Stephen had to fly back to Phoenix for a day trip and because we have no airport in our city, we have to choose between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. Having already driven to Fort Worth, we decided to try out Oklahoma City and see which one is better. Thus, I was given the opportunity to stay the day in Oklahoma City and do some sightseeing all by myself! I was so glad I had my camera and much to my family's dismay I'm sure, have it be known that I, Erika Zank, took well over 75 pictures that day. What you get is a brief retelling of what I experienced.
This first part of the day was spent with me driving around OKC trying desperately to find somewhere to park. I really am not that great at parallel parking and didn't have enough quarters to park for the entire day as we had to save our quarters for the toll roads. Interestingly enough the drive to Oklahoma City is a tad shorter than to Fort Worth, the airport much less confusing and it costs us an extra 8 dollars for the entire trip. We were going to take the backroads the entire way but that would add an extra hour and a half on to our trip so we decided against it. Off that tangent, I parked in the first parking garage I could find, which was perfectly situated between all of my destinations. I decided to first walk around and experience, then eat lunch somewhere fun and see what to do at that point.
This picture is right outside of the library and is a rotary painted statue (I didn't take a picture of the rotarian fountain right next to it).
Then we have the building right across from the library.
I loved this quote by Samuel Adams (and for those who are unsure, felicity in this case does not refer to the beloved character played by Keri Russell, instead it means happiness).
And here I am to prove that I indeed was in OKC.
This was a fun statue I saw while walking around downtown.
I think I love this picture. Even though I have taken many photography classes and can see the great things in other's pictures, I still have trouble taking good shots myself and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try things out.
I love playing with my camera's features!
I don't know but for some reason I really like this building. Perhaps it's because it's an old-school skyscraper or maybe it's because of the different windows. I guess it's the wannabe architect in me that adores this building.
I really liked how the plants are growing up this building in downtown OKC. It isn't a sight that I see everyday and I also like the fun windows on the building to the right.
Having some more fun with my camera, can anyone tell the difference between the next two photos?
Then I decided to get out of the structured downtown and see what fun they had to offer. I also knew that I didn't want to walk too far, perhaps it was that reason more than any other that I found these fantastic botanical gardens!
I absolutely love how lush and green it is! Probably one of my favorite parts of OKC. Here we have the garden house that you have to pay to walk through, like I'm gonna pay money for that. Maybe another time, but I do think it looks cool and scifi.
This part actually scared me. Beneath the building is a little lake with a pathway that goes all the way around. You can see the sidewalk going directly beneath this structure. There is water dripping from the building and it is super low to the sidewalk, I had to watch someone else walk under it and then brace myself to do the same. I don't have a fear of heights, instead I guess I have a fear of being under a structure of somesort and having it fall on top of me. I even go through this same fear while driving under overpasses. Yikes!
I could not get over how gorgeous this park was in the middle of the downtown. It would be amazing to have a picnic here during a lunch break! If only it weren't so dang humid.
After passing under the behemoth structure, I came upon this cute stage. How fun! It's even on the water!!
I went in to the garden gift shop where I inquired about what the stage was used for. I was told that they have Shakespeare in the Park there! I was so excited and knew this would be perfect and fit right into my evening plans(because of yet I had none...except to possibly sleep in a parking lot until Stephen's flight came around 12:30 the next morning, he wasn't thrilled with the idea but told me if I needed to sleep I should probably go to the temple parking lot which I thought was cute, umm I mean handsome)
I left the park because I was dying of heat and humidity and left to gather some food. I just couldn't get over how gorgeous this park/garden is, we certainly didn't have anything like that in Phoenix!
Kitty corner from the garden was a little mediterranean restaurant. Years ago I had discovered gyros and knew that they were a gift from heaven. Just thinking of the tzatziki sauce makes my mouth water.
YUM!! It was amazing and the little restaurant was owned by two brothers who had it open for about four months, so I was definitely pleased to be supporting their business venture. If you ever go to OKC you should absolutely check it out!
Buy this time I was tired, hot, and ridiculously sweaty. So I decided to chill at my favorite place...
The LIBRARY!! I know, I know, this may sound silly to many that when I travel I love to check out their libraries but they are seriously my favorite place and I could have spent HOURS here just reading and would have thought my trip to be a complete success. This next picture makes me happy, I just love the library and all the inventive ways they use to get the light in there, it really makes the whole thing seem light and airy.
So, after checking out a baking book and a book about Dorothea Lange who took pictures during the early to mid 1900s of the people who were affected by the dust bowl and great depression. (check her out if you are unfamiliar with her work) I sat down to read a longer book that I had no intention of finishing.
I made my way back to the gardens and was struck by how weird the garden buildings looked. It reminds me of a show I used to love called "Ocean Girl".
I went back to the outdoor stage to watch Shakespeare in the Park's production of "Much Ado About Nothing." It was quite enjoyable and I made friends with the girls sitting next to me (she was a seventh grade math teacher, how could we not become friends?). Off to the right you can see some guys from the play walking along the other side of the lake.
And here's a closer shot of them, how they weren't dying of heat from their costumes I will never know.
The play ended around ten and it got quite dark outside.
The girls I was sitting next to offered to drive me to my car or at least to drive me back. I politely declined but we did exchange information and are now Facebook friends, Roxie would have called them her BFF's but I didn't, what was I thinking! Refusing their offer was the stupidest thing I did all day. We separated and I walked up a different set of stairs that I promptly fell down. It was dark and I missed a step on the concrete stairs. Initially I laughed it off but when I reached the top where there was light I realized that I was bleeding down my leg. I didn't know what to do because most places were closed and I was alone at night in a downtown. There was a hotel near by but I didn't want to stop because it would have been a longer walk back to my car and it would be later at night and I didn't want to risk it. I decided to get in the car and drive to the nearest gas station or McDonald's that didn't look too scary. Luckily I carry bandaids with me to stop the bleeding but the pain was almost unbearable. After finding many places that were either closed or didn't have working bathrooms (seriously they should have a sign out front) I was able to find a gas station that although was quite scary, had a working bathroom. Unfortunately they didn't have any toilet paper. Just my luck. I was afraid that my car would get stolen so I cleaned and bandaged up my wound pretty quickly and headed out to the airport. After getting confused on the freeway I went to a sonic to grab a bite to eat and the wait for Stephen's flight which wasn't supposed to come in for another hour and a half.
We successfully found each other and he offered to drive at the beginning until he got too tired. The whole reason I decided to come was so that he wouldn't have to drive home that late a night because he has a tendency to fall asleep at night. I guess you could say my trip was for naught as he drove the entire way and I was the one asleep. Oh yeah, and here's the next day shot of my foot. The wound is about the size of a quarter and is on my leg and foot so I can't walk too easily. It actually looks much worse today as it has gotten bigger, more colorful and covered in puss. YUM. I just hope it doesn't scab, that would be the worst!
Near the falls is this gorgeous bridge, actually along the trail that we took we rode over many bridges and saw the most beautiful landscapes.
Like this one. We rode along the Wichita River and loved the surroundings.
It was quite a long ride and the start-ups and stoppings really started to irritate my foot. Having run out of water and not eating breakfast that morning made things ridiculously awful. By the time we got back up to the downtown I was feeling so yucky and I knew I needed to stop. I felt so bad but I had overheated and was hungry and my body essentially shut down. So we went to the hospital. Actually it was the nearest building with air conditioning and free water. We rested in the lobby and Stephen volunteered to ride home and to come back with the car. He came back and got me and we joked how funny/awful it sounded to say that we went on a bike ride and I ended up in the hospital where Stephen had to come and get me later. haha. That's what happened, it just wasn't as bad as it sounds. We were only in the hospital lobby and not in a room being treated.
After we both cooled down we decided that the day wasn't through yet. So we hit the library (I think it's my second home) to drop off a few books and then went to check out the train park. It would have been more enjoyable had it not been the hottest part of the day.
Stephen loved this little jeep and stole my camera to take TONS of pictures. 
Well actually I took the next one.
It was really neat to be able to go through the trains.
Here's the dining car.
And the Pullman sleeper.
And of course someone had to be the engineer.
We had a blast at the park but it was shutting down and we weren't able to see all the trains, we will definitely have to go back when it isn't so hot!
