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After awakening at 3:30 to a weather alert (thankfully just a flash flood warning), we actually awoke later than the previous mornings. It looked like it was going to be a terrible day, horribly windy and 70% chance of rain with strong storms. There've been two big tornados here over the last couple weeks, and I've been more than a little worried about another one. Thankfully, it turned out to be a beautiful day--not too hot, no rain.
Our first stop was the Museum of Osteology in Moore. It opened in 2010, with one person's collection started when he was seven years old. The entryway sets the tone, with a lion attacking an antelope, jawbones of two different types of whales. There is also a small exhibit showing beetles cleaning a variety of skulls. I apparently missed the Dirty Jobs episode highlighting Skulls, Inc, the business that developed into the museum, but it was interesting. Once inside the actual museum, we were wowed by the sheer number of specimens. There were monkeys and dogs and humans and opossums and whales and many, many more. The exhibits were quite informative, but simple so as not to distract from the skeletons themselves.
Mom's favorite was the giraffe, dad's the blue whale. I really liked the bony fish, Jeff the 3-ribbed armadillo. There were also exhibits on pathology, so we saw kyphosis and skulls that had undergone trepination and been shot, and cats skulls with evidence of prior infection and cancer and such. It was very interesting.
Our second stop was the Oklahoma City National Memorial, site of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building. The boys didn't really understand the symbolism of the gates, but asked the ranger many, many questions, mostly about the bomb. I can't decide if I should be proud of them for asking intelligent questions and trying to learn more, or concerned that they are mostly interested in firearms and bombs and explosions and such.
I had a few caches in mind to do before leaving town, so we did a very weird zigzag route through town and the suburbs, going from center to south to north to south to west. We drove by an Earl's Rib Shack, which had been recommended by my cousin Eric, so stopped there after finding one of the oldest caches in Oklahoma. Liam said his chicken was
tremendous; Mom said her pulled pork was the best she'd had. Cole really liked the pickles. Driving through Moore again after, we finally saw the damage caused from the first tornado that destroyed Jeff's cousin's house. On the way west out of town, we saw even more damage in and around Yukon. Weather is scary.
Our final stop was the Route 66 Museum in Clinton. Jeff and I were there nine years ago, but thought it was worth the time to see it again. Mom and Dad seemed to really like walking through and remembering the times and the cars and the music. We took some photos, watched a movie listened to In the Mood. The boys all bought T-shirts and plan to wear them tomorrow. As an added bonus, we got in early to the hotel, giving me time to do this, print out some postcards, rip out the sock I almost finished yesterday, and for the boys to veg in front of the television. It's the quietest they've been in four days.
- - - - -
Miles: 181
Highest Gas Price: $3.69/gallon
Low Temperature: 60 (Oklahoma City, OK)
High Temperature: 91 (Clinton, OK)
Conversation of the Day (at the Museum of Osteology):
C: Do I have any money to buy something at the museum?
K: No.
C: Why not
K: You can only buy one souvenir per day.
C: I can only buy one per year per day?
K: One souvenir per day.
D (Dad, because we can't have two Ks): I heard that, too.
Geocaches Found: 8
New License Plate States Seen:1 (MD)
Projects Completed: 0
We learned dermestid beetles are the most effective way to clean bones.
I forgot to put all of our plants on the kitchen counter for Lorrin to water.
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