June 9th, 2013 Lorraine’s report
Hello once again, this time from the KOA RV Park in Wellington, Kansas. Well, we did Oklahoma and saw the devastation of Moore, OK It was awful! You can not believe what God visited upon those poor people. Whole blocks, and many, many of them were gone, all that was left was a pile of rubble. We were there about a week after the storm, and piles and piles of these homes were gone-all falling in on themselves. I don't know how the many people could stand to see what was left of their lives. I don't know how they can rebuild, starting from scratch all over again. Chuck said the storm came in and was down for about 40 minutes; taking some homes, leaving others relatively untouched. It was so totally devastating.
Shortly after that we went to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. Wow! Those people of Oklahoma have endured so much!! You head off to work, and at 9:00 am, a bomb goes off in front of the building causing a huge hole-I forget how many megatons it was-but a lot. The many people the blast impacted was numerous, I am in awe again these people have yet again endured so much. The memorial to those people was so somber. The empty chairs make you wonder what our lives would be like if some of the children who died in that blast could have survived. Yet many of these people will not move or build anywhere else. It makes me wonder-why?
On a lighter note, we got to see Dan and Wanda Jackson. They live in Coweta, Oklahoma. We had such a great visit with them. Dan cooked us BBQ ribs and pork loin one evening and was it ever good!!! He is such a good cook. He and Chuck hired on the same day on June 6, 1972; they were the first group hired on at Atlantic Richfield Company after the initial startup. It was nice that the two guys were together on that day some 42 years later. They sure enjoyed their time together.
Wanda & Dan took us all over to show us the sights. We were amazed to go into the Trail of Tears Museum, as well as several others. I can not believe they did this to one of our Native American tribes. To have them leave their homes and move them to various areas was unthinkable. If it had happened today, there would be an uprising you wouldn't hear the end of it. Yet, these people did what they were told. Unthinkable to me, our USA did not treat our Native American People right!!! Shameful, so shameful!!!!
Many thanks to Dan and Wanda for such a great visit. It was nice to see you after all this time. And I loved the basket you gave me...Thank you both!!!
Last night, Chuck and I have had to pull in the slides, due to the storms, hoping nothing would happen. So far, everything is still okay. I will be glad to be done with this area. I liked Oklahoma, it is so pretty and green. But, I don't think I would be able to live there, I like the Pacific NW area for the summers and the Great Southwest area for winters. But it is nice to see all of these states. We are enjoying it yet.
So that is it for me. In three weeks we will be at the reunion in Minnesota. See you down the road..
Lorraine.
6/9/13 Chuck’s report
Yes, we are in the heartland of our nation but still in what is called “Tornado Alley”. So far, so good as far as we go, no tornadoes anywhere near us. We have experienced three thunderstorms so far but only had wind, rain, thunder and lightning, no hail or tornadoes! In fact, we haven’t even had to evacuate to the storm shelter this trip.
Last Sunday was a travel day for us, we left New Mexico and drove into Shawnee, Ok., actually we stayed at an Indian Casino where they offered us to stay at their RV park for three nights free. They had 50 amp electricity and water with a dump site available. It was on the back of their lot, next to a creek and even had a bit of grass so Misty could enjoy the area too. We wanted to use this as our base while we explored the area, especially the Bombing Memorial in Oklahoma City (OKC) and Shawnee, Ok.
We got set up then had to go into the casino to sign up for our free camping site. Of course, that meant we had to try our luck on the slots too, no luck, unfortunately. We checked out their food availability but decided to return to the coach and just have a easy meal instead, after having steak in Texas the last two nights.
We did drive through some of the damage from the tornado that hit this area about a week before, WOW. I’ve seen tornado damage before, having grown up in Missouri, but nothing like this. Those poor folks!
