OKC Trip - Wednesday Travels

Even though we'd just had all the kids together in Livermore, Father's Day weekend mid-June (see June 26, 2014 post), I lamented to Frank that at their young age, our two granddaughters were changing so quickly that we really needed to see them pretty often. Carrie and then four-month-old Vivian had visited in late July (see August 6, 2014 post) and we'd be seeing them again in October. I wanted to squeeze in a trip to Oklahoma to see Autumn, who would be turning two in October.  So the following photo illustrates the main reason for our trip to Oklahoma this past week, even though it is typically sweltering hot out there this time of year. Frank and I visited over Labor Day weekend.

Autumn knows the best place to be in hot weather is
under her daddy's spray hose when he waters the plants.

Wednesday, August 27th, we flew out from Oakland, through Denver, to OKC. We had about a 90 minute layover in Denver. This was adequate time to walk from the farthest out arrival gate in Terminal B to the almost farthest out departure gate in Terminal C. At least there were some engaging sights along the way. As we were walking to the gate for our connecting flight we saw at least four, maybe more, little birds hopping about in the terminal amongst, between, and under the seats. I doubt that they had boarding passes and I did not see them going through security. Perhaps they got in when a jetway was left open. They were cute, energetic, and chirpy and cheered up those who paused to watch them.

Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little,
Cheep, cheep, cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more...
Remember the song the ladies sang in the musical The Music Man?

A bit farther along, a mobile walkway was out of service and we actually got to see it in the process of repair. The hand rail comes in one long length on a spool and is joined as a loop and then welded. I spoke to the repair personnel and they said every five years the walkway is up for maintenance. We got to watch one of the welded joints being polished smooth. When I commented to one of the men "I have never seen this before," he quipped back, " I guess you have never been to DIA. We do this all the time here."

Denver is a large enough airport that I guess its walkways are like the Golden Gate Bridge.
Once you've finished painting the span, it's time to start repainting at the other end.
Mobile walkway maintenance is continuous.

In navigating through the areas between the two terminals we also passed the Tattered Cover Book Store. I took a photo just because I found the name to be quite sentimental. I could not think of a clever counterpart for e-books – Dilapidated Downloads Book Store, or possibly Phantom Photons Book Store – but neither of those convey a connotation of being loved and worn out from repeated use.

A book with a tattered cover is like the Velveteen Rabbit that was worn and dilapidated from love.

Digital seems to indicate a cold, machine-like aura, and not warmth. Although I must admit there has been a real effort to change that image what with Apple's iPhoto and FaceTime and the various social media out there. A 2013 movie that Frank and I watched deals with this very subject, and maybe that is why I am digressing this way. I recommend seeing the movie her. It is really stirs up your emotions in a way you would not expect a computer-centric movie to do. Frank and I really liked it.

A lonely write develops an unlikely relationship
with his newly purchased operating system
 that's designed to meet his every need.

Our flight from Denver to Oklahoma City took a much more direct route than I appear to be taking with the ramblings of this post. We departed on time, arrived closed to our appointed 6:00 pm, and went to pick up our rental car. Since Jeremy and Robin would both be working Thursday, Frank and I had planned a day trip, just the two of us, and needed a car for the day. The clerk at the Advantage Car counter looked at Frank's height and tried to talk us into an upgrade from economy. We stayed with the small size and it was fine. In fact Frank really liked the car. It was a Kia Forte and Frank had about four inches of head room, which is very unusual for him to have in most cars. It piqued his interest enough that he may look into it as a successor to his 1997 Chevy Cavalier.

Although economy class for rental, this Kia Forte was roomy inside.

By the time we arrived at Robin's house, she had picked Autumn up from daycare and was home. Jeremy was still away in Texas on work travel. Robin cooked a dinner of fish, Mac & Cheese, and broccoli that really hit the spot. The Mac & Cheese recipe was from Panera Bread. Did you know that their web site has links to some of their recipes?

Autumn absolutely loves Panera Bread's Mac & Cheese and scarfs it down.

By the time we had eaten it was bedtime for Autumn. She had been very happy to be with Grandma and Grandpa and showed no signs of wariness or timidity. She talked a blue streak! We would see more of her over the upcoming four days. Even though it was two hours earlier by our California body clocks, Frank and I went to bed also, tired from our travels. We came downstairs the next morning to see others had slept well, too.

Elliot has determined that the Princesses are the perfect companions for his cat naps.
The chair had been purchased at the insistance of a certain toddler, who,
though she could not yet speak at the time of its purchase,
had made her wishes clear. Disney marketing! 

The Circus

Yesterday, Sunday August 24, we took Alex to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus – The Greatest Show on Earth!

Alex is smiling and happy even though I took away his beloved Green Bay Packers hat so there would not be a shadow on his face for the picture. He closed his eyes instead. Oh, well, I tried!

We paused for a picture in the parking lot in front of one of the trailers.

On our way in, Frank and Alex pose beside one of the circus trailers in the parking lot.
The show was held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.

Our seats were in Row 2 of Section 207 right on the aisle near Section 208 so we had a midline view of all the activities. And since we were at a balcony level we had a great overall panorama of all that was going on. Even though we were not close, Alex stayed engaged and clapped for most of the show.

We sat in Section 207 off to the right in the photo. An added perk to our seat location was that at intermission I scooted right out and was first in line to get us hot dogs and chicken strips for lunch.

There was a pre-show where ticket holders could go down to the ring for a closeup look. This is the view we had of the pre-show.

One of the elephants was painting. There was also a mini-act with a juggler and of course some clown activity. The pre-show floor option was open to all ticket holders and not just VIPs. 

We did not think Alex would enjoy standing with his view blocked by other people so we stayed in our seats. Besides, Alex was diligently working on devouring his large tub of popcorn. When we asked him if he wanted to go down to the circus floor level he vehemently shook his head no. He was settled in waiting for the show to begin. He wanted to eat his popcorn and leaf through the big glossy program we bought him.

Alex is watching the pre-show.
For the moment he is letting Frank look at his program in the background.

The show itself had a wide variety of performing animals: elephants, galloping horses, tigers, lions, dogs, goats, huge hogs, llamas, even a "unicorn", "pegasus", and "wooly mammoth".  Of the animal acts, I think Alex liked the energetic dogs best although he did recognize and point to the elephants.

This year's circus theme was Legends.

There were clowns (of course), trapeze artists, acrobatic gymnasts, diabolo (spool) tossing jugglers, and amazing high-wire motorcycle and human pyramid bicycle riding daredevils. In one dramatic motorcycle act, eight at once rode at high speed inside a huge steel sphere and they made a LOT of NOISE – pretty much as loud as the fireworks that started the show off with a big bang. Alex liked the motorcycles a lot and squealed with glee at the cacophony.

Frank and I had not been to a circus in a while and really enjoyed it. We were a bit surprised at a subtly different approach. There seemed to be no one super star. The ringmaster, although very good, was not an extremely commanding presence. The acts seemed to engage the audience based on sheer number of performers, be they people or animals, doing the same identical action but in sync with each other. Quantity versus quality seems too harsh a way to put it since the feats performed were impressive and there was a wide variety in the acts. But there were not a lot of "Oh wow's!" Synchronicity dominated difficulty. It worked well for Alex and so it worked well for us. We are planning to go again next year. I would recommend going. You do not need the excuse of having a little kid to take. Indulge the inner child in yourself and stuff your face with some popcorn.

A parade of elephants marched out mid-way during the grand finale
during which just about all the performers appeared for a last bow.