The Slaying of The Dragons!

What a day this has been!  Up early and down the highway to meet some friends for brunch and have a good old fashion "chin wag" about...well, whatever we wanted to talk about.
Since neither of us had ever been to this place, we decided to try it out....

I have no idea why a train was sitting outside...ha.  I guess so that people could say "I don't know why on earth a train was sitting outside".....hahahaha

There seemed to be a line up from the resturant clear to Cincinatti, but we fortunate that we were able to be seated 30 minutes later with our friends.....:-).  It has been a year since we had a visit.

I ordered coffee which didn't hit the spot for me at all and the lady kept bringing it!  hahaha.  I'm spoiled now that I use a french press.  Everything else taste weak to me now..:-(.

And then there was brunch.  We were sitting right by the door and it was rather chilly out.  Needless to say, half of my food was not eaten as it got cold before I could get to it......:-(.

After our visit, Scootard and I headed downtown in hopes to be able to finally get a pass to the national parks....only to discover that the building is not open on the weekends.  I was sure they were open on Saturday.   Perhaps they changed their hours to save money..?  Who knows.....:-(. 

So, we decided to ride around and take a chance at a tour of the state captital. It reminds me of the White House.  But alas!  It's only Oklahoma.. Notice..no cars.......foiled again! ugh!  oh well.....what else can we see today?...

Downtown looked like a ghost town; which was strange to me for a Saturday.  But I haven't lived here full time since 2008.  So, I guess things changed between visits...

Down the street from the VA hospital were these medivac helicopters.  The last time I was in a helicopter was over 20 years ago as part of my military training.  I was glad I didn't have to jump out of that thing!

then we drove over to Scootard's favorite store.....:-).  Bass Pro Shops is a lot like Cabela's.  We don't have either in Canada.  Pity.....

 They have some of the strangest things.....outside......

and inside........

He ain't real........

I decided to strike a pose remembering the sharpshooter that I used to be in the military....complete with my Davey Crocket hat........jazzy eh? 

oh dear.......if I EVER look this bad......just put me out of my misery!

Scootard trying to climb inside a "getaway car"......haha.  Doesn't he look mischievious!

yep.... a plane hanging from the ceiling........:-).  Strange.....

We decided to head back to our own city so that I could try out my AirHawk which I had just purchased a couple of days ago.  It had been to windy to ride.  So, it had been sitting in its box for a couple of days.  I figured riding for about 20-30 miles should tell me whether it was going to be a dissappointment or not.  So, we headed back up to the mountains taking the long way around.  But first things first.  Off with the lamb's wool and on with the Airhawk.

Then Scootard decided to test out the lamb's wool for himself..... Not that he had monkey butt or anything.....he just wanted to see how it was......:-).

He is "Ms Vickey" with her new duds.........:-).  We shall see how it works out......

We started toward Ft. Sill Army base where I was stationed several years ago and took the highway from there......

After braving the brisk highway, we arrived at the first "dragon that I had to slay....FEAR of crossing this bridge!  The last time we came to it, I got off my bike and Scootard rode it across for me.....:-(.  I just couldn't do it!  But this time I decided to slay the dragon!  

Scootard gave me instructions to look at the end of the bridge and aim for "it".....Well, I got half way through and my eyes started darting about looking at all of the splinters and ruts on the bridge......

I screamed all the way across......hahahaha, but I MADE IT!!!  And I didn't have a "dirt nap"!!   YAYAYAYAYA!!!!

When I got to the other side; which by the way felt like it took SEVERAL DAYS, I wanted to throw up....ha.  My stomach was in knots and I had to take very deep breaths to get my composure again.  After several "Way To Go, Baby!!"  from  Scootard and a few chuckles over my expressing my desire to vomit.....we went to get warm and I wanted to "try" to eat something.  I have been to this place often and love the scenary from the window......

Nice -eh?......:-). This is the view from our table.

Now, I have always been intrigued by two trees growing smack dab in the middle of the floor!

my hands were very cold even though I had on gloves with liners.  So, the first order of business was to get something warm for my hands and for my nerves....ha

I ordered the grilled trout with broccoli, salad and rice pilaf......it was "ok"......

It started to get dark and since some of the roads aren't the best, we decided to get going.  Besides, I couldn't finish my food anyway because of my queezy stomach.....:-(.  We boxed it up and headed toward home.....at which point, I realized that I had also defeated the "monkey butt" syndrome......yay!!  That was the second dragon that had to be vanquished!   

 We arrived home after dark, but my stomach was settled and my butt no longer screamed "Get Me Off Of Here"!  

The dragons have been slain! 

