Okie Travelers - Food, Fun and Fish

Going home is always a complex experience.  There is the family component, favorite restaurants, favorite adventures and friends all along the way.  I took my traveling Gypsy to Oklahoma to see all of it.  We missed out of the friends component, but went hard on food and adventure.

What better way to start out a trip than a visit to a defunct roadside attraction?!  The Blue Whale of Catoosa is a stop worth making and too close to the interstate for any excuses.  It's full of sketchy and wonderful safety issues and frankly, that is the charm.  Coupled with the mystery pirate ship and "mushroom" garden next door, the 1970s creepy vibe is strong.  The cold chased us back to heated space, but we laughed a lot and climbed all the things!

Finding ourselves delighted with the whale, but hungry, we headed to the Brady District of Tulsa.  This up and coming district has galleries, bars and restaurants galore.  Chimera is known for vegan options and creative dishes.  It did not disappoint!  We took a few moments to explore the area, load up on fancy chocolate for the rest of the road trip and visit the Center of the Universe.  Yes, the Center of the Universe.  This interesting spot on the map is hard to explain, but if you go there, there are odd audio echos that happen.  It's worth a stop.  

Someone who shall remain anonymous got pretty into the experience.  Isn't that what life is really all about? 

Our next step was Nana's house.  We talked her into a trip to my favorite Italian place, Victoria's Pasta shop.  After a helping of food that would have embarrassed rational people, we waddled home.  The great part about Nana is that even after all that food, there were talks of dessert.  The best part of the trip is taking care of little things around the house.  We even got a tour of every quilt she's made that she hasn't given away and a preview of her current projects.  At 90, she is a very busy woman!  Finally deciding we should all get some sleep, we woke to have a breakfast prepared for some sort of alternate time warp where we should all be working on the farm all day.  We preserved and were thankful for home-cooked food, made with love. She even let us help a little!

Our next tour was a look at home.  I grew up in Norman, OK.  It is a town driven by the University of Oklahoma and a fairly robust economy.  Every time I go home, there is a new shopping center, new development, less fields...  We checked out the highlights: football stadium, high school, first place a cop caught me making out in a car, the university, the duck pond, elementary school, my first house, favorite park, favorite 7-11, etc.  It was a good day, but a weird day.  Lots of fog and rain and memories.  

My name on a brick at the train depot.

The house I grew up in.  Still yellow!

The drainage ditches we used to wander for hours. 

Jumping out of swings at Lion's Park (not recommended, but I was safety officer on site.)

On the last major trip through memory lane, we headed to my college town, Chickasha, OK.  We stopped by Hick's Farm Store and talked with Mr. Hicks for a while.  Drove around to my first apartment and explored the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.  It's a small university, but it was interesting to check it out.  Finally ready to eat, we were off to Temazcal.  The food was as remembered and while the Gypsy traveler mocked the weak sauces, she continued to shove them in her mouth.  We were stuffed!  

Having hit memory lane hard, it was time to go to my favorite place on earth, the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge.  Just outside the gates is a small community called Medicine Park.  Near the park, a lake and with a trout stream running through it, the little community is charming and surrounded by unique geological features.  We wandered a bit and then settled into our little base camp to prepare for some big hikes!  

We jumped up (ok, not really) and found breakfast at Cockeyed Bob's.  The flavor of Medicine Park started to make itself more apparent.  It seemed there may be a party streak a mile wide with a hint of bikers and strange locals.  That being said, we had an epic breakfast and vowed to return the next day. 

Check out the cobblestone construction.  This is a definite hallmark of Medicine Park. 

And then to the park! The weather was a little sketchy so we hit some of the more chill trails.   Unfortunately, I got us "lost" immediately and we did a bushwhack that ended in bouldering and some furrowed eyebrows.  I could hear my grandmother admonishing me, "don't go bouldering.  It's dangerous.  I'll know!!!"  Well, we backed up, reassessed and kept on exploring.  

Who has two thumbs and loves buffalo?  This lady.

Weird holy city structures...

40 Foot Hole (Kite Trail)

The cabin at the entrance to the Narrows.

Say hello to my (not so) little friend.  She's either pregnant or a master of snack acquisition. 

After exhausting ourselves we returned for the classic meal at the Riverside Grill.  We ate all the fried things.  It was really shameful, but what doesn't solve sore feet and tiredness like beer and onion tanglers.  Falling into bed quickly (likely a food coma), we slept with dreams of buffalo and adventures for the next day. 

Sunday was the big hike.  My favorite hike.  The Valley of Boulders (don't tell Nana).  I was brought on this trail so many times as a young person, I have no rational conception of what is required to do it as an adult.  We did part of the bouldering portion before risk management and long term survivability kicked in for a rerouting to the path. It was still glorious and we were rewarded by a waterfall, napping/reading in the sun and a relaxing return.  

Apple and Pear

A break on solid ground!

One of my favorite spots.

Top o' Post Oak Falls

Secret picnic / nap spot!

How is this even Oklahoma?!

Great view of the quartz in these mountains.  

Bouldering Face

Looking back at the valley.

Juniper roots holding the trail together.

Long horn cattle for the win!

What's black and white and cute as a button?

After a little more driving and a few more buffalo, we returned to Medicine Park for a last dinner at the Plantation Inn.  Fried food reigned again, but we more than earned it with our crawling and climbing.  

The last day was all about the new aquarium  in Medicine Park.  This little town is an unlikely place, but wow did it deliver.  Having the whole place to ourselves, we slowly prowled the displays alternately ooohing and ahhhing.  We got a private Electric Eel feeding show.  This is a real treat.  They teach you about him and then feed him little shrimps.  He electrifies the water, which you cannot see, but they have a speaker and lights so you can see the electricity working!  This is brilliant.  Waiting for the Critter Talk at noon, we checked out the soon to be built otter exhibit, turtle town and the angry snakes section.  One Prairie Rattler in particular was quite irritated.  His friend was not concerned or amused.   The critter talk started with a Speckled King Snake that we could pet.  She was quite intent on going in the biologist's shirt to cuddle up.  The next portion was all terrifying bugs.  To name a few, scorpions, hissing cockroaches, tarantulas, etc.  The best part was the story about the black widow hatching babies.  They had to vacuum her and the babies up....there is not enough money in this world.  The aquarium was nothing short of divine.  What I thought was a 30 minute stop turned into a 2.5 hour adventure!

Our shocking friend Mr. Electric Eel

Take me to Turtle Town!

Angry Prairie Rattler

Sally-Mander.

Moby the Big Blue Cat!

Beginning to work our way home, we stopped back by the Greek House in Norman.  An old staple, we had our last outrageous portion of food.  Rolling home, it was time to start dreaming of the new homestead in Arkansas.  

Greek Food For Days....

I'm so thrilled to be blessed with the best adventure partner on the planet.  Whether we are dancing through the grocery store of conquering mountains, we make it worth our time.  Find those adventures and don't give up on them.  The difference between a disaster and an adventure is quite often just attitude.