TULSA, Oklahoma

Our trip to Tulsa at the weekend was short and sweet. The city is in the north-eastern section of the state, a trip of some 3 to 4 hours from our home in the south-west, depending on route. We went mainly to see the American Idol concert at the BOK Center, but we did have time to also wander around the Jazz Hall of Fame, now housed in an old rail station building. This Tulsa Union Depot, an attractive old structure, was built from 1929-1931. It closed in 1967 and deteriorated until 1983 when it was restored and given fresh use. Inside the Hall of Fame they have preserved the general layout, most mouldings, and a display of large photographs showing how the place looked in its days as a working railway station - a very busy one too.















Tulsa can boast one of the largest displays of art deco architecture in the United states.









The BOK (Bank of Oklahoma) Tower is the tallest building, not only in Oklahoma, but “in any of the five ‘Plains States’: Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, as well as the surrounding states of Missouri, Arkansas and New Mexico.” according to Wikipedia . Though I don't have a source, the BOK Tower is said to be a 52 floor scale replica of (one half of) the Twin Towers of the late World Trade Center. It was in fact designed by Minoru Yamasaki & Associates who also designed the Twin Towers.

There's an oddity in Tulsa known as "the Center of the Universe": a circle of tiles situated on a pedestrian overpass, leading across the railway lines in the downtown area. Stand on this circle and speak, or shout, and your voice reverberates into an echo, but it's only audible to you. Spooky! There are various theories as to why this phenomenon occurs. It must be something involving steel in the bridge structure I guess, and perhaps linked to the placement and size of the concrete decorations on the overpass.


There's a tall sculpture at one end of the overpass - it's called Artificial Cloud, by Robert Haozous. I'm standing on the Center of the Universe point in the photo above, with the sculpture and the BOK Tower behind me.

Photographs from our cameras.

AMERICAN IDOL CONCERT @ TULSA, Oklahoma

To whom it may interest:

We walked from hotel to BOK Center, arrived around 6:20pm and went straight to our seats. We were on the floor area - 2nd section around 17 rows back, so not ideal for photos, but the husband did get a few shots. He intends putting them in a slideshow, which I'll pass on when we get home, as we forgot the cable for uploding. DUH!

When we got back to the hotel, at around 10.25pm, we could hear the music (loud even at 15 floors up) from a music festival down the street which is slated to go on until 2am - so I may as well navigate the awkward laptop keyboard and report back on the show.

By 7pm the BOK arena was filled almost to capacity, apart from a few small gaps at the farthest reaches of the auditorium. Age groups spanned from 18 months (twins seated near us with parents holding them) to around 80 years old (not us!))

I reckon that Tulsa did good. We gave every act a rousing welcome, many screams and a good level of applause and cheers, all richly deserved. The floor section remained standing for a large part of the show.

We had seen no evidence of the WBC protests on our way in, by the way. Either they had simply been blowing smoke or they'd been warned off. Thank goodness!

I think this was probably the first venue of the tour where Kris's fans either equalled or outnumbered Adam's. There was a higher level of screams when Adam's photo appeared on the monitors, before the show began, but at the end of their respecive sets, I'd say they were received equally rapturously, or if pushed, I'd have to say that Kris did a wee bit better, reception-wise.

I won't go through the acts one by one - my typing on the laptop is dicey at best! Just a few general comments then.

The husband thought Lil and Allison were outstanding, as well as Adam and Kris. It's almost a given at this stage that Adam is going to be a big star, and our expectations were high. He didn't let us down. Only complaint - his set seemed a bit rushed- and certainly went by too quickly.

Scott sounded much stronger in the arena than on TV. I enjoyed Michael and Danny too. These two have received a lot of flack from on-line commenters, I feel it was undeserved. I suspect these two are probably two of the nicest guys of the 10 (along with Adam and Kris, of course).

Adam sported a new haircut tonight - the emo style we know, plus a kind of cockscomb (wink), the husband called it a cowlick, at the back. He stroked the mic stand rather than humping it, as has been reported from earlier concerts. Pehaps he suspects that Oklahoma's sensitivities are somewhat moe delicate than those of audiences elsewhere. Hmmmm!

