Thursday July 28, 2016

We left the Comfort Inn and departed Tulsa, heading for Spiro Mounds. On the way, we stopped by Fort Gibson. T has visited this site numerous times during her reenactments with the 10th Kansas Infantry. It has been several years since her last visit. It was a HOT day and no one else was on the site except for the caretaker. He was very pleasant and seemed glad to see us.

Magazine

Bakery

Mess

Stockade

Then we went on to the Spiro Mound. This an Oklahoma Archaeological Historical Site. The civilization that live here dated from 850AD to 1250AD and was the most significant civilization in the western hemisphere during its time. It's influence reached from Virginia to California and from the Great Lakes to Florida. We were surprised to learn of its far-reaching influence in comparison to the Cahokia civilization near St. Louis. The "mounds" were not nearly as impressive as those at Cahokia.

We drove on to Fort Smith and checked into our Quality Inn (another Choice Hotel). They sent us to a room that had not been serviced since the last guest. Then they told us to come back to the lobby for reassignment. I told them they could carry our bags since there was no elevator in the hotel. Obligingly, they brought us a key to another room and we settled in for the night. The AC did not seem up to the task however.

Tomorrow we head back to Tulsa. We plan to stop at the Muskogee Five Civilized Tribes Museum on the way. We will stay at a Home2 Suite (part of the Hilton chain) before heading home on Saturday.

Wednesday Tulsa July 27, 2016

On our to-do list this visit is to take in the Woodward Park Rose Garden. When we lived in Tulsa 1998-2000, we loved to visit the Rose Garden. It was beautiful and glorious. We thought we would relive that experience along with revisiting the Philbrook museum and other places we enjoyed.

We got up Wednesday morning and scrambled some eggs and added some link sausage I absconded from the breakfast buffet. Not having any soap or cleaning equipment, we left the skillet in the sink, knowing the staff would put it in the dishwasher, add the soap and start the washer.

Arriving at the Rose Garden, we were SHOCKED to find, not the beautiful garden of our memory, but an unkempt, weed infested mess. It was very very sad. We did visit the  conservatory, the Arboretum and the Tulsa Historical Society.

From there, it was on to Philbrook which never fails to impress.

Tonight, we had a frozen pizza that T figured out how to bake using a combination of the microwave and the stove top. We arrived back at the hotel to find the staff had not left any soap, had not started the dishwasher and had just put the soiled skillet on the counter top. T was so enraged that she went down to the desk and complained. The Manager told her that no one has ever complained in her ten years of being manager. However, she did not know if the cleaning staff was supposed to start the dishwasher or not. She also confirmed that she knew the flatware was missing but went ahead and rented the room out anyway. She did seem a little surprised that there were no cleaning supplies. Very sad, but we learned what we needed to know about the Comfort Inn.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

We drove from St. Louis to Tulsa today. Other than the occasional rain deluge, it was uneventful. We stopped by Missouri Hick Bar-B-Q in Cuba, MO and picked up three pounds of BBQ meats (pork, beef, chicken), coleslaw and German potato salad. They also threw in a pint of BBQ sauce and a loaf of bread. This should see us through several meals.

Upon our arrival in Tulsa, we checked into our hotel. We (I) wanted to try some alternatives hotels this trip. We (I) decided to try the Choice Hotel line. This line includes Comfort, Quality, Sleep Inn, Econolodge, Clarion. The reason is that if we travel a lot, this line appears to have good coverage across the country. We (I) chose a Comfort Inn and booked their "Executive" suite with a kitchenette. Things looked good upon arrival. T was impressed with the size of the jetted bath tub.

Then we found the kitchenette had no flatware. T went down to the desk and they said "OH, the flatware was stolen by a previous guest, but we were welcome to pick up some plastic from the lobby buffet". Oh well, we were tired and ate some of the BBQ and went to bed. Before going to bed, we loaded the dishwasher and discovered there was no dishwasher soap and no cleaning supplies at all.