6-19-09 Friday (Grease is the Word)

Howdy from Oklahoma City!  It’s damn hot here.  Not as hot as Phoenix BUT there’s humidity here.  Yeah, not as much as Florida though.  Stop arguing with me!  It’s HOT, OK?

I want to start off, oh, I already did start off with bitching.  OK, I want to continue then.  Not the bitching, but with the blogging.  Yeah.

The blogging community is a close knit community.  They do awards and I’ve even received some.  I just don’t post them, mention them, or send them out.  I guess I’m just not into that portion of Planet Blogger.  Another part of the community is it’s support.  It’s usually prayers for others but right now it’s about money.  Someone is in need.  A fellow Blogger who financially struggles day to day is being hit harder right now.  Her boyfriend, the love of her life, her significant other, John, is under going some wild Chemo treatments that I can’t even begin to understand.  He’s survived cancer previously but this time it’s come back with a vengeance.  Joanie can’t afford time off work, the gas, the parking, the meals out – all are needed expenses to be there for John.  A lot of you don’t know Joanie or even John for that matter.  I’m asking that you help.  $5, $10, $25, $100 or whatever you can spare!  Another blogger has set up a Paypal account for donations. 

Click: HERE for Joanie’s Blog, HERE for the blogger who started the donation drive, and finally, click HERE to donate.  If all else fails, I’ve installed a DONATE button in my left column at the top of the page.

We had a full day of doing nothing much.  We went to lunch downtown at City Bites.  We had a buy one/get one coupon.  Imagine that?  Anyway, I hadn’t realized but this is actually a small franchise chain.  We enjoyed the food.  We especially liked that this was located in a high rise lobby, in a food court of sorts.  We liked the atmosphere.

We did nothing until dinner.  Dinner? Our first choice was a New Orleans flair restaurant at Bricktown.  Bricktown has parking issues.  Lack of parking that is.  Plenty of private owned lots for $5 parking.  So, spend $5 to park to use a buy one/get one coupon.  Nah.  That’s when we went to Bunny’s.

We saw ads here and there about onion burgers.  At lunch time, Jim spotted another onion burger ad.  For dinner, we thought we need to experience this strange and new to us obsession.  Perhaps onion burgers are to Oklahoma City as cheese steaks are to Philly?  We like onion, we like burgers, must be good.  We plugged in the address for our GPS friend to lead the way.  We arrived at Bunny’s Onion Burger and was a little shocked at the building or lack there of.  Oh, and we walked into a cloud of grease.  The burgers are simply cooked with the onions piled high on top of it.  Big deal.  We ate.  We left there with a smell on my body and clothes that I think I’ll never get rid of.  I may have to set my clothes on fire (when they’re off of me) and scrub my body with Comet/Ajax. 

After dinner, we were on a mission to find postcards.  Tomorrow we leave for Dallas so I didn’t have much time to get an OK postcard.  After stopping in way too many stores and unsuccessfully finding one, we went to a souvenir store in Bricktown.  Yeah, I think this was the 3rd time there today.  This time we found free street parking and walked 352.86 miles to the souvenir shop for a 75 cent overpriced postcard.  What the hell, we came this far.  Hey, lets have icecream at the Marble Slab place.  It’s only 245 miles further.  Great idea.  We walked in the, oh shit, now its raining rain.  My postcard is getting wet.  The line was ridiculous.  Let’s go home.  Close to the RV park is a Braum’s Ice Cream place.  This is the corporate office location.  It was old, needed a remodel, the employees are underpaid (based on their attitude) and the ice cream wasn’t all that.  The experience was creepy.

I’m going to shower, I have a need to get rid of this odor, I’m so VERY glad I don’t have hair.   

6-18-09 Thursday (Off to See the Wizard)

We got an early start to the day.  Wanting to see the museum that was closed last night, we returned to the Oklahoma City Memorial.  This was an absolutely well done museum and tribute to the survivors and the victims of the bombing.  It took us 2 hours to go through the exhibits which they call chapters:

Background on Terrorism

History of the Site

A Hearing

Confusion

Chaos

Survivor Experiences

World Reactions

Rescue and Recovery

Watching and Waiting

Gallery of Honor

Funerals and Mourning

Impact

Behind the Scene: The OK Bomb Investigation

Hope 

If you want a description of each chapter, click here.

