Get On Your Bikes and Ride…
When gas prices hit $3 a gallon a few years ago and we were all aghast, I bought a Stella scooter. The little mint green wonder gets about 90 to 100 miles-per-gallon and it’s 2-gallon tank used to fill up for just about $5. Now I fill up for just under $10.
I had the idealistic notion that I would ride this scooter everywhere. I’d be thrifty, I’d use less gas and I would have more money to do other things…like buy groceries. Well, I’d like to say that I’ve lived up to that promise, but mostly the scooter is for joy rides and idulgent trips just for the sake of riding.
This weekend I’ve got a real reason to ride. The Individual Artists Gallery, located at 811 N. Broadway, will showcase scooter art Saturday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Rally on the Alley, a benefit for IAO, will showcase classic scooters, scooter related art, films and performance as well as music, food and a cash bar. The gallery will also hold a raffle giving folks a chance to win a Aprilia Scarabeo 100. Ok, so not everybody will win the scooter, but I’m sure there will be plenty of scooters, old and young at the event. Check out an old P-Series Vespa that sat in a garage for 20 years, or even better — maybe someone will show up with a Cushman scooter.
Either way, there should be plenty to gawk at — and me. Although, you can’t laugh when it takes me three tries to kick start my scooter while my husband is already miles down the road on his scooter. All I can say is, I need all the practice I can get.
See you there.
Julie Bisbee
State Reporter
Climbing a tower
If you’re ever exercising around the Hafer Park trail in Edmond, I recommend that you experiment with the rock climbing wall at the park.
An old 15-foot tall water tower has been renovated into a rock-climbing wall. The wall is in the image of a painted spiderweb mural that was created by Bob Palmer, an art professor at the University of Central Oklahoma.
I recently made an attempt at climbing the wall. However, due to a combination of clumsiness and uncoordination, I didn’t make it very far. I fell to the ground after the first two steps.
Thanfully, I wasn’t hurt at all because the wall is surrounded by a cushion material to prevent people like me from becoming injured if we happen to fall.
Hafer Park is located at 1034 S Bryant Ave. in Edmond.
Tim Henley
Staff writer
Where there’s smoke…
Spending time outdoors suggests activity. Summer’s too hot to be runnin’ around. So, while some folks hike and bike in the great outdoors, some of us seek more sedentary activities under the sun. Hiking and biking for the Backroads crowd. Running and sunning for all you hardbodies. Birding and trainspotting for the eclectic company.
Regardless your shape, size, race, color or creed, we all gotta eat. And if you wanna eat good, learn to cook — preferably outside.
Whether you call it barbecue, barbacoa, barby, braai, BBQ, churrasco, bulgogi, yakiniku or you smoke with indirect heat, water pan or (gasp) indoor contraption, we’ll discuss it, share methods, recipes and anecdotes.
First order or business: When basting or mopping meat, avoid tomato-based sauce. Tomato is bitter when it burns, as you would be, and can ruin a good piece of meat. Try mustard-vinegar based bastes or mopping on a little mix of apple juice and Lousiana hot sauce instead. Pour on the thick stuff just as you remove the object of your desire from the grill or serve it on the side. I like mine warmed up a little.
David Cathey,
Eater
Where there’s smoke…
Spending time outdoors suggests activity. Summer’s too hot to be runnin’ around. So, while some folks hike and bike in the great outdoors, some of us seek more sedentary activities under the sun. Hiking and biking for the Backroads crowd. Running and sunning for all you hardbodies. Birding and trainspotting for the eclectic company.
Regardless your shape, size, race, color or creed, we all gotta eat. And if you wanna eat good, learn to cook — preferably outside.
Whether you call it barbecue, barbacoa, barby, braai, BBQ, churrasco, bulgogi, yakiniku or you smoke with indirect heat, water pan or (gasp) indoor contraption, we’ll discuss it, share methods, recipes and anecdotes.
First order or business: When basting or mopping meat, avoid tomato-based sauce. Tomato is bitter when it burns, as you would be, and can ruin a good piece of meat. Try mustard-vinegar based bastes or mopping on a little mix of apple juice and Lousiana hot sauce instead. Pour on the thick stuff just as you remove the object of your desire from the grill or serve it on the side. I like mine warmed up a little.
