This trip was supposed to be a Road Scholar trip however a week after I had paid for the trip Road Scholar cancelled the program! So I went on my own anyway.
Oct. 2, 2021 - I took Vancouver Cab at 7:00am to PDX
Airport. I flew First Class from PDX to
DEN (Denver) and then Economy Plus from DEN to TUL (Tulsa, OK). I took the hotel shuttle to Hyatt Regency Tulsa
Downtown. Great location. I had a room on the 6th floor with a King
size bed, easy chair with hassock and large desk. The view was the courtyard park below. I had
dinner at the Daily Grill of BLT with fries.
I had the best night's sleep.
Sunday, Oct. 3 - Sunrise was about 7:20am. I had Breakfast Vouchers for the entire week
as I am a World of Hyatt Member. Following
a hearty buffet breakfast, I went to the Cathedral of the Holy Family (1914) about
9:00am so I could view the church interior before 10:00am mass. The Cathedral of the Holy Family is a Roman
Catholic Church. It is Gothic
Revival/Neoclassical architecture. I saw
the brass plate "Saint Theresa of Calcutta Participated In Holy Mass From
This Pew On May 2, 1976".
I went back to the hotel and then to the Woody Guthrie
Center which I visited for an hour and half or so. I found a Virtual Geocache - "This
Machine". I probably "saw" the
short film on Guthrie three times as I took a short nap in the darken
theater. I was disappointed that the PNW
Exhibit had been removed. I walked north
a few blocks where I found a Virtual Geocache - "The Center of the
Universe". This is a fun bit of acoustic
effect. There
were about a dozen people trying it out. Nearby was the sculpture
"Artificial Cloud". I
had a Mini Chicken Pot Pie for an early dinner at the Daily Grill in the
Hyatt.
Monday, Oct. 4 - Following an early breakfast, I
went to the Greenwood Cultural Center and then walked a few blocks to visit the
Greenwood Rising Black Wall St. History Center.
I went back to the hotel and then went to the Boston Avenue United
Methodist Church (1929). I visited the
church for quite some time mainly during which time I took a short nap in a
high back arm chair in the parlor next to the Sanctuary. Two flowers indigenous to Oklahoma are
included in the Sanctuary windows design: the coreopsis and the tritoma, or
torch lily. I found the "Art Deco Masterpiece" Geocache in the church parking
lot. I got a ride back to the hotel.
Tuesday, Oct. 5 - After breakfast I went to
Decopolis, a historic building on Route 66, where I visited the mini-Art Deco
Museum. Then I headed downtown to the
second Tulsa Art Deco museum in the lobby of the Philcade Building. The Philcade's Art Deco ceilings are resplendent
with real gold, ornate chandeliers, and walls of imported, polished
marble. In the afternoon I went to the
Harwelden Mansion for Afternoon Tea.
Afterwards Haley, the Event Coordinator, gave me a tour of the historic house. I had a light snack for dinner.
Wednesday, Oct. 6 - I had planned to visit the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art however it proved to be too difficult to get there and back. Instead I went to the Thomas Gilcrease Museum of American History and Art. The last painting and the last sculpture was just packed up. The Museum will be demolished and it will take two to three years to rebuild. However 23 acres of gardens are open to the public. I visited the gardens for a couple hours, photographing the sculptures - Sacred Rain Arrow, Large Heron Pair, Twins (doe with two fawns), Black Bear and Frontier Woman with chicken. I did the Virtual Geocache. I got a ride back to the upper parking lot where I was picked up to return to the hotel.
Thursday, Oct. 7 - Following breakfast, I was picked
up by Enterprise worker who took me to the office to rent a car for the
day. I traveled Historic U.S. Route 66
east and other back roads in order to avoid the Toll Roads. I used Geocaches (which I had no intentions
of finding) as breadcrumbs. The Cherokee
Heritage Center was closed however there is so much else to see. I visited the John Ross Museum and then the Greek
Revival-style Hunters House, formerly known as the George M. Murrell Home
(1845). I had an hour long expert-led
tour. For the first time in decades, the
barriers have been removed so I was able to enter the rooms on the first and
second floors. This historic house is
the only pre-Civil War plantation house remaining in Oklahoma. I logged a visit to my Murrell House
Waymark. I did a three-part Virtual
Cache "Cherokee History" in Tahlequah, the once and probably still is
capital of the Cherokee Nation. I stopped
at Starbucks to purchase a Cheese and Fruit Box and a Dark Chocolate Grahams at
2:30pm. I saved it for a light dinner
back at the hotel. I filled the gas tank
and returned the car to Enterprise Office at 6:02pm. He gave me a lift back to the Hyatt.
Friday, Oct. 8 - Following breakfast, I traveled to
the Philbrook Museum of Art via city bus.
The bus driver let me out at 27th St. which was not a regular bus
stop. I walked a few blocks to the
Philbrook, a three-story mansion. The
original structure of the museum is an Italian Renaissance villa that was the
former home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his wife Genevieve. I took my time looking at the art
collections. I took a short nap at the
far end of a comfy sofa in the Great Hall's Garden Access. I had Quiche with a green salad for lunch in
Kitchen 27. It was way too hot to wander
the formal gardens. It took me ages to
get a Lyft ride but finally got back to the hotel.
Saturday, Oct. 9 - After a buffet breakfast of a small OJ, oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, banana, etc. I decided to visit the Gathering Place. Instead I rode the 700 bus to W 17th Street. After finding a Virtual Geocache I heard American Indian drumming and chanting coming from a nearby park. It turned out to be the dedication ceremony for the Dream Keepers Park at 18th and S. Boulder Park Drive. I stayed for an hour or so sitting on the bleacher in the shade listening to the drums and watching the dancers. I walked across the park to the bus shelter/stop. It seems like it took forever for the 150 bus to arrive. (The entire Tulsa Transit System left a LOT to be desired). At the Transit Station the 700 bus driver refused to drive the bus so I was picked up by the hotel shuttle at Bay 4 and taken to the Hyatt.
I retrieved my luggage and took a Hyatt shuttle to the Tulsa Airport. I had lemonade drink and a bacon cheeseburger at Delaware North. I traveled to Denver, CO in Economy Plus. I did the "DIA Conspiracy Virtual (GC88Z0M)". I was unable to get a photo as I was being pushed in a wheelchair. I did the "Denver International Airport Earthcache" between Gate 29 to Gate 31. The Candy Store near the fossils tiles has been closed for six months or longer. I traveled First Class to PDX, arriving about 11:00pm. I got a PDX Yellow Cab to my house. It was a great trip but it was good to be back.