It was sooo cold when we left that my figures went from cold, to hurting, to feeling warm while traveling at 70 miles per hours in 44 degree weather.  I knew that "warm" feeling was the first sign of hyporthermia and that we needed to get home fast.  But the rest of me was ok......I since I had failed to pack my insulated pants before we came, I had put some thick pajama bottoms on under my jeans and chaps before leaving the house......

and believe me, they saved my bacon on that brisk ride back!  My toes are curled because they are feeling a little chilly after my all day adventure.....:-)

Now, I'm back home...."chillin"....no pun intended...haha

Meandering Through Small Towns

It was pretty overcast today, but we decided to go out anyway in search of another adventure.  This time giving my "hinder parts" a rest.  We took the Infinity i30 and started up the highway.  First stop.......

Now, since I have committed myself to vanquishing the "monkey butt" sydrome that I have been contending with, we finally had a chance to stop at a motocycle shop that carried all manner of stuff for bikers...Since the name of the store might be slightly offensive to some of my readers, I slanted the camera to keep you from falling out of your seat! haha.....However, I figured with a name like this, they ought to have something for my particular "issue"......:-) 

We purchased another item that is supposed to make the ride more comfortable and enable me to ride longer than I have been.  And it was not cheap either!....:-(.  I figured since we have another month before leaving for Canada, I needed something else in case my lambs wool started to fall apart!

Medicine Park is more like a village than a town, but it does have it's own police department, fire department and post office....and you will see from the photos that most of the houses are made from cobble stone (some would call it adobe brick) and have been here for many, many years.

This particular one is not in good repair, but I'll bet it was nice at one time....:-)

There is a dam nearby and a water treatment plant.  I remember riding through this area many times through the years.  I would come here to think and pray.....:-)

This is the opposite entry way to the village.  Some of the houses are quite interesting.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason to most of them.  Definitely not a "strata" or "home owner's association" situation going on here.

I have no idea what kind of truck this is, but I do know that it is old.....

There was an artist that used to live here with his wife several years ago.  He had several metal works around the village that were very distinctive of his style.  This is the only one that I saw remaining.  He passed away several years ago. And I am sorry that I don't even remember his name.  But I met he and his wife one evening and they were a very lovely couple....:-).

We continued downt the road a bit a came upon this water fall.  People from the village often come here to fish and swim.  I put my feet in the water a few yards down the hill several years ago.  All of a sudden all of this little fish came and one by one started darting at my feet!  I never did that again....hahaha...The idea of becoming "fish bait" did not appeal to me!

 
There was a road that I considered taking Ms Vickey on, but wanted to drive it first to see the condition since it had been a year since I had been here.  It was curvy with some twists that made my hair stand on end.... and that was in a car! ha....  But once we got on the straight again there was this......

We continued on down the road and noticed that some of the trees in the area were really setting themselves up for a nice long "sleep"...

the sky was beautiful and had some how become clearer on what started as a day with the possibility of rain.....

For some reason when I saw this cloud formation, it reminded me of a Stingray fish....

This wind farm went up several years ago and I assume will be here for a long time to come......

 If you look closely, you can see them way off in the distance....lined up like aliens about to invade the earth.....hahaha.....Now, for you science fiction buffs...don't take that seriously....ha.

Next stop.....the tiny town of....

We stopped in the store to get a snack and took a couple of pics while there before heading back to our own town.....

I greeted one of the locals before getting back in the car......:-).  She didn't say much, but she did smile.....ha.  I was secretly glad she DIDN'T say anything!

We got back on the road and snapped a few more pics.....I thought this was interesting...

We got back to town and the sun was going down.....I stopped in a hobby store called "Hobby Lobby" and tried to find some glow in the dark numbers for Ms Vickey and was unsuccessful.  But Chris found the Christmas tree section and got home sick for British Columbia....

The sky was still beautiful and I am looking forward to trying out my new air cushion tomorrow......this is  a sky shot from outside of the store...



I miss sitting out on my front porch and watching the sunrise or the sunset from my backyard.....We live in a condo in BC so we don't have a front porch.......



When we made it home, my faithful birds of 7 years were waiting for me.  "Bubbles" was guarding his family below......:-).  He's gotten quite aggressive since the mrs. "Pickles" laid an egg two days ago....:-).  oh excuse the "poo".  She didn't know company was coming.....haha......I mean what good house keeper wouldn't move the poo if they knew company was coming over- right?

Pickles had a nesting box that they both decided to tear through.  I guess she needed a bigger "view"...ha.  Oh well.  I will be crawling into my own nest soon.....:-). 

It's been a long day and I want to be able to ride refreshed tomorrow if I'm not too tired and the weather permits .....:-).

Stay tuned!