Short Trips, Oh What Bliss!

I tell you, I had been itching for over several days for the weather to break "somewhat" for it to be bearable enough to go for a ride on "Ms Vickey".  But, to my horror when we tried to start her she wouldn't budge.  Barely let out a "groan"....:-(.  It had been over three weeks since she had been out for a ride and the top case had drained the battery. I had been warned by a Kymco dealer in BC to remove the case if the bike was going to sit for a long period of time, but somehow that advice escaped me..

Being the traveling folks that we are, we happen to have a set of jumper cables in the trunk of the car.  Now, I'm thinking that cables for a"car" are going to blow up my little battery if we actually "start" the car to give Ms Vickey a jump.  Scootard on the other hand was quite confident that all was going to be well and proceeded to hook the cables to the tiny battery under my seat.  I moved over to the porch and covered my ears! haha

No big bang.....Yay!!  Just the hum of my little friend ready to go for her long awaited ride.  Thanks to Scootard!  I had my gear ready to slip into resting on the back of the car.....:-)  It was currently 77 degrees and we knew we had better hit the road soon before the temperature starting to climb.

But not before putting those trusty jumper cables under my seat.  Just in case!

Ms Vickey and Maj ready to rock and roll!

Our drive way is a bit "tricky" to me with both cars sitting there.  So, I usually have Scootard turn the bike around for me and take it into the street.

By the way, I had my trusty airhawk cushion all ready to go and it did me no good on this trip.  I had not put sufficient air in it.  So, monkey butt prevailed!

Scootard was getting his gear ready to go and we were both excited about the little town that we had promised to go back to and take some pictures of.

After a 30 minute ride up the highway, we came to one of my favorite spots in the mountains.  We decided to park the bikes and just sit near the water for a spell.

 Here is a shot of the lake that had our attention for several minutes.........

It was very peaceful as it usually is and had a few people at the shoreline fishing for channel catfish and small mouth bass.

The pier looked  very inviting, but the dragon flies were out in full force along with the wasp and bumble bees. All of which seem to take a liking to me!

We did managed to sit for a few minutes....

then the bugs spotted me!   But I wanted to snap the cool pick of the pier before we left.

 And so it was that after a very brief visit to my favorite spot in the mountains, it was time to go and I was thrilled to be leaving the bugs right there at the lake. (Hopefully)

We hit the road again and decided to head toward that tiny town that we wanted to take pictures of called Coopville or Cooperton or something like that.  Well, that didn't go so well as we made a wrong turn and somehow went the wrong way.

the road we were on took us to the main highway at which point we stopped and decided that since we had not had breakfast, we should eat something.  The temperature was beginning to rise and I was starting to sweat in my gear.  It was twenty five miles  to town and we decided on Chinese food for lunch once we arrived.

We discussed the possibility of dropping in on a friend who we had not seen since our last visit to the United States.  But, both of us were full and tired from the heat and decided to just go back to the house and rest for the rest of the day.   We managed to get Ms Vickey and Maj back to the house without a scratch....:-)

But this time I took the top case off.....:-).  No more surprises for me!  and we made it back before the weather hit 90 degrees.  It was 87 when we returned....:-)

Riding along with my honey and thinking about how blessed I am to have the life that I do and to be doing that life with my man.....:-).  Who, strangely enough seemed to be wondering which direction we would head out the next time we went on a trip....hahaha. .

I, on the other hand just wanted to get out of my hot boots, into my pj's and put my feet up!

Scootard eventually settled in as well.  Before finally drifting off to sleep in front of his computer......:-)

And so ends a wonderful time (with the exception of the dragon flies, wasp and bees).   It was a blissful day in full anticipation of another adventure some time soon!   Thanks for being a fantastic road partner, Scootard....:-)

See ya'll next time!

All that's left...

The heat here in Oklahoma as been such that we could not even ride for a few days.  So, whenever we could after the sun would finally go down, we would try to spend some time in our ever fading garden.

Before EVERYTHING got cooked to a frazzle, I decided to snap some pics of what was left and what I did to remediate the the problem. You might remember from our last trip here when Chris and I cut the Crepe Myrtles back to fence height?  Everyone that looked at them said "OMG! You killed them!"...ha.  Well, having done that before and the fact that they had not even had a slight trim for almost 6 years; I knew they would be fine.  Here is what they look like now.  Chris cut the suckers off the bottoms before I shot this picture. These are on the North side of the yard. Notice my flower urn in the forefront?  Nice-eh? ...:-).  There's a story about that urn.  Hang on....

