The Babbling Brooks

MIA? Maybe...

We had a great drive from Oklahoma City to Missoula! Just a few snowflakes on Monday, but otherwise sunny. We've been in Missoula for the Montana Aviation Conference since Wednesday night and are leaving in the morning for Mountain Dreams. Hip Hip Hurray! When we left 13 months and 2 days ago (not that I'm counting) we had our satellite TV and DSL internet turned off. When we built the house we were told that cable was coming and our area would be first in the valley to be connected. Interbel (our local phone/tv/internet coop) installed the fiber optic cable at the same time they put in our phone line. Last summer when we were there we saw them laying the cable from town. So....we called last week to check on the progress. They expect to turn it on in the next 2-3 weeks! We've decided to wait for it. There's no use getting the satellite service running again and signing up for the DSL we had and then be stuck in it for a year. We love Montana Skynet which we had before, but we'd like to switch to cable internet. We're hoping we can hook up Interbel DSL right away, switch to cable when they turn it on and then get out of it if we don't like it. We had a few issues with their DSL before...which is why we switched to Montana Skynet. The reason I'm telling you all this is that we may have no internet at home for awhile. I'll have to drive to town and sit at the library with my laptop...inside when they're open, out on the lawn when they're not :) As for television, we'll just wait for cable and listen to the news on satellite radio in the meantime. Will be here when I can!

Welcome to 2010!

What? How did it get to be January 14th already? I've been a bad blogger again, must get back to sharing! We have done so many things here in Oklahoma, done some traveling to see family, and I have so much to share. I'll have to just start doing some random posts.

In the immediate future...we have a date to go home to Mountain Dreams! We'll be leaving Oklahoma the last week of February instead of in April as we'd originally planned. I'll share more on that later.

I'll be headed to New Orleans this weekend for Girls Week with my sisters! I'll be home on the 25th or 26th (I may stay an extra day in Arkansas on the way back to do a little family history digging into the Brooks family.) And then comes the real traveling...we're flying to New York on the 29th and the following day we'll be leaving for Israel with a group led by Governor Mike Huckabee. We're very excited about this! We had started making plans to visit China next fall when this opportunity dropped in our laps last August. Israel was also on our list of future travels and we can't see ourselves getting another opportunity to go with someone like the governor. We just found out that Pat Boone and his wife, Shirley, and Dr. Tim LaHaye (author of the "Left Behind" series) and his wife, Dr. Beverly LaHaye will also be with us! When we return to New York we have tickets to see "Wicked" and I'll be able to cross Broadway off my Bucket List.

It doesn't end there. From New York we'll be flying to Tennessee to visit our friends, Tony and Tonya. Yes, they're the ones who were here in Oklahoma. They bailed from here in November and are enjoying their new log home in eastern Tennesseee. When we leave we'll be headed east in a rental car with a stop in Atlanta to visit a WWII, P-51 pilot that John knows from his Warbird days and then on to Savannah for a few days.

That'll give us just enough time to fly back to Oklahoma, pack up the duplex and head out for Montana and an aviation conference in Missoula the first week of March. It's going to be a busy few weeks and we can't wait to get back to Mountain Dreams! 

Tea Party

 

What did you do today? I stood up as an American to show my frustration, my anger, and my concern over what is happening to our country. John and I were at the Oklahoma City Tea Party held on the steps of the state capitol.

Hey, politicians! Are you listening? There was a mighty cry of protest across America today to stop the spending, stop the bailouts, stop the distribution of wealth, stop the earmarks, stop the lies, stop the taxation, stop tramping on the states. We are not an arrogant America. We are a proud America and we don't apologize for it. We don't apologize for the hard work or for the Constitution that made us the strong country we are. We expect you to honor that document. We expect you to remember that it is not a "living document" that changes with the culture. It is the foundation on which America was founded. Amid the united cheers of "USA" were united cries of "Vote Them Out". We mean it. We're listening and we're watching. We'll be calling. We'll be e-mailing. We'll be writing. If it doesn't stop now, you can expect to be gone when it's your turn for reelection. One more thing to remember... the people that were out in protest today are NOT radicals or the "right wing extremists" that the Department of Homeland Security and Janet Napolitano spoke about in their well-timed "leaked" report (and neither are returning veterans). The people I saw today are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, old, young, rich, poor, upper class, middle class, students, plumbers, teachers, the retired, the disabled. Yes, some of them have admitted that they voted for Barack Obama and other Democrats, but this is not what they thought they were voting for. The Tea party wasn't organized by any organization or by FOX news (They are just the only ones who see this as a story. CNN covered it by arguing with a protester and NBC used obscene expletives to describe those of us that attended.) The tea party was organized by an ordinary citizen from the city. The speakers were not politicians or party officials. They were also ordinary citizens who read statements sent in by other ordinary citizens. We sang the Star Spangled Banner and we recited the Pledge of Allegiance with everyone holding their hand over our heart in respect for America.

