Oklahoma City

Its time to leave Amarillo and head east and continue our trip home. The last night before leaving, a big thunder storm moved through and hailed on us. Fortunately they were only the size of peas. 

A nice tailwind got us to our camping destination in Oklahoma City. We've stayed here before and like the resort, especially its great wi-fi. 

A crowd showed up to watch us park. Fortunately I didn't give them anything to laugh about. Or crow about.

The last time we stayed here, we didn't have the time to get to see the memorial to the Oklahoma City bombing so we made sure we had the time this time. On April 19, 1995 at 9:02, Timothy McVeigh set off a 4000 pound load of explosives in a Ryder truck just in front of the Murrah building. This is called the Survivor tree because its just across the street from the explosion. Pictures show cars all around the tree destroyed and on fire. It lost all its leaves, but survived. 

Where the Murrah building sat, is the "Field of empty chairs", 168 chairs each representing one of the fatalities. The front tree on the left is about where the truck was parked. The road was removed and a reflecting pool was put in its place. 

The chairs are lined up by floor showing those persons killed on each floor. The lower floors had more fatalities so those rows are longest. There was a pre-school on the second floor and 19 of the chairs on the second floor row are smaller to denote the loss of children. 

Each of the chairs has the persons name on it. There are multiple family names together because they were dropping their kids off or helping out at the pre-school. This is one of the children who died. 

The bomb was so powerful that buildings were damaged over 2 miles away and 16 had to be torn down due to structural damage. This building was across the street and sustained major damage but it was restored as a fitting building to house the museum and memorial artifacts. 

This shows the roof line of the museum where the original roof was blown off and the new glass and steel roof was put back on. Parts of the original fire escape show damage from the blast. All the windows were destroyed and black boards now fill the openings. The original wall shows damage from shrapnel and the blast heat and has been sealed to protect the damage and prevent weathering.

This is one of the fire escape doors that was on the side of whats now the museum. It was blown into the building by the blast. The picture behind shows the parking lot where the Survivor tree stood. 

Timothy McVeigh was arrested within hours on a traffic offence and the investigation led to him within days and he was found already in jail. This is the rear axle from the Ryder truck. It was found two blocks away. The registration number on it lead to who had rented it. 

This is a tire rim off the same truck. Parts of the truck were found almost two miles away. He had filled the truck with 4000 pounds of ammonia nitrate and diesel fuel and set it off with stolen dynamite caps. He was tried, convicted and hung as the first home grown terrorist in U.S. history. 

During the recovery and cleanup, this fence was erected to keep the site protected. It became part of the final memorial and people still attach mementos to it. Its been a very sobering visit. They do a good job of putting  faces and stories to the dead, especially the children.

While we're here, we thought we'd head on down town and see what its like. This is called the Bricktown area and its where all the sports arenas and ball parks are. Its full of great eating places and we had one of the best burgers ever here. Its almost empty but I can imagine what its like on a game night. 

They have a lovely canal system that runs through part of the downtown area. Its not on the same level as San Antonio was but still very impressive. 

This is part of the canal. You have to admit its peaceful and serene. 

A few blocks away is the Myriad Botanical gardens. Its a lovely lush park in the centre of the city. Perfect for romantic walks and picnicking. 

The centre glass cylinder is full of lush tropical vegetation like palm trees (as if we haven't seen them all winter). Its a very striking building and is surrounded by quiet trails and gardens. Downtown Oklahoma City is a lovely place. Its obvious they have taken downtown revitalization to heart. A number of streets are torn up as they widen and add boulevards to make it even more attractive. After the somber memorial visit, walking around downtown by the canal and through the parks has improved our moods immensely.