Introducing Gracie

Dustin and I had talked about adopting a dog. Who hasn't at one point or another. But to be honest, I didn't think we would until we settled down more and started a family involving our own DNA.

And then I met Gracie.

Gracie is a puppy with one of those rescue stories that makes you realize how important it is for people to choose rescue dogs. Gracie's real mommy was brought from another town's animal shelter to ours to be euthanized because she hadn't been adopted. When she arrived in our town, our animal control officer (who is AMAZING) realized that the dog that was to be put down was pregnant. On May 22nd, a litter of 4 adorable lil pups were born in a cage in the shelter. By Monday morning, 2 of the litter had been adopted, leaving Gracie and her brother. I got the text early Monday afternoon from Dustin that Gracie & her brother would be the pets of the week for paper. By Monday evening, Gracie had a home.

So now I'm the mommy to a cute lil 4 week old bundle of fur. Besides the whining through the night and the chewing on anything she can get her mouth around (apparently ankles and calf muscles are quite tasty), she's a good pup. Her favorite activity right now is sleeping (except at night apparently). She's going to put a little different spin on where & when Dustin go on our adventures but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. We'll be spending alot more time exploring parks and teaching lil Ms. Gracie how to hike.

As a little public service announcement. I really do encourage everyone to adopt from your local shelter before a pet shop. There are so many good animals that need home so Save a Life, Adopt a Rescue Animal :)

Weather Forcast: It's Gonna Be Hot!

When I moved here and I complained when it hit a humid 85 degrees, everyone told me "Wait til late July and August when it REALLY heats up."

Weather forcast for the JUNE 23-27

Tuesday: 101
Wednesday: 100
Thursday: 101
Friday: 102
Saturday: 101
Sunday: 97

That is just the high temperature and does not take into account the heat index which right now at 8am CST is 85 degrees.

Since returning from our trip, the temperatures have not dropped below 95 and we have had not had one drop of rain. There are no storms in the forcast, although yesterday there were a bunch of puffy white clouds.

It's gonna be hot!

I found a great quote when getting ready to write this blog and it pretty much sums up my past week.

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land. ~G.K. Chesterton

Dustin was forced to take a week long furlough from work. So, last Monday, we set out on a 5 day adventure that was to span from Tulsa to the Oklahoma panhandle with a short jaunt into New Mexico and back again. Somehow we ended up on a 5 day adventure that involved the Oklahoma panhandle w/ a tree limb almost hitting us to a cold night in the mountains of New Mexico and ending with a night under the big bright stars of Texas.

First Stop: Black Mesa, scaling Oklahoma's high point

We headed out way too early on Monday, our first stop was Black Mesa State Park near Kenton, OK. Black Mesa is located on the panhandle of Oklahoma, an area larger than the state of Connecticut w/ a booming population of 30,000 people (and I'm guessing 10 times as many cows).


Slapout, Oklahoma is one of the first towns we came across on the panhandle. Population: 3.

When Dustin and I travel we tend to get distracted by roadside attractions (you will see that trend) and when we saw the Gloss Mountain State Park, we had to stop. The Gloss Mountains or Glass Mountains (depending on which story you believe), are series of tall red mesas right before you reach the panhandle in Major County, OK. They get the name Gloss (or Glass) from their sparkley appearance due to the gypsum found in the rock.







After being on the road for approx. 8 hours we reached Black Mesa State Park and settled in the for the night, very very very very very windy night. When Dustin started complaining about the wind, I knew it was bad.

The next morning we headed up to Black Mesa, Oklahoma's high point. For those of you not familiar, each state recognizes their highest point in elevation and there are people whose goal is to reach all 50. Most fall short due to a little mountain in Alaska called, Mt McKinley, or the hill in Washington named Rainier but, they often succeed in hitting 48 of the 50.

Black Mesa soars to an elevation of 4,973 feet which is 1500 feet taller than Pennsylvania's. The hike itself it not terribly difficult really. Except for a 1/2 mile stretch it very flat but on a hot day, it could be brutal.















We signed the registry and left a note for my sister, Mandie :)

After conquering the mighty mesa we did some local roadside attractions because we are dorks like that but first we had to return to our campsite to get directions. That is where we found this.



This branch is easily 200 pounds and landed a couple feet from our tent. After marveling at our luck in still having a tent, we headed out in search of dinosaur footprints and a spot where we could stand in 3 states at one time.


The dinosaur tracks are on private property but, there were no houses as far as the eye could see.




Dustin was partial to the Oklahoma corner.


I couldn't decide between New Mexico or Oklahoma.


But, I did check out Colorado for a minute or two.

Stop Two: Sante Fe, where have you been all my life?

After our branch incident, Dustin & I decided that as much as we love Oklahoma, it was time to head somewhere less windy. We reformulated our plan and came up with a new one. We would stop to see Capulin Volcano then head to Sante Fe to find a campsite there. From Sante Fe we would head south to Albuquerque before heading east through the Texas panhandle to Palo Duro Canyon.

Capulin Volcano is located in northeast New Mexico in an area home to many dormant volcanos. They are truly dormant and have been for thousands of years (or so the government would have you believe).


Capulin from the distance.


The crater of the volcano sits 415feet down from the parking lot and over a 1000 feet down from the crater rim.




The crater sits at about 8100 feet in elevation. It was very cool and chilly up there.

Our journey continued onto to Sante Fe where we grabbed lunch at the AMAZING Blue Corn Cafe (thank you to the New Mexico visitor center girl who recommended it). Blue Corn Cafe brews their own beer and the food was exceptional!