I took the photo above about 30 minutes before the party started. I've heard crowd estimates from somewhere over 4000 to 6000. That was impressive considering it was at noon on a weekday and they had expected about 1500 to show up. Here's some of my favorite photos...

                            

So that was my day... what did you do today? And more importantly, what are you going to do tomorrow? 

 

It's Spring in Oklahoma!

Here's what our place looked like today and there was ice caked on the windows this morning! How's your weather?

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

Yes, indeed, there are mountains in Oklahoma! Who knew?!! I'm told there are some better ones on the eastern side of the state. We'll find out in late April when we are planning a visit to Grand Lake. This time we headed west. Tony and Tonya took us hiking in the Wichita Mountains last Saturday and we went to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge where there are wild longhorns, bison, prairie dogs and elk (so we're told, no one in our party had actually ever seen any here). We made our first stop at the top of Mt. Scott. 

     

The wind was howling at the top! But we had a great view all over western Oklahoma. (You may recognize that first photo from Sunday's post:)

Our next stop was a quick one at the visitor's center and then we went on to Holy City...built by a man who decided to build a replica of Jerusalem where he could hold Easter services. I'm pretty sure it falls a little short of the real thing, but the thought is there. The chapel is very pretty inside and the stone architecture is interesting. It was very popular when it was built in the 1920s and drew huge crowds for decades. It's a little lacking now and could use some serious work, but they still hold Easter services.

                        

After the holy tour we headed down the road to our hike. Along the way we stopped to see some of the residents.

                 

Our hike took us out along a small river and up to a boulder field. Tony and his brother had scrambled over it a few weeks ago, we didn't...maybe next time :)

                                     

We were more than ready for lunch when we returned to the car. The Martinis took us to the hot spot for lunch, the Meers Cafe. It was built over 100 years ago and had to be moved when the wildlife refuge was established. It was moved to Meers and placed on a bed of granite rock. As the restaurant expanded rooms were added here and there at whatever level the granite allowed. The floors inside are sloped and uneven. Tony was sitting with his side leaning on the wall all during lunch :) The "famous" hamburgers here are made with longhorn beef only and were delicious!

  

Love the addition to the sign :)  

On the way back to Yukon we drove around the wind farm and got as close as we could to the turbines...

      

And then the last stop of the day...something I remember well from my FAA tours of duty to the Academy in the 80s and 90s!

  

   

The Promised Photos....Mt. Rushmore and the Yukon Tornado

Oops! I've had some Mt. Rushmore and tornado photos ready to post for awhile and totally forgot.

We arrived at Mt. Rushmore just as they opened in the morning and had cold, sunny weather for our visit. We'd waited to visit in the morning so that the sun would be shining on the faces. It certainly had changed since my last visit when I was about 10 :) There is now a beautiful walkway leading to the viewpoint, an outdoor amphitheater, and a museum. When we went to the Oshkosh Airventure in 2001 John and I met in Rapid City on the way home and we flew over Mt. Rushmore in the Skyhawk. That was quite a view, but it's almost as good from the ground :)

     

And here's a few photos I took of the tornado as it blew over the top of us headed for Warr Acres and Edmond (This was February 10th, our second day here). It was just beginning to swirl around the edges. We had another tornado watch tonight, the first one since we got an emergency weather radio. It went off at 2:45 announcing a watch till 10:00 pm, guess that means we're safe now :) We did get some loud thunder, some lightning, and a little hail...but nothing more than that this time. Here's the pictures from last month...

                   

Hmmm...I'm hearing more thunder and pounding rain right now. Maybe we're still in for a storm tonight! 

Oklahoma: The Road Trip

OK, OK...I'm trying to catch up! So, I'll do this in segments. We'll start with our getting from Montana to Oklahoma. It was uneventful. Not much else to report. We did make a small detour to visit Mt. Rushmore. We got kind of a slow start from home on Thursday, the 5th. John had some errands to take care of in Kalispell. He left Mountain Dreams in the Explorer...packed completely full, including the front passenger seat, with goods. It was mostly my scrapbook, art, and craft supplies along with several boxes of photos, photo albums, framed photos for the walls, John's computer, my scanner, my printer, etc...all the things I wouldn't want to have someone take out of the utility trailer he was pulling behind while we were sleeping in a motel somewhere. The trailer housed the only furniture we brought (kitchen table and chairs), dishes, pots and pans, clothes, some tools, folding tables for computers and scrapbooking, etc. Oh...and another stack of scrapbook paper! I left an hour later in the Beetle. It was packed with our traveling clothes, some of my Longaberger baskets, and some odds and ends. Before I left the phone rang and it was someone at the FAA Academy. They needed John to log on and do some paperwork for them to finish up his security clearance. We met at Starbucks in Kalispell as planned, but now we had to take the time to get online so he could take care of that. It was 11:00 before we left there, but our mochas kept us happy till we got to Missoula and had lunch. (Thanks, Corki, for the Mackenzie River Pizza Co. gift card!) We spent the first night in Billings and headed out the next morning with the destination of Rapid City, South Dakota. That was an easy day so we slept in and arrived by 4:00 in the afternoon. Many of you know that one of my goals is to visit all 50 states. I am getting close! I am working on a "50 States" album and I want a photo of me standing next to the state sign for each state. There are several states I had been to as a kid or at sometime before I started the project for which I don't have that photo. I was able to make that up this time for Nebraska and Oklahoma. And...I added Kansas as a new state! So here are the pictures from Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota (keep in mind that I take many of these as I'm driving...love that continuous focus mode on my D200!). I'll do a separate post with the photos from Mt. Rushmore.

