Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Wednesday the 24th We arrived in Oklahoma City late afternoon, we didn't do anything but make our plans for what we were going to do the next day.
Thursday the 25th This morning we went to the "National Cowboy Hall of fame". They had a lot of beautiful art and sculptures.(picture) They also had a small replica of an old wild west town with all the stores to walk through, the windows to peer through and wooden sidewalks to walk on. There was a jail house they used for prisoners. It was very primitive and I wouldn't want to stay there for very long. We went out for lunch to a lovely Mexican resturant for lunch which was followed by a ride on the trolley. We got off the ride at the Oklahoma City Memorial. They kept the fence they put up after the bombing that kept the people out of the area. They moved it without removing any of the letters, pictures and mementos people had placed on it for their loved ones.(picture) It will always be a reminder of that tragic day, as people are still adding messages to the the fence. We were very much impressed with what we saw and the story of how they chose the ideas for the two walls, the chairs and the stream.(pictures) the chairs are a reminder that this person won't be home for dinner at night anymore.The museum is very large with lots of pictures and the story of how it all unfolded and was rebuilt.

Salone Springs, Oklahoma

We left Branson, Missouri this morning heading for home with a lot of stops to do on the way. We drove late and we found a nice visitors center with over night parking spaces for travelers to spend one night. We ate dinner at a "Braums" restaurant where they have the greatest Burgers and ice cream sundaes. We went back to our suite and played a couple of games of cards and went to bed. We are headed for Oklahoma City in the morning.

October17, 2007

Wednesday 17th We arrived here late last night with severe storm warnings of tornado's and large hail predicted. We asked the camp owner if they had a storm shelter like most camp grounds do that we might use if the civil defense whistle goes off. He said no, but we could try the neighbor across the way as they had a storm cellar and they might let us join them. We parked the truck under a strong bushy tree to protect it from hail and went inside to keep an eye on the weather on the television. We went to bed after midnight with the warnings still on the television. All went well and we woke up to sunshine. We are here to see the rock house that Laura and Almonzo, a gift from their daughter lived in for a number of years. It was later rented out and then it was donated to the city and they completely renovated it. (Sharon and her daughters went through the house from basement to the upstairs when they were here in 1995.) There were several bus loads of grade school children visiting the house when we were there and I am sure Laura was looking down on them with a smile on her face. The trees back in the hills where they lived are changing colors and they are so beautiful.

October 18 through the 22, 2007

Thursday We arrived in Branson late afternoon to find our friends John and Linda from Oregon there to greet us. After we got set up, we went to their (new) trailer to catch up on what was new. That evening we went out for dinner and planned our strategy for the rest of the week. We then played cards at our trailer until rather late.
Friday We spent the day at Silver City and we were very disappointed with the shows there. Sharon said they were all a bunch of wannabe's or has beens who could use some lessons in country music. The 4 of us decided we wouldn't go there again.
Saturday we went to see the "Titanic"!! Your ticket looked like a passport and you had a name of one of the real passengers who was on the ship. There was a name and description and short summary about who you were. It was a walking self guided tour with headsets, they had a lot of neat things to see, large pictures of the ship and a large chunk of an iceberg that your could touch to see how cold it was. You couldn't hold your hand on it for any length of time. They had a tank of water the temperature of the ocean and there was a timer there that you could set and time how long you could hold your hand in to prove how cold the water actually was and how fast you would last. There was 3 sections of deck with a rail around it built at various angles to show you how hard it was to stay on deck once it started sinking even holding on to the rail was almost imposable to hold on to it. Sharon was a stewardess on the ship and Kent was a young successful Jewish jeweler. We found out at the end of the tour that we both lived and what all we did during the sinking of the ship. After this we went out for a great lunch and the four of us went back to the Mosher's place for another round of cards.
Saturday We went to a drive to one of the Nat. Parks so we could get a stamp in our pass port book. We came home and rested up for our big night of going to see the "Mickey Gilley Show".(picture) We all liked that show and the other entertainers there with the exception of one backup singer. The next day we did laundry and got ready to leave the next day. We discovered the "Braum" ice cream stores there and we sure ate a lot of sundaes there. We are heading Westward for home and John and Linda are going further East towards Florida. We had a great time together and look forward to our paths crossing again.

October 16th, 2007

Tuesday Today we went to the Martin Luther King Memorial and museum. To our disappointment it was closed because it is closed on Tuesday's. The museum was built next to the motel where he was shot and killed. The motel was acquired by the MLK foundation to be used as a memorial, all of the rooms are kept closed with the original (very old) curtains pulled shut. A fresh bouquet of flowers marks the spot of his death in front of the room he was staying in. There were a lot of people there today honoring him not knowing it was closed. (Picture)
This evening we went to the Peabody Hotel where they have the "March of the Ducks" at 9AM and again at 5PM everyday. They roll out the red carpet and the 5 ducks come down the elevator from their penthouse on the top floor and walk the carpet to a waterfall-pool in the lobby where they swim all day. At 5PM, the red carpet is again rolled out and they walk single file to the elevator to their castle on the top floor. This is done twice daily, seven days a week, you can hardly find a place to stand to view this from, there are so many people there watching and taking pictures. They have done this for many years, and it has been on the travel channel of famous hotels.

October 15, 2007

Monday We started the day touring "Graceland" the home and grounds of Elvis Presley. It was well worth the time and money to see. It was a self guided tour with an audio headset you could listen to and look as long as you wanted, while you took the pictures. He sure had a lot of rooms to entertain people with a lot of sofa's and bars. The basement was finished and there was a lot of memorabilia there of special things like their wedding clothes, Lisa's nursery furniture, etc. From there we went to two more huge buildings that were used for various things over his lifetime. They now store more of the museum items, his outrageous suits he performed in and his many awards, albums and pictures. Lisa Marie's swing set is still standing where she used to play and there are horses in the pasture. It is so large, we thought it would be a lot smaller place, and not so many acres. The swimming pool is rather small, but probably the normal for that period of time. There is a beautiful meditation area where there are statues, a fountain, benches and the marbel covered grave sites of Elvis and his family with an eternal flame going day and night.(pictures) The long white fenced driveway is lined with fresh flower bouquets, pictures and letters from fans, fresh flowers arrive daily. Across the road from His home is both of his planes that you can tour through. His big plane is a Boeing 727 jet, inside there is a kitchen, bedroom and a large room with seats for a lot of people. They said that one day Elvis called the pilot to fire up the plane and go to Colorado because he wanted to take Lisa Marie to the snow when she was a little girl. The other plane is a leer jet for smaller trips.