It's About the (RV) Journey....: Oklahoma........OK!

We have been traveling through Oklahoma the past few days, mostly just driving and stopping for the night. Our plan to get back east goes a little like that...drive a couple of days, stay somewhere a couple of days...so we don't suffer from traveler's fatigue. By the way, we found HUMIDITY! Yikes....we are not used to it at all. OMG! Its 100 degrees today, and the humidity is about 50%.

We stopped for a couple of nights in Oklahoma City, and spent part of a day on a little tour. The morning started out with showers and thunderstorms, but by noon or so, the sun came out. It was better with the rain...hhahhahha. The sun just made it hotter.

Okay...enough complaining about the weather. Back to OKC. Our camp host told us the easiest way to visit the city was to catch the free "trolley" bus, called Embark, which makes a loop through downtown. We knew we only had a couple of things on our list, and, they were on the trolley route. Perfect.....the weather would not be a problem then (rain or heat)!

Oklahoma City

catching the free trolley bus "Embark" at Bass Pro Shop

of course, now its raining and who doesn't have an umbrella to go with the camera???

Our first stop was the Oklahoma National Memorial Museum. To actually walk on the area that was bombed, and to imagine the terror and death that resulted, is just awful. Goosebumps. There is a beautiful and touching memorial outside, and a museum about the events that unfolded here that we did not go in. I just really couldn't handle that. Seemed like yesterday this tragedy happened, but its been 21 years. Sadder still is how many more tragedies like this we have born witness to. Do you think it will ever stop?

The outside memorial is very simple....and very somber. There are 2 entrances...one labeled 9:01, when things were normal, and one labeled 9:03, to signify when the steps for healing began. In between is a beautiful reflecting pool, with 168 chairs, in memory of the 168 people that perished that day. Pieces of the building remain, and some of the building debris was used to build the brick path that surrounds the memorial.

faces to the "chairs"-very sad

can you read that?

the entrance to the memorial

a view of the whole OKC National Memorial-it is beautiful

the chairs...representing the victims and where they were in the building at the time

Just couldn't bear to go into the museum

you can see its raining (or are the angels crying?)

a park ranger in the background (this is a National Monument)

that's a lot of chairs (chilling, isn't it?)

outside again

on the corner across the street

After our somber visit to such a sad and tragic sight, we quietly walked to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. It was a few blocks away, and it wasn't raining too hard, so we decided we'd like to walk there. Oklahoma City is very walkable, clean and fun.

The Art Museum is not too big...just 3 floors....and the third floor is dedicated to the Dale Chihully Magic and Light Exhibit. It is the largest permanent collection in the United States. (Actually, we think it might be the 2nd largest, after Chihully Garden and Glass in Seattle....)

how nice is this lobby?

woah!

close up

At the time of our visit, there was also a large Matisse exhibit on the second floor, with timed tickets. It was a popular exhibit, however it was not one of our favorites.

one we like

not big fans

We enjoyed walking through the other exhibit rooms too. The many works of art were so colorful! See....Tom was enjoying himself too...I just know it!

having fun now

love the colors

and that one too

cool

By far, we enjoyed the Chihully exhibit the most! It is fascinating to see, and the colors are just gorgeous. So rich and vibrant. I think the Persian Ceiling is my absolute favorite....the way the glass is placed and the light allowed to go through is just spectacular. An abundance of color, light and shapes. (We saw his work in Seattle as well, at the Chihully Garden and Glass exhibit located right next to the Space Needle. Hard to miss that exhibit!) Anyway.....enjoy the tour below :)

Afterwards, we checked out city exhibits on the first floor, and of course the museum gift shop. I had my eye on an umbrella (because of the weather), which was pretty expensive, but very pretty. It had images of the Persian Ceiling on the inside! I got a grip on myself as we walked around the shop, and declined the $40 umbrella! Yeah me!!

one last floor before lunch, okay Tom?

very colorful

Since it was lunchtime, we headed to the very popular museum cafe, which was just about full at 11:30! Guess its an early crowd here in OKC! The lunch was delicious, and as we ate the skies opened up and I was rethinking the umbrella! Hhahhah. By the time we were finished, the storm had passed and the sun came out. Tom double-checked it on Intellicast, and so...the umbrella was a no-go.

the best lunch!!!

check out the glass on that back wall!!

and by the bathrooms

We walked the rest of the way back, instead of taking the trolley bus. It was pretty hot, but we wanted to see the city. We headed to Bricktown, and walked along the river, which was just gorgeous. Very relaxing. Lots of restaurants, shops and movie theaters. Entertainment!

heading through the gardens

its hot now that the sun is out

sweet

really nice gardens in the middle of OKC

what does that say?? Geekinnovation.com?? (this is outside the convention center)

the arena across the street

entering Bricktown (see the bridge?)

very nice entertainment area along the river

its pretty hot though-arg!

oh hey (movie theater is nearby)

Lucky us, we also had a little dose of wildlife. We passed a plain white duck, but then we noticed on with a hairdo like Trump! No kidding!! See for yourself. Actually, I think all the white ducks were different, if you really looked at them. A couple had the hair thing going on, and another had a lot of red near his eye and beak. Totally different facial features. Okay then....enough about ducks.