                             

From Rapid City we traveled to Thedford, Nebraska...a real hotbed of activity. There was a small restaurant next to the motel, but we hadn't seen downtown so we decided to drive a mile to see what was available there. Hmmm....nothing. There was one bar and some empty buildings. So we went back to the restaurant where I had some real Midwest chicken fried steak! It was the best I've had anywhere, but I won't be making a steady diet of that!

           

Leaving Thedford we had a decision to make. It was a really loooong day to Oklahoma City. Do we drive it in one day or spend the night somewhere? We elected to drive to Wichita, Kansas which put us about 4 hours to Yukon and the Martinis house. Not much to report from Kansas, except that it was a new state for me...and Wichita had more than one restaurant to chose from :)

       

One last drive got us into Oklahoma. North central Oklahoma looked pretty much like central Nebraska and central Kansas, except for one thing. Note that my hair is being whipped around my head and face. That wind never stops in Oklahoma...it's something I remember from all the times I had to come here for air traffic training!

       

And so we arrived in Yukon in the early afternoon hours of Monday, the 9th. Stay tuned for more...   

      

Painted Grass???

Is this normal.....or is Oklahoma the only place that does this?

Tornado in OKC!

It blew right over the top of us here in Yukon and touched down to the north near Bethany and Warr Acres. We watched it move overhead. I've got pictures of "eyeball" hail and some nasty looking weather that I will share when I can get my laptop back online. We have been welcomed to Tornado Alley and lived to tell about it!

We're Here!

We arrived safely in Oklahoma City this afternoon. It was a long drive, especially after we crossed the Rockies...miles and miles of grasslands. We spent the first night in Billings, Montana and the next day drove as far as Rapid City, South Dakota. The following morning we made a visit to Mt. Rushmore before pushing east on Interstate 90. We turned south at Mordo and made it to Thedford, Nebraska for the night...quite a hot bed of activity there :) We had hoped to make it here yesterday, but decided to split it up into two shorter days and spent last night in Wichita, Kansas. Tomorrow morning John has to go to the FAA Academy to be fingerprinted and photographed for his security check. As soon as he is done we'll start our search for a place to live. We've already called a couple of places on Mustang and they don't have any openings till April. We did find one here in Yukon that is open now, so we'll go look there and we have some other calls to make in the morning. Big thanks to Tony and Tonya for giving us a temporary home in their extra room. Tonya has gone to Knoxville to take care of the grandkids for the week and we are looking forward to seeing her when she returns. I've got photos from the trip...but I am unable to get my laptop on line here, so I'll post some when I can. Later!

Oooooooooooklahoma!

We are packed and will be headed out of town this morning. We are planning a slight detour to Mt. Rushmore for a quick visit on the way and expect to arrive Sunday evening or Monday. I'll catch up here when I can!

A New Adventure Is About To Begin.....

John has a dream. He's had this dream for a long time. He wants airplane #2 and he wants to build it. With the hangar and home construction behind us it came time to start taking a serious look at that dream and how to make it happen. It's going to cost $$$ and now is certainly not the time to start cashing in investments. God smiled at us and the dream and handed us a golden ticket. Most of you know that we are both retired air traffic controllers. Many of you have also heard that there is a controller staffing crisis that has been building for years and the FAA is scrambling to replace the controllers that are retiring (and resigning) in droves. That's where the golden ticket comes in. Those new hires have to be trained and someone has to train them. Initial training occurs at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City and John has been hired as an instructor. He reports for duty on February 12th. We'll be leaving Mountain Dreams on Thursday with a few of our belongings to set up a temporary home in (hopefully) Yukon, Oklahoma. Our friends, Tony and Tonya (and Tony's brother, Perry), are already there doing the exact thing we are doing...stashing cash. They found a place in Yukon and we are hoping we can, too. We are looking forward to spending some quality time with them again. They moved away from Washington in 1992 and we've missed them! I'm also looking forward to spending some time with my RCS girlfriends...Dawn in Oklahoma City.....Char, Mickie, Tammy, and Joana in the Dallas area.....and Diane from California when she comes to see her Mom. Having friends there is going to make this a lot easier. We are so going to miss Montana and the Tobacco Valley! Maybe you're wondering if I'll be working as an instructor, too??? Don't think so...although it could cut our time in Oklahoma in half. I'm not ready to give up the free schedule and better health I've gained since I retired. I can spend my time scrapbooking, painting, hanging out with Tonya, reading, lounging at waterside, working on my photography. Oh yes, there'll be plenty to keep me busy!