To Space and then Back to Earth

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Earlier this week I headed out to the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow to find a specialized geocache. It was a space based Adventure Lab Cache. No container to find, just information you need to look up. It was at the Voyage Solar System Walkway. A collection of displays set up along a street showing the relative sizes and distances of the planets to the sun.

Here is the sun, looks like an overgrown basketball.

Just a few feet away is Earth. Barely bigger than a pin prick and its even smaller moon.

And 2000 feet down the street, all by itself, is Pluto. Stripped of planet status recently but still proud.

And I got a virtual postcard proving that I found it. If only virtual anything proves anything. The installation starts at an elementary school which I think is great.

And I went hiking recently on Turkey Mountain. This flyover are still scary to me. They are not for hikers, they are for bicyclists. They really do fly over them. I think all that steel would hurt if you fell off your bike.

My sister and her husband came to town. We had a fun time. One day we went Woolaroc, wildlife preserve and art museum started by Oklahoma oilman Frank Phillips who started Phillips 66 Petroleum way back when. We saw some bison and other critters. My sister is a former Park Ranger at Yellowstone so it is kind of hard to impress her.

The liked the art a lot. Lots of western artists works are hanging at Woolaroc.

I love this stained glass window.

We went to the nearby town of Bartlesville to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower. Built for a pipeline construction company, H.C. Price who did a lot of work for Phillips 66.

BIL Irv got his photo with a big 66.

Sister Ellen did as well.

I did several years ago when I turned 66 years old.

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And a few years before that I got my brother Bob’s photo on his 66th birthday.

Speaking of birthdays, I had one early this month. You can tell I am getting kind of old. I just started my 70th year.

As a treat Heather and Logan took me to see the the Van Gogh Immersion exhibit here in Tulsa. It was very cool.

And I got a cornhole game. Stop by if you are in town we’ll have some beverages and play a few games.

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And I end with yet another Lego animal from the Tulsa Botanic Garden.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World. Thank you for stopping by!

Saturday’s Critters – Pelicans and More on the Arkansas River

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I went on a bike ride along Tulsa’s RiverParks trails the other day. I took my SuperZoom camera with me hoping that I would see something. It turns out that American White Pelicans were on the river that day. This is a group I spotted near where I started at 71st street. They were on a sandbar near the other side of the river.

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Here is a closeup of them. I find them kind of comical on land. They are very graceful in the water and flying.

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And here is five miles north at the newly reconstructed Zink Lake Dam. They were paddling around fishing.

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Another closeup.

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And maybe 50 yards downstream of the dam this group of pelicans and great blue herons were trying their luck in the shallows.

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The pelicans and herons seemed to tolerate each other’s presence pretty well.

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In the calm waters up stream of the dam a flotilla of geese were cruising.

I am linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Go check it out.

Skywatch Friday – Sunset, Eclipse, River Views

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I went on a walk one evening and found this sunset at the end.

We got a new backyard fence a couple months ago. I finally got my weather station reinstalled.

My sister and her husband came to visit. One day we had an eclipse party in the backyard. Everyone had the special sunglasses except for Kodi the dog but he doesn’t care about eclipses so it was all good. After this shot, I wished I had thought to launch my drone. Not to look at the eclipse but looking down at this group as it went up in the air. It would have simulated the rapture for me. Don’t worry, I’m not a rapture but I thought it would have been fun to simulate it.

I took a short bike ride and checked out the water behind the new dam on the Arkansas River here in Tulsa. The river sure looks like nice full of water.

I feel kind of guilty because the Arkansas River is braided prairie river. They have sandbars and multiple channels and support lots of wildlife. So I am conflicted. But the “new” river sure makes nice photos.

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And another Lego animal from our trip to the Tulsa Botanic Garden a few weeks ago.

So that is it for this week. I am linking to Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World.

Suburban Backyard Critters

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The wind blows here in Oklahoma and with a motion sensitive trailcam I can get hundreds of photos of nothing really fast if I point it to a hanging bird feeder or trees. Wind the wind blows I point it at our bird bath or a stationary feeder.

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We get a lot of robins showing up for a drink.

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And doves

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At the stationary feeder we offer whole peanuts and sunflowers seeds. Those are popular with squirrels, grackles,

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and blue jays.

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Not in our backyard but from the Tulsa Botanic Garden a monochromatic lego lion!!

I am linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters

Trails to Tulips!

Went on a hike on Turkey Mountain this week. (Like almost all weeks)

Checked out the new trail construction going on at the “String of Pearls.” Three ponds that used to be inaccessible because of thick shrubs and thorns.

