rkkwan's short TR for short OK/AR trip
 

I have written very lengthy trip reports on the Asia and Europe forums, so I'll try to get do this with the fewest words possible... :)

<b>Who?</b>
Mom, dad and I.

<b>Why?</b>
Saw Continental $99 fare for weekend to OKC. $114 with tax.

<b>Saturday 3/29</b>
CO Express IAH-OKC on a ERJ145. Got 12C exit row for myself. Plenty of legroom.

Got intermediate car from Hertz, though Continental.com special. $24 for 2 days. Corolla or PT Cruiser. Corolla.

I-40 east towards Fort Smith, AR. Few places to eat. Found diner in Salisaw, OK for late breakfast.

Walk around Ft Smith National Historical Site. Drove over to Van Buren, AR to see my ex-employer USA Truck, Inc.

Went north on the newly opened I-540. Then NE through twisty backroads to Eureka Springs. Corolla handles okay, but wish I was driving my Subaru STi.

Passion play not started until April, so whole town very quiet. Checked out the Christ of Ozarks, and the town center. Wonder how crowded it'll be in summer. Had latte and hot chocolate and cake at an independent cafe. Very nice, as it was only about 50F.

Overnight in Bentonville. Got 2.5* Courtyard through Priceline. $48+fees for each room. Very nice.

Dinner at O'Charley's, a Chili's/Applebee's clone that we don't have in Houston.

<b>Sunday 3/30</b>

Swam at the nice, but overly warm, indoor pool at the Courtyard.

Mom and I had Full buffet breakfast, $9.95; dad skipped the hot stuff, $7.95. Quite decent. First stay at a Courtyard, impressed.

Checked out the Walton's 5-and-10 cent store in Bentonville center. Everything closed and quiet on Sunday morning.

Headed west back into OK. $2.25 on Turnpike. Drove through downtown Tulsa to have a good look of the Williams Tower, by Minoru Yamasaki. It's a 1/2 sized clone of a WTC tower.

Spent about 2 hours at the Philbrook Museum of Art. Collection okay. The Italian-villa style building and garden very very nice.

On way out of Tulsa, saw an old-fashioned, oversized Arby's sign. Made a U-turn to grab a sandwich.

I-44 ($3.50 Turnpike) to OKC. Walked around the State Capitol, then to the OKC National Memorial. It's very well done.

Checked in at La Quinta OKC Airport. $44 on Hotwire 2.5*. Very very old and tired property. I gave feedback to HW to say it's not worth the rating.

Dinner at a Cracker Barrel next to hotel. I love Cracker Barrel when doing road trips.

Tornado warning in effect just west of OKC. Reports of tennis-ball-sized hail. I got out at 11:30p to drive the Corolla under the canopy at a nearby gas station. Storm turned north, and I only saw pea-sized hails for a minute.

Got back to room and watched the very good weather reports on local channels. Very high resolution radar, down to the minute prediction for tornado/damaging wind and hail paths, and chasers to give live reports of tornadoes. Remind me of &quot;Twister&quot;.

<b>Monday 3/31</b>

Got up at 4:45a, returned car at airport 5:15a. Both my parents were upgraded to FC on CO's 737, and I got myself a nice bulkhead seat right behind.

Saw amazing sunrise and took pictures.

Got back to Houston, picked up car and headed to work.

<b>The End</b>

Pictures. Lots of flowers. Canon 40D and 50mm/1.4. Single prime lens only.

rkkwan.zenfolio.com/p551034945/

As always, great photos Ray! I really liked the cannon and flag ones, the florals and what great pictures of your mom in front of the flowering tree! Don't think I've seen your dad before, you look just like him!
Deb

Deb - Thanks! Here's a better picture of my parents. Taken in Macau in January of this year:

rkkwan.zenfolio.com/p500104653/?photo=778811611

Incredible pictures Ray! The yellow tulip was almost startling when the picture came on screen. Beautiful colors!

I've always heard Tulsa was pretty and it did look it. Was in Eureka Springs probably 15 years ago and don't recalling seeing the Christ statue. I wonder, is that is new?

OO - No, the Christ of the Ozarks was erected in 1966. So, definitely not new. But since I'm not Christian or religious, I've never heard of it before this trip, nor the &quot;New Passion Play&quot;.

It was in the movie &quot;Elizabethtown&quot;, but even I saw the movie, I don't remember about it.

;)

You came to OKC and didn't call me! I'm crushed. :(( The Memorial in OKC is just 10 blocks from my house. Would have loved to have seen you again!

The Philbrook Museum in Tulsa is one of my favorites for the grounds and just the ambiance of the place. And it looks like the flowers were in full bloom. Gorgeous!

Thanks for coming to my fair city. Sorry the weather gave you a scare. Yes, our weather forecasting is very similar to Twister because they used our weatherman, Gary England, in the movie and for reference to the industry. What you saw in the movie is what you see broadcast on storm nights.

BeachGirl

BeachGirl - I would have, but my parents were with me, and we have so little time in OKC...

I've passed through OKC many times when I was a trucker. But first time to actually spend a little time. It was a good little trip. :)

I loved your photos, too.

I also wanted to say that I greatly appreciate how you post so many costs and what travel sites you used to get them. Travel is one of several competing priorities in my life and price matters a whole lot.

#19 is such a nice picture of your mom. I'm looking forward to meeting her at dim sum.

I should have thought to tell you about the peach orchard in Tulsa. We had great homemade peach ice cream one night there when the weather was too windy to balloon. Oh well, next road trip!