We love Tulsa Botanic Garden in Tulsa. We have a membership so we go when we can. We went there in early May this year and this is some of what we saw.
Bachelor Buttons
Louisiana Iris in a pond
A closeup of the Louisiana Iris bloom.
Pink Evening Primrose
Salvia
Mexican Honeysuckle
Blue Sea Holly
I am linking with Through My Lens
So I am so behind in my posting. This Spring we had some very wet weather, which is fine except I like to go hiking in wet weather, even when it is muddy.
The problem is that the more I learn about “Leave No Trace” principles the more I learn that it is not ethical to go hiking in the mud. Even if the land managers don’t restrict it. My preferred place to hike is the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area here in Tulsa and they actually close the trails when they are muddy.
The problem is that the more I learn about “Leave No Trace” principles the more I learn that it is not ethical to go hiking in the mud. Even if the land managers don’t restrict it.
And the route of a trail race a few years ago at a State Park here in Tulsa.
My preferred place to hike is the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area here in Tulsa and they actually close the trails when they are muddy. I could go to other places that don’t ban hiking but I don’t really feel right about it. The alternative is go somewhere that has hard surfaces and the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow has Ray Harral Nature Center with resilient gravel and asphalt surfaces to walk on.
Harral’s trail bridge is a landmark.
The trails are pretty good after a good rain.
I was testing out a new camera for me. A Canon EOS R100 mirrorless unit. It’s an entry level mirrorless camera. I found it so light that I got a hand strap instead of a neck strap. I like it so far. Such a change from My Nikon that I had for years and loved. But hey, as old as I am, I can learn new things. One thing that I liked is that it stays in constant communication with my iphone. In fact it gets gps information from the phone to tag the photos. Anyway, back to business.
Harral packs a lot of woods and plants into a compact place.
A lot of different things to see.
And some history. The metal roof you see was once part of a spring house. There were cold springs and in the springhouse you could store your perishables.
Another view of the springhouse. You can’t really get down because it is right on a creek and terrifically muddy all the time.
So this was my route. I’ve got a way of looping out and back where I can get almost three miles without too much duplication.
If you want to learn more about Leave No Trace, hit this LNT Link. Lots of good information there.
I am linking with Through My Lens. Go check it out, lots of great bloggers post there.
A couple months ago I stopped in the Tulsa suburb of Sapulpa to check things out.
Close to the downtown of the city I saw this large church. It was very imposing but I thought it looked a little awkward looking with that steeple that seems to need to be attached to a much larger building.
It is Prase Fellowship Church. I don’t know much about it but I liked the design on their sign showing clasped dark and light hands. I guess I am woke but I like the imagery. We need more woke stuff in my opinion.
The core downtown of Sapulpa has all sorts of trendy stores, restaurants, and a brewery. I liked this “umbrella alley” I’ll call it. I know lots of other places have similar installations but this is the first one I have seen. I love the different colors. The thing about Oklahoma is that the wind blows a lot here and the these umbrellas were dancing around pretty good. It looks like there are a few gaps where maybe a few umbrellas just flew off.
This is a mural on the city’s performance playhouse. I love murals and I think this fits.
And this is interesting. At first I thought it was a bar for surveyors or geocachers. Nope, its an outdoor event space.
Route 66 runs right through Sapulpa and there a lot of Route 66 themed stores and restaurants in town. This was on the outskirts. It is a barbecue restaurant. It wasn’t open when I was there.
So after seeing the sights I headed back home to Tulsa. I am linking to Through My Lens.
Here in the USA, a big deal this year is that it is the 100th Anniversary or Route 66. The cross country highway between Chicago, Illinois, and Santa Monica, California. Made famous in the book, “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck telling of the migration of people from the Midwest to California during the depression. It has since become a destination in itself of people wanting to make the trek. All up and down the length of the road, individuals, cities, and states are sprucing up their attractions along US 66 for this year.
Oklahoma is full of Route 66 attractions and I have been to almost all of them. The Tulsa area has its share, including Rock Creek Bridge near the suburb of Sapulpa. The above photo was taken in 2021 when one could still drive across it.
Below is two years ago when it was blocked off because of safety concerns. You could still walk across it with no problems.
What has happened since then is that plans were made and money was spent and a grand opening was held this past April making this bridge a destination.
They have parking areas, picnic tables, lights.
And walkways so you could legally get an angle to get better photos of the bridge. Before you might have to venture out to some pretty thorny, snaky areas, to get a shot but now you can do it safely. They still have that big ugly power pole to deal with but it’s authentic.
