September 10, 2006

Seth was feeling better and we hit the road heading south through Kansas and entered Oklahoma. On our way we noted that Oklahoma has a great marketing team. The billboards before an exit for each new town tells you what you can do & see in that town – museums, antiques, golf, etc. We stopped in Oklahoma City at the National Cowboy Museum that was surprisingly huge! At an admission fee of $8.50 each, we opted to tour the gift shop, which was also very nice and informative. From there we headed downtown to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The memorial was incredibly symbolic and beautiful. The entrance of either side of the memorial is a tall gateway. One side is inscribed with 9:01 – the moment of innocence before the attack. The other side is marked with 9:03 – the minute after the attack in which everything changed. Lives lost are recognized by statues of empty chairs to signify the dramatic absence of these lives in their families and communities. Smaller chairs represent the lives of children. It is a beautiful, touching and well thought out memorial. Visit it if you are passing through. We took no pictures as it was sacred ground holding so much loss and pain, and yet at the same time peace. Heading out of the city we stopped at Bricktown a section of Oklahoma City that I would love to visit in the evening. Cool restaurants in hold warehouses across from a ballpark. A statue in recognition of Mickey Mantle – an Oklahoma Native – was the focus of our stop. My grandmother, a huge Yankee fan, will be getting the pictures.

We continued south into the big state of Texas landing in Dallas to stay with friends. Heading towards their house on 35W we were suddenly stopped in traffic. At first a little frustrated with rubber neckers, we quickly forgave them when we saw a small twin propeller plane had landed in the 35E highway. Definitely worth a “looky-loo.” We learned from our friends that Six Flags originated in Texas and represented the six flags that have flown over Texas in its history.