tulsa and southeast, oklahoma

after oklahoma city, i was just going to head straight for arkansas.  looking at the map, i realized tulsa wasn't much of a detour.   sure, why not?

tulsa had a cute downtown area.

then i headed southeast to mcalister, oklahoma where i slept at a walmart parking lot.  again i was in good company

it rained all night and into the day.  it was damp and cold, and i had trouble getting out of my warm sleeping bag.  ugh.

i have never seen the sun in oklahoma, and this trip wasn't going to change that.

i drove east toward arkansas through the ouachita national forest.  finally, a part of oklahoma that looks really nice - even in the rain!!  the orange-dried grass and fallen pine needles seemed almost bright - finally breaking the grayness cast everywhere else. it was beautiful. it made me happier to be there.  besides taking care about avoiding hydroplaning and maintaining steering control when hitting the numerous hidden potholes (yeah, the roads still stunk!), i really enjoyed the drive.

oklahoma city, oklahoma

when i entered oklahoma, my 22nd state of my trip, i stopped at the visitor center.  a nice lady there with a thick accent asked if she could help.  i went in just wanting a couple tips on free things to see as i passed through the state, and walked out with a handful of maps and guides and a styrofoam cup of coffee.  uh, ok.

i had avoided the recent snowfall, but it was still pretty cold and very gray with overcast.

oklahoma roads are terrible.  the pavements are a mess - crumbling everywhere, and the markings are difficult to see or missing altogether in some sections.  thumbs down on the roads - for both the highways AND the backroads.  it actually reminded me of pa/nj/ny roads, with all due respect.  maybe it can be partly blamed on the weather.   oh, and what made it worse was that some of the turnpikes were tolled.  blah.

approaching oklahoma city

based on glancing at all the tourist information, it looked like the bricktown section might be interesting to see.

yup, lots of brick buildings.  kinda cool.  again, a place that i bet is a lot more enjoyable in nicer weather.  here's a little canal area that was it's own version of a river walk, with restaurants and shops.

the ball park

field of snow

wow, wild art.

dallas, texas

i went to dallas and took a look around.

i wonder if this is their version of designing green buildings

i went to the dallas farmers market, but there wasn't really anything going on there.  wrong season? : (

i went to fountain place, which (according to a travel website) has received international recognition for it's fountain design.  i like waterfalls and fountains, so i checked it out.  it's all at the base of this building.

the fountains...

i think it'd be nice to walk through this display when going to and from work.

it was nice, but i bet it's really nice when the trees are budding.  and i bet it's nice when its warm!  which was not the case when i was there.

the sound of being surrounded by rushing water combined with the smell of the chlorine was a familiar sensation, bringing my mind back to my summer jobs at the water park.  all the people in the building next to me were working a normal day, but as for me?  nope.  just walkin' around looking at the nice display.

the sad part of this visit is that when i got out of my van, i dropped my iphone on the street.  i had achieved an entire year without damaging my phone, but it just didn't take well being dropped on the asphalt.  it suffered a few scratches and small crack on the back.   then, hours later when it got colder outside, the face glass cracked too!   sad.  : (   but at least it is still fully functioning.

texas things?

so i've noticed a few things since getting into texas...

the accent.  hm, i kinda like it.  : )

there are a lot of white painted vehicles, a bunch of them being large 4x4 trucks and suvs.  makes sense in a climate that's scorching hot in the summer.   oh yeah, also an abundance of tinted windows for driver's seats and passenger's seats.

the following shot was actually in arkansas...  when i took the picture, i meant to show the 4 or 5 white cars in the foreground.  but after inspecting the picture, i realized i captured many more white vehicles.  in fact i can count about 17! vs about 9 non-white.  yikes!

i think i've seen more ladies driving the men than the other way around.  and if the ladies are in the passenger seat, they are sure to be brushing up in the mirror.

women's wear doesn't seem to spare the long white lacy sleeves fashion, nor the brown leather boots.

what's a whataburger?

H.E.B  is it true?

i think i'm getting used to the road layout, but it's taking a while.  farm to market?  is that integral with, or separate than the state route system?  i missed a lot of turns at first because the roads aren't always labelled with their name, but instead just the f to m number.  here's "fm 1382."

i'm a fan of the u-turn lanes that duck under the highway between frontage roads.  well done.

until i got near dallas, the traffic was pretty tame all over the rest of the state.  it was actually a stark contrast.

high ways

i'm still enamored by the flying highways out here.  i grew up in a place that was well-populated long before the autobahnen-styled interstates draped our country.  so it's fun whenever i get to see the shape they can take when there were/are minimal design constraints!  especially at the major interchanges.  they look more like flight paths.  these are truly 'high' ways.

in some places, the highways are higher than anything else around.

the urban bi-level. i chose the lower level under the viaduct.  schuylkill expressway redesign? - i dream.

they are really all over.

