Prescott Valley, Arizona to Joplin, Missouri

We're finally on the move again.  We're making our way to the east coast to visit my Dad and celebrate his 80th birthday, visit family and friends, catch some baseball games, and spend fall in New England to see the beautiful colors and visit Acadia National Park in Maine.  Those were our goals.

We left Prescott Valley, Arizona and headed east driving about five hours to Gallup, New Mexico.  

Welcome to New Mexico sign along I-40

We have traveled this route on I-40 before so knew what to expect when we stopped off for the night at the Elks Lodge in Gallup. 

Our next few nights were spent at Cochiti Corp of Engineers (COE) park north of Albuquerque.  Our friends, Dorothy and Jerry were camp hosting at this park for the summer.

We happen to be visiting during Jerry's birthday so Al cooked him some of his famous ribs. 

Another couple we met at Sunshine Acres Children's Home in Mesa, Arizona last winter, Gracie & Mike, were also camp hosts at this park.  We didn't spend too much time with them at Sunshine Acres so this gave us an opportunity to get to know them better.  Gracie & Mike joined in the birthday dinner.

Jerry, Mike, Gracie, Nancy, Dorothy, and Al

 

This stop gave us an opportunity to visit Sadie too.   

While we were celebrating Jerry's birthday, Sadie notified us of an unwanted party guest.  A rattle snake was nearby!  We called the ranger and he arrived quickly to relocate the snake.

Phew, that was too close!  So thankful for the rangers at the parks where we stay!

Another thing we like to do with Dorothy and Jerry is go to the nearby golf course club house and eat green chili cheeseburgers.  This is a New Mexico specialty.

After three nights of catching up with Dorothy, Jerry, and Sadie it was time to continue east.  Our next stop was at Santa Rosa Lake State Park for one night.  This was another repeat campground and our site was level enough that we didn't need to disconnect the trailer from the truck.  That saves Al a lot of work in the morning.

We continued east to the Elks Lodge in Amarillo, Texas.  

Welcome to Texas sign.

Our site at the Elks Lodge

The goals for our return to Amarillo was to visit family, doctor check-ups, and eat swamp fries at the Lazy Gator.  

Swamp Fries Gator fries smothered in Cajun Alfredo and topped with fried shrimp, remoulade sauce and chives.

My cousin, Rob, relocated his aging parents from Tampa, Florida to a care facility in Amarillo since our last visit.  This gave us an opportunity to see them.  They are my Dad's brother and his wife, Uncle Bill and Aunt Janet. 

My cousin's wife put together a photo album of some family photos for my Uncle and Aunt.  Uncle Bill was showing us his military photo.

I was so thankful for this chance to visit my Aunt and Uncle.  Little did we know at the time but it was our last visit with Uncle Bill as he passed away on November 19, 2021. 

We accomplished all our goals for Amarillo and so it was time to move east to Oklahoma.  

 

 

Welcome to Oklahoma sign.

We drove to Newalla, Oklahoma and spent two nights at a Harvest Host site.  Our hosts, Dave & Stephanie, helped us get parked in their driveway. 

 

 

Our hosts raise goats and chickens so we went to see them.  Goats are always fun to watch.

 

 

Our hosts had something we've never seen before in their backyard.  A tornado shelter!  They say they have used their shelter a few times which does not look like fun. 

 

 

 

 

Al flew his drone and captured some cool shots of their property from the air.  Here's one:

 

While in Oklahoma City we wanted to visit the National Memorial Museum.

 

 

Remembering back on the day of the bombing and visiting the museum to learn more about the events of that day was a somber experience.

 

 

Children's Area where kids of all ages can leave messages in chalk

 

The Memorial is part of the National Park system

 

The museum starts off with guests visiting a conference room where a recording is played of a meeting that was taking place when the bomb went off.  You can hear it in the background of the recording.

 

 

The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building before and after the bombing. 

There were many photos taken that day and and objects found in the debris that are now part of the museum.

 

 

Remember this photo?

Each of the 168 people who died, some children, were memorialized with a photo box in one room.

A day by day count of the bodies as they were found in the rubble and identified.

 

 

This Florida license plate is from the rental truck driven by McVeigh.

The plate is registered to a 20-foot Ryder truck picked up on April 17, 1995, at Elliott's Body Shop in Junction City, Kansas, by McVeigh using his alias of Robert D. Kling.

