My Oklahoma City Photos

The main entrance monuments for the 45th Infantry Division Museum

Working cowboys and the mounts at Stockyards City

The Oklahoma City National Memorial

The 55-foot tall Eleanor Blake Kirkpatrick Memorial Tower in the Museum of Art - this is  2,100 pieces of blown glass by Dale Chihuly

Looking across the grounds of the Myriad Botanical Gardens

The Bricktown Canal - surrounded by shops and restaurants, with plenty of bridges and benches

The rear half of "The 1889 Land Run" a group of 35 bronze statues by Paul Moore

"Coming Through the Rye" a bronze by Frederic Remington at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

The Oklahoma State Capitol building, with attendant oil derrick

My Oklahoma City Trip, Conclusion

My friend Mary arrived a few minutes after 6 p.m. Wednesday, transported by the Biltmore's airport shuttle. I was waiting in the lobby and we hugged, looked each other over, and got her checked in.  Then we walked across the street to Louie's, a sports bar recommended by Mike, my taxi driver.  We got caught up on personal, friends, and family news, and laid out plans for Thursday.  I called Mike and apprised him of our plans, and he agreed to pick us up at 9:30 to deliver us to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.  Then I crashed.
  Mary and I had breakfast at the free buffet in the Biltmore, and, after a hearty breakfast, we awaited Mike in the lobby.  When he arrived, a few minutes early (as usual), he drove us out to the Museum, with the agreement that if we didn't call him sooner, he'd pick us up at 5, when the museum closed.  -  He picked us up at 5, and we hadn't seen even half of all the exhibits there.  -  Mary and I love the old Western movies that rolled out so frequently from the studios before, and after, we were born.  Being a horse-crazy kid, I got my equine fix by watching Westerns on TV.  (Before my fifth birthday, I can remember watching The Cisco Kid, The Roy Rogers Show, The Gene Autry Show, and Hopalong Cassidy; as well as riding every other weekend at the King's Ranch riding stable.)  We didn't receive an ABC television station while I was growing up in Florida, but I saw every CBS and NBC western that aired as I was getting taller, along with any western movie that was offered.
  The contents of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum more than exceeded my expectations. There are statues both inside and out; the Native American exhibit was overwhelming - covering both Eastern and Western tribes; the Cowboy Hall of Fame was staggering;  the paintings and bronzes on display were awesome.  Seeing a Frederic Remington bronze, "Coming Through the Rye," I was amazed at the amount of detail shown in such a small piece - then stepped outside, only to see it replicated in life-size.  It was fantastic.  I've always loved cowboys - and seeing items used, owned, and donated by my childhood heroes on display was very gratifying.  Saddles, chaps, hats, suits of clothing, guns and holsters, rifles and ropes used by such icons as John Wayne, Will Rogers, Tom Mix, Lash LaRue, Dale Robertson, Joel McCrea, Tim McCoy, Tom Selleck, Gary Cooper, Richard Boone, Sam Elliot, and many more are there for your eyes to feast on.  The small restaurant inside the museum serves up scrumptious food at very good prices...  There is just too much to see inside this place in one day - I'd need three to see all that I wanted.  I had a fantastic time in this Museum.  Please visit their website at  http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/  to see everything this museum offers.  They have a small 1890s town, shown at dusk, in one wing, so one can explore the town, plus there is an interactive area for children called the Children's Cowboy Corral, where they can dress up like a cowboy, and sit around a campfire, listening to cowboys tell their tales.  I highly recommend a visit to this marvelous institution!
  Mike picked us up Friday morning at 9, and drove us around the State Capitol building, and by the Governor's Mansion before dropping us off at the Oklahoma History Center.  As my plane was leaving OKC at 5 p.m., we arranged for Mike to pick us up at 2, so I could return to the Biltmore, retrieve my luggage, and get the shuttle to the airport.  Because of the time constraint, our visit through the OHC was rather hurried, and I could, again, easily have spent more than a single day looking at the informative displays.  Before the Center opened, Mary and I walked along the 1/4 mile Red River Journey, looking at historic markers and photos, and observing local flora.  We didn't have time to visit the Oil Field outdoor exhibit - the Center is on 18 acres, and has tons of outside displays and views. (See:  http://www.okhistory.org/historycenter/index )  We saw the Oklahoma @ the Movies exhibit, and spent a lot of time in the ONEOK Gallery, in the "We Are Who We Were" exhibits, that represent the ways of life of the 38 Native American tribes now living in the state.  We also were able to visit the Noble Foundation Gallery, which shows the early history of the state, and has a sod house, a 1930's house, and a 1950s pink, ultra-modern kitchen.  I just about fell over when I opened a cabinet, and saw the salt and pepper holder, in the shape of a burro carrying baskets, that I grew up with.
   While I was eager to get home and sleep in my own bed, and cuddle with my cats, I was still unhappy about leaving Oklahoma City.  There was just so much to see and do that I didn't have time for.  It was a fun, happy, good vacation, and I returned home in high spirits and a bounce in my step.  I have resolved to return to OKC to see what I missed the first time around - but I believe that it will take me another three weeks to see all that I want to see!

