Days 3-4 in Oklahoma

After I checked out of the hotel on Saturday morning, I didn't have Wi-Fi until very late Sunday night when I checked back into the hotel near the airport- then, I wanted to write my final OK vacation blog from the Tulsa airport- but they charged $5.95 an hour for W-Fi. Ugh. My Cleveland layover you'll learn about in my next blog. And Monday I traveled all day and crashed and went right to work this morning and went on a shopping extravaganza after work- so ah, the final vacation post isn't happening until just.... about.... now.

THE FINAL DAY IN TULSA

So- Saturday, after I checked out almost an hour late, my friend DG called me- he wanted to meet up- I wanted to get to my cousin's by 6ish, and they all live about an hour and a half from Tulsa in various towns like Krebs and Haileyville. He had to run his daughter somewhere and said he'd call when he was done. So, in between I did some more memoir research. I drove to the Yacht Club Apartment Homes, the first place I lived in Tulsa- first staying with my Grandmother and Theresa, and then getting our own place in the same complex. I actually made a video of it to help with my memoir. I recorded myself on the walks I used to take. Then, I stopped at Sonic and had a Coney and a Cherry Limeade- my first one in 14 years. (The pic to the left is of DG and I-- he is also in that pic a few posts back from when I was in OK as a teenager!)

After my enjoyable lunch, I decided to do more gallavanting- wanted to walk around the Woodland Hills Mall in Tulsa-- my mom worked as a manager of a store in the food court for a while and I spent a lot of time there-- but the mall parking lot was an absolute zoo-- so I didn't go in. By then, DG had called and we decided to meet up for a beer at a place called The Fox & The Hound in Broken Arrow. It was great catching up with him! Like with J, he reminded me of things I forgot, I reminded him of things he forgot- we caught up about families and careers. My visit with him wasn't as long as with J's, but it was equally wonderful! He said something really pivotal about our teenage years selling newspapers: "Somehow we accidentally learned some morals." My memoir centers around this job and what it meant- he and I discussed how at the time it was just something to do, to earn some money and have some fun. As adults, he and I both look back and see how this job helped us be the hardworkers we both are today. Kind of neat about reuniting with these people I haven't seen since I was a kid and hearing how we were similarly affected and all consider the job one of the most important things in our lives.

THE COUSINS

I made one more stop at Quick Trip and hit my cousin's address on the GPS. I met my cousin Shawn and is girlfriend Rachel at her parent's Italian grocery (where they live in the above apartment)-- it's a 100-year-old building and just adorable. He made an kick-ass lasagna with fresh veggies and herbs from the garden and a kick-ass bruschetta-- oh my good. Amazing. We all ate dinner at my cousin Eli's groovy pad, which was walking distance from Shawn's. My Uncle Pat; my cousin Zack and his wife and daughter, Tina and Ember; my cousin Michael, Shawn & Rachel and her son Matteo, and a few friends enjoyed the awesome dinner and some drinks. After dinner, me and Pat went to get some beer and we pretty much partied into the night at Eli's- went to a bar to see a band- hung out again until about 3-4am. Eli has lots of friends and neighbors so throughout the night, I got to meet of ton of locals passing in and out of the house. We took lots of pics, videos and laughed the light away. It was incredible to see everyone again- we had one killer time. (Picture- Eli, Michael, Shawn, Me, Tina holding Ember, Zack and Pat in front.)

The next morning, we didn't get up until about 11am-- we all got ready and went up the mountain to hang out at Pat's (and where all the boys grew up) and hung out, played Balderdash and chatted. We decided to head back into town-- picked up some pizza and this time headed to Zack and Tina's house for dinner. Tina made an awesome salad and pulled out some of her homemade bread and butter pickles- awesome. All of a sudden it was almost 8pm- I decided to head back to Tulsa to get a hotel by the airport so I didn't miss my flight. (Picture- Their friend Gates, Rachel, Shawn, Friend Kyle, me, and Eli an an awesome Beatles shirt).

