OKC, Two Museums, Tulsa, The Center of the Universe and Bentonville Arkansas

I had a big day. I don't know how I'm going to write it all down. I think I'll bullet point it, summarize and expand. Maybe I'll write about today over the next couple of days.

• OKC: National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
• OKC: Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum
• Dinner in Tulsa
• Tulsa: The Center of the Universe
• Arkansas: Fireflies 
• Bentonville Arkansas
• Geena Davis

I think I should start backwards. [Side note: I'm writing this after having written the blog...I sort of started going backwards, but ended up jumping all around. See the above for the timeline order of events]

Geena Davis is currently in Bentonville Arkansas and so am I. She is here for a film festival and I'm sad to say that I have not seen her (yet). Honestly, I might have driven by where she was about 30 minutes after she was there, but, at that point, I had no idea she was even in town. 

The woman who runs the B&B I'm staying at told me, "There is a Geena Davis film festival in town right now." And I assumed she meant her movies. But THE Geena Davis is HERE! I could probably yell her name and she might respond. 

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd say. If you ever get a chance to go to Bentonville Arkansas, do it. I've been here an hour, all I've done is check into a B&B and I want to cancel the rest of my trip to stay here. Except I don't have any actual rest-of-the-trip plans, so I could. Only this film festival is in town and I think all the hotels are sold out. 

How I ended up in Bentonville:

1) My boss has asked me twice if I've been here. The last time, he explained that it's got everything you'd expect from Arkansas, but also really interesting cafes and a hotel that's also a museum. (This is a chain, if you're interested. 21C Hotels). 

2) When I was checking out of my wonderful little boutique hotel in Oklahoma City (one day early...I will explain that later), I told the women at the desk, "I don't know where I'm going to go, but I know I have a lot of driving to do. It's between Kansas and Arkansas." They both lit up and nearly jumped up an down saying, "Arkansas, you have to go to Arkansas!" 

They recommended Eureka Springs, which I didn't even look up and threw my other plans out the window, deciding in that moment to go to Arkansas. Another sentence I never thought I'd say. 

I had originally planned to NOT go to Tulsa, but to go to Wakita (famous only for it's mention in Twister), specifically to go to the Twister Movie Museum. I was fully aware this museum was probably not legit or licensed to sell anything Twister related, but I didn't think anything on the rest of the trip would be particularly interesting, honestly, and had planned on buying a Wakita key chain (say that three times fast) and heading on up to Kansas. There were a couple of options for Kansas. Boot Hill, which I think does in-the-street old-timey shoot out recreations, but I'd already seen that in Deadwood. OR I was thinking of going to Wichita for no good reason. When the hotel ladies said, "Arkansas!" it took me all of 10 seconds to agree and plug Bentonville into my phone. FYI, Bentonville is close to Eureka Springs. Well, it's an hour away, but that's relatively close.

First thing this morning, I fully packed. The idea was, go to the Cowboy & Western Heritage museum in the hopes of seeing SOMETHING on the dust bowl. If that didn't take too long, check out of my hotel a day early, drive up to Wakita by 5pm (a 2hr drive away, mind you) to see the museum and then head to somewhere, ks to find a hotel. If the museum took a long time, I could go back to my hotel for a nap or if it was way too late, I could stay the night and take off first thing Friday. I loaded up the car and hit that museum.

"This is a four hour museum," he said. He who? He, the dude that explains the museum map. I half listened, but gave big eye smiles (because you can't see my actual smile under the mask). "Do you have anything on the Dust Bowl." "That doesn't really fit our theme." Boo! "Gotcha. Thanks so much. I think I'll start over here!" And then I took a big poop in the bathroom. (no one but me is going to think that's funny, but it's accurate...and funny. Get on board.). 

The museum absolutely could have taken 4 hours. I saw some patrons who looked like they'd been there about 60 years. But, and this is a confession from a two-time English major, I don't like reading museum blurbs. I'd rather read a 400 page book on farming than read 100 snippets next to art. I just can't do it. So, I took a bunch of pictures in the hopes that I'll care later and look into the who/what/why of it all. 