I do wish that I'd been familiar with more of the songs the Idols sang tonight. This is showing my age, I guess. I knew only Anoop's (very well sung) "Always on my mind"; Matt's "Georgia on my mind"; most of the songs in the closing medley of part one of the show (I'd have liked more of that!) I did know all of Adam's songs, from following him via YouTube; and "Hey Jude" and "Ain't No Sushine" from Kris's set. The newer numbers seemed pretty tuneless to me, and hard to hear the lyrics due to an echo-y element in the arena (at least from where we were seated).

I'd pay to see any one of these singers solo, performing in a smaller venue, but probably only Adam again, in an arena setting. I'd really love to see Adam on Broadway too, one day. That's probably the only thing which might persuade me to go to New York!

I did enjoy the visuals and effects behind the singers. Especially during Adam's set - very astronomical/astrological depictions of the Milky Way and Mars to compliment: Muse's Starlight" and Bowie's "Life on Mars" :-)

I apologise for the quality of this writing and typing. The husband considers it the equivalent of "Gone With the Mind". I confess that I have had assistance from at least 2 x Scotch and Dry Ginger.

Thursday ~ Gallup to Tucumcari

Overnighting in Tucumcari, a medium-sized town in north-eastern New Mexico. It's a romantic sounding name, there are several versions of its origin. Most serious investigators have decided that it comes from a Native American word for "look-out point" because of the nearby mesa which would have offered a good vantage point for watching distant movements. A more fanciful version involves a tale that has become a legend:

".... in 1907 a Methodist minister created a story about how the name evolved. The two finest warriors of an Apache tribe that made their home at the mountain met in combat to determine who would succeed their dying Chief Wautonomah. The survivor would also win the hand of the chief's daughter, Kari. Tocom, the brave loved by Kari, was slain by Tonopah in the battle. Overcome with grief and rage, Kari seized her knife, killed Tonopah and took her own life. Heartbroken at this tragic turn of events, the old chief stabbed himself, crying out as he died, "Tocom-Kari, Tocom-Kari." This story is what became known as "The Legend of Tucumcari." " (Here).

This state is certainly doing its bit to educate students on the need for alternative energy sources. This wind turbine stands in mid-town.















Tomorrow we'll bid a fond farewell to New Mexico and perhaps head for Lubbock, Texas where the Buddy Holly Museum could be worth a look.

Wednesday ~ Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and El Morro

Our visit to Wild Spirit was a lovely experience. We were given a tour by a very knowlegeable young man who had come to work at the Sanctuary from Boston last August, for 2 months only, loved the job so much, fell in love with New Mexico, and is still here. The sanctuary is manned by volunteers who are provided with very basic lodging. As it is located a couple of hours' drive from the nearest town of any size, volunteers have to be dedicated to the job and not afraid of hard work. At present the sanctuary houses 53 wolves, and wolf-dogs, rescued from abuse, tansferred from zoos which had to close, and from private owners who could no longer cope.

Photos of the wolves are from both cameras, mine and my husband's (his are better!)















On the way back from Wild Spirit we took a short detour to see El Morro - an enormous cliff, a National Monument. The cliff stands on the old route taken by early Spanish explorers and soldiers, as well as in the lands previously occupied by early Native tribes, Anasazi, Pueblo and others. The walls of the cliff bear petroglyphs and engraved messages dating from around 1100, through the 1600s right up to the early 20th century, when El Morro, including Inscription Rock, was made a National Monument







From tomorrow we'll head eastward, across New Mexico to Texas - exact destination unknown. Maybe there'll be more to come here, maybe not.

Tuesday ~ Painted Desert & Petrified Forest National Park

A beautifully clear morning. We spent it in the National Park. The Painted Desert is truly spectacular, photographs can never do it justice, especially on the screen of this laptop! So many subtle colors. How amazing it is to think how many millions of years Mother Nature has taken to complete these pictures.















The husband made a little friend in the National Park - a crafty Raven (or was it a crow?) He has obviously worked out that tourists are easy targets for scrounging tidbits. Watched him do the same thing to another party away in the distance The bird that is, not the husband!






We'd decided not to stay two nights in Holbrook as originally planned. The motel was unsatisfactory, the room noisy. So, after the National Park tour we headed back along I40 to Gallup, New Mexico, without much of a plan. Checked in at Comfort Inn, a nice-looking motel with an equally nice looking restaurant next door.

