Route 66 Day 12 Oct 20, 2019 continued

Last post from Joplin.  After my last post, I still have a few hours of daylight left, so I searched the internet for a nice place to get some steps in.  It listed a Cunningham Park as a nice place to walk.  I checked my GPS and it was reasonably close.  Set my map and off I went.  The park was very populated, which was nice, I like to see communities using their green spaces.  There was park on both sides of the road, and I started on the side where I parked.  The walking path was paved and seemed to lead to every major highlight in this section of the park.  It didn't take too long to figure out this wasn't just an everyday normal park.  This park contained a number of memorials from the May 2011 Tornado disaster.  There is a reflecting pond built for the lives of the children lost.  There is a plaque listing all the names of the lives that were lost.  There is a fountain declaring a "Proclamation of Restoration".  There is a small sitting/picnic area with mosaics and art sculptures dedicated to the volunteers that flocked to Joplin to help in the days after the tornado.  There is a butterfly garden dedicated to the stories of butterflies that saved children (not sure if I believe it, but I love the stories).  There are house outlines that stand in the spots that actual houses sat before the tornado.  There were statues and water elements and notepads near all the benches for people to reflect and write thoughts.  The rest of the park was beautifully designed as a place for the future of Joplin could come and play.  There were two different playgrounds, basketball courts, enough green space for a game of kickball or touch football.  Picnic tables and benches.  It was really a beautiful park and I'm so glad I took the time to go.

Notice the water fall wall in this photo.  There are thirty-eight segments of the wall representing the minutes the tornado was on the ground.  The gap at minute seven represents the time it hit the park.