They had paintings, artifacts, sculptures and replicas of Native American dwellings. The place was huge and I was out of there in like 30 minutes.

Around about the exhibit about blue uniforms, I overheard and elderly woman ask an elderly curator if there was anything else to do in OKC. "Is there a zoo?" "Yes, there is a Zoo. And there is the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial. That is probably our most popular tourist destination." 

I had COMPLETELY forgotten about that! While I was still in California, dreaming of all the things I might do on the trip, that was very high on my list. Thank GOD that conversation happened or I'd be half way to wherever before I remembered. It's the same as the JFK / Dallas thing. I totally forgot about it. 

I have a tremendous compulsion here to explain WHY I seek out potentially misery making tourist attractions, but I'm going to skip that because....well, these attractions exist for a reason and I'm not weird for wanting to see them. 

Unfortunately, I'm also going to skip talking about the memorial and the museum for now because it was insanely emotional and I might leave that for it's own blog post. 

Instead I'm going to tell you about forgetting something else. 

I was driving through Stillwater, Oklahoma on my way to Tulsa. I figured Tulsa would be a great half way point to Arkansas. If I liked it, I could get a hotel room and stay the night (clearly that didn't happen). If I didn't, I could get dinner and GTFO (that did happen). Oh, but I did take a quick stop at The Center of The Universe. 

It doesn't look like much

This lovely woman told me all about it

Even my phone knew it was the Center of the Universe

Long story short, I'm going to copy/paste from Atlas Obscura. "The 'Center of the Universe' is a little-known mysterious acoustic 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. It's your own private amplified echo chamber." Let me also say that no one else can hear the echo. Its only heard by the person standing on the circle. It was COOL! 

The woman (and her husband) who were also there for this phenomenon, were from Louisiana and couldn't understand why I would only stay in Tulsa for dinner. Anyway, they said they have a thing for Presidential Libraries. Have you ever heard that before? I love that.

Anyway, at some point today I was in Stillwater, Oklahoma and something in my brain was like, "This means something." (Close Encounters reference). I could not for the life of me remember what special site was to be seen in Stillwater and then I passed this!

Who is that peaking out from behind a fence? Is that Optimus Prime?! 

Yup! 

Here are other places I completely accidentally ended up that I had, while planning, thought, "It'd sure be cool to stop there."

For my Parks and Rec fans

Because I'm from Cleveland (yes, I brought this shirt in case I ended up there and YES I changed in the car to take this picture)

Then the weather turned rainy and lightning happened, as if to remind me of Cleveland, and that's when I ended up in Tulsa.

The first thing I saw was "skid row". I haven't said that phrase or even heard it since the 80's, but it fits. I saw a dozen homeless folks trying to huddle together and hide from the rain by standing under trees. I saw a group huddled on the front stoop of the bail bonds place. 

I will say this for the city of Tulsa. I knew when I arrived. It was no Oklahoma City sprawl. It was a proper city with a sports venue and restaurants and hotels all in a central area. It made sense. 

I had a lovely dinner indoors, which freaked me out, but everyone working there was masked and there were no customers as it was like 5pm. It was delicious. Then I did the Center of the Universe thing, since it was a 3 minute walk. Then I couldn't make one more decision and sat paralyzed in my car.

I called Krista and said, "I just can't" and she said, "Yeah you can." Basically. It was perfect and motivating and I got my butt to Arkansas, didn't I?

Ok, I have one more thing to say before posting this blog and giving my brain a break before tackling the OKC Bombing Story, which will probably be short, but I just can't FEEL that again right now.

I thought I could beat the sunset to Bentonville, but was wrong by about 45 minutes. However, just like last night at Pops, when the sun went down, the country came to life. The humidity skyrocketed, but the temperature cooled enough that I could roll down my car window, especially since I was now on backroads going about 30mph. I turned off the radio and listened to the sound of the forests and farms. The insects were chirping and whirring and sometimes sounded like monkeys. I saw three country dogs wandering their neighborhoods with no collars on. As I drove by, they stopped sniffing around to look at me as if they were waving hello. 