FINAL THOUGHTS

Taking this trip was the best idea I've had in a long time. Just being in Tulsa brought back a flood of memories. As I walked various spots around town, I could feel emotions-- like my mind/body knew something important happened at that very place. I tried to take in everything- even smells and sounds. The hardest part about writing a memoir is the details- not just the little details about people and places from long ago, but also the feelings and how I felt that long ago. This trip really helped me. I took lots of notes. I even did some research that I didn't think I'd do.

Aside from the memoir research, being back with most of my cousins (there is only one I didn't get to see of the Duffy pack- he's in NJ) was awesome. All of them now have their own places, and in some cases, their own families. I grew up with these boys at the most important part of our lives I think- the childhood years. It's with them that I learned how to be one of the boys, a trait I think I've had since I was very young. They've all done some incredible things in their lives-- many have explored a lot of the globe- and they have such strong family values yet live simple, humble lives-- I often wish we saw each other more. Love them so much!! But I'll tell ya what- even though we don't see each other very often, when we get together, we instantly connect like we just saw each other yesterday and we always stay up until dawn together- whether it's partying (now that we're older), playing games or watching the Goonies over and over again.

Day 2ish in Tulsa

Wow am I tired. I kind of like that everything is slower paced out here in Tulsa- speech, driving, etc. I woke up at 11:00am and was worried I was late for check-out- I called to let them know and they said, "You're good- check-out is at noon." So what did I do? Slept a little more and know I am blogging- won't have wi-fi now for a day or so- so I am checking out about 15 minutes late.

The "Quadroplex" - this is where I lived for most of my memoir. Good and horrible memories from this place!

Yesterday was awesome- I already wrote about lunch with my cousin, but after that I met up with my old friend J and we went gallavanting aroud Tulsa- he has a great memory, so we were able to find all my old houses. We heard that our one other old friend M. worked at the Wal-Mart in Sand Springs, so we headed out there to see if she was there- about 15 minutes out of town. On the way there, we got off an exit and J directed me to DG's old house- it was tinier than I remember-- he was our first friend back then who had his own place and we partied there one night- the first night I ever got sick from drinking. See? This is what this trip is all about- the good memories. We never found M. but we did get in touch- through a Nancy-Drew-like-process with DG- he doesn't know we went by his old house yet- he was busy last night but I may do lunch with him today.

D and his girlfriend J had a bunch of the old newspaper crew over here in West Tula one night- my first time being sick and some other memorable things.

Our other old crew buddy DT was going to meet up with us, but never made it. That made me a little sad. So, J and I hit up a bar called Crawpappy's- the kitchen was closed. Darn. We had a few Bud Lights, a Yager and two Rattlesnakers, which I forgot existed- again- brining back memories. After the bar, we were gonna do breakfast because I was starving but I asked if Taco Bueno was open late- they were- so we went there instead. That was a top priority on my list for this weekend! Eat at Taco Bueno.

J and I inside my first Tulsa bar experience- Crawpappy's- not a bad place. Hey-- scroll down a few posts to "Knocking on Tulsa's Door." There is a pic of me and him from 1993 and here we are today! Haha! He still likes green stripes.

Old School. No really. My Old School. And catching up with cousins....

Had a great lazy morning! Slept in, wrote a blog, took my time getting ready. I made plans to meet up for a late lunch with my cousin G. and his wife M. before they headed to Texas for the weekend to see her brother- wow- talk about timing! If I came in a day later I would have missed them.

School is already in session in Tulsa, so I stopped by my old Middle School first, Nimitz Middle School, got a visitors badge and asked about what teachers from 1990-1992 were still teaching there- three of them that I had were there and all had their lunch breaks at noon- so they let me hang out in the teachers lounge until then. I found all three- they were a great three to run into as well. Mr. S. was the art teacher, but also the yearbook advisor and I was on the staff- it was his second year doing it, so he didn't remember me exactly, but he remembered the yearbook- I explained to him that I remained doing yearbook and newspaper stuff through the rest of my school years-- and we talked about how when I was in 8th grade we cut pictures with scissors and used rubber cement to make collages and for all the layouts, we used to do everything my hand with these big layout sheets. Wow! Mrs. B. was my English teacher and she was thrilled that I was writing a book- she literally jumped for joy. Mr. Y. was my civics teacher and I didn't get to tell him that for a time I was active in the local young democrats. So they were three classes and teachers I enjoyed so it was neat they were still there. Our reunion was only for five minutes, but it was neat!!

