Fall Foliage Tour

Each year when our kids were young, in addition to dragging them through the livestock barn at the fair, consort and I took them on what we fondly called our Fall Foliage Tour.  

One day towards the end of October was set aside as a family day for touring Tulsa and viewing the beautiful colors -- despite the vociferous complaints put forth by the children.  Before taking off, I would make a kettle of soup and leave it to simmer while we were out.  There's nothing better than a hot bowl of soup and a biscuit after spending the day out of doors in the crisp fall air.  (The two pictures above and below were taken in the historic downtown area of Broken Arrow.)

On our last day in Broken Arrow before taking off for south Texas, and at our daughter's request, we loaded up the family and headed out to continue the tradition of the Keeling Fall Foliage Tour.  Contrary to years past, we started our tour in the historic downtown area of Broken Arrow.  While the foliage and houses in the downtown area are beautiful, the main reason for stopping in downtown is a trip to the grandsons' favorite store, Rocket Fizz.  There is one truth I've learned in my life that never varies:  Treat the kiddos first; they'll be much happier and more compliant the remainder of the day.

After a short walking tour of Broken Arrow, we loaded up the family and headed to Woodward Park.  Woodward Park is a 45-acre park, arboretum, and botanical garden just outside of downtown Tulsa.  In the spring, a large portion of the park is covered in blooming azaleas; in the fall, the entire park is ablaze in fall colors.  

The day we chose for touring was overcast, and conditions in NE Oklahoma have been dry this year, so the dazzling display of colorful leaves was not all that it could be.  

Fall is my favorite season and October, in particular, is my favorite month.  Last year we missed seeing any fall color. and this year we left New England before the leaves really began to change.  So despite the fact that there was not an abundance of leaves changing colors, we enjoyed each and every one that we saw.

Consort and I have been strolling through Woodward Park since before we were married.  We've always considered it our park.  This beautiful Magnolia tree has been in the park forever and remains unchanged.  Consort and I would climb the low branches whenever we visited the park.  Years later when we brought our kids to the park, they also climbed up into this epic tree.  And here we are, decades later, watching our grandsons climb up into the very same tree.  

A tree's beauty lies in its branches, but its strength lies in its roots. ~Matshona Dhliwayo

Touring Tulsa

 & the kicks on Route 66

This is the Blue Whale located in Catoosa, Oklahoma, about 15 miles east of downtown Tulsa.  The Blue Whale is one of the most recognizable attractions on old Route 66.  It was built in the 1970s by Hugh Davis as a surprise for his wife, Zelta, who collected whale figurines.  The pond where the whale rests is spring fed.  When the attraction originally debuted, it was open to the public for swimming.  While swimming is no longer allowed, you are able to fish and picnic.  There is a great souvenir shop onsite, and the proprietor is a treasure-trove of local history.

This is The Outsiders house located in west Tulsa.  The Outsiders is a novel written by S.E. Hinton, a native Tulsan.  She started the book when she was 15, and finished it at the age of 16.  The book was first published in 1967 when Hinton was 18.  The book has been banned in some schools because of the portrayal of gang violence, underage smoking and drinking, strong language, and dysfunctional families.  It is also the recipient of the Margaret Edwards literary award.  Here's a recommendation from me to you:  Read the book.  You can thank me later.  

Meadow Gold milk and ice cream sign built in 1934 located on Route 66.

Across the street from the Meadow Gold sign is Buck Atom's Cosmic Curios.  Buck began his life in the 1960s in Calgary, Alberta, as the space cowboy muffler man and ended up bashed and shattered in a junkyard in Edmonton, Alberta.  Buck was found, restored, and installed on the old Route 66 in May of 2019.

Decopolis Discovitorium and TulsaRama on Route 66.  Love the sinage!

Black Wall Street, Greenwood District, Tulsa, Oklahoma

The Tulsa Race Massacre occurred on May 31 and June 1, 1921.  It was the worst race massacre in American history.  The riot began when a 19-year-old Black male shoe shiner was accused of assaulting a 17-year-old White female elevator operator.  It is an horrific story.  The massacre has been in the Tulsa daily news recently as the City, after nearly 100 years, has begun searching for mass graves of victims that were said to be secretly buried.  Yesterday, the City uncovered ten unmarked graves in a trench.  The wooden coffins were laid out side-by-side.  The search continues for additional remains of victims.

The Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church is the only standing, Black-owned structure from the historic Black Wall Street era in Tulsa.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in August 2018.

Views of downtown Tulsa.  Two bottom photos are of ahha Tulsa, an art gallery.

This is the Center of the Universe located in the Brady District of Tulsa.  The Center of the Universe is a little-known mysterious acoustical phenomenon.  If you stand in the middle of the circle and make a noise, the sound is echoed back several times louder than it was made.  The theory is that the sound hits the concrete walls that surround the Center of the Universe and reverberate back creating the echo effect.  Consort and I tried recording the echo standing in the echo zone, and also outside of the echo zone, but were unable to capture the strange phenomenon.  

Tulsa Union Depot, a former central railway station, is now home to the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.

Fat Guy's Burger Bar, where we stopped for lunch.

It is, without a doubt, a Tulsa favorite of both consort and I.

These two photos are of the Abundant Life building in downtown Tulsa.  The circular tower in one photo is  the University Club Tower.  

The Abundant Life building was constructed in 1958 as the world headquarters for the Oral Roberts ministry.  It was in use by the ministry until the early '70s at which time it was abandoned for new headquarters located on the Oral Roberts University campus in south Tulsa.  It is a huge, windowless, seven-story, concrete block setting in south downtown Tulsa.  Abandoned, dark, and in a state of decay, the Abundant Life building does not live up to its name. 

The gold diamonds that adorn the building are beginning to fall off.  The City is in a dilemma as to what to do with the building:  Tear it down, or preserve the at-risk mid-century architecture.  

Interesting note.  Unless you have the ability to walk through walls, there is no way in. 

This is the Cave House, a quirky little house just a few blocks west of downtown Tulsa.  The house dates back to the 1920s and was known as the Cave Garden Restaurant.  It served fried chicken outside at picnic tables during the day and became a speakeasy at night.  Patrons of the speakeasy would enter the house and then follow a secret tunnel through the fireplace that led to a large room under a hill.  The current owner of the house, who lives onsite, offers tours of the house for the curious.

So there you have it, our brief trip through Tulsa.  There were a few things on our list that we had not seen before, like Buck Atom and The Outsiders house; there was at least one thing we wondered about but had never checked out, the Abundant Life building; and a major historical event of which we were completely ignorant, the Tulsa Race Massacre.  We really enjoyed our journey through Tulsa as tourists.  Although we lived in the Tulsa metropolitan area for nearly 40 years, we've found there's always something more to discover in our own backyard.

Tulsa State Fair

 

The Golden Driller at the Expo Fairgrounds

Each year, in the last week of September and the first week of October, the City of Tulsa hosts the Tulsa State Fair.  There are buildings housing vendors; new cars, trucks, and boats for sale; livestock barns full of animals waiting to be judged.  The midway is crowded with games and food trucks selling everything from giant cinnamon rolls covered in pecans to deep-fried mashed potatoes on a stick.  There are roller coasters, Ferris wheels, bumper cars.  You could easily spend an entire day at the fair and not see all that is there.

Of course you know without me telling you, there was no Tulsa State Fair this year.  However, the powers that be decided to allow the Junior Livestock Exhibit to take place.  The food vendors, who are desperate to earn a living with all the fair and festival cancellations, agreed to set up and sell their wares during the event.

After watching our oldest grandson play football early one Saturday morning, consort and I decided to take the three grandsons to the fair.  My favorite thing about the fair, aside from people watching, has always been the livestock barns.  When consort and I took our kids to the fair decades ago, we walked through the livestock barns while I quizzed the kids on cow breeds -- because we all know the importance of identifying cows, right?

 

Consort and I, and our three grandsons, roamed through the expansive cow barn.  I did not take any pictures of the bovine; consider it a small gift from me to you.  We took our time walking through the domestic fowl exhibit and were rewarded by seeing two chickens lay eggs.  I believe this definitively answers the age-old question, Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

The boys enjoyed deep-fried Oreos, gator chips, corn dogs, pretzels, ice cream, and slushies.  They were definitely on the sloshy side when we ushered them back to the car.