If you're my wife, you should probably skip this paragraph. I saw a considerable amount of roadkill. At one point, I was seeing something in the middle of the two lane road every 500 feet or so. Some of it was unrecognizable and I was thankful for it, because some things were very recognizable and I'll probably keep those images in my head longer than I'd like. I did see a pretty intact racoon and thought, somebody will make a nice hat out of that. 

I passed homes that were stately and showed how well their farm was doing. I saw small raised trailers on enormous lots of land. I saw overgrown lots with rusted out RVs and a lot of belongings outside. I thought, "That looks like generations of stuff and what do you do when it's left to you? There's no one else out here who is going to take it." I saw homes with 15 cars in different levels of decay with different levels of grass growing up, around and through them. I saw wood buildings that caved in on themselves from decades of humidity.

When the sun was fully gone, I saw fireflies. They danced in the reeds and fields next to the road, entertaining me for miles. The backroads and lightning bugs, humidity and wind blowing in my hair lulled me into a slow speed.

And then I arrived in Bentonville, who surprised me immediately! It was full of life with a bustling Main Street. People were walking home or to their hotels (after the film they just saw ended, I found out). Folks were eating outdoor at high quality restaurants. The homes looked like multi million dollar estates, but I had been driving a long time and my senses were overwhelmed. 

I looked on the map for hotels near me. The 21C was sold out. The only other option in town was the B&B that I'm currently in. I drove up, called the number on a note at the door and asked if they had a room available for the evening. She said she lived next door and would be right over. 

It's now after midnight and I'm absolutely exhausted. Blissed out from how amazing my life is, but pooped and this super fancy pants bed is calling my name. Good night folks.

 

A Little Magical

After a pretty intense workday that included more meetings than I usually have in a month, I picked up a salad for dinner and ate it in my hotel room. Afraid that I would lose all motivation to leave and explore more of my surroundings, I snarfed down the salad and quickly left. 

I might have mentioned this is in a previous blog post, but I love the movie Twister (1996 with Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton and Philip Seymour Hoffman among many others). It's one of those movies that was probably made to keep the actor's health insurance current. The continuity errors are obvious, there are silly moments of overacting and ridiculous stunts like driving through a house, or flying cows caught in a tornado. But it is my go-to movie for comfort and joy. The main characters' personalities vary wildly and often conflict with each other, but they are a chosen family who have one joint passion (that happens to be measuring tornados in the hope of giving people an early warning system). I watch Twister on every flight I take. I watch it when I'm feeling lonely or bored. I watch it when I miss the 90's. I watch it when I miss the actors in it who have passed away far before their time. It reminds me what it feels like to be young or reckless for a purpose or what it feels like to follow the wind. 

There is a scene about 3/4 through the movie, where the crew is recovering from chasing some gnarly tornados. They are staying at a motel that's at/near a drive-in movie theatre. The movie on the screen, The Shinning. All of the sudden, the wind changes and lightning flashes and Bill (played by Bill Paxton) sees a huge tornado right behind the screen. All hell breaks loose and everyone goes running for shelter. 

Today, I went to that drive-in theatre. The location, Beacon Drive-In, Guthrie, Oklahoma. Beacon has been a working drive-in since 1950 and this weekend will play Black Widow. Unfortunately, I don't plan on being in OKC this weekend, so I went today and though it was closed, I slipped in between two poles and had the whole place to myself to take about 1,000 pictures and imagine, dream, feel.

This is where I snuck in. "Is that illegal?" You might ask. Honestly, I don't know. I didn't see a single sing that said "closed" or "stay out" or anything of that nature. But also, I have guts. I have guts because my dad had guts. When I was a kid, he would see army barracks or a theater or arts venue and start trying doors. I learned if you are confident enough (and have a good story, if you're caught), that risks can be worth taking. And I thanked my Dad, because I had the best time exploring.

