March 10th – 13th
I was still staying at Wes Watkins Park, waiting for the axle parts to come in (another week or more).
On the first day I drove into Oklahoma City (OKC) and went to Scissortail Park, named after the Oklahoma state bird: the scissor-tailed flycatcher. Scissortail Park, dedicated in 2020, is in the heart of a revitalized downtown OKC. This public space is designed for connection – it is a place for play, culture, celebration, and inspiration. The park features a variety of engaging experiences within 70 urban acres ranging from ornamental gardens and woodlands to a lake and boathouse, children’s playground, grand promenade, water features, outdoor roller rink, an enclosed dog park, interactive fountain and much more.
It was a huge park and I walked all around. Lots of gardens and very friendly to native animals, birds, and insects. It was also near the heart of OKC and the buildings around the park were: historic Union Station, the Convention Center, Paycom Center (home of the OKC Thunder), a restaurant and bar, and the Skydance Bridge (the iconic pedestrian bridge connecting the Upper and Lower parks across I-40, modeled after the scissor-tailed flycatcher).
Visitors to Scissortail Park will likely notice a massive bird-shaped woven willow stick structure just west of the Children’s Play Pavilion and the lake. The Unexpected Us is a collaboration with OKC artists Denise Duong and Gabriel Friedman. who installed the sculpture as part of the Oklahoma Contemporary’s grand opening celebration in 2020. It also features a golden pulsating light suspended within a willow orb at the structure’s center. “Much like a child’s fort or treehouse, this structure is crude, playing on the importance of imagination, the purity of childhood and the belief in magic,” the artists said in a statement about their work.
I spent the next few days inside most of the time working on my earlier Travelogues and avoiding high winds. One of my RV neighbors offered to dump my holding tanks without me having to move the trailer, and I appreciated that. I tried to catch up on emails, etc., and walked around the park a number of times.
On March 13th I headed into OKC to go to the Zoo. I spent at least 3 hours there, and still didn’t see everything! Lots of photos. Enjoy!
Hover over any photo (below) to see the caption. Click on any photo below and you can scroll back and forth thru them. Use the arrows at the bottom of each photo.
