Visiting Flagstaff

The first stop on our summer travels was Flagstaff in northern Arizona. One day we went to the downtown area of the city, not knowing what would be open in this time of Covid 19. A number of the buildings are decorated with murals. Here are a few I noticed.

The streets and sidewalks were almost deserted. To encourage people to come to the area and, hopefully, spend some money, the street parking is free.

We did find a juggler out in the park.

Flagstaff is a college town--home to Northern Arizona University.  Do you imagine that is what this wooden pole is covered with staples?  Surely not all of them are there to hold up posters!

Moving on to Kingman

From Williams we moved on to another Route 66 town, Kingman.  This sign over the main street reminds of one in downtown Golden, Colorado.

Because Route 66/I-40 follows the same path as the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, we saw another neat steam engine in Kingman.

The old downtown has a lot of neat old neon signs.

And many murals.

This one is on a water tank next to the train tracks.

We enjoyed two days of walking around downtown Kingman.

Tulsa

I have heard of Tulsa, Oklahoma, probably my whole live. But I must admit I never gave it much attention and never really thought of visiting. However, it is a good one-day trip east of Oklahoma City as we make our way to Missouri. Actually, we only planning to spend two or three days here before heading to Branson. We had reservations for a show and planned two nights in the Indian Point Campground on Table Rock Lake. However, there is a massive storm system moving from west to east. It is snowing in Colorado and raining hard off and on in Oklahoma and Missouri. It would mean we would have to travel in heavy rain. They had rain before we arrived and the ground is saturated so there are flash flood warnings through the whole area. We decided to stay put until it clears up on Monday, cancelling our two Branson reservations.

As it turns out, we have found a lot to do here.  The first two mornings we walked at the Oxley Nature Center next to the Tulsa Zoo. The environment here is very different from either Colorado or Arizona.  Look at all the green.

We checked out downtown Tulsa.  The city was growing in the 1920s and 30s and there are many Art Deco buildings like this Tulsa Union Depot.

When we first arrived, doing laundry was on the agenda.  We were delighted to find two cats hanging out in the office and laundry.  We really miss our two cats who used to travel with us so we got our kitty fix while washing clothes.  You can't really see it in this photo, but this first cat has a hair cut (fur cut?) so he looks like a lion.

This cat looks like our cat Partner.

We found a number of murals in one alley.  They all seem to relate to the Day of the Dead.

I had packed a couple of sandwiches for lunch during our trip into town.  Maybe we were still hungry because before returning to the RV we stopped in the Antoinette Bakery.  The sign in the window says "Eat Cake."  We didn't take that advice but I chose the mega Oreo cooking and John had the apple pie bar.  Both were very good.

There was more to see in Tulsa so stay tuned.

Looking Around Helena

We were in Helena, Montana, for six days. Most of our time has been spent doing family history research at the library and the Montana Historical Society Research Center. We did spend a little time looking around the downtown area.

There are some very attractive old buildings.

We saw some interesting details on those buildings.

The Walking Mall is an area downtown closed off to vehicle traffic and lined with small shops. It is called the Bullwhacker plaza. This statue of a bull whacker marks the entrance. Bull whackers were used on the mule trains that brought freight from the river boat landing on the Missouri River in Fort Benton to Helena.

A statue of a newspaper boy hawking the headline on his paper recalls the days when news of gold strikes spread through the press.

Anyone for an outdoor game of chess?

There are several attractive murals lining downtown walls.

We had two blasts from the past. When was the last time you saw one of these signs?

How did a car with this Denver boot get to Helena?

We've had a relaxing week here in Helena.

Sightseeing in Beautiful Downtown Rawlins, WY

There is something interesting to see almost anywhere you go. And Rawlins, Wyoming, is no exception. I'm not sure I would want to move there, but we enjoyed looking around the downtown area. First there was the train station. The two sections of the building have very different facades.

Then were were the murals on the sides of the buildings.

The Rawlins Western Lodge found a very talented artist to decorate the area in from of the motel. I have seen a lot of sculpture made from found metal objects. This the first time I've seen such good work made from found wood.

The front of this downtown store was decorated with ceramic tile. Very unusual. Sorry about the light pole in the middle of the photo. I couldn't work around it.

Our RV park, Western Hills, also had lots of good decorations mainly portraying the western heritage in Wyoming.

So far, we are enjoying our time in Wyoming.