National Cowboy Museum
Wednesday - 5 May 2004 - Guthrie, Oklahoma:
Happy Cinco de Mayo! We were just fading off to sleep last night when I
could hear something gurgling. Or, I thought I could hear something
gurgling. DT could hear nothing. I dozed a bit, but NO, something was
definitely making a very strange sound. I went into the "living room" and
stuck my head out the window to find the source of the noise. It was a
nearby oil well. Seriously, locals have oil wells in their lawns like most
people have bird baths. I suppose if you had an oil well in your garden, you
could just quit your job and stay home all day and listen to that gurgling
cash squishing-up from the earth into your wallet.
This morning we were up, exercised, and out the door, driving 30 miles south
(in the car) to Oklahoma City! Our first stop was Camping
World, to buy a $1 replacement latch for the closet door (it snapped).
Camping World did not have the part, but the clerk knew of a shop near
Norman, Oklahoma that would. Were we going to Norman? Sure, why not! Norman
is just a few minutes south of Oklahoma City and the home of
Oklahoma University. The Sooners will be playing football against
Our Ducks in September (in Norman). We stopped into the parts shop - it was
like going into someone's very organized garage. The guy sold every thing.
Little bins, stacked from floor to ceiling, stuffed with every widget,
gadget, screw, latch, bolt, bulb, wire, pipe and what-not! We paid $4 for
our one-dollar part, and we headed to campus.
First off, I must say, both of us are surprised that Oklahoma is so nice.
Everything is so green! The people are very friendly, too. We parked on
campus across the street from Sooner Stadium and walked right in. No
Top-Double-Secret Security Check Points like the Ducks maintain - ya'll come
on in! This is one big stadium - 77,000 or more, and the seats are so steep!
If you are afraid of heights, don't go to a game in Norman, Oklahoma. Just
benches too - only the Big Donors get a back on their chair. They were
setting up for graduation at the end of the field and there was a line at
the bookstore of students selling their text books and a line at the
bookstore of students picking-up their caps and gowns. (Gosh, has it already
been a year since we were in D.C. celebrating Lisa's graduation?) The OU
Bookstore is one of the finest we have ever seen. Long-Time Readers of My
World know that we often visit Universities when we travel - and this campus
is really something. I guess all the red dirt in Oklahoma makes good bricks,
because the entire campus is one huge, gorgeous brick building after
another.
Sooner Stadium - Sooner or Later Some Ducks are Gonna Get Plucked
Massive
After our quick scan of Norman, Oklahoma and the OU campus,
we headed back to Oklahoma City. We went to the area called
Bricktown - the old warehouse district, suddenly chic since urban
renewal has turned the area into a shopping and nightlife haven. We had
lunch at the
Bricktown Brewery. Bricktown Brewery was the first brew pub in Oklahoma
and they serve-up some of the spiciest Buffalo wings we have tried. Wowser!
Next, we went to the
Oklahoma City National Memorial. At first, I didn't want to go - feeling
that it in some way pays homage to the terrorist. Still, it was interesting
to see first-hand where the Murrah Building once stood and put some
perspective on the terrible event. Because it was a Federal Building and the
people killed were US Government employees, it was an act of terrorism. The
Memorial is very tasteful and simple. The Reflecting Pool is placed over
what once was 5th Street - where the truck bomb was parked.
Oklahoma City National Memorial
168 chairs, including 19 smaller chairs for children,
represent those killed on April 19, 1995
Outside, people have left mementos on the fence
Thousands of items have been left on the wire fence outside
the Memorial - as a tribute to those lost that day. For some reason, there
are thousands of key chains hooked all over the fencing. Many people have
left photos of their loved one - it is very chilling to put a face to one of
those chairs. In a strange coincidence, accused co-conspirator Terry Nichols
trial began today. Nine years after the crime.
Our next stop was to The State Capitol Building! The
Oklahoma State Capitol was completed in 1917 and sat dome-less until two
years ago! Can you imagine how awful this building was without a dome? A
past-Governor said it reminded him of a "Romanian Old Soldiers Home". It is
a thing of beauty today, and it is the only State Capitol Building to have -
what else - an oil well in the front yard!
The Grandeur and The Grease
Oklahoma State House
The halls and galleries are a Who's Who of noted Oklahomans,
including Will Rogers, Jim Thorpe, Mickey Mantle and various leaders of the
Oil Industry, famous natives and countless politicians. The beautiful statue
gracing the top of the dome is "The Guardian" sculpted by Enoch
Kelly Haney, a full-blood Seminole Creek and was cast in Norman,
Oklahoma. It weighs over 5,000 pounds, is 17 feet tall and represents "the
government's responsibility to protect the rights of its citizens".
Inside the new dome
Famous Oklahoman: Jim Thorpe
Another strange fact: Yesterday the Oklahoma House was in
session and they finally approved, after a 40-year debate, the official
Oklahoma State Flower. It is a hybrid rose, developed in California by an
Oklahoman, and named the Oklahoma Rose. It is the deepest
red, symbolizing the red earth of the state and also the blood spilled in
the Trail of Tears.
If you can even imagine, we kept on going! NEXT we drove to the fabulous
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum (even though I still do not
feel we are in the actual West). The National Cowboy & Western
Heritage Museum offers great displays of everything-cowboy - a complete
rodeo exhibition, cowboy boots, and hats; a tribute to TV and film cowboys
and cowgirls; Seminole art, guns and an impressive collection of Western
Art. They are now showing an exhibit of Western Art as used in advertising.
We spent two hours in the museum, but it is a four-hour museum. At five
o'clock they kicked us out. (NOTE: The National Cowboy Museum is one of the
best museums in America. We returned again when we flew out for the football
game and encourage you to visit the museum if you find yourself in Oklahoma
City.)
The End of the Trail by James Earle Fraser (photo DT)
Friendly ladies visiting from Taiwan snapped this photo of
us in front of the museum on the way to our car. You should have seen their
faces when I spoke Chinese! I answered a question about DT's camera in
Chinese, and the gentleman answered me (in Chinese) while walking away. He
took about three steps and then it dawned on him that I had spoken Chinese
with him and he came back and asked me how/why. We all had quite a
conversation, in the parking lot! The ladies had just arrived yesterday from
Taipei for a visit, and he had lived in Oklahoma City over 30 years. After
he left, we wondered how difficult it must have been for him to emigrate
from Taiwan to Oklahoma City thirty years ago. Probably couldn't even find
soy sauce in the Winn-Dixie.
DT and me, outside the museum
Most people would have called it a day, but we are not most
people because most people do not have readers expecting EXCITEMENT and
ADVENTURE every morning with their coffee (or tea, in Mary's case)! So,
after a bit of rest back at the motorhome, we headed into Guthrie in search
of Mexican food, to celebrate the Mexican Army defeating the French Army in
1862.
There were two Mexican restaurants listed in town, and they were close
together, so we thought we could do a drive-by and decide which looked most
appealing. Well, the first restaurant listed was torn-apart and in the
middle of a huge remodel. They were closed, so there went Choice #1. Choice
2 was at a gas station. It won by default, and diesel was only $1.59 per
gallon. The cuisine wasn't good, it wasn't bad - it was behind a gas station
for goodness sake! Their guacamole was very good and the staff was most
pleasant. From the conversations between the manager and the other
customers, I am going to assume he is a new owner because he had made
several recent improvements and customers were telling him they approved.
Something was also happening in the parking lot about adding an additional
Handicapped Parking space. For the second time in three days, I was served a
glass so large I could not fit my hand around it. What is it with people in
Kansas and Oklahoma? Do they have giant hands? When we were paying our bill,
we commented on the bulletin board where the manager had pinned all sorts of
foreign money. He said foreign customers have given him money from their
countries for his mini-collection and he suddenly whispered, "Hey, let me
show you", and opened his till and handed us a blue bill. It held the face of Saddam Hussein. He said he was not putting the "old
Iraqi" bill on his bulletin board, afraid it would be stolen.
This concludes my report for today. DT is watching the Mariners and poring
over maps. Bringing out the atlas is a sure sign we are leaving in the
morning.
RV Park:
Cedar Valley RV Park in Guthrie, Oklahoma
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