Then, I went to Memorial High School. Got a visitor pass and said I was going to the office, but I walked the whole school. I knew a guy I went to school with that was teaching math there-- I walked by a classroom and heard a very loud teacher- it was R.P!! I peeked in the window and he was in-depth in the middle of a lesson, so I didn't knock- but I kind of wish I did. I was at the school at a bad time- the bell had just rang, so it would have been hard to get to see anyone and time was ticking- I had to meet G and M for lunch.

We chose El Chico, a Mexican place with a few locations in Tulsa, but we chose the one in the mall. We had a really nice time catching up- mainly talking about our schooling, major changing, etc. They are both super smart and sharp and I wish them all the luck in the world! The great thing about my family is that we take chances and never settle-- I can see that in G and his wife too. When they graduate college, they are likely to leave Tulsa and head to the Northwest-- just like that. It's awesome.

Just thought I'd check in with a blog so I can keep these memories fresh, too. Tonight- gonna drive by the old places I've lived and walk around, try for some pics (one of the apartments became a gated community so not sure how to get in there now- but I have been known to be very resourceful) and then later try and catch up with some old friends from the newspaper crew. I asked G where some hot nightspots were so if I can't meet up with people I know, I may just go hang out on Cherry Street, where there is supposedly some great live music on weekends. Loving my trip so far.

Day 1.5 in Tulsa

Hello everyone. I cannot believe I am here. Seriously. It's one thing to grow up somewhere and go back and visit every now and then- it still seems recent that way. But man- it's been 14 years since I have been here. It was hard to see Tulsa last night becauseI arrived around 10:15 Central Time and was dark. I actually had a great flight from Wilkes-Barre to Cleveland- sat next to a man I checked in behind and then subsequently saw him again in the airport bar beforehand- I had a few Lagers before the flight. It's kind of strange- every time I fly I play a game with myself in the terminal called, "Who Do I Think I Will Sit Next To." So, I won. I thought it'd be nice to sit next to him because he seemed nice, and I was the last one on the place and looked at my seat, and lo and behold, it was next to his.

We struck up a conversation and it was amazing- he's a newspaper guy. Publishes a Midwest alternative weekly like the one I used to freelance for-- and he used to work for the Village Voice- the god of all alt. weeklies. He's getting ready to launch his new website and I work in the Internet industry so we had a great conversation the whole way about the net, targeted marketing, the future of advertising, books, skydiving-- the whole nine yards. We didn't exchange information or anything, but I may try to look him up and tell him how he made my flight!

My flight from Cleveland to Tulsa was pretty bumpy. We rode on clouds the whole time. I did play the, "Who Do I Think I Will Set Next To Game." I was kinda hoping Drew Carey would be on my flight since he is from Cleveland. As I was enjoying a Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Smoothie (which cost me $6.00), I scanned D8 terminal and picked out a nice lady I thought I'd hit it off with. Turns out, the way this plane is set up, I sat next to no one. The left aisle only had one seat, so I scored gold and got a window and an aisle, the wing seat. It was so cloudy, I couldn't see a thing the whole way, but the sky cleared when we were over Tulsa- pretty cool and hopefully telling of my trip.

The landing was bumpy- the wheels were squeaky, but I landed so I wasn't going to complain. I got my purple luggage and headed to Hertz. I was given a free upgrade to a small SUV- a Mazda Tribute- also with a free GPS. I punched in the address of my hotel and let the computerized lady tell me where to go. So, I didn't have to worry about remembering my way around. I still made a wrong turn and ended up passing my old apartment-- my heart was racing- I could tell I was getting excited for my adventure. I turned around and found my hotel, checked in, called one of my friends here in Tulsa and crashed.

I just got out of the shower and am waiting for my cousin G. to call me back about breakfast. If he doesn't call soon, I am headed to my old middle school and high school. I heard that some of my old HS friends teach at the high school, which is cool. Have to get some batteries first for by DV(oice)R.

So, since I am in OK, I will say, see y'all lated.