Day 32 Rain Check on Travel

Yes, we took a “rain check” in Oklahoma City as the threat of thunderstorms on the road to MO was pretty impressive. The only thing is …”They don’t pay the weathermen by the number of times they are correct”. So we stayed another night. The rain fell in the form of a 'Scottish Dew' and was pretty nice most of the day. So we took advantage of that and went downtown. We seldom do that (visit downtown) in any city so it was an event for us and a special treat for them!!!

The Crystal Bridge Botanical gardens was our objective and it was easy to find a couple of blocks right off the Freeway (I-40). There was virtually no crowd at all so we had lots of room to move around and take pictures. (There was free parking as well) The outside of the gardens will be in peak this spring but there was little in bloom there at this time. There are many pathways to walk, and even a small (300 seat) amphitheater by the canal that runs through downtown and under the "Crystal Bridge”. The inside has the many tropical plants and tress one might expect, but the ‘piece de resistance’ was the many orchids that were growing all through the Botanical Garden. I will include some pictures for your enjoyment. We did buy a few “hang up” gifts that yo can see when you visit us at “884 Purchase NE”. See ... http://www.myriadgardens.com/index.html

Ruth and I ate at a small “buffet style’ “Sandwich Shop” across the street and we had so much more than we could consume, it was embarrassing. The man piled huge amounts of all the veggies (Brussels sprouts and Saur kraut for me) as well as an extraordinary amount of meatballs. Ruth was smart and ordered a chicken salad croissant sandwich which was delicious she said. It was a real ‘original downtown ambiance’ place with old style bench seating and an extra dining room off the bench area.
We still had some time left so went back to Arcadia Lake (see last entry) and this time tried the camping site (no one was there yet) where we did garner some 23 birds and added the Golden Crowned Kinglet, and the Black Crested Titmouse to our list for the first time. This brings our TOTAL LIST of birds seen to 167 on this trip. That’s pretty good for the pre migration months.
See the site... http://edmondok.com/parks/arcadialake

We set out tomorrow for Lebanon MO and we will see what the weather does to the total distance travelled. See you soon. Love, Jim and Ruth