Tag Archives: Barbecue

Through My Lens – Brunch and a Hike on Turkey Mountain

I’m still way behind on my posting. This is about a hike I took on Turkey Mountain on the last Sunday of March.

Turkey Mountain is ultra popular now days especially on the weekends. So on the weekends I generally head to the northwest side of Turkey Mountain. The YMCA has the Herman and Kate Kaiser YMCA there. They have paved parking, flush toilets and their trails interconnect with Turkey Mountains. Plus I am a Y member, so I go there and check in. So I stopped at the lodge and checked in and on the way out one of their people told me that they had a barbecue lunch going on and I was welcome, and I didn’t have to pay. Oh, free food. Sign me up.

Smoked brisket, smoked sausage, corn pudding, potato salad, and a peanut butter cookie.

So I went in and got me a plate and it was delicious. I’m not totally into free food plus I love the Y. My wife teaches classes at two other Y’s in town and I use the Y’s also. Plus the Y on Turkey Mountain holds a special place in my heart. They hosted the first trail race I ran in (and a bunch more besides.) They provided a venue for the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition to host Leave No Trace when they came to Tulsa. Anyway the Herman and Kate Kaiser Y is a special place and they had QR cards around there where one could make a donation so I donated a modest sum. Talk about an unexpected meal, it was great.

So, fortified off I went.

I saw butterflies,

Birds like this robin

Question Mark Butterfly

And more butterflies

and more, except this might be a moth.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

And yet another butterfly. And a bonus wasp hovering over.

Some decent trails

Wildflowers

More Trails.

And a turtle at Pepsi Lake.

So almost four miles

Plus my Merlin App picked up: Northern Cardinals, Carolina Wrens, and Tufted Titmice on my outing.

What a special day. Thank you to the nice people at the Herman and Kate Kaiser YMCA for making the day special.

I am linking to Through My Lens

Post Memorial Day Weekend Update

Monday morning I got up, not too darn early, and headed out to Floral Haven Cemetery in the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow. It is a huge cemetery and they have a program where a Veteran’s survivor can donate their loved one’s casket flag to be displayed on Memorial Day Weekend. There are over 3000 such flags put up and taken down every year by Boy Scouts and it makes for a great display.

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I love it so I went to take some pictures. It is very inspiring especially since so many graves are decorated by loved ones also.

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I love the idea of Memorial Day. A day where we remember those who went on before us and those who sacrificed themselves for our freedom.

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And then I went home and attended to my smoking duties. My mother-in-law Nana found a local butcher in south Tulsa, Perry’s, at 81st and Sheridan. It is a small place but boy do they sell good meat at very reasonable prices. This is the second time we tried them and the results were great.  The meat on the ribs pulled cleanly away from the bone  and the chicken was very tender.

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Heather was off running errands so Logan and I had to do some extensive sampling of the results . You know for quality control. We are all about quality control especially when it comes to food.

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So we packed up the food including a birthday cake Heather made and headed off to Nana’s house. We made quick work of the main course and then Logan did a great job of blowing out the candles on the cake. You see we are getting close to his birthday and you can never start these celebrations too early is my mottow.

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One puff is all it took so I guess that all his wishes will come through. I’m sure though that Super Bowl Championship for the Cowboys never occurred to him. I don’t know exactly where I went wrong raising the boy.

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Here he is with his Mom.

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And here is with his Nana.

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And here I am with Rascal the Pomeranian. What is going on here? Is somebody trying to tell me something?

Anyway, we had a great Memorial Day, what about you?