WANDERING WITH THE WRIGHTS

October 21, 2108

The last blog had us in Missouri with car towing problems and heading to Oklahoma City.  

I am VERY happy to report we have had no other towing issues!!

We made it to Oklahoma City - the main reason for the visit was to see the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum.  We had heard it was beautiful at night so we actually went twice.  Once in the evening and then back the next morning to visit the museum.  The tribute to those killed on April 19, 1995 was beautifully done.  Seems odd to use the word beautiful on something so sad and tragic but it truly was beautifully done and a wonderful tribute to the 168 people who lost their lives that day.

Looking at the front of the museum today

A chalkboard terrace invites visitors to share their feelings.
The chalk is cleaned every morning so that a new group of visitors can leave messages.

A wall of hand-painted tiles from children around the world shows the caring and the impact.

This plaque explains that the granite used on the pathway you are walking on was salvaged from the Murrah Building and that The Field of Empty Chairs is a tribute to the 168 Americans who were killed.  The nine rows represent the nine floors of the Murrah Building and that each person's chair is positioned in the row that corresponds to the floor on which they worked or were visiting.  The five westernmost Empty Chairs honor those who were killed outside of the building.

Rows of chairs

Each chair has the person's name 

The next few pictures are of The Fence - It was actually installed to enclose the crime scene but it quickly found a higher purpose.  People express their sorrow by leaving tokens of love and hope.  As the fence fills the tokens are cleared away and stored in the Museum to make room for more.

Rescue workers originally painted this message on the wall during search and recovery.   The building this is painted on was a functioning office building the day of the tragedy.  The ceiling collapsed, the walls caved in and windows were shattered.  Hundreds of people were injured in this building, many critically, fortunately no one was killed inside

What the area looked like right after the bombing - note the tree

The tree survived and has become a symbol of resilience to the family members of those killed, survivors, and rescue workers.

The Gates of Time - this gate depicts the innocence before the attack

This gate marks when healing began.
These two gates are overlooking a beautiful peaceful reflecting pool that frames the moment of destruction - 9:02 AM

We left Oklahoma City and traveled to Weatherford, OK to not only visit the Air and Space Museum but to spend the night on their grounds.  We belong to a camping organization that makes this possible.  We have enjoyed some great nights at different locations, wineries, museums, etc.

Anyone who knows Jerry knows he was a happy guy visiting an air museum

It was a beautiful quiet night

Our little guy taking in all the sights as we travel on to Adrian, Texas.  Since we have a grandson named Adrian and saw the town on the map near where we wanted to stop for the night we just had to stop and we are so glad we did.
Adrian has a population of 125 people.

Who knew Adrian was the Midpoint between Chicago and LA on the old US 66

1139 miles to either Chicago or LA

There is a darling cafe run by two sisters and their mom bakes all of the pies.  We went for breakfast and learned that in the first 6 months they owned the restaurant they sold 1.050 pies piece by piece.  It is delightfully decorated and breakfast was delicious - the hash browns and bacon were exceptional.  If any of you are fans of the movie "CARS" which our grandson loves this diner was the inspiration for Flo's V8 Diner in the movie - and when the movie was filmed this diner was owned by a lady named Flo.

The diner had a small gift shop so we had to buy our grandson a T Shirt from there.  

Just found the blue sky and fluffy white clouds particularly beautiful as we traveled  on to New Mexico.

Instead of Where's Waldo - Where's Teddy

 We drove through Albuquerque, NM prior to the balloon festival, which we hope to attend next year, but decided to see some of the sights while the crowds weren't there.

We visited the museum.  Had hoped to ride the tram up Sandia Mountain but both days we were there it was to windy.

So we decided to visit Old Town Albuquerque.  This is the entrance and once we arrived we had a good laugh as we had been there three years ago!!!  Wonderful thing about getting old you can just keep revisiting the same places - LOL
We had a fun afternoon both times we went 

We then arrived in Benson, AZ where we had rented a lot for the winter this year.  Here we are in site #319  We have visited this park several times before and really enjoy it and the people.

Love this view from the clubhouse

Obviously living in a motorhome you don't have everything that you have in a house - one thing I had given up, and was fine doing it was a rolling pin.

I needed one so we improvised.  Drank a bottle of wine - and presto one has a rolling pin

Shortly after arriving in Benson our good friends Gary & Steph Vogel stopped in for a few days and landed the site right next to ours.  It was great catching up and playing Hand and Foot

 We only stayed in Benson 10 days and then headed for Camarillo, CA.  Jerry's home town.

We had some light rain and low clouds - see the mountain sticking out of the top of the clouds

We took our time driving to CA and spent the night boondocking in the dessert.  No hookups just us and the dessert

We were rewarded with a beautiful sunset

The reason for going to CA was to celebrate the life of Jerry's brother-in-law Dick.  A very sad occasion for sure, we are so grateful we visited with him and his wife Betsy last fall.  Dick and Betsy's two children put the service together and they both preached.  It was a beautiful service truly celebrating the very special man Dick was.

While in Camarillo we stayed at a Christian Camp that we volunteered at last fall.  We were there the night Space X launched the Falcon 9.  We had no city lights and it was really spectacular

 It was time to head back to Benson but we decided to spend one night camping at the ocean first

Teddy had a ball in the waves

Teddy recovering from romping in the waves and a bath

It was a beautiful day at the ocean - the only negative is that those waves are noisy at high tide.

 We also stopped near Phoenix to visit some more family

Jerry's niece Allison, his nephew Scott and his wife Sarah. 

We also visited with my cousins daughter Heather and her two boys

Heather brought us a pink bottle of wine - I see a colorful rolling pin in our future.

Those of you who know Jerry know that next to airplanes he loves to make and eat popcorn and actually has a professional popcorn maker.  We brought it to Benson with us so the other night for the first time in over 3 years he made his popcorn!!

Last but not least we drove to Tombstone, AZ yesterday.   The same town Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday used to enjoy.  Gun fights and dusty streets.  For 89 years Tombstone has been celebrating Helldorado Days.
I kind of compare it to the Renaissance Faire.  People dress up and have a great time.

They even put on gun fights.  Each person entering the area has to have their guns and rifles checked to make sure there is no live amo

Leave it to Jerry!!

Well this ended up being longer than I expected.  Guess we have done more since leaving Illinois in early September than I realized.  Til next time take care