4/26/09 - National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

This museum preserves the rugged individualism and romantic spirit of the western frontier....It features Western art, including works by Charles Russell & Frederic Remington. New historical galleries include the American Cowboy Gallery, the American Rodeo Gallery, Western Performer's Gallery and Prosperity Junction, a re-created authentic western town. We spent over 5 hours and still didn't get to see it all....it's huge!

'The End of the Trail' - an 18-ft sculpture in the lobby.

Going 1st Class in the West - you have to admit it's better than a horse!

Would this be classified as the 1st RV!

Hi.....to everyone!

4/25/09 - OKC Memorial

Gads, I can't believe I am almost 5 weeks behind on my blog. I am posting this on May 27, 2009 and we saw the OKC Memorial on 4/25/09. We are currently camped on the Arkansas River looking at the lights of downtown Little Rock and the Clinton Presidential Library, reflecting on the river.

The Oklahome City National Memorial & Museum was created to honor "those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever" by the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in OKC. Going through the Museum is a heart-wrenching experience and one that I think everyone should see. It is extremely well done and one can only imagine how many lives have been affected by this senseless act of terrorism on so many innocent people. The museum takes you on a chronological self-guided tour through the story of April 19, 1995 and the days, weeks and years that followed.

Site of the Oklahoma City Bombing on April 19, 1995

Items on the fence outside the Memorial.

The Gates of Time - There are two entrances, one on each end of the Reflection Pond. These twin gates frame the moment of destruction at 9:02 am and are the formal entrances to the Memorial.

Reflecting Pool - The pool occupies what was once the street in front of the Murrah Federal Building. A shallow depth of gently flowing water, with calming sounds provides a peaceful setting for quiet thoughts.

Field of Empty Chairs - Each of the 168 chairs symbolize a life lost, with smaller chairs representing the 19 children killed. Arranged in nine rows, one for each of the nine floors of the building, they are placed according to the floor on which those killed were working or visiting. Each bronze and stone chair rests on a glass base etched with the name of a victim. By day, the dhairs seem to float above their translucent bases. By night, the glass bases illuminate as beacons of hope.

'The Survivor Tree' is a 90+ year old American Elm that survived the bombing. The message to the visitors reads: "The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us."

Fireman wrote this on the wall of the Journal Record building.

Oklahoma City Nationam memorial site at dusk.

168 lighted chairs.

The Gates of Time @ night with the 168 lighted chairs.

The Survivor Tree at night.

'Jesus Wept' - This is a statue and a wall of bricks across the street from the OKC Memorial. There are 168 empty spaces in the wall depicting the lives that were lost. There was a Catholic Parish on this site that was destoyed in the bombing.

4/24/09 - Elk City, OK

Yikes! This woman is not being tortured. This is how they performed hair permanents in the old days.

4/24/09 - Elk City, OK

There was an Old Town Museum that depicted early Oklahoma pioneer life that was very interesting. Just added three of our pictures from it, bank, church and school room.

4/24/09 - Route 66 Musuem

4/24/09 - Route 66 Musuem

This is one of the "teardrop pull trailers"....boy am I glad I have more room than this for all my stuff!

4/24/09 - Elk City, OK

The wind was horrible driving today. The lyrics to "Oklahoma" were very evident today "Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains". In Elk City, OK we stopped at the National Route 66 Museum. From it's official beginning in 1926, through the heyday of auto travel in the '50s and '60s, Route 66 was explored by families, wanderers, dreamers and untold others fueling thousands of restaurants, hotels, motels and tourist attractions along the way. "The Mother Road" US Highway 66 stretched from Chicago, IL to Santa Monica, CA. Some 2,400 miles coursed through eight states and three time zones, influencing lifestyles and giving birth to a culture that earned it the nickname "Main Street of Ameria".

Barb & Karen

4/24/09

The women's bathroom at the Texas Visitor Center had a beautiful colored tile mural for Route 66....Pat wasn't too sure why I came out and told him that I needed the camera for a picture in the bathroom! Their was also a Tornado Shelter in the visitor center and I'm sure we will be seeing many more of these signs.....just hope we don't have to use them.

4/24/09 - Texas/OK Border

There was no visitor center when we entered TX from NM so we stopped at the one on the TX/OK border. It was a beautiful facility.

Karen, Richard & Pat as we were getting ready to head into OK.

4/23/09 - Cadillac Ranch

Ten old cadillac's stuck in the ground nose down.

4/23/09

Barb loves windmills....so couldn't pass up this one on the wide open Texas prairie.

4/23/09

These two Longhorn Steers were official residents of Palo Duro Canyon.

4/23/09

This guy was strutting his stuff across the road in front of us.

We saw these turkeys in the canyon and they really posed for Pat!

Canyon Views

4/23/09 - Palo Duro Canyon

"Grand Canyon of Texas" Palo Duro Canyon is approximately 120 miles long and 600 to 800 feet deep and is the second largest canyon in the United States. There is all this flat - flat land and then here is this huge canyon. The "Battle of Palo Duro" was fought here. This was the decisive battle of the Red River War, 1874-1875, also known as the Buffalo War, was the final campaign against the Southern Plains Indians. The canyon is approximately 25 miles from Amarillo. 'Palo Duro' is Spanish for "hard wood" in reference to the Juniper trees common throughout the canyon.

4/22/09 - Amarillo Sunset

The sunset tonight was beautiful across the Texas prairie. Never having been here before we can't believe how flat it is. The second picture shows how big the site were at this RV park. Our rig is not in this picture.

Barb, Carol and Karen trying out the BIG Rocking Chair @ The Big Texan.

By the way....I forgot to mention that the three of us got tattoo's while we were at the Rally in Albuquerque (just the air brush kind)!