think it might be a young bald eagle. Any suggestions?
And here is a plump of geese. I love collective nouns for wildlife and geese seem to have more than any other animal. “Plump” is new to me and I love it.
And here is a group of people fishing just below Zink Dam. I get nervous when I see this because you have to wade out there through some fast moving water.
And another group below the dam. Note the guy in the middle has a dog on a leash.
The dam and nearby trails is not open to the public yet but I guess that doesn’t apply to this couple who showed up so the guy could take photos of the woman.
And this guy, far from the dam, in a legal spot chilling, listen to music maybe while pondering the river.
I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters. Go check them out!!
I’ve heard about drone shows that use drones instead of fireworks and I have been fascinated by the idea for some time. On July 3rd we headed to the Tulsa suburb of Sapulpa to check out their drone show. They advertise it as an alternative to fireworks and suitable for small children, dogs, and people who don’t like loud noises.
Hear is a local news clip about the show
And the following are some video images of the show I captured with my phone. Sorry about the dim images. At the end of this post I have a youtube video of last year’s show as shot from a drone and has lots better video than what I captured.
Of course you have to have a flag. My videos don’t give the right impression of how big these displays are. They used 400 drones and they were pretty high up. I’ve looked at other drone shows on youtube, some of them use thousands. Most of the videos are speeded up way too much.
USA! USA!!
I’m thinking this is in honor of Chief Sapulpa, who is buried in Sapulpa.
A giant pinwheel
Ok you have to squint really hard to see this. The drones are simulating a fireworks show.
And so this is last year’s show as shot from a drone.
However you enjoy the Fourth, be safe and be nice.
I am linking with Skywatch Friday
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.
Out in a city park on a hot day. The shadows are nice and very welcome. You can tell it was after a windstorm a couple days before with all the debris on the ground.
I went on a bike ride on Tulsa’s RiverParks trail system along the Arkansas River.
I spotted this bale of turtles out basking in the hot sun. The interwebs tell me that bale is the collective noun for turtles.
I focused in on the boss bale. At least it was the biggest one.
Just a few white pelicans out and about. The interwebs say the collective noun is squadron, pouch, pod, or scoop. So I am calling these four a pouch of pelicans.
And just below the Zink Dam there was this group fishing.
And here is my turnaround spot with the River Bears in the background. It was a hot day!!
I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Come over and join the party.
For Father’s Day early this month, Heather and Logan treated me to an outing at the Tulsa Botanic Garden.
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