It starts becoming harder to hold back emotion as we began going further into the time line.  I think it happened with stepping into a room (Chapter: A Hearing) to hear the official recording of an Oklahoma Water Resources Board meeting which was just across the street from the Murrah Federal building.  The meeting started at 9am, the bombing at 9:02.  From this chapter forward, both Jim and I were emotional wrecks.

Seeing real items from the wreckage such as shoes, watches, keys, toys… very powerful.  No photos were permitted inside.  I type this and feel as though I’m there still. 

We bought our Oklahoma ornament here and paid more ($25.00) than we typically would – it was well worth it. The picture shows a bear (symbolizing comfort from the April 23, 1995 memorial service) which is sitting on a chair from the Field of Empty Chairs.  Proceeds benefit the memorial.

I could go on about the memorial.  I already have, you say?  Yeah, I know.  Here’s some exterior photos:

Above: The fencing they erected to keep people out of the rubble became incorporated into the memorial itself since so many people left items to remember the victims.  Years later, items are still left behind daily.

 

Above: School children made these tiles.  Chalk boards on the ground for all to scribble a message.

 

Above: The pool is about an inch deep.

 

Above: This tree is the memorial’s symbol.  It survived the bombing.

 

Above: The Journal Records building now serves as the museum.  The photo side of this building is being preserved as it was damaged by the bombing which is close to where I stood to take the photo.

 

Above: Foreground = Reflecting Pool.  Background = Field of Empty Chairs.

We came home, walked Dasher, and then went for a stroll through the Myriad Botanical Gardens.  It was right in the downtown area yet so pretty and peaceful.  Admission was $6.00 each.  We had a buy one/get one coupon.  Yay for coupons!  There was a cool tunnel thingy they call the Crystal Bridge that is a tropical green house of sorts.  The structure was interesting and the plants and flowers within were pretty.  It reminded me of the Biosphere 2. 

Above: The Crystal Bridge thingy was supposed to be a story book setup but it was pretty sparse.

 

Above: I kid you not.  There were 2 entrances into the Crystal Bridge so Jim asked which one?  The guy at the counter replied, “Follow the Yellow Brick Road”. 

 

Above: The sign above my head warns “Beware of troll”.  The gay reader will think it more funny than the hetero’s.

 

Above: Still up in the Crystal Bridge which has a few levels.

 

Above: Jim tried to follow directions but couldn’t reach.  The frog was of no help.  I think Frog could have met Jim 1/2 way!

 

Above: What the hell is the Travelocity Gnome doing here?

 

Above: Exterior of the Crystal Bridge we were just in.

 

Here’s a couple of photos of the RV park:

Above: This is the view from our door down to the clubhouse.

 

Above: A view up the street.

Above: Our map!

I’m not done yet.  We did more stuff.  Next stop was to “Bricktown”.  Bricktown is a revitalized downtown entertainment district area.  They basically have taken some roads, made them into canals, remodeled old buildings, and lined the canal with things to do.  It’s ingenious and I love it. 

We took a water taxi ride.  Some pros/cons about it: $7.50 each for all day use.  Doesn’t go in a loop so the driver has to turn around.  The driver explains everything/history of what we saw.  Some canal areas very tight – didn’t they create the canal for this – who screwed it up?  It was more of a tour than a taxi.

The city’s website for Bricktown is cool with gobs of info and a photo gallery to see what I’m talking about.  I took a few pictures but as the sun set, the photos are horrible.  Here they are:

Above: The tourguide said the upper floors of the shops are condos that went for $300k plus.

 

Above: Gotta love the U-Haul truck on top of the U-Haul building.  Lights shine on it and as it spun around.

 

Above: In the canal.

 

Above: From one of the foot bridges to the canal.  I took the photo because of the purple flowers in the tree.

 

Above: This is where we get onto the boat.