There's something about hearing "Good job" from your dad that feels magical no matter how old you are (or how illegal the thing you're doing might be).

Here are some more shots from the drive-in. I took my sweet time and knew what I would say if someone happened to be living in the RV parked in the back. Twister is just the best and I could not help myself from checking it out and thinking about all the actors that day and the feeling that wells up inside me every time I watch the drive-in scene. I was elated to be there. And saw no one else.

Once I had my fill, touched the screen and was ready to move on, I decided to go back to Pops 66 to catch the 66 foot tall neon soda structure in all it's glory....and have a little fun too.

When I got there, the sun had just set.

There were families with kids running around, being silly, taking silly photos (like the above). Also, as an aside, I think that the picture of me 'drinking' from the 66' soda structure makes up for the fact that I didn't pose with my finger up George Washington's nose when I went to Mount Rushmore.

I decided to settle in and wait for the sun to go down, the night to take over and the neon to become more vibrant. I went for a little walk (yes, mom, in my flip flops again) on a narrow road next to a field (where, I'm sure snakes and bugs and all manner of things luxuriated in the evening heat). But going for that little walk, got me this picture which I might hang in my office at home.

As the sun went down, my skin started to crawl with the change in humidity. The noise of kids running around disappeared and the hum of insects in nearby cornfields increased. Groups of teenagers arrived by noisy carloads. They stood far back from the attraction to take photos of each other in different artistic and depth-bending positions. Holding the soda. Leaning on it. (I didn't see anyone drink from it, so I'm better than they are...I mean, obviously I'm the first one EVER to think of doing that)

The sky grew darker; the statue lit up brighter and brighter.

The mood shifted. A Summertime magic was clearly all around us. 

The world seemed quieter, somehow, and closer. 

I let the night wash over me. I accepted it's pace and heat. And somewhere in there, my heart opened up to Oklahoma. I wasn't focused on it's unique sprawl, it's city-less feeling. I felt connected and intoxicated and wanted to view it with fresh eyes. 

I sought out one more sight before heading to my hotel for the evening.

The Wheeler Ferris Wheel in Oklahoma City. From 1996-2008 this Ferris wheel operated at the Santa Monica Pier and through a fluke was purchased on Ebay for OKC. 

Foolishly, I assumed it would be running and as lit up as Pops, but like many attractions on my trip so far, when I showed up it was closed. Actually, I didn't know it was closed until I turned down an eerie path, past an open gate and wound down to an unlit parking lot. I could hear people talking and laughing. I saw one person taking pictures near the sign, but as I approached I realized that this was the late shift of concession workers closing up for the night. 

In the dark, I quickly balanced my camera on a three legged wrought iron table, using my lens cap to try and balance out the shot. And, as my final action, before jogging to my car and racing out of the lot ahead of the few remaining employees (afraid that they would lock the gate, trapping me there for the night), I snapped as many pictures as I could in 10 seconds. 

The automatic feature slowed the shutter speed way down, and, as my camera slipped off the lens cap, I heard the shutter open, a long pause and the shutter close.

Am I in Oklahoma City?

Early morning thoughts.

I decided to pick up breakfast this morning, because OKC has not disappointed me yet on the food front. I chose Stitch because they offered Espresso Rubbed Bacon and Spiced Fruit. They also sold bags of coffee beans and must have 20 or more options. It's nuts! The breakfast was good. Nothing to write a blog about though.

Anyway, while driving to Stich, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the sprawl of it all and just had to do a little researching when I got back to the hotel. 

There is a website created and maintained by the Oklahoma City Government. I can only imagine that this was created because government officials (or likely receptionists or assistants) kept getting calls and were tired of answering the question, "Do I live in Oklahoma City?" 

That's how sprawling and confusing the town is.

https://www.okc.gov/residents/do-i-live-in-oklahoma-city

See. They didn't even name it something clever like, "All the cool things inside OKC." They were like, "No. I'm sick of this. Just put up a map and name it something obvious, so people can search their address and know if they're in or out."

I don't know if it's this wicky wacky shape that's the problem or if there's just too much space.