 

We left the fair and headed to our favorite store open only in October:  Spirit Halloween.  Visiting Spirit Halloween has become a tradition.  All five of us have a blast trying to outdo each other with the weirdest, scariest, and creepiest things we can find.  It's a thrill to be frightened to death in a well-lit, controlled environment.  The above pictures were my pick for the "creepiest" category.

We are parked again at Bluff Landing, about ten miles east of Broken Arrow.  The weather has turned cooler with overnight temps running in the low 40s.  Daytime temps are in the 70s making for beautiful afternoons.  The leaves are just beginning to change color here in NE Oklahoma.  We will be anchored in Broken Arrow for another week before we begin the trip south to Brownsville to spend the winter.  We've been traveling more than parking in the past three months and are ready for a long stop at 4 Seasons RV Resort.  We're looking forward to reconnecting with our favorite Winter Texans, but will sorely miss all those Canadians who are unable to join us this year due to the coronavirus, especially my favorite Canadian.

It is wonderful being in our hometown, immersing ourselves in the lives of our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren.  We love knowing where everything is and how to get there without the aid of Waze.  There are no words for the pleasure we've felt reconnecting with friends.  But I have to say, we have definitely been bitten by the gypsy bug.  We have an intense desire to keep moving and experiencing all this beautiful country of ours has to offer.  But for now, with winter fast approaching, we're happy to be heading to south Texas:  warm temps, palm trees, and, of course, the Gulf of Mexico.  See you soon!

Bella

Queen of all she surveys

Constantly increasing intellectual acuity

Living happily ever after

The unwelcome side of RV life

Just so you know I'm being safe out here

Where have you been in the last couple of weeks?  I know exactly where consort and I have been:  In the exact same place in the exact same circumstance for over a week.  I'm beginning to wonder if we're still in Punxsutawney experiencing our own personal Groundhog Day.

When we left Missouri a couple of weeks ago, we headed for Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, our hometown, to spend time with our daughter, SIL, and GSx3 (grandsons times three).  During our time in Broken Arrow, we planned to stay with the GSx3 while daughter and SIL traveled to Las Vegas to celebrate a wedding anniversary with a group of friends.  

We arrived in Broken Arrow and spent a beautiful, uneventful week parked at Bluff Landing, our favorite local campsite.  After a week, we decided to move the trailer to daughter's house and park it in the street while we stayed with the grandsons.  The thought of packing for two humans, two canines, and one feline was overwhelming;  moving the trailer -- essentially packing EVERYTHING in one big box -- seemed the easier solution.

We had a great time with the grandsons and were able to attend our oldest grandson's football game.

For those of you who read the blog regularly, you may remember we had a truck issue, followed by a repair, in Wilkes-Barre, PA, home of Mom & Pop's Pierogies.  The auto shop in Wilkes-Barre replaced a wheel bearing.  On the drive from Wilkes-Barre to Broken Arrow, the truck seemed to be making an abnormal sound.  Consort decided to take the truck in to the local Ford dealership once we arrived in our hometown to have them diagnose the problem.

Diagnostics revealed there was a wheel bearing that needed replaced, and it wasn't the wheel bearing we had replaced in Wilkes-Barre.  We agreed to the repair and left the truck to be serviced.  On the day we were scheduled to pick up the truck, we received a call from the dealership.  The wheel bearing issue was resolved, but the truck continued to make the same noise.  Upon further checking, the mechanic determined the turbo bearing was bad.  The cost for repair?  Nearly $6,300, and that's on top of the cost to replace the wheel bearing.

Our plan was to pick up the truck after the wheel bearing repair, then move the trailer from the street in front of daughter's house back out to Bluff.  We made arrangements with the dealership to pick up the truck prior to the turbo repair so we could move the trailer.  After the trailer was safely ensconced at Bluff Landing, we planned to take the truck back to the Ford dealership for the final repair.