You still can’t drive on it. But that is okay. This is the view from east to west. I think the bricks are mainly original.
And this is from west to east. Yep, I used a filter on the photo because the sky was white and not too pretty.
And a sign and sitting area, just waiting for people to make selfies.
And an old vintage truck is installed.
And an old decorated, still in service, oil tank as a background.
It’s nice to see things spruced up.
Here is a link to an article by the National Park Service on the Bridge, and here is a link by a local television station that covered the grand opening festivities.
I am linking with Through My Lens
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.
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
And more butterflies
and more, except this might be a moth.
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
One of the many things I like about museums is that I learn stuff that I didn’t know before. I mean I learn things that I had no clue about. A recent trip to Tulsa’s Philbrook Museum taught me something. It was about a photographer named Gordon Parks. I had never heard of him before, but it turns out he was a major talent. You can read more about the exhibition here.
He was born in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1912 and had a rough life. (Check out his Wikipedia page.) He bought his first camera when he was 28 years old and taught himself how to take photographs. He went to work as a fashion photographer at a woman’s clothing store. He eventually opened his own portrait studio
He specialized in portraits of society women. He also photographed the life of African Americans in Chicago. He eventually worked for the government in various capacities. After World War II, he became a freelance fashion photographer for Vogue Magazine. Then later for Life Magazine.
Parks also directed films. He wrote and directed Shaft, a detective film and several others. He had a very productive life and died in 2006.
The thing about photographers is that they have that “eye” for things. They can take great photos regardless of the equipment they are using. I used to work with a woman who had that eye. She would win the company’s photography awards using just her phone for a camera.
That eye is everything. The exhibition at Philbrook lasts until early June.
I have fallen behind on some of my posts. Sorry about that!! Back in March, the family decided we would like to go check out the tulips at the Tulsa Botanic Garden.
We went on a beautiful, sunny, and nearly windless day. The wind always blows in Oklahoma and take photos of Tulips as they sway in the breeze is frustrating! No such problems the day we went.
They had tulips, here, there and everywhere and I took dozens of photos. They were all the colors you can imagine and types.
So I will spare you.
Tulips are very special. They are delicate and come in delicate subtle colors.
And shapes
And some in pots.
I couldn’t figure out which were my favorite. They were all my favorite is what I thought.
In amongst all this someone was doing a photo shoot of a young woman in a beautiful gown. I’m guessing that it is a Quinceanera Dress. Whatever it is. It was beautiful.
Whew, I can breathe easier. I got my tulip post out of the way!
I am linking with Through My Lens.
This is my second post about the Daffodils at Wooward Park. The first time the flowers were kind of sparse. This second time they were a lot more abundant and filled in looking.
I never get tired of seeing the Daffodils. They are the first sign of spring and seem like they are up sooner than what they should be.
Most of the time they are hard to photograph because the wind is blowing too hard and they end up fuzzy looking. Today though the day was calm.
Used to be people would pick them and take them home, or often just pick them and then leave them.
Or sometimes women would show up with a selfie stick and all dressed up. They would brush their hair and take selfies. Hey, fine with me, they were not picking them. I have never seen guys do that though. Maybe I should except I would have to skip the step of brushing my hair since I don’t have much. I’ll take the matter under advisement for next year.
I liked this group of three, with one hidden
And this group of four with one hidden.
This is a small grouping at the Teaching Garden
Some daffodils along with a Redbud Tree: Oklahoma’s State Tree.
And some lonely tulips to finish off with.
These daffodils are long gone. I’m a little late posting this.
I am linking this with “Through My Lens”
Sunday afternoon the family traveled from Tulsa down to the country outside of Bixby to Carmichael’s Pumpkin Patch to pick out the family pumpkins for Fall.
We saw some greedy goats.
And some cute little goats. At what point do they turn into shameless beggars?
We saw a lonely, humiliated chicken sharing its space with a rabbit and a tiny little pumpkin.
And a pot bellied pig looking a little frazzled trying to take care of her youngins. (Youngin is a word in Oklahoma just in case you are wondering. Other words have disappeared. Nobody knows what a Democrat is here any more. Except for some old timers who don’t really want to talk about it too much.
And we saw brahma cow. aaaa 
And a few llamas.
And some youngins making a little selfie nest in the pumpkins. Aren’t they cute. I wasn’t the only one taking pics of them making a selfie. Look at the lady across the way.
Oh yeah, we did find a couple of pumpkins!!!