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Published: June 16th 2010
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Ahhhhhhh............we slept so good last night in the rain. I just love listening to it as it beats down on the rooftop. However, its not very peaceful as it drips onto your forehead at 3:00 in the morning. I thought I was dreaming but soon realized that there really was water in my ear. We had a minor leak but all is okay......Tim fixed it right up and we were fast asleep. I jumped in the shower around 8:00 and much to my surprise, I was taking a COLD shower again. I was confused because I knew that I had gotten up at 7:00 and turned the hot water heater on so as to not have a repeat of yesterday's shower. My 'soft" scream must have awaken Tim because I heard him rambling around and I told him about the cold water. I finished up, very quickly I might add, and proceeded on with my morning rituals. Tim informed me that the propane tank was turned completely off but now that he turned it on we shouldn't have any more cold showers. He patiently waited for the water to heat up as I cleaned a little and prepared the motorhome for
the day. We ate Rice Krispy Treats for breakfast, filled the cooler with drinks and ice and we were soon on our way. The first stop on our agenda for the day was a place called Lyon's Indian Store. This place is housed in the old farmers market on Route 66 and is considered the best place in Tulsa to buy every size, shape and color of turquoise, studded concho belts, blankets and all the beadwork your heart desires. We stopped in and shopped around for a few minutes and then headed on over to the Gilcrease Museum. Both the Lyon's Indian Store and the Gilcrease Museum are mentioned in our 1000 things to do book so we thought we would check them out so we could highlight them off the list. The Gilcrease Museum was founded by Thomas Gilcrease who was a very wealthy oilman who started his own oil company in 1922. He enjoyed spending his profits on fine art, artifacts, and archives that were devoted to the American West. The museum houses over 327,000 items that were in his personal collection. We weren't allowed to take photos inside but it was very interesting and I actually enjoyed
it. After we finished touring the museum we left Tulsa and headed North to a small town called Bartlesville. Here we found Frank Lloyd Wright's only skyscraper called The Price Tower. Tim is all into architecture and stuff so he enjoyed seeing another one of Wright's works. We took a few pictures and then made our way over to the home of Frank Phillips. Mr. Phillips was the ultra-successful oilman who founded Phillips Petroleum. It was closed when we got there so we couldn't do the tour but we got a few pictures of the outside and then made our way back to the highway. It was time to head on over to Ponca City, OK to check out the Marland Estate Mansion. On our way to Ponca City, we saw a sign about the Boy Scouts in a small town called Pawhuska so we stopped to check it out. It was actually a little museum dedicated to the First Boy Scout Troop in America. It was also closed so we just took a couple of pictures outside with the bronze statues and then got back on the road to Ponca City. We were getting hungry for some lunch so
I went in the kitchen (LOL!) and made us some banana sandwiches on whole grain bread with olive oil mayonnaise and sliced us up a cucumber and a few fresh strawberries. It was so light and refreshing and it just hit the spot ! We eventually made our way to the Marland Estate Mansion and luckily it was actually open so we bought our tickets and began the tour. Of course Tim was in heaven just because of the shear magnitude of the structure not to mention all the incredible architecture. We finished the tour and although we thoroughly enjoyed it, we decided that two museums in one day was enough. It was really hot outside so we headed out to the motorhome for something cold to drink and then made our way on over to Gutherie, Oklahoma. The book talked about the oldest saloon in Oklahoma called the Blue Belle Saloon and Miss Lizzie's Bordello that was housed upstairs so we thought we would check it out. We stopped for gas on the way and ran into a few detours due to the flooding but we finally made it to the Blue Belle Saloon and the dang thing had
just shut down a few weeks ago. After being there since the early 1900's, the week we decide to show up, it's shut down for good and there's a huge FOR SALE sign in the window. Of course the wheels started turning in our heads, but only for a minute or two....there is no freakin' way I'm moving to Oklahoma !! We rode around Gutherie for a little bit checking out a few different things and then headed on over to Oklahoma City. We wanted to get there just in time to have dinner at the Cattlemen's Cafe which is a famous steakhouse there in Stockyards City and it just so happens to be in the book too. We arrived at Cattlemen's around 7:00 and put our name on the waiting list and as we were a few minutes into our 45 minute wait we decided to walk across the street to Langston's Western Wear. This is Oklahoma's oldest western-wear store and good Lord I have never seen so many cowboy boots and cowboy hats in my life. We shopped around for a few minutes, bought a camo souvenier for the little redneck in our family (guess who?) and then
made our way back to the Cafe to enjoy a delicious dinner. I must say that our steaks were good but I have had much better. We finished up our meal, got directions from a local and then headed over to the Oklahoma City National Memorial which is the located at the site of the bombing that took place back in 1995. We could see the memorial from a few blocks away because it was really dark outside and the memorial is very brightly lit at nighttime. Tim and I both just got very quiet as we were pulling up to the site, we parked on the side of the street and then walked on over to check it out. We went through the first "Gate of Time" which displays the time of 9:01 am while the other "Gate of Time" displays 9:03 am. The bomb went off at 9:02 am so these gates symbolize the innocence of the city before the attack and the moment the city was changed forever. There are 168 illuminated chairs called "The Field of Empty Chairs", each chair represents a life lost in the bombing. The smaller chairs represent the 19 infants who died
that day. It was such a somber yet beautiful sight to see and I recommend to anyone who is in Oklahoma City to stop by for a visit. Ironically enough, Timothy McVeigh, the bomber, was electrocuted for his crimes back in 2001, the year the Twin Towers were attacked in New York City. Well I am historied out for the day so we're headed to the nearest Wal-Mart for hopefully what will be another good nights sleep. Love ya'll ! :-)
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