This is taken on the South side of the yard. Most of what was on the North side had to be moved to the south side because it was cooking!  Now, I know that might sound backward, but the South side has a huge Pecan tree and a couple of Oaks and Crepe Myrtles that you can put plants under.  Some still didn't make it through because of the extreme heat.  It was 106 in the shade here!

And here is where I sit most mornings with my "cup -o-joe".  We had some ministry friends over this past weekend and was able to sit outside for breakfast for a short 45 minutes before our meeting started.  It has been raining for 4 days now and was drizzling outside the past Sunday.  Everyone was so glad to see rain, that they wanted to sit outside anyway....:-).  So, we wiped down the table and chairs and ate breakfast on our new furniture.....:-).  It was quite nice, actually.  I still have the thought in my mind to try to plant some creeping thyme in those cracks that the Pecan tree has made...

The pictures loaded in some kind of a random order than what I wanted.  But anyway, here is what is left of my Petunias in this pot.  Petunias will bloom all summer long except for in extreme heat!  So, I decided to help the "view" of this pot with some "perma posies".  Chris's idea.  It was cheaper than having to keep replacing plants that kept dying on us!  Not bad though.....:-).  These are the bird baths that I purchased in British Columbia last year.  I had to remove the water as it turned into a serious breeding ground for mosquitos who LOVE my 0+ blood!  Anyway, the rich purple flowers that you see are the perma posies that I stuck in the pot along with what was left of my Petunia which are the pink flowers on the left.

We spent a considerable amount of time trying to find something for Chris's rock garden.  It is only a tiny section of the garden that sits right under an oak tree.  He planted some small Coleus, Stone Crop(??), and Impatient.  All of which were wilting terrible.  So, I stuck some daisy in it...:-).  But I might change those out for something a little less..."loud".

This is a close up of one of my Crepe Mytle that was starting to bloom. In the background pot is a Geranium.  I have found that I really don't care for those as they require constant attention....

Under the Pecan tree is a yellow Rose that is still in the pot.  I didn't take it out because every Rose with the exception of one that I put in the ground started to die on me!  You can barely see the little yellow roses because I stuck a couple of Blackeyed Susans in the pot with them...Sorry about the blurr....:-(.

ok, back to the North side of the garden.  You may remember this little statue of a girl reading a book that I purchased in Canada last year.  Well, I think I have found a final place for her (at least temporarily...ha), by the child's gate that we snagged at an antique store on our last visit.  One of the rose bushes that we purchased is in the pot on the ground.  You wouldn't know it was a rose for all of the damage that the sun as done to it. I don't know what the plants where that I stuck in with that one. And the pot on the stand is what is left of the Petunias that were growing there.  I stuck some Gerbera Daisies in the pot with them and cut them back some....
.

Here is the remaining rose bush that was thriving a bit and then started to wain away last week.  I thought I would help it out with some pick flowers that I found.  The color matched almost perfectly.  I have been debating about painting the old fence, but can't seem to decide on a color for it.....??  Any ideas??

And this is the center of the yard toward the west fence.  the tiny lights come on at night and look very pretty when we are sitting out there.  The motorcycle people seem happy enough...ha.

The story about this urn is that we read that if you put empty water bottles in the bottom of your pots before filling them with dirt, it cuts down on a lot of weight when and if you have to move them.  The challenge that I have found is that: 1. You need plants with shallow roots to do this. 2.  If you are using plastic urns like I did, it will get a bit warmer inside.

Anyway, all of the urns had Geranium, Vinca, Verbena and Lobelia.  The Lobelia which were deep purple (almost blue in color) started to cook away.  I trimmed them and some of them began to bloom again, but others just died.  I replaced with a couple of these purple flowers.  I have no idea what they are, but you saw a close up of them in the birdbath.  I also incorporated some of these tiny carnation looking flowers.  The pink helped the urns not to look so sad.....
  

this very old vanity that my daughters used when they were pre-teens was finally put out into the yard since they are both in their 30's now.....:-).  It used to be yellow in color, but just in the short time that it was outdoors, it has faded and started to crack.  I think it adds some charm to it....:-).

 My youngest gave me the angel statue with the children a few weeks ago for the garden.  She has been moved several times trying to find the right spot for her.  The drawers used to have trailing petunia in them until they were all killed by the heat and ended up in our compost bin....:-(.  I have no idea what the flowers are that I stuck in a remaining pot  sitting on that vanity, but I thought the deep purple was a nice touch.  It put some color in that part of the garden.

I might repaint it next year a yellow color of some sort.  Haven't decided yet.....

