Location: Tulsa and Oklahoma City
When: last week of March
Miles traveled: 960.8
Price of gas: $2.99
Interest: Country music
High point: Gathering Place
Low point: First tick bite
One thing learned: To enjoy the journey, not only the destination.
The main place in Oklahoma I wanted to visit, was
Factory Obscura. Factory Obscura is "an Oklahoma City-based collaborative company creating immersive experiences that awaken wonder, build community, and make the world better". Their current exhibition is called Mix-Tape, and has some cool music throughout the rooms. Unlike some other companies' immersive experiences, this one seemed to focused on tactile experience rather than digital/visual experience. Guests were given 3D glasses that made all the non-black lights a rainbow kaleidoscope. Most of the time, I did not wear the glasses. My favorite room had an ocean theme with fabric ferns on the walls and grass skirts hanging from the ceiling at head height. Walking through the hanging grass felt like a light fingered head massage! Two slides in that room added entertainment, as many people caught some air on the way down. An adjacent room had a button controlled laugh track, and a live video connected Oklahoma guests to guests in a Factory Obscura in Mexico (or New Mexico, I'm not sure which). A heart shaped hallway with large candy hearts on the floor, lead to a love themed room where guests could sing karaoke songs that talked about love and heart break. Mix-Tape was smaller than I imagined. It might have been the full size of a McDonald's restaurant, which is much smaller than any art museum. Walking through the rooms took only an hour, but I really enjoyed my time exploring.
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Two slides, one encased in padding
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Traveling to and from Tulsa and Oklahoma City required a lot of quarters. Their turnpike does not accept E-Zpass, so I used cash at the toll booths. One unmanned toll booth I frequented, only accepted coins. A large funnel directs the coins thrown at it into the machine, and the light turns green when a dollar has been paid. It was a little fun throwing the quarters into the funnel. But the fun wore off when I realized just how many quarters I was spending, $8! Quarters are my laundry money and I needed to find a bank to replenish my supply.
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| Azaleas |
I went to an Azalea Festival in Honor Heights Park, Muskogee, OK. The festival takes place the entire month of April, and I visited on April 1st. It was a bit of a disappointment. There was no "festival" stuff going on. It looked like a large park with a playground, large ponds with turtles and fish, some hiking trails, and a flower garden in addition to the flowers and plants throughout the park. Maybe later in April there would be more festivities, but not that day. The tulips were beautiful, but by the end of the day I thought I only saw one Azalea flower. Later I realized I was thinking of Irises, and Azaleas are a bush. (My poor brain.) I had seen Azaleas, and even took a picture of them. I guess they are just not very high on my favorite flowers list. I hiked a trail that followed a waterfall and watched the turtles and ducks at the pond. It turned out to be a nice afternoon. Unfortunately, a tick hitched a ride from the park and I did not find it on me until the next day.
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| Tulips |
Tulsa also has a beautiful park. Theirs is called
Gathering Place, and it is much larger than Honor Heights Park. If I lived in Tulsa, I would visit Gathering Place often! There is a lot for a visitor to do and see, and many beautiful places that invite a person to sit and relax.
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| 3 types of shakers |
Traveling south of Oklahoma City, I spent a few days in Chickasaw territory. They are one of the Native American tribes that were forced from their homelands in Mississippi and Alabama, and walked to Oklahoma. At the Chickasaw Cultural Center I learned how to stomp dance and walked around a recreated traditional village. Stomp dancing is performed around a campfire (or a pretend fire when demonstrated inside). It is simple rhythmic stepping with a few hand gestures. The women keep the rhythm with shakers on their legs. Turtle shells
with river rocks in them were the first shakers. When the turtles
became protected animals, deer toes became the next
shakers. Later when deer hunting became problematic, the dancers hunted
in Walmart for a suitable shaker. Tomato cans with stones or dried
beans became the modern shakers. After stomp dancing was demonstrated, the audience was invited for a dance, and so I joined the circle of dancers. It was simple.
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Chickasaw village
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Little
Niagara Falls is also in Chickasaw territory. Sitting in the warm sun on a 64° day after two days of
overly warm 91° & 80° weather, was peaceful. A hard flat rock became a seat. Feet
and legs immersed in the water slowly turned cold. The falls just behind, block the sound of the falls in
front. Their light roar also holds a burbling quality similar to a TV
turned on in the next room. Audible talking voices can be heard, but no distinct
words. Light flashes off fish turning sideways in the pool
below one's feet, and it's joyful to see small fish jumping
for bugs. It would have been amazing to swim here two days ago in the hot weather, but the swimming hole was not visited until today. The malt
milkshakes eaten on those two hot days were delicious. Braum's makes good milkshakes!