c'mon, now we're just showing off...   cars don't come with oxygen masks installed.  : )

houston, texas

blog posts, like this one in particular, leave me wanting for words.  seriously, the joy i've just experienced over the weekend from spending time with the folks i've just met cannot be express through words - nor through numbers.  my loving god has already showered my life with blessings uncountable, yet in his bountiful mercy has sent yet another surge of blessings over me!

ok, so houston.  before meeting my newest friends, i drove into houston against the evening rush-hour traffic. i took a quick spin through the downtown area.  i think it's fun seeing cities while approaching them, and then seeing them from within too.

blur

even as a civil engineer, i'm so fascinated by the height of buildings in our cities.  my van may as well be considered a matchbox car in comparison to skyscrapers...

after my little free self-guided uninformed unbiased driving tour through downtown houston (wysiwyg style?), i went looking for the house of david, elizabeth and maddy, my weekend hosts.  greeted with warm welcome and hospitality i immediately felt like i was at home with these people whom i had only just met.  i was referred to them by my friend, laura in my philadelphia church who had grown up in houston.  i also got to meet dustin and ashley and betsy and jillian...  wow, it was like some kind of twilight zone episode where i encountered a nucleus of awesome people, as though that was where they were spawning.

seriously, these people were amazing and so much about the house and household and friends embodied elements which define home for me.   like (in no particular order) backwards plumbing installations, welcoming people you've never met, sitting on kitchen counters (these folks purchased their kitchen counters with sitting comfort specifically in mind!), respect, sleeping in, intent listening, not eating alone, loving humor, deep meaningful conversations ...    yeah, the conversations - wow.   they were fun, deep, real, safe, healing...  so great.

i spent a mere (way to short!) two days and three nights at their house.  just the fact that they let me in to begin with says a lot about them, given that i'd gone eleven days and ten nights consecutive without showering or changing clothes much.  the night before i had spilled pear juice on my lap when the can opener slipped. plus i had recently been sweaty and sandy from playing on the beach.  oh yes, it felt so great to take a shower and sleep on a real bed.

my hosts, friends, family.

dustin and ashley took me out to their favorite smoothie place, smoothie king.

the excitement and satisfaction is written all over our faces!

and guess what, dustin Loves frisbee and Loves puzzle challenges...  needless to say, we clicked immediately and began to behave almost like two little boys wanting to play together.  haha!  i showed him my 'difficult' metal nail puzzle which he worked on with delight and solved with impressive control.  we even went to barnes and noble to search for new puzzles.  we looked for the hardest ones.  he bought one for himself and bought one for me too! yes!!  this is the one i picked out.

the goal was to remove the ring from the chain.   it was an enjoyable challenge which i tackled before going to sleep.  i couldn't figure it out for a while, but was too curious to put it down. with much satisfaction i finally solved it and then got some sweet victorious sleep.  oh, how i love puzzles!

we were going to throw a frisbee, but it was a bit too chilly.   instead, we ended up stopping by to look at a house that their friends were building.  it was basically just in the framework stage, but it was really taking shape!  when we got there, the family was dispersed within.  they were writing verses on the 2x4s and plywood walls.  when the house is complete, they'll remember what's written within the walls.  pretty fun!  they were a Really fun family (more spawning i suppose!).  they handed us sharpies and bibles, and we joined the ceremony : )   i wrote out psalm 100:

make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
serve the Lord with gladness!
come into his presence with singing!
know that the Lord, he is God!
it is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!
give thanks to him;
bless his name!
for the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

one of the kids wrote out colossians 3:12 on a post that will eventually be part of her bedroom closet ("... clothe yourselves with compassion..."

how fun!

and there's still more to share...  elizabeth thought of her friend betsy as someone who i'd really be able to connect with.  yup, yet another incredible person.  c'mon, this is too overwhelming!  : )  when i visited the tallowood baptist church for one of their services, betsy and her sweet jillian were kind enough to wait and meet me in the forier so i wouldn't have to walk in alone.  it's kind of fun that the first thing we did together was worship the god who created friendship and is our purest definition of Friend.

i hope this friendship is just at it's beginning.  have you ever been in the presence of someone who is so real, that you feel undeserving of their personal attention?  when you recognize that only a limited number of people get to have their attention, how could you possibly be deserve to be numbered among them? well, i have felt that way on a few occasions, and indeed one of them was with betsy.

so was that weekend just a dream?  if so, it was a sweet one.  and if so, then i can't explain where i got the extra water and treats and gift cards and puzzle and personalized paper towel (yes, with my name hand-stitched within - thanks maddy!) that are now in my van.  ...   what a great weekend.  there's so much i've left out.  and look, my attempt to merely summarize it has turned into what's probably my longest blog post so far.  so good.  so good.

lastly, on my way out of houston, i stopped in at one of laura's favorite cafes.  agora.  i liked it!  : )