Oklahoma’s next biggest city is Tulsa, located in the north eastern part of the state. I liked Oklahoma City a lot more since there seemed to be more going on, but in all honesty I didn’t spend to much time here so I didn’t give it a real chance yet. Once called the “Oil Capital of the World”, Tulsa has changed its economy to focus on other industries such as aviation, renewable energy, and other high tech fields.
Something that surprised me about Oklahoma is that it has one of the fastest growing economies in the United States. The state is a large producer of natural gas and oil, and has more drilling rigs than any other state. Above are two photos of some drilling rigs that I randomly came across while heading to Tulsa. Some of these are even placed right in the center of cities. Other high tech fields are also what help fuel Oklahoma’s economy. Before I visited I would have assumed it was mostly simpler things like ranches and farms that made up the biggest industry.
The Tulsa zoo was probably where I spent most of my time while in the city. In 2005 it was voted as the number one favorite zoo by Americans based on random polls. The zoo has many different districts such as African Savannah, Arctic Tundra, an indoor rainforest and other biomes. Above is a photo from the penguin exhibit, and on the upper right shows the skull of an extinct camel like animal that lived in the US. Below on the left is an arctic fox, and on the lower right is an evil bird that lives freely in the indoor rainforest. I took it’s picture from a distance and afterwards it immediately ran up to me. I could tell it was pissed but I took a second picture anyway and then it attacked me.
Another popular place to visit in Tulsa is the Gilcrease museum. No photos are allowed in the inside, but it houses the world’s largest collection of art from the American West. Most of the museum is made up of large paintings of both 19th century Cowboys and native Americans. There are also hundreds of artifacts from the time period as well that give a good description of what life was once like here.
