The exhibits included, western art, western attire, American Firearms, The Bowie Knife, The American Rodeo, The American Cowboy , and one of our favorites, TV and movie cowboys.
John finally found his ‘western town’ in one of the
exhibits complete with a sheriff’s office, jail cell
and saloon.
guess he spent a little too much time at the saloon ~
and he met some shady folks
 |
| 'cause he ended up in jail |
and when I came to break him loose they threw me in too!
 |
| Terri, Mica, Lynn, Louise |
That rowdy bunch of women ~ had their hands out at the bank ~ tried to get more than was comin' to em'.
John was sentenced to community service at the local church where he gave a sermon on the evils of associating with shady characters
and Lynn had to do time at the school house.
We could have spent days there but we were ready to move on to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.
 |
| the Gates of Time: 9:01 and the innocence of the city before the attack |
I’m not sure we can describe what we felt there. Seeing the memorial was such a moving experience. At the site where the building stood, are 168 individually manufactured chairs representing the 168 people killed that day. No two chairs are exactly the same, just as no two people were the same. Large chairs representing the adults and small chairs representing the children were engraved with each victim’s name.
To one side and behind the chairs, stood the remaining broken wall of the building and on that wall are listed the names of the survivors.
 |
| granite walkway |
Pieces of granite from the building form the walkway around the chairs and to the other side stands the one surviving tree.
The Reflecting Pool; gently flowing water helps to soothe the wounds
~ and the second Gate of Time: 9:03; forever after
 |
| the Survivor Tree |
The inscription on the wall surrounding the Survivor Tree reads: The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us.
The symbolism everywhere was overwhelming and as if that wasn’t enough we then entered the museum that was so moving it is difficult to describe. All we can say is, if you ever get to Oklahoma City ~ don’t miss this memorial. The museum simply takes you through that day, a day that started like any other day and then . . .
In the weeks after the bombing, paper cranes began arriving in Oklahoma. After several weeks, more than 10,000 paper cranes had arrived and no one understood the significance of this gesture until someone told the story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.
These thousand golden cranes represent Sadako's cranes and those sent to Oklahoma City.
Thousands of ceramic tiles were also sent to Oklahoma City in 1995
from children around the country. Many were used to
create this wall.
The original chain link fence was erected to protect the area but it remains today filled personal expressions of sympathy and hope.
The rectory of the church located behind the Murrah Building was also destroyed and was replaced with this statue of Christ weeping in the ashes.
For a change of pace after the museum we headed to the area of the city called Bricktown.
 |
| Jackie and Mica ~ BFF |
This area includes restaurants, shops, and the Mickey Mantle Ball Park.
 |
| this area reminded us of 'the River Walk' in San Antonio |
|
After looking around for a while we all decided we really needed a margarita and headed to Chelino’s. Terri’s brother, Drew and his wife, Joann met us there and we all had a great visit.
We ended our day with a wild game of 'Wahooo' with Krista and Jared.