Then I asked myself, "Is it just me, or is OKC just too big for it's population?" 

According to this website, 26 Manhattans can fit in OKC. One Manhattan currently has 1.6 million people. And not to do math or anything, but OKC has a population of around 650,000 (and could technically fit 41.6M angry and confused New Yorkers. Or a bunch of angry and confused folks from Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Manhattan, San Francisco and Miami - see below) 

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the STATE'S only major league sports team. (Basketball. NBA.) Do you know how many baseball stadiums could fit in Oklahoma City alone?! Well, more than I can do the math for, but it would be the PERFECT place for baseball. Build it and they will come, People! I mean, they probably won't because they won't even know if they're in Oklahoma City.

A night in

I'm not going to lie to you. My blog post today is a lot ho hum. I wrote it and didn't even want to re-read it for spellcheck purposes. That's how bored I was. So, I thought I'd try to add something fun at the start. Here it goes.

I'm sure you're all at home reading this in COVID lockdown or quarantine or you're just hiding from other people for a few minutes. Well, that's what it's been like for me over the last 16 months (or so). Typically, during covid-times if I leave the house, and that's a huge if, I am likely going for a walk or to the grocery store. The most I need to take with me are my house/car keys, wallet and personal phone. I've been really struggling with the amount of stuff I have to take with me every time I leave the hotel room or get out of the car. 

• Wallet
• Personal Phone
• Work Phone
• Car Keys
• Hotel Key
• Mask / back-up mask
• Camera
• Any drink I may have, because it's hot out
• Sunglasses
• Charger for my phone, so I can plug it into the USB port in the car and link the maps to the screen in the car. I forgot a second phone charger, so I have to keep bringing it back and forth between the car and the hotel.
• Snack, because I've already had one blood sugar issue and I'm not about to have another one

I hear you. "Why don't you bring a purse or a bag?" I do. I have a camera bag that doubles as a messenger bag, so most of that stuff fits in there, but I still end up having my phone, charger, two sets of keys, mask and drink in my hands while trying to throw the bag over my shoulder and I don't like this. I feel like I'm literally juggling and I have dropped things many times. 

Is this what life was like before? I mean, minus the mask?

This meme comes to mind.

-----THE BLOG POST-----

My lovely co-workers suggested I take an extra long lunch to check out Oklahoma City (and reminded me to put my SD card back in the camera), so I placed an order for pick up in Bricktown and planned on that long lunch in the city. 

I imagine Bricktown is the hot and happening part of town on a Friday night in OKC, but lunchtime on a Tuesday was sleepy to say the least. I think I saw 10 people. 

I tried HARD to find the part of the city that felt like a city and, though Oklahoma City is a "Large American City", it does not exist. I think there are a handful of tall(ish) buildings in the city center area, but it felt like something I'd find in a smallish suburb back home. 

The tallest building in OKC - Devon Tower (844 ft)

That's it folks. That's the tallest and second tallest building in the city. (Chase Tower, 500 feet).

I drove around and saw some art, which I snapped pictures of from the car because I didn't feel like going for an hour long walk to see not much. 

I was really hoping that OKC would be a cute city with fun things to do. Maybe not like New Orleans. But maybe more like Nashville, which is 90% residential and 10% music and sports. OKC feels 99% sprawl and mini malls, or whatever the modern version is that has a few restaurants and a Trader Joe's. 

Here is an idea of the sprawl as taken from the car near Bricktown and the City Center 

Why is there so much empty space?

Also, I saw the Oklahoma City Hall / Municipal Building from the highway, which immediately reminded me of buildings I saw in Berlin that were built by Nazis, which architecturally makes a little sense because it the OKC Municipal Building was built between 1933 and 1939. 

Tell me I'm wrong.

Oklahoma City Municipal Building

House of the German Council of Municipalities

Anyway, nothing really spoke to me in OKC today. So, I decided to order room service for dinner and treat myself to a bath with a bath bomb I've had for maybe 3 or 4 years. 