 You may also remember these motorcylce people that we picked up on our way back from Texas several weeks ago.  This is "Willie the wild rider".....

and "Reckless Ranita"  his riding companion.  I had to double check and make sure she actually had a top on before purchasing her.....geeze...

And this is where we sit in the evenings watching the sun go down and waiting for all of those lights to start coming on.....:-)

  Hope you enjoyed the tour....:-)

Works Of Art and Guatemalan Foods Pt 2

It was time to depart the Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Art Museum and see what other mischief we could get into.  We headed for the Oklahoma Heritage Museum. 

Which happen to be housed in what used to be an insurance building.

And of course, just because there is a front door doesn't mean that you can actually use it.  We ended up having to walk to the back to get in.  The temperature was starting to rise, so by the time we got back there I was ready for some air conditioning. This is the picture of the back of the building.

There was this cool wall fountain thingee that Scootard was sure felt cool when you walked through.  Worth a try I guessed....:-)  Helen was already sitting behind the glass.  You just barely see here to the left.

Ok, I'll check it out for myself.....The water was cool enough....

The tunnel was not! ha.  Wow....surprise, surprise.

Well, they do have air inside.  So, that's where I needed to be.

We arrived just about 2:30 and was told that we had plenty of time by the assistant at the desk.  This is one of the first things that I saw.  It was located in the center of a display of female inmates.  These women told their story in a short paragraph; some with pictures of their children with them.

I only took a couple of the pictures that were there.  Unfortunately, I was not able to capture what they were saying.  Since I am not a "photographer" per se...the chances of my investing in expensive camera equipment is pretty slim.  But I will do the best I can with what I have.

This is a lady and her niece, both serving at the same facility for distributing drugs, etc.

The room was full of these stories.  The photographer called it the Invisible Eve.

We journeyed up to the third floor and discovered what is called the grand room.  Not so grand to me, though.  Seemed more like a cafeteria without the steam tables.  But I would imagine that if someone wanted to have a banquet here and the food catered in, it would work well.

As we were leaving, I spotted this small glass door way and when I looked through there was this magnificent staircase.....:-).  I couldn't get the whole thing, but I thought the top of it was very cool.

Scootard found this piano in the corner and started to play.  I didn't know that he could.  And guess what.  He couldn't! hahaha.  Still sounded good to me, though.....:-).

He took the stairs back down and I took the elevator.  It's kinda weird when you open an elevator door and all of these people are standing there staring at you!  Wow....creepy! haha
And who is that guy scowling at me, anyway??

There was a gallery that had the bust of some of the philanthropist and contributors of Oklahoma's history.

There was a place for someone else........

Heeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy!!!!!

They even had this little theatre thing where you could tell your story of what you felt was the most significant thing that happened to you while in Oklahoma.

I told the story of Chris and I and how we met.  But it was the real short version.

Well, by now we were all starving and looking for somewhere different to go and eat. The lady at the museum suggested we try a restaurant that was nearby.

This was going to be exciting.  At least I was hoping so.  I was sure that there would be "some" differences between Guatemalan food and Mexican food as Mexican food is my least favorite.  I'm not big on beans which are a staple in Mexico and when I was there several years ago it became MY STAPLE for 8 days! haha.  I was done by the time I left.

Scootard already had the menu in hand and was ready to dive in head first.......:-)

The city was like a ghost town as it was a long holiday weekend here in the US.  So, the little cafe only had two other people sitting in it across from us.  I tried not to get them in the picture, of course.

There were huge posters decorating the walls of the country and their culture.

after some picture taking, I decided that somebody had to order "something".  So, I ordered some guacamole and chips to hold us over until we got our entree'.

Helen ordered this dish that was cabbage soaked in beet juice and vinegar with beef and Lord knows what else was in there.  The little dish on the side was a hot sauce that would blow you into the next universe!

Scootard ordered what was called Flautus.  No idea what that is.  It seemed to be taquitos.  I guess maybe the same thing, but with a different name.

I ordered the Tilapia with grilled veggies and rice.  to my surprise it also had a helping of black beans nestled under the fish.....but it actually wasn't that bad.  I used some of that hot sauce and adjusted to the heat pretty quickly after the first shock wave took my breath away......haha

We pushed away from the table completely stuffed and having had to leave some of it behind.  I caught a picture of one of their newspapers on our way out of the restaurant.  Looks like they were celebrating the 4th of July....hahaha.  
wow.

It was a good day filled with beautiful "eye candy".  I got back in the car wondering what I would be doing next.  We decided to take in a movie and go home.  So, we did.

See ya next time!