Dustin and I have decided we really love Santa Fe. Like really love Santa Fe. So much so that this blog may change name at some point.






The miraculous stairwell at the Loretto Chapel. Apparently I am the only person to have never heard of this thing.


San Miguel is the oldest church in America.

Our home for the night was Hyde Memorial State Park just north of Sante Fe National Forest. We were more prepared for mesa and desert camping not sleeping at elevation. At an elevation of 8300 feet we tried to sleep through a very chilly night.



Stop Three: Rock Doodles, Boredom on a Farm and the Stars at Night are Big and Bright (name that tune)

We headed south to Albuquerque, NM to visit the petroglyphs at Petroglyph National Monument. These petroglyphs are found on the rocks within several canyons in the area. Some obviously pictures of something but alot were drawings that only the doodler knew and are open to interpretation. When you take 2 road weary individuals with a sick sense of humor and show them pictures to interpret, it becomes obvious that these people need serious help.









When Dustin saw this next roadside attraction he almost crashed the car.







This is Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. According to Roadside America: The Cadillac Ranch, located along the tatters of historic Route 66, was built in 1974, brainchild of Stanley Marsh 3, the helium millionaire who owns the dusty wheat field where it stands. Marsh and The Ant Farm, a San Francisco art collective, assembled used Cadillacs representing the "Golden Age" of American Automobiles (1949 through 1963). The ten graffiti-covered cars are half-buried, nose-down, facing west "at the same angle as the Cheops' pyramids." I don't get it but, Dustin loved it.

We reached Palo Duro Canyon State Park at about 6:30pm and were lucky enough to get a campsite. Despite the number of people at the campground, we enjoyed relative quiet for our last night.








And so our vacation ended. We saw mesas, desert, snowcapped mountains, a volcano, evergreen forests, alot of cows, a couple of noisy turkeys, and many interesting characters on the way.

We are already planning our next roadtrip :)

Our New Dinner Guest, Gray Pants

Tonight was another beautiful early summer Oklahoma night. Another night in which Dustin fired up our charcoal grill, we opened a bottle (or two) of our favorite local brew and sat on the porch to enjoy dinner & a beautiful evening.

Tonight we had a guest.



We have seen this kitty around before. He has spent an afternoon or two chilling out on the rafters of our porch. He's super skinny. He has no tag on him so we don't know his name or where he lives. But, one thing is certain. He is not afraid of people and is rather fond of just sitting at your feet while you eat dinner. So we let him hang out and against our better judgement gave him a bit of Bobbie's food.



Needless to say, Bobbie was not pleased but our new friend seemed very happy and decided to try to invite himself inside.



We decided that if our new feline porch companion was going to continue to spend time with us he needed a name and so it was bestowed upon him the name, Gray Pants.

We aren't sure how long this relationship is going to last but, we'll keep you posted if somehow Gray Pants ends up a permanent member of our evening porch sitting family.

Tulsa Tough 2009

This weekened was a fun one in Tulsa. The city hosted Tulsa Tough 2009. Tulsa Tough is a free 3 day cycling event held here annually. As a point of reference for friends & family back home, it is like the Liberty Classic.

The event started on Friday in the Blue Dome district. Dustin and I opted to go to the Drillers game instead (we couldn't turn down the free tickets through Walmart) but, headed out in the afternoon on Saturday.

Saturday took the race through the Brady District. This was my first visit to this particular area of town. The Brady district is home to Cain's Ballroom (which has a really cool rock-n-roll history, check it out http://www.cainsballroom.com/history)and the Brady Theatre (another Tulsa music venue that has seen acts ranging from Tony Bennett to Devo to Bill Cosby to Will Rogers to Kenny Rogers and even U2). We decided to walk the course so we could really check out the neighborhood and find a spot (preferably shady) for watching the race. We didn't find shade but we found the jackpot spot, the area in front of the bar Soundpony which happens to be next door to Cain's. Soundpony is a cyclist's bar, not to be confused with a biker bar, and was located on an uphill part of the course. Alcohol, cowbells, and an uphill climb = on heck of an afternoon :) Here are some of the sights from Saturday.


Racers coming through the straightaway in the Brady.


Racers coming up the hill in front of Cain's.


That's the BOk Tower in the background. It was designed by the same individual who did the World Trade Centers was built at 1/4 to scale of the towers.


Cyclists going past Caz's, another great Brady spot where we stopped to get out of the heat for a bit.


On the walk back to the car we passed through the Center of the Universe, a pedestrian walkway area that when you yell it echos perfectly.


Sunday brought the race down to an area of town that I have grown particulary fond of, The River Parks. Here the race took the riders down the straightaway along Riverside Drive and then up the hill and back around. Again, we decided to walk around and find the best (and shadiest spot). We headed for the hill and were thrilled to see the Soundpony crew up there with cowbells, a tuba, a drum set and a bass guitar cheering the riders on. It looked so much like Manayunk back home during the Liberty Classic. We watched some of the race from there before heading to the downhill on the other side of the course. To be honest, we were seeking any shade we could get.


Looking down Riverside as the riders begin their ascent.


The mighty Arkansas in the background as the riders climb.


Finishing their ascent.


Starting their descent back to Riverside.


The turn at the bottom of the descent.

Despite the heat (temps in the low 90's which come July and August will be a welcomed relief) and sun, I escaped with no major sunburn :) It was a great weekend to get out and explore Tulsa!