I'm working tomorrow and then I have two proper vacation days. Wednesday at lunchtime, or maybe after work, I plan on hitting up a few spots for fun OKC pictures (stay tuned) and a museum or two on Thursday. You probably won't be disappointed. They have a pigeon museum, y'all. And then on Friday morning, I'll drive up to Kansas, through Wakita (Twister movie shout out!) and head back south on Saturday and Sunday. I fly home from Dallas on Sunday evening.

 

My neck, my back, my laptop and my hacks

When I travel, my body reacts the same way every time, and I always forget. I should really leave myself a note. 

Here is the note to me.

(There is a little bit TMI in the following note, but we're all humans, right? RIGHT?!)

Dear Self,

Wear sunblock when driving long distances. Remember the time you drove from California to Mount Rushmore and after the first couple of days you were like, "Why does my face hurt so much at the end of a long day? And why is it so red?" Sunburn! And remember when you bought that flannel shirt from some random shop in the middle of nowhere just to tuck it in your driver's side window to block the sun because you just couldn't take it anymore? Wear sunblock and maybe wear long sleeved shirts.

Don't forget to pack a tennis ball for working out the kinks in your shoulder from driving a long time, or sleeping on a weird hotel pillow. Bring extra Advil for when your back hurts from driving for a long time, or sleeping on a weird hotel bed. I know you won't do this next thing but, for God's sake, stretch. It should help, though I have no proof of this since you never do it.

Try not to worry too much about why your throat is scratchy and your eyes are watery. You get allergies when you travel to new places. You are not getting sick. You are allergic to the world. Take Zyrek and tissues. Also, hotel air conditioning dries you out. Bring nasal spray if you want, but definitely bring chap stick. Lotion wouldn't hurt, but again, I know you won't do this. 

If you fly for more than an hour, you will get constipated for a few days. I know, that's not usually your problem in life, but flying does some dark arts magic to you and the first few days will be uncomfortable. Drink lots of water and eat your veggies. You will bloat and be generally sad about this, but it will work itself out and you can go back to being regular and happy for the second half of your trip.

Ok, remember when you were driving on Highway 50, aka The Loneliest Road in the America, and there was one bathroom for like 500 miles and you were nowhere near it? Remember that huge mound of dirt next to the road and what you did behind it? On day one of any long road trip, put a roll of toilet paper in your car. Also, I still love you, don't forget that.

If you're going to work from bed, because your hotel room doesn't have a desk, put your laptop on something that is not a pillow. You don't want it overheating. Try a room service tray or a book. Let that shit vent.

I know that was a lot. Here are some things you do well. I'm so proud of you!

You avoid gluten. Remember that time you went to New Orleans and threw caution to the wind, eating donuts and beignets? Those days are over. No more missing out on fun activities because you don't feel well. You figured it out! Good job!

You always load up on water. The first time you bought a case of water to keep with you, it was a genius moment. And on that same trip, you ended up miles deep in a lava field that you were pretty sure wasn't meant for a rental sedan. You hit a rock at like 5mph, but it shifted the whole car to the side and you had a moment of panic looking at the outside temperature (104, I believe) and were at least thankful for that case of water, in case you did damage to the undercarriage, which you did not, you lucky girl!

You don't go out at night alone. I don't remember this being a conscious choice, but I'm thankful for it. Sure, you might miss out on seeing city lights or a wild amount of stars, but you never find yourself in the middle of nowhere at midnight, alone and vulnerable. You are always well fed and safe in your hotel room by sunset, exhausted from a long day of exploring...and with hours to write your little blog.

Oh, you blog! I'm so glad you've been doing this since 2014 and I really hope the site never goes down because you've captured some amazing memories! I should probably look into backing these up. I'm going to go do that now. 

Keep up the good work! And stay safe!

OKC > Nunu's and Pops 66 Soda Ranch

Imagine you're watching the beginning of a movie, not quite sure what to expect and something pops up on the screen that let's you know you're seeing the future. That's this. But imagine it's future me, which is really past me because I'm writing this blog after the fact, explaining the memory of an even further past event.