Having a Blast in OKC!

I didn't expect to be blogging while in Oklahoma City, but here I am.  I have absolutely no idea of what is happening in the outside world, as I have only seen a late-night local news show since I arrived.  But I am having a ball...  Flew in with no problems on Monday, with Kathy and Jim taking me to the airport.  Checked my bag, got my boarding pass, and wandered down to the farthest end of Terminal C for my flight.  Ended up sitting in row 6, and had an extremely enjoyable flight.  The flight time was 1 hour and 9 minutes, and instead of calling my hotel for the shuttle, I took a cab.  Mistake.  It's pretty much a straight shot from the airport to my hotel, but that wasn't the way the young man drove me - and he seemed to be totally dependent upon his GPS, which kept going out...  Once we got on Meridian Avenue, where the hotel is, he kept saying, "It's not far, now..."  with each block.  I was watching the building numbers on the street, and finally told him, "It's 8 blocks down on the left..." 
  OKC is extremely spread out - the next time I visit I'll know to either (a) drive, (b) rent a car for myself, or (c) choose a hotel that's close to the places I want to visit...  Other than that one observation, I'm having a fantastic time.  Monday afternoon I wandered around the Stockyards area, poking my nose into the Stockyards, themselves, and visiting a large array of Western stores and saddle and tack shops.  I had supper at the Stockyards Cattlemen's  Restaurant.  I think that it was the best steak I've ever eaten - and I couldn't finish it.
  Yesterday I spent the day with my cousin Sarah and her family at the 45th Infantry Division Museum.  They had driven down from Wichita, and since they were visiting a history museum with their family, both girls were marked as being in class and getting credit for extracurricular activities.  The displays at the museum were fascinating - original drawings by Bill Mauldin; a collection of over 200 historic weapons (from Brown Bess blunderbusses to items used in the Gulf Wars); photos of the troops in action in World War I, WWII, the Korean War, and Viet Nam.  The Division liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp, with photos and mementos of that occasion; they were also the first American troops at Adolf  Hitler's vacation house, apartment in Berlin, and in the bunker where he committed suicide.  They also have a 15 acre campus outside with various Jeeps, tanks, trucks, artillery pieces, helicopters, planes, and a scud missile launcher.  We had a wonderful time, and I was able to meet Ashley, Kristie and James.  I think everyone had a great time.
  Today I was at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, and at the OkC Museum of Art - they have fantastic glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly - and also have a display of Italian masters covering 500 years that's on loan from the Glasgow Museum.  It is gorgeous!  After this quick library break, I'm walking down to Bricktown to wander around and look and shop....  And Mary should arrive tonight from Florida, so we'll be spending the next few days at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum...  Oh, boy!!!
  I'll be back on Saturday!

Cool, Quiet Day

After all the flooding, we had more rain last night - not a lot, but enough to make all the mud very slippery again this morning.  The cats huddled against me in bed while we had lightning and thunder, and I was reading about a storm in ancient Ireland - somehow, it seemed appropriate.  It's been cool and cloudy today - and I thank goodness that I live at 5285 feet, as points higher than 10,000 feet got snow last night or early this morning.   Lovey has spent most of the day curled up on my afghan, while Nedi has been sleeping in my dirty clothes - me, I helped people clean out their basements and lower living levels again today.  I am pooped.
   I am planning a couple of days of exploration in Oklahoma City before meeting up with my friend Mary and spending time at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum next month.  I was able to get round-trip air fare for $170, and a great non-smoking room between the airport and the Museum at an extremely reasonable price, at the Biltmore.  Getting to spend time with Mary and to explore the Museum is something I'm really looking forward to!
  My neck and shoulders are very sore tonight -  I'm guessing it's from a combination of plain old tenseness from the past week, over-working under-used muscles and ligaments, and my broken neck from years ago. I slipped in the mud today, and felt like my head did a "whip lash" movement, and it was after that that I became sore...  Oh, well.  I really have nothing to complain about compared to other folks in Colorado!