Thursday, January 13, 2011

Oh, Oh, Oklahoma

Check out some Oklahoma City sights and activities while you’re in town with nothing else good to do.

  • Rock Town indoor climbing gym near downtown OKC

    • Rates look reasonable and, from the looks of it, this place is probably awesome inside.
  • Oklahoma River Trails near the Clarion Meridian (airport area)
    • 13 miles of level, paved multi-use pedestrian paths
    • Runs along the OK River and through various city parks
  • Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum
    This gate at the Oklahoma City National Memorial stands to represent the time after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. Two gates, inscribed with 9:01 and 9:03, stand before and after the Reflecting Pool, which represents the moment of detonation on that fateful morning.
    • A beautifully-designed and well-maintained memorial to the victims of the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995

Views and Hikes in Phoenix

Sunset over South Mountain in Phoenix, AZ.    If you’re in the Phoenix area, Mesa in particular, with some time to spare and a rental car at your disposal, try driving down to South Mountain Park and Preserve.
 
Part of a 14 minute time-lapse composite of sunset over Phoenix, AZ from atop South Mountain.The drive through the park gives you some fantastic views of downtown Phoenix and the surrounding area, especially around sunset. There are lots of lookouts, pullover spots, and hiking trails to keep you busy, especially if you’re in town for a stayover.
 
Christmas ornaments adorn the shrubs atop Camelback as the sun sets over Phoenix. What a great treat once we reached the peak!   Again, if you’ve got some extra time (stayover?) to spend a few hours on a hiking trail, I highly recommend checking out Camelback Mountain north of the city. Give yourself a few hours to get up and back. Take plenty of water, too, because this is a fairly intensive hike, but also one that is PACKED with people of all shapes and sizes. Don’t try to park in the parking lot, though, just find a neighborhood down the way that allows street parking and just take the extra 10 minute walk to the park entrance. Whatever you do, don’t wait until a few hours before your flight out to go here because, inevitably, you will almost miss your flight! (It happened to me twice in two months!)

Dan took me hiking at Camelback in Phoenix and I almost missed my flight out because of it.