David Cathey,
Eater
Water Boy
Throughout my life, I’ve always been fascinated by water. I love being near it, I love swimming in it and I love looking at it. I don’t know where my fascination with water originated. It certainly isn’t hereditary. None of my relatives enjoy the water like I do.
I recently booked a cruise trip with five friends because I wanted to spend my summer vacation on top of water. The feeling of floating through the ocean while looking down at the crystal clear water is indescribably.
I leave at the end the of August, and the cruise ship will sail to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. While I’m there I plan on doing various water excursions including scuba diving, snorkeling and horseback riding through beach water.
During my cruise expedition last year, I went scuba diving for the first time. I felt like I was one of the guys from the Discovery Channel. Interacting with the underwater population and coming face to face with colorful fish was breathtaking. The adrenaline rush stayed with me for the rest of the week.
I also enjoy spending time at a lake, river, pond or a swimming pool. I went to an aquatic center in Oklahoma City last week, and I behaved like a kid in a candy store. I literally rode every water slide that was available, regardless of whether I was too old or too big to use them.
The water makes me feel calm and peaceful, and it helps me relax while I’m away from the stresses of everyday life.
Are there any other people who are overly enthusiastic about water the way that I am? If so, I would like to here from you. Please leave a comment.
Tim Henley
Staff writer
Learning to Fish
Fishing is a popular pasttime in Oklahoma. Many people around the state migrate to the lake during the weekend to try to catch a swimming creature. Some people are experienced when it comes to fishing while others just wing it and hope they get lucky.
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation are holding free clinics this summer to help fishermen and women learn some fishing skills before they experiment with their bait and poles.
The clinic will be held at from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Aug. 12. During the clinic, participants will learn how about knot-tying, fish cleaning, using the fishing pole, cooking, tackle selection, water safety and outdoor ethics.
The clinic is free, but participants are required to register in advance. To register, call 521-3855.
Tim Henley
Staff writer
Holy Cow, Batwatch!
Hollywood stars maybe preparing for the July 18 release of “The Dark Knight” the next Batman movie. But why not check out the real thing? Hollywood’s got nothing on the real stars of the show at Alabaster Caverns State Park. More than a million bats fly their nesting spots to comb the night sky for insects at the state park near Freedom.
From 7:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, the bats will fly out as crowds lie beneth them on the ground. Rub your hands together and bats may mistake you for a flitting moth and swoop a little closer. Nearly every February, a colony of Mexican free-tailed bats make the cave near Freedom their home to raise their young, park officials say.
During the summer months, spectators gather in a remote field here to watch the bats make their nightly emergence. Shortly before dusk, millions of bats emerge in a spiraling column that soars thousands of feet before the bats scatter to hunt insects.
For more information or group reservations, call the Oklahoma Wildlife Department at 405-424-0099.
For more information on events at state parks all summer long go to: www.touroklahoma.com
Rarified air
High heat. Heavy traffic. Buzzing cell phones and incessant e-mails.
Feel like a caged animal sometimes? Me, too. That means it’s the perfect time to get lost.
We forget sometimes how entangled we are from the trappings of modern life until we’re given a chance to be free of it, even for a few days. That’s why I love backpacking so much. I grew up camping in places where there are no utility hookups, no outhouses, no showers. Just you, your tent and the outdoors.
So I’m planning my escape. The place: Mount Yale on the Collegiate Peaks of central Colorado. The goal: Spend some time on the woods there, maybe do some fishing, and summit one of Colorado’s famed 14ers, the mountains which rise above 14,000 feet. In the midst of it all, I’m looking for some good fellowship, a little solitude and perhaps something that might help me clear my head.
Some people find such escapes at concerts, bars, in books or in a movie theater. I find it in the wilderness. I can’t say Mount Yale will technically be “wilderness,” but it will have to do for now.
So there it is. I’m interested in finding like-minded people and have them tell their stories here. I’d love to hear some tips. Maybe some true mountaineers will want to chime in about tackling some of the bigger, badder mountains of past expeditions. And in the meantime, I’ll drop in a few tips of my own, share some stories and keep you up to date on this adventure and any future treks outside the confines of everyday life. (I promise there will be some in-state fun.)
Just for grins, if you’re curious about 14ers or mountaineering in a nearby state, here’s a couple sites to check out:
Bob Doucette