...and that reminds me of the time I was at a friend's opulent wedding. My first ever wedding in Australia. It was at a big church, with amazingly curated grounds. Honestly, I can't tell you more detail about her dress or the priest, who I think was wearing a dress too (you know, those Catholic pullover deals), but my memory might be entirely fabricated, because, though I did snap about 100 pictures, I didn't have a memory card in my camera and noticed about 10 seconds before the actual ceremony when I turned bright red and put my camera down. 

Then flash to present me. (Camera pun?) Or maybe it's past me. First thing this morning. See, this is why I don't write scripts. I blame that on the time I was accepted to UC Santa Barbara to study English, because the film department didn't want me and I took a tour and everything with a friend from high school, but decided I really didn't want to have HIM as the only person I knew in SB, because I didn't really like him that much anymore, and on the day we were supposed to pack the car to move to UCSB, I decided I wasn't going and finished my already in-progress English degree from Cal State Hayward, where I had no friends and was perfectly fine with that. 

Omg. I think listening to this Jenny Lawson book is making me write like this. But she's (self-admittedly) very mentally unwell. Maybe I should talk to someone about that. Like my therapist on Thursday. 

I haven't even had one drink, you guys. This is just me and I haven't even started telling you the story of my day. It's probably because the highlight was blueberry soda. (That's what they call a teaser).

-----------------------------

Chapter One: My First Day in Oklahoma City

Seriously, I'm in some kind of mood to write a chapter heading to the middle of a blog post.

Alright, here's the story of my day in bullet points, because I know you're just here for the pictures (which I will deliver, despite the other teaser about the memory cardless wedding).

• Woke up at 9am CT
• Realized I put out the "please deliver coffee and breakfast to me" sign too late for them to act on it.
• Ordered and received coffee and a gluten free dessert...I mean breakfast. A delicious blueberry scone.
• Worked from my hotel room until lunch.
• Ordered lunch from a salad place, picked up lunch, drove back to the hotel. Realized 80% of the way back that I was OUT of blood sugar and started sweating.
• Made it back to my room in a full sweat with shakes. I guess coffee and a scone aren't what this incredibly strong (read: weak) body needs in the morning.
• Ate an INCREDIBLY delicious salad as fast as possible, while taking breaks to lay on the ground near the A/C in the hopes to stop sweating.
• Worked for the afternoon from my hotel room. 
• Looked incredibly good on Zoom. I guess a blood sugar crash does wonders for my complexion.
• Dinner....

Here is where I will properly start the story.

In the afternoon, I realized I might need an actual meal for dinner. I did a search for "Best Restaurants in OKC" and close to the top of the list was Nunu's Mediterranean Café located in the Tropical Cafe Smoothie building. Whatever that means. I ordered dinner online for pick up and jumped in my car, listening to more hilarious details about how Jenny Lawson's health insurance doesn't cover anything she needs and is a general hinderance to people with depression and suicidal ideation. Really light stuff, ya know? 

Anyway, on the 17 minute drive to this restaurant it hit me just how sprawling Oklahoma City is. I made some notes for myself on my phone. The highlights were:

"I've never driven to a city before and not known if I'd made it."

"No wonder OKC Ranks Unhealthiest Out Of America's 100 Largest Cities there is no incentive to walk anywhere. It's a mile from one store to another. Nothing is close to anything."

My GPS gave me directions to the back of a square tan building in a huge and empty parking lot. I was like "this can't be it". There were no signs for Nunu's, but I did notice the drive-thru for the smoothie place, so I figured out that I was BEHIND the building. 

I went in to pick up my food, and here's where I will mention that every restaurant, store, hotel, etc that I've been in Oklahoma City has employees wearing masks. HURRAH! But 90% of the patrons do not. BOO! Still, I wear mine when around people and no one seems to notice. I mean, I'm the dykiest thing they've seen in Oklahoma, so it's my hair they stare at while opening the door for me or politely getting out of my way. 

Proof of hair, from an odd angle. Anyway....