6-17-09 Wednesday (Get Your Kicks!)

We’re now in Oklahoma City!  I wonder which is more cowboyish, Oklahoma or Texas? 

Above: Groom, Texas.  A really big cross.  Here’s info on it (click here).  We didn’t stop here.

Above: Well of course he’s spoiled.  Afterall, he is cute.

 

Above: Lots of wild flowers!

We did stop at a Route 66 museum, and later found that more than one exists.  This museum is 1 of several on the property.  One fee gains entry to all the museums.  The property seems very large and had a ton of store fronts resembling an old town.  Many of the store front were set up with items relating to it.  A doctor’s office, chapel, railroad depot, schoolhouse and a hellava lot more were displayed very well.  I didn’t take many pictures.   Anyways, here’s our trip to the National Route 66 Museum Complex in photos:

Above: Egad, did women really use something like this?  Yeah, I’m talking to you.  You may think you’re too young to know but… 

Above/Below: I had to have a shot of this wartime poster at the museum.  The guy looked like a gay vampire.  I mean just look at him.  He looks like the Salem’s Lot guy or Nosferatu.

 

Above: One of the many town building that they had set up.  This reminded me of our friend, Al, the postal worker.

 

Above: A Christmas tree made of horseshoes.  Dang these cowboys are sure crafty.

 

Above: This is 1 wall of about 6 showing different types of barbwire.  I never knew there could be that many, nor that someone actually took the interest in collecting it.

 

Above: Jim has 2 of these damn electrical insulator thingies.  He thought they were precious and somewhat rare antiques until  we’ve spotted tons and tons of them on our travels.  Some are still in use in small towns and others are just sitting atop poles not being used.

 

Above: I’m not really sure why I took this photo.

We checked in at Twin Fountains RV Park, which is beautiful.  Jim picked up the brochure from Oasis RV Resort at the last stop.  They’re not related parks but they simply “help each other out”.  After setting up, heating up some dinner, surfing the net for a little while, Jim suggested to go see the Oklahoma City National Memorial.  Even though it was already 10pm, it was suggested to see it at night.  I must say, it was an amazing memorial to those involved in the Oklahoma City Bombing on April 19, 1995.  They provided a phone number to call, and then key in a corresponding stop number to hear the designers explain the symbolism of that area.  I won’t bother with my photos since it was dark.  The website I just linked to is the page with the explanations as well as photos.  I encourage you to click on that link that I just included again.  The explanation is short reading, the symbolism is perfect and because I told you so.  If you’d like to hear it, instead of read it, I’ve scanned the page of the brochure that explains what to do.

Wow, this post is long.  Hmmmm, well, one more thing.  On the way to the memorial, we spotted this:

 

The light beaming into the night sky was beautiful.  We stopped to investigate.  This is called the Beacon of Hope.

Fund-raising efforts began in 2002 to build a landmark sculpture unique to Oklahoma City and welcoming visitors to the Oklahoma Health Center.

Founders Plaza is a tribute to the five founders of the Oklahoma Health Center--Harvey P. Everest, E.K. Gaylord, Dean A. McGee, Dr. Don O’Donoghue and Stanton L. Young and 20 committee members who traveled to Houston in 1965 to visit the Texas Medical Center. Inspired and determined to create a world-class medical center, the Oklahoma Health Center emerged and has led the nation in scientific medical innovations.

Stiles Park is the oldest park in the Oklahoma Territory, first dedicated Aug. 29, 1901. Named after an early peacemaker, Captain Daniel Frazier Stiles, this unique 200-foot circular park remains a community focal point.

A 100 foot by eight foot sculpture, the centerpiece attraction of the new park is the Beacon of Hope. During the daylight hours, the Beacon is a monolithic sculpture. At night, the Beacon comes to life shining a green healing light of hope into the night sky. Other elements of the park include five stone rings and five flowering trees recognizing the five original visionaries. Twenty perimeter trees acknowledge the committee that supported the effort. One large oak tree that has survived the ages still stands to help those who visit remember the original history of the park.

Wow, I’m out of breath from talking so much.  See ya tomorrow!