Next morning we drove into OKC to visit the Bombing Memorial. As you may remember, Timothy McVeigh back in 1995 decided he was mad at our government and filled a Rider rental truck with fertilizer and diesel and parked it in front of the Federal Building. The resulting explosion killed a number of people including children who were attending a day care center in the building that morning. It also destroyed a good portion of two blocks too. He was stopped in Kansas two days later for driving without a license on his car and luckily held for two days until the feds figured out he was the bomber they were looking for. He was tried, convicted and executed, one of the first terrorist this country had experience. Of course, since then there has been more of these sick bast---- who wanted to get their 15 minutes’ of fame, may they all rot in hell.
They Memorial is very well done, they now have a park in the area where the Federal Building used to be. It has a reflecting pool and 168 chairs on the lawn, one for each victim of the bombing. There is also a “for profit” private museum in a building right next door. This is also very well done, explaining the bombing, the firefighters and rescue, the coverage of the bombing around the world, the FBI investigation and capture of Timothy McVeigh, coverage of the trial and such and explaining about the memorial. If you are ever in the area, I would recommend this being high on your list of things to see. But it is depressing, be warned.
We then headed over to tour the area where the tornado had hit in the town of Moore about a week earlier. Like I said, the devastation was terrible, in fact we couldn’t even stay there too long. After touring the Bombing Memorial, which was depressing, this was just too much. The tornado was a Cat 5, about 3/4 of a mile wide and was on the ground about 45 minutes. It went through a couple of business areas but the real damage was in what used to be a very nice residential area. The homes were mostly brick but that didn’t matter, the tornado destroyed them anyway. I don’t remember how many lives were lost during the storm but I think it was 13. We did see an elementary school that was demolished but school had already been dismissed before the tornado hit.
We wanted to drive over to see where the second tornado had hit just three days earlier but we were just too depressed. I’m sure I’ll add some pictures to this blog but as usual, pictures just don’t show the damage that well.
We did head out to a different casino for dinner afterwards. This was across OKC from where we were staying and we had to return the next day to get our free play. I think after all was said and done, both of us walked away with some of their money plus we had a good buffet the first afternoon too.
Wednesday morning we headed out East again, this time we were going to Wagoner, Ok. I have a friend who moved there a few years ago, I’ve known him since we hired on at ARCO back in June, 1972. I haven’t seen him since 1993 so we were really looking forward to seeing him and his wife and catching up with their lives. We had found a nice park with RV spots near a lake just a few miles from where Dan and Wanda lived. We got to the park, got set up and then headed out to meet with these fine folks. We met them at a Wal-Mart parking lot then went over to their house. The conversation was full of “do you remember” and lots of laughter, we had a great time. Later Dan drove us over to a nice place for dinner that night.
Next morning Dan and Wanda drove us around, showing us some of the sights. We stopped and checked out the Five Civilized Tribes and one other smaller museum before returning back to their house once again. This time we were treated to a very fine home cooked meal of BBQ ribs and pork loin with all the fixings, umm, umm good. I can now say I’ve had some of Dan’s famous BBQ ribs!
Friday morning we attempted to get Lorraine into the Indian Health Center in Coweta but didn’t have any luck. Afterwards, Dan and Wanda once again picked us up and we rode with them to Tahlequah. This is where the Cherokee National Museum is located. Once again, we enjoyed going through a museum and learning about the area and some history of our country. This one included lots of information about the “Trail of Tears” where our government moved 5 tribes of Indians from their reservations to the “worthless” land in Oklahoma.
The Cherokee’s were forced to walk from Arkansas to Oklahoma, this was over the winter too. They started with over 17,000 members, both adults and children, and over 2500 died and were buried along the way. They couldn’t bring any of their belongings and were forced to start all over in a new, unfamiliar land. The Seminoles were moved from Florida to Oklahoma but they were moved via trains and boats instead of a forced march. The other three tribes were more of the same.
I read in the museum that within a few years the Cherokee’s had started schools and were the best educated people in the state of Oklahoma. They are now a viable force and presence in the area. But it was sure a black mark on the history of how our country dealt with the native people back then.
There was also a good demonstration outside of how they lived, they had both winter and summer buildings and the “scared” community ceremonial building. They also had folks showing how to tan deer hides, work flint to make stone tool and arrowheads, make and use blow guns to kill small game and other ways they lived back then. Pretty impressive place, well worth the time to go and see it.