I grabbed my food and plugged into the GPS (and please know that I mean Google Maps, and not an actual GPS) Pops 66 Soda Ranch, because if I'm going to work all day, then I'm at least going to see one tourist attraction at night. And that's when I put my bag of food on the floor of the passenger's side of the car and drove 30 minutes to buy a soda. 

On the way, I had this sad feeling wash over me that Oklahoma roads (highways) are really boring. I'd been looking at Google Maps before embarking on this adventure, thinking "well, it's only 3 hours to Kansas, I might as well check another state of the list." But at that moment, between the Tropical Smoothie Cafe building and the soda joint, I wasn't looking forward to long drives up and down Oklahoma. 

That changed when I arrived at Pops 66 and realized that I was on THE Route 66. Pretty cool! 

At Pops there is a 66-foot neon pop bottle structure! (To be honest, I forgot that it was neon. I showed up during the day and did not see or hear the splendor of neon). Inside the store / restaurant / soda fountain there were old time soda bottles of all flavors and colors adorning the glass shelves and walls. I picked a blueberry soda from Maine and went to eat dinner in my car. 

I want to complain about the plastic bag from the restaurant because it was tied with two knots, taped shut and then stapled shut but I Hulk Hogan'd my way into it and pulled out my Styrofoam containers of maybe the most delicious Lebanese/Mediterranean food I've ever had the pleasure of eating. I'd never had a cabbage wrap before and it made me do that thing you do when you're surprised while eating and you open your eyes as wide as possible without changing your expression and you move your head back a little and then make that Jack Nicholson downturned mouth of appreciation while sort of squinting your opened eyes. Is that just me?

The blueberry soda was yummy, but what sugary drink isn't?

After eating and maintaining an appropriate blood sugar level (or maybe a little on the high side), I went back into Pops with my fancy camera. You know the one I took all those Bison and Prairie Dog pictures with yesterday? Oh, I should mention, I turned off the beep, so shoppers wouldn't think I was a noob, like the Bison did.

I started snapping shots of the bottles on the walls, in the cases, on shelves. I took pictures of funny bottles and serious bottles and the soda fountain area and souvenirs. And that's when I noticed the little flashing note on the LCD screen that said something like, "Hey, did you remember to take the SD card out of your laptop after blogging last night?" 

...and that reminds me of the time I was at a friend's opulent wedding...when I snapped about 100 pictures and then realized that I didn't have a memory card in my camera. 

So, I mouthed a number of swear words behind my mask and started taking one-handed pictures on my iPhone while this expensive-ass camera dangled from my other hand. Noob.

Here are said pictures.

  

And some more pictures

And souvenirs, old candies and stuff

This is candy and NOT, definitely NOT fake cigarettes for kids

 Happy Little Tree Mints

I had a lovely time, though mad about the SD card, walking around and looking at all this old and useless junk which I totally bought some of. I checked out with the same girl who sold me the blueberry soda only minutes before. I asked her how many of the sodas she tired and she said, "Um. Maybe two. I don't really like soda." And that was the moment I realized I would drive to Kansas and love every minute of it. You can't get shit like this unless you travel the long, boring roads it takes to get to the PEOPLE. 

People are what make these trips worth anything at all. Just knowing that this girl (and I say girl, but she was probably 30...or 20...I mean, now that I'm old, I can't tell people's ages anymore)...where was I, oh right, this girl who doesn't really like soda, works at a famous soda shop on the Route 66 in Arcadia Oklahoma because she needed a job and one came up. Where else was she going to work? The Round Barn down the street?!

No, really. That's a thing. Two minutes down the road, The Arcadia Round Barn. But then that's it. I drove around the neighborhood a little and the prospects are limited.

And that concluded my very first full day in Oklahoma City. Charmed by the locals, delighted by the food and with a little more appreciation for the visually same-y highways that take people like me to people like you and everyone in between. 

#teampete

#infrastructure

p.s. maybe that Pete reference was a little too deep of a cut. He's the infrastructure guy now. Roads. Oh well, I'm tired.