We picked up the truck and drove across town to daughter's house.  We hitched the trailer then drove back across town headed to Bluff Landing, about a 20-minute drive.  We drove three miles on streets to reach the turnpike, then entered the highway.  We drove eight or nine miles on the turnpike before exiting.  When we exited the turnpike, we made a left-hand turn and began the final leg of the trip to Bluff.  After only a tenth of a mile, consort said, The rear tire on the trailer is smoking; we need to stop.  We took the first available right-hand turn off the main road onto a side street and parked.

Both consort and I got out of the truck to go back and check the tire.  We're thinking a fender might be rubbing the tire, or maybe we have a blowout.  What we found was nothing.  Literally.  There was no tire and there was no wheel.  Only the axel and brakes remained.  As we stood, dumbfounded, looking at the gaping hole, a gentleman passing by in a pickup stopped and said, I think that's your wheel back there.

It was.  Consort walked back and retrieved the wheel/tire combo, then immediately got on the phone with our insurance.  We were assured they would send a wrecker tout suite.  The agreed upon plan was to have the fifth wheel towed to Bluff, then have mobile RV repair come out and repair the wheel.

Three hours later, after numerous phone calls and texts with the insurance, we decided to give up on the wrecker.  It was 8 pm and apparent that nothing was going to be done.  We unhitched the trailer, left it in the street, and drove back to daughter's house.

The next morning, we delivered the truck back to the Ford dealership for the turbo repair.  Consort was also on the phone with the insurance company trying to find a tow.  You wouldn't think it is a big deal to tow a vehicle, even an RV; but, as it turns out, fifth wheels are a bit trickier.  Around two o'clock, 23 hours after the wheel fell off, a wrecker arrived to tow the fifth wheel to an RV repair shop.  During all the phone calls with mechanics, it was determined the repair was too big for a mobile RV repair unit.

The wrecker that was sent out is made to tow 18-wheelers.  It was enormous, as you can see from the photo; it completely dwarfs the trailer.  The tow-truck driver used chains to hold the axel up so it wouldn't drag on the ground, hitched the fifth wheel, and delivered it safely to the mechanic.

In the meantime, the Ford dealership repaired the turbo issue.  While repairing the turbo, it was discovered that another wheel bearing had gone bad on the truck.  And this particular wheel bearing was the same one the shop in Wilkes-Barre had just replaced.  Apparently, we got a defective part in Wilkes-Barre.  There have been more phone calls, and an exchange of photos and information, after which the Wilkes-Barre shop determined to take care of the replacement repair at no cost to us.  

The excellent insurance consort purchased from Progressive will take care of all the towing and trailer repairs.  The first estimate for towing came in at $5,000.  Our insurance company declined the bid and contacted 918 Wrecker Service who agreed to tow the trailer for half that cost.  Prior to this incident, if you had told me the cost to tow a fifth wheel would range between $2,500 and $5,000, I would not have believed you.  I have now caught up and am fully in the saddle.

While the repairs are going on, we're staying with daughter, SIL, and GSx3.  It's like being at a resort.  I'm not sure who is enjoying it more:  Consort and I, who are able to fully relax, or the wee mangy mongrels who are free to run in and out of the house and all over the backyard.

Working out logistics on all of these repairs has NOT been fun.  Consort and I have received a crash course in the procurement, maintenance, and transportation involved in fifth wheel repair.  But we're blessed.  Of all the places these annoyances could happen, there is no better place than in your own hometown.  That fact alone reduces the stress of the situation by half.  Staying with grandsons not only keeps you busy, but it is conducive to huge belly laughs.  It's hard to stay annoyed when your mouth is full of laughter. 

As of today, we're still waiting on repairs to be finished.  Both the RV repair shop and the Ford dealership tell us we'll have our vehicle and trailer by the end of the day.  We have no expectations; we've been told the same thing, "ready today," more than once.  But no complaints.  It will all be done eventually.  In the meantime, based on all that is going on, I believe we're experiencing our very own Groundhog Day right here in Broken Arrow, OK.  

Reading:  Insurance policies

On the TV:  Politics

Current hobby:  Re-organizing closets and drawers

                           (Don't judge! I love it & am quite good at organization!)