Later stopped by a Mexican restaurant they liked and had dinner. Afterwards, they dropped us off at our rig with promises to make sure if we are ever in the area or they are anywhere near where we might be to get together again, not to let another 20 years go by this time. Thanks Dan and Wanda for spending time with us, we had a wonderful time with you two!!
Saturday morning we headed out from there, this time we stopped at Wellington, KS., a few miles South of Wichita. We got set up then drove into town to see the Chisom Trail Museum but we didn’t find it. Later that afternoon our weather radio started beeping with a severe thunderstorm warning. We brought the motor home slides in just in case the winds were bad but like I said earlier, all we got was lots of rain, thunder and lightning and winds in the 35+ MPH range.
We are going into town later, just to see what there might be to see and do on a Sunday. Depending on what we find, we may stay another day or two, that remains to be determined.
Another thing we are not used to is toll roads around the area. In fact, the main highway between here and Wichita, I-35, is a toll road. I’m not sure that I like the idea of highway system becoming toll roads. But we are liking all the green in the area, trees as well as the grass. We’ve seen lots of wheat, corn, beans and such fields but I know we will see many miles more as we continue through Kansas and Nebraska.
The weather has been really nice with the exception of some winds and, of course, the thunderstorms. The temperatures have been into the mid to high 80s most days and the lows drop into the low 60s at night, really nice. Of course, the humidity is high, especially the day after a thunderstorm but with the air conditioning it isn’t too bad. When I was growing up in Missouri, we never had air conditioning and even if we did, we lived on a farm and spent most of our time outside doing chores or farm work, so I grew up to hate the summer weather. (I didn’t much care for the bad winter weather either but that’s a different story.)
Our travel plans are still in Jell-O, no set plans or timetable. We have to be in St. Paul on the 25th of this month to get ready for the family reunion on my Mother’s side of the family. Until then, we’ll make our way through the rest of Kansas, Nebraska, go through South Dakota to get new license tabs for our rig and car then head over to Minnesota. If anyone knows of something we have to see or do between here and there, please let us know otherwise we’ll continue with our meandering/wandering trip across the heartland of our great country.
Now to add some pictures and get this posted.
Pictures from the road. The water tower on the right is about to fall down, only two legs are on the ground, don’t know what is keeping it up.
Entering into Oklahoma. Like the big flags that are display across the nation.
Destruction in Moore, Ok. from the tornado. Really feel sorry for the folks who were impacted by the storm!
Back on the road.
We thought that tower had been knocked over by a storm but it appears to have been built like that.
At the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.
A picture inside the museum and the actually wall outside.
Survivor tree, almost cut down but it lived and is flourishing once again. Pictures show it in someone’s yard back in 1921.
The creek behind us at the casino campground. The water was about three feet higher the next day after a thunderstorm that night.
An old church in Shawnee, Ok.
Back on the road, the results of an older tornado near Shawnee.
On the right, any idea of which way we should go?
Our park in Wagoner, Ok. The water in the lake was about 17’ higher than normal they told us.
Lots of turtles sunning themselves.
One turtle in the grass. Trees are nice and green this time of the year, bet they are nice in the autumn too.
That’s Wanda and Dan, they live around here.
Part of our exploring the area.
A tire patch company used the Camel on it’s products, same as the cigarette Camel but this one faces to the right.
A USA flag with only 48 stars. A decorated guitar outside a music place.
At the Cherokee National Museum, very nicely done.
The Trail of Tears, one of the darkest portions of our history with the Indians.
The beads on the right show how many Indians were displaced and the red ones show how many died.
Outside presentation at the Museum.
A flint knapper on the right, he made stone tools, arrowheads and arrows.
Testing out one of his arrows. A gal displays using the blowgun, very accurate too.
We heading into Kansas.
These two deer wanted to cross the highway until I blew the air horn, they turned back and Lorraine managed to get these pictures.
Thanks Chuck
299
No comments:
Post a Comment