 

McVeigh was arrested within 90 minutes of the explosion, as he was traveling north on Interstate 35 near Perry in Noble County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma State Trooper Charlie Hanger stopped McVeigh for driving his yellow 1977 Mercury Marquis without a license plate, and arrested him for having a concealed weapon. 

The car he was driving.

 

Leg shackles used by law enforcement on Timothy McVeigh when he was transported from Noble County Jail in Perry, Oklahoma to Tinker Air Force Base.

 

 

 

After viewing the inside of the museum we went outside to see the memorial in the footprint of the Murrah building.

 

 

 

These monumental twin gates frame the moment of destruction – 9:02 AM – and mark the formal entrances to the Memorial. The 9:01 Gate represents the innocence before the attack. The 9:03 Gate symbolizes the moment healing began.

 

The 168 Chairs represent those killed on April 19, 1995. They stand in nine rows, each representing a floor of the Federal Building where the field is now located. Each chair bears the name of someone killed on that floor. Nineteen smaller chairs stand for the children.

The museum building

On the east end of the Memorial stands the only remaining walls from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. These walls remind us of those who survived the attack – many with serious injuries. Today, more than 600 names are inscribed on salvaged pieces of granite from the Federal Building lobby.

The first Fence was installed to protect the site of the Federal Building. Almost immediately, people began to leave tokens of love and hope on the Fence. Tens of thousands of those items have been collected and preserved in the archives. Today, part of the original Fence gives people the opportunity to leave tokens of remembrance and hope.

The Survivor's Tree

The Survivor Tree, an American elm, bore witness to the violence of April 19, 1995, and withstood the full force of the attack. Years later, it continues to stand as a living symbol of resilience. The circular promontory surrounding the tree offers a place for gathering and viewing the Memorial.

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It was a hot and humid day as we walked around downtown Oklahoma City so we spent some time on the free and air conditioned trolley for a refreshing break.  We saw this baseball stadium from the trolley.  Unfortunately there were no games being played during our stay.

The Oklahoma City Dodgers are a Minor League Baseball team and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They play their home games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

 

 

 

 

Oklahoma City also has a nice walkway along the canal in the downtown.  

 

 

Along the canal was this life sized sculpture. The Centennial Land Run Monument commemorates the opening of the Unassigned Land in Oklahoma Territory with the Land Run of 1889. The frenzied energy and emotion from one instant during the run is captured in bronze by artist Paul Moore. It is one of the world’s largest bronze sculptures featuring 45 heroic figures of land run participants, frozen in motion as they race to claim new homesteads.

Our last find was a water park called Riversport Rapids.  At this location in the Boathouse District located just south of Bricktown and next to the Oklahoma River, they have whitewater rafting and tubing, surfing, a new indoor snow skiing attraction, a bike park with pumptracks and a mountain bike skills trail, a six-story Sky Trail adventure course, climbing, jumping and a zip line across the river and back.

RIVERSPORT is also a US Olympic & Paralympic Training Site for both rowing and canoe/kayak. 

 

 

If we knew about this park in advance we would have planned a day to spend in the water.  It looked like so much fun.  Add this one to our list for the next time we're in Oklahoma City.  

 

The next day we were back on the road and in to another new state for us, Missouri.  

Welcome to Missouri sign.

We drove to the Elks Lodge in Joplin, Missouri to spend the night.  I remember the tornado that hit this area years ago.    

On Sunday evening, May 22, 2011 a devastating EF5-rated multiple-vortex tornado struck Joplin, Missouri. It was part of a larger late-May tornado outbreak and reached a maximum width of nearly one mile during its path through the southern part of the city.  Winds were clocked at > 200 mph!  So Scary!!!

 

The Elks Lodge was one of many houses and buildings destroyed by the tornado.  Since that time the Lodge was rebuilt. We got parked in their giant parking lot.

 

 

 

We went in to the Lodge to have a drink at the bar.  The people there were so friendly and we got to talking about the tornado.   We learned the whole lodge was destroyed and has since been rebuilt.  It was beautifully done.

 

 

We also learned that four people died that night while at the Lodge. 

 

We also met some people that lost their homes.  So devastating!  Here are some bottles of Jack Daniels. that survived the tornado at the Lodge.
 

 

Well, that was enough tragedy for a while.  We're glad we got to visit these areas and learn about the misfortune of the people and meet some of them but it was time to have some fun.  

 

Here was our route for this blog entry:

 

We're continuing north and east and will catch some baseball games and meet up with friends in the next entry.