Gallup consists mainly of hotels, motels, Indian (Native American) trading posts, and stores selling Indian jewelry and curios. A pleasant enough town, but it was once known as "the armpit of America" - according to Himself.

An advertising brochure for The Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctury, located some 70 miles south of Gallup, caught my eye. We decided to visit on Tuesday. I love wolves - they are special, and the road to Wild Spirit is said to be a scenic drive.

Monday: Santa Rosa NM to Holbrook AZ

Monday morning was crisp and clear - absolutely gorgeous! We were on the road again straight after breakfast at Denny's.


Passed Alburquerque around 12.30, stopped briefly at Grants, another little town on the original Route 66. Crossed the Continental Divide around 2pm, and noted that we were then 688 miles from home. Drove on past Gallup, over the Arizona state line and on to Holbrook, another little town on original Route 66.














In Holbrook we decided to stay for two nights to explore nearby Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. We checked in to another Best Western Adobe Inn, this one not as good s last night's, but reasonably priced.

Now it was hot - too darned hot! After a very brief walk around we retired to the cool motel room until the Sun drifted lower in the sky.

Nothing too enticing, food-wise, to choose from in town. Evening meal turned out to be something of a disaster. After trying one place which was strictly a steakhouse, with nothing to offer minimal meat eaters like ourselves, we left. Then we chose a downhome style cafe whose banner proclaimed "The Best Food in Town!" Maybe it was - was being operative word. They were out of everything we ordered! We satisfied our hunger with very basic side salad and baked potato for me and taco salad for himself. I ordered ice cream but the waitress forgot to bring it! There was one other couple in the place besides us, so she was hardly over-extended.

The Beatles get everywhere don't they? Even in that D-list cafe!



The photos show the lovely scenery we passed through. All but the last were taken from the car window, by me and my new camera, between Santa Rosa & Holbrook.

ROUTE 66 To Arizona

9am Sunday, we were off. Crossed western Oklahoma and were into Texas by 11.30am. A tumbleweed greeted us by rolling across the road in front of the car.

Passing through a small town called Shamrock, it was evident that the folks there loved to live up to their town's name, for it seemed to be still in St.Patrick's Day mode, judging by the decor. Just outside the town a large billboard proclaimed:"Here is the biggest Cross in the Western Hemisphere!" (How typical of Texas!) It was, indeed, big. I thought it looked as though it had been constructed from The Biggest Lego Set in the World. I guess God wouldn't mind about that.

We reached Amarillo by 2pm, stopped for a quick lunch at IHOP. Reasonable fish and chips - or as reasonable as they get, this side of the pond. Waitress looked askance when I asked for vinegar, but obliged me by bringing a little pot of pink liquid which tasted mildly acidic - a far cry from good old malt vinegar though.

Onward through the remaining portion of the Texas panhandle, aka as the boot, and into The Land of Enchantment - New Mexico. It was 4.25 when we reached Tucumcari, but on Mountain Time we'd gained an hour, so it was in fact only 3.25. Plenty of time to keep heading west. The Texas scrubland and mesquite had given way to much prettier pinkish mesas covered with dots of small evergreen bushes - very scenic, very Georgia O'Keefe, but we couldn't stop safely to take pictures.

The next town of any size along old Route 66 is Santa Rosa, where we decided to stay the night. The bright sun was hitting the windscreen making driving west uncomfortable.




We dropped anchor at Best Western, then took a quick tour around town. Not much going on of a Sunday afternoon - or probably any other afternoon. The town has lots of motels and hotels but little else other than a nice court house and a teeny tiny movie theater.



We accidentally wandered into an auto museum, thinking it was a cafe; walked around it admiring 30+ vintage American vehicles, all beautifuly preserved or refurbished. The size of some of the cars surprised me - they are huge! I thought it sad that the industry which put Americans on the roads in such fine style has had to come to such a parlous state.







It's sad, too, to see some of the dilapidated buildings still standing beside the original Route 66. Below, an old motel. Goodness knows how guests withstood the heat of New Mexico summers with no air conditioning. The square thingie atop the office building, I am reliably informed by my husband, is a primitive form of cooling system.



Tomorrow, we'll head onward through New Mexico, towards Gallup and the Arizona state line.