We were making good on time, having only left five minutes late. However, as we neared the airport, there was a crash that involved a truck that dropped a BBQ grill on the freeway and a motorcyclist riding behind. We don't know what happened, but by the our part of the slow traffic queue passed the scene, paramedics were surrounding the guy on the ground. That did wonders for Amber's confidence with me on a motorcycle. Anyway, we made it to the airport later than we had expected due to the stopped traffic.
We parked in the long term parking area and caught a shuttle. The shuttle was slower and more loaded with people than I have ever seen it. The going was tedious to the airport. Once we got there, our e-ticket boarding passes didn't speed things up as much as we hoped and we still had to wait in the luggage line to check in our luggage. There was a guy ahead of us arguing non-stop with the attendant, keeping us from getting up front as soon as we needed to.
Once we got our luggage checked in, we hurried over to the long security line. The line moved fast though. However, when Amber went through the metal detector, the alarms went off. We purposefully wore clothes and sandals that we thought would get us through quickly, but it was not to be. They made Amber go through the detectors a few times. I suggested that it was the metal clips on her pants for her pockets. The large Tongan security guard said in a dismissing tone, "It is not the clips, sir." Well, they moved Amber into a glass holding area and called for backup. We had to wait three or four minutes before a security lady could come and wand/grope Amber. This process took another few minutes - the prognosis: the metal clips on Amber's pants, Hah!
Once Amber's terrorist status was demoted, we ran off to our gate. The plane was ready to leave and we made it in the nick of time.
After a brief stop in Denver, we arrived in Oklahoma City around Noon. We grabbed our luggage and went to get our rental car. Whil signing the papers, they asked us if we wanted to switch our car from the lowest of the rung that we payed for to a PT Cruiser at no extra charge. Obviously we went with the PT Cruiser for fun as neither one of us had ever driven one. It was a shiney black set of wheels. It was pretty fun to drive, though our Honda Odyssey minivan still has more power. :-)
Our hotel was one that Amber found in small town half way between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. We were there for Dane Spencer's wedding (Amber & Reed's high school friend). The reception was in Tulsa which was 2 hours from Oklahoma City. The wedding was the next morning in the Oklahoma City Temple. Amber thought it would be smart to sleep in a hotel in between the two so that neither drive would be terribly long. When we got to our stop in Chandler, Oklahoma, we knew that we were going to be in for an experience. It was indeed a small town with some rednecks. As we were getting off the exit and going through the toll booth, we ended up in line with an old van that had a residential air conditioner strapped to the back of the van and going through a square hole made in the back window just for the device. It was one of those pictures that would receive in an email forward with the subject line, "You know you're a red-neck when..."
We laughed about the air conditioned van being an indication of the town, and hence, hotel that we would be staying. As we drove into town, we realized that we were not really that far off! We pulled into our motel, not expecting much -- or should I say, expecting to see not much at all. When Amber reserved the room, she did so at the cheepest place that she could find since she knew that we would not be there very long - only long enough to sleep and get back up again. We entered the lobby to check in and the conversation went like this...
[clerk] "Yer in room 109. Go out around the end of the motel, by the pool and around the corner."
[me] "Oh, so you have a pool?"
[clerk] "Yeah, but there ain't no water in it. Too expensive, reckon we'll be fillin' it in."
[me] Thinking Amber said that the internet booking system claimed that this hotel had a complimentary breakfast, "Do you have breakfast in the morning?"
[clerk] "Yep, we got cereal, milk, an' some coffee. Ain't got no juice, though -- machine's broke".
I looked around the 8ft by 8ft lobby and wondered where one would pour their cereal, let alone sit to eat it. Amber and I decided that we would search elsewhere for breakfast options in the morning.
After dropping our things off at the hotel and taking a quick power nap, we hopped back into the car and headed off to Tulsa for the BBQ dinner reception. When we arrived in Tulsa, we had an extra hour or two, so we drove around the city and took in the sights. It was 5:30PM Tulsa time and there was no traffic whatsoever in the town - and we are talking about a place that has more tall buildings than Provo. It was pretty interesting. We soon found a small parking area along the Arkansas river that runs through Tulsa. There was a cool bike back where there were two rows of bicicles chained to the rack. You would swipe your credit card and type in the number on the bike. The chain lock would then come undone. You simply check out the bike with your credit card and ride it up to 24 hours. If you replace the bike at any of their racks within 24 hours your credit card does not get charged. Pretty cool setup.
Amber and I checked out some bikes and rode along the river stopping occasionally to take some pictures. We were in our reception clothes, so we didn't push it too hard. We didn't want to be all sweaty and stinky by the time we were done.
We also stopped at a foot bridge that went across the wide river. It used to be a train bridge, but the community converted it to a cool foot bridge. It was pretty fun. The river was magnificent, however, it was really muddy. As we stopped to look at it from the bridge, you could almost imagine a river of milk chocolate, similar to what you would see in old Dairy Queen commercials.
Before we left for the reception, we had to stop and grab a geocache to say that we had done it in Oklahoma. We found a pretty simple cache that was on a small trail going through town. Tulsa had a number of trail all throughout the town - it as a cool place.
We made our way through Tulsa and over to the place where the reception/barbeque was located. The residence was on a large plot of land. When we entered the back yard, Anicka (sp?) Spencer (Jake Reed's age) saw us and shouted, "Amber Reed??" This started a stir among the Spencer clan (the family of Dane Spencer who was the one getting married). I guess Amber never let anyone know we were coming - they were all really surprised. Amber's friend Tawna from high school who is Dane's older sister, came running over. Dane saw Amber and got mad at his sister Tawna, saying, "You didn't tell me Amber was coming!" Tawna defended herself excitedly explaining that she had no clue. Amber was then whisked away by friends from bygone times and I made my way visiting with other members of the family.
It was fun to see Dane again, and ready to be married. I had met Tawna and her husband once before, but we had a great time talking and meeting each of their kids. Their oldest is turning 12 this year and going to scout camp in a week. He is just older than Aylee - it made me really think....Aylee will be at that stage very soon! Wow, kids grow up so fast!
We danced, ate, visited, and ate some more. It was a fun get-together. After the reception, Amber and I returned to our five-star hotel to bed down before the wedding that was taking place the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment