‘Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.’-Ralph Ellison

Due to my brother’s awesome job, I was invited to do something VERY cool in Nashville this past June. So being me, I decided to do a big road trip to Nashville via Oklahoma. This road trip was a wee bit different because I wasn’t alone…please (officially) meet Gus! He’s all over my Instagram but his first appearance here! Gus came to me in a strange series of events as I had been looking to adopt a year, female, lab and instead, a two month old, male, super mutt literally fell into my lap. During an ice storm, he wandered onto the front porch of a friend of a friend and our mutual friend said, ‘Kelly will take him.’ Well, he was right, LOL. At the time of the trip, Gus was about 6 months old and he did great (as seen in the images below from his domain of the backseat of my Rav4, lol)! I used Rover throughout the trip to have babysitters lined up for Oklahoma (for a couple of hours) and Nashville (a couple of days) but he did much better than I thought out in the world. I had taken him to Dallas and Austin but this was our first full road trip and I was a bit nervous but my car interior survived in tact!

The layout of the trip was designed to hit Tulsa, as I really wanted to visit the newly opened Bob Dylan Center. On the way, we stopped in Oklahoma City to see the memorial. The Oklahoma City Bombing was the first big news event that I remember experiencing. Seeing the news footage while sitting in my sixth grade classroom. I had heard that the memorial is one of the best designed and those people were right. Before you enter, near the lot where I parked, is a statue, ‘And Jesus Wept.’ There was a church that was severely damaged (eventually torn down) by the blast and in its place placed as a memorial to all those who were impacted by that day. Right before you enter, there is a chain link fence where those left behind have left mementos to their loved ones and annual letters of where they are now and how their lives have changed since that April day in 1995. I am teary just thinking about it.

You can enter from either side, each arch represents the before and after of the attack. There are chairs lined up to represent all those who lost their lives, a giant oak tree (which survived the blast) to represent first responders, and a reflecting pool. Even though there is a bustling city around the former Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, the entire Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial is eerily quiet. There were not a lot of people there and I was able to just wander in the silence.

Next, we headed to Tulsa! I dropped Gussy off with a sitter for a few hours while I explored the city. First up, the Bob Dylan Center! I am a MASSIVE Dylan fan and they have his entire written archives. I had fun wandering around looking at the photographs and some of his writings. They do not really have any physical memorabilia from him so I am not sure I would make a point to go back. Being said, there is a live music space and they seem to have some cool artists and events that pass through, so keep an eye out for that!

My best friend, Whitney, told me about something called the ‘Center of the Universe‘ in Tulsa, I had never heard of it but truly one of the most wild things I have ever experienced. It is just up from the Dylan and Woodie Guthrie centers on a very nondescript side alley. It is marked with a circle, which you stand in the middle of and then speak. It is an echo chamber but just around this one spot. And you’re on a bridge, in open space, so it truly defies logic.

My last stop was to see the former neighborhood of Greenwood, where a massacre occurred in 1921. It was a racially motivated attack that destroyed nearly the entirety of the neighborhood. There are some remnants of the neighborhood but it’s mostly Oklahoma State University’s campus. There is a museum that I would love to visit on my next visit (which will be this coming December for Zach Bryan’s homecoming concert).

For the night, Gus and I camped at Tall Creek Cove, Skiatook Lake. It was about an hour from Tulsa and I made my reservation via Recreation.gov. My site was directly on the lake and it was Gus’ first time with open water. While a bit terrified of the lapping sound, he fully embraced the water. It was so peaceful, although a little warmer than I anticipated at night. I had a small fan that I just put over Gus and he seemed fine but it was a sign of things to come, as a massive heatwave was about to hit the region thus ending my plans to camp more of the trip. Fortunately for me, Gus prefers very cheap motels so it could have been worse!

Our final stop on the way out of Oklahoma was in Pawhuska, the home of the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond! I really like her and stopped by her mercantile and bakery! The food was delicious, as was the blackberry lemonade! Gus and I walked around a bit and then continued our journey eastward!