Checked out the panoramic view at “The Hub” – the highest point on Turkey Mountain and has several trails going in and several going out including two wicked bicycle downhill runs.

We had a decent sunrise the house the other day.

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I went to Philbrook Museum’s gardens and checked out the tulips.

And a perfectly formed maple tree.

Made a photo of tulips, a redbud tree, the Tempietto, and the sky.

I told my wife Heather all about it.

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So I came back with her the very next day.

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The tulips and everything else and more was still there.

Son Logan came with us and we checked out the Cabin.

And had some ice cream at a nearby place. A good time was had by all.

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And yet another Lego critter, this time a zebra from our earlier trip to the Tulsa Botanic Garden.

Sharing on Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World

Shadowy Lawnmower and Chris Isaak!!

On a recent trip to the Tulsa Botanic Garden they displayed a Lego Lawnmower in a Shadow!! It would be nice if it worked but it would probably shake itself into thousands of pieces.

Happy Easter to you and your family. Also, Lego Easter Bunnies!

Shadow Shot Sunday

AAAAnnnnndddd! As part of Music Moves Me, I bring you a Chris Isaak Song. Check out RamblinWithAM to check out other entries.

Tulsa Area Critters

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A momma goose sitting on a nest on a sandbar in a creek flowing the through the grounds of Philbrook Museum of Art. Her mate was busy chasing people away, including us.

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A little chubby squirrel snacking on the grounds of Philbrook.

Another squirrel perturbed by us sitting out on our patio.

Kodi the Pomeranian loves laying out in the sun.

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A grackle getting a drink.

Kodi loves finding sticks. He exchanges them for a treat. Is that a spoiled brat looking face or what!

Lizzy the Cat gets kind of talkative every now and then. Critters are a hoot.

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Another Lego critter from our trip to the Tulsa Botanic Garden. This one is a dodo bird. Which is extinct.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters. Check it out!!

Working and Enjoying

I have been busy. I love being busy. Especially being retired and doing the things I want to do.

I went out to Turkey Mountain and checked out the new board walk they installed over the western rock faces of the mountain. This is an area called Rock City and I love how they put the walk right in and over the boulders using cedar that was cut on the mountain.

It is a small network of new trails interconnecting with two trails, one on top of the rock faces and one below. I bet it would be fun on a bicycle. It looks like they put a mesh on top of the cedar to add a little traction for the bikes. You slip off the wood on a bike it would ruin your whole day. Me and gravity are not friends these days so I will never take my bike across this.

I ventured back to the parking lot on the Tiger Muffin trail. It’s the trail name for a friend of mine.

Last Saturday I put my cold weather gear on and joined a bunch of people from the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition and Bike Club to clean up a trail called Mooser Creek Greenway. It had a lot of tree falls from Tulsa’s Father’s Day windstorm last year. The trails were cleared back then but a lot of the downed were a little unsightly. Plus there is a never ending chore of repairing erosion and wet spots on trails.

So I helped clear the limbs and trunks that were being cut up by people with chain saws.

I love the trail work days. Tulsa really responds to stuff like that and all sorts of people show up to help. I got a promotion with the Wilderness Coalition. I am now the Vice President of Government Affairs. My trail job didn’t change much. Moving limbs and cut up trunks off the trail is what I do along with whatever else needs doing.

Later that day Heather and I went out to the Tulsa Botanic Garden to check out the flowers and new projects.

They have added an event space in the middle of the pond. They are also converting some wild land they had into an arboretum. They have done a good job adding onto the gardens and it is getting more and more settled as time goes on.

The tulips put on a quite a show. Last year when we went some deer had gone into the gardens ate a bunch of the tulips and other plants.

They also had Lego animals scattered around the garden. I love this woodpecker.

And I always love redbuds. The Eastern Redbud is the State Tree of Oklahoma.

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The Daffodils were putting on a show even though their time is short.

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This was my favorite tulip. It looked black in the sun but is actually a deep purple. This one is the only one I spotted.

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And to end up, we had an almost full moon the other day. I captured the image in the late afternoon so it was almost a daytime moon. I love the moon in all its presentations but I especially love a good daytime moon.

So what have you been up to?

I am linking with Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World.

Botanic Garden Shadows

My wife and I visited the Tulsa Botanic Garden Saturday to check out the tulips and other flowers and plants. I saw lots of those and also a few shadows.

I thought these bright containers and colorful tulips contrasted nicely with the shadows created by the steps and the handrail.

The garden has an exhibit of life sized animals made out of Legos. I thought this placement of the Lego coyote in the shadows was perfect.

On the deck at reception building I loved this complex pattern of shadows.

I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday