Waterfalls and caves, stonesteps and plants of every kind are all around.

The statue of the Great Spirit is now at the park and used to be in my high school.

Oklahoma, Day 2 continued

I checked out old haunts, wandered over town, ate my way through Tulsa, and generally relaxed today.

Lunch was at Jim's Coney Island -- Talk about a family tradition. We have been eating at Jim's since he was downtown in a little dive with those half-desk school chairs as his only tables. The dogs are on a grill and they are small, with small buns, but they are the best dogs around. I rarely eat Fritos, but I have to have my Fritos to go with this meal. The business has passed from Jim, who passed several years ago, to Jim's son, to Jim's daughter, to Jim's grandson. Not much has changed. The old 12" black and white TV has been replaced by a flat screen -- but still small. I do believe that the plastic table cloths were last changed by Jim. In the picture they look sort of gray -- they are actually black, but most of the color has been worn off from years of use. Hey, that is a minor thing.

Here is the sign -- original to the downtown store. This photo is looking north on Harvard. By the way, walking into a Coney shop that also serves Greek food, really good Greek food, is sort of an assault on one's olfactory nerves. The two don't seem to go together, but they make it work.

The next phase took me to the Fairgrounds to visit my driller buddy. The original Golden Driller was at the Fairgrounds in 1953. In the mid 60s at the opening of the Petroleum Exposition Building he made a seemingly permanent return. He is quite a guy. By the way, that is my car parked behind him. In my teen/young adult years, we lived only a few blocks south of him, so directions to my home were always easy for my friends.

After a bit of sight-seeing, visits with friends, and shopping it was time for a snack. So, off to Braum's Ice Cream Store we went. Oh, how I wish Braum's would move into Louisiana. The closest one to us is Mt. Pleasant, TX and that just isn't close enough! Think of cool, creamy peppermint ice cream on the hottest day of the year and then imagine the crunch of the red and green peppermint pieces in your mouth. Yummy!

Oklahoma Pilgrimage, day 2

Let me just be honest here and tell you that the reason that I stay at LaQuinta has to do with waffles for breakfast. This LaQuinta did not disappoint. I am staying at a LQ at a very strange place at the intersection of the Broken Arrow Expressway and the Mingo Valley Expressway and not far from I-44. There is basically nothing much here but warehouse types of industry.

Well, nothing much here but me and a couple of Oklahoma Methodists in town for their Annual Conference at Boston Avenue UMC downtown. Refer to yesterday's photos to see how a whole Annual Conference can fit in one church. They probably fit in with room to spare -- did I mention that this is a BIG church? By the way, their pastor's last name is Biggs! How appropriate. Mouzon Biggs has been the pastor there since my Tulsa days and that has been a while.

After finishing my waffle, I offered up my Tulsa World to the couple sitting at the table next to mine. We struck up a conversation and that is how I learned that they are lay pastors in town for Annual Conference. They shared with me that they had been leaders in their churches for years (another denomination), but they each had divorced and were no longer allowed to lead in the way they believe God called them to lead. The United Methodist Church found them and they became lay speakers and then lay ministers and they now serve a small church. They are so happy it glows from their faces.

So now, I am armed with the schedule for the Oklahoma Annual Conference and I think I may go to their ordination service this evening. It is amazing how God brings us connections with others.

The world is so small and our God is so big and I am so glad!