Route 66 Day 18 Oct 26, 2019

First day after the big rain storm.  It's still cold and a little windy, but its not raining and the sun is out and I'm ready to hit the road.  This is the third day I've been in OKC but because of the rain, I haven't wandered out at all.  I start with my first Oklahoma City list item: The State Capital.  Its not that exciting and looks like every other state capital, but I got a nice photo.  From there, I head over to a non-list item:  The Oklahoma City Memorial.  Its not on the list and technically, not on Route 66, but its close enough and it should be on every list.  The memorial is incredibly well designed.  There is a section just for the children, created by children all over the country.  Children painted tiles with words of love and hope and mailed them to OKC.  A portion of these tiles were chosen and a wall was made.  There is a large reflecting pond between two wall.  The two walls are located in the spot of the original building.  The first wall says 9:01, representing a time of joy and wellbeing.  The second wall says 9:03, the time the bomb went off and changed the world for everyone.  There are chairs to represent the dead and a wall with the names of survivors (people that were horribly injured but survived).  There is a tree "The Survivor Tree" that was in close proximity to the blast and nearly 100 years old, but survived.  It was originally going to be cut down as it was horrible damaged but people were inspired by the tree's strength and it was decided to work it into the memorial.  There is an orchard of trees planted that for the rescuers.  People came from all over to help during this horrible event.  And they are also remembered.  Finally, in the days after the blast, the fencing that was put around the destruction started accumulating notes and stuffed animals and pictures of the dead.  A portion of this fencing still stands and still contains many items.

From here I moved onto other list items: Landmarks, restaurants, old service stations and oddities.  Drove around Fort Reno and did a drive by on the Stafford Air and Space Museum.  Finally ended up in Elk City at a Walmart I could crash at.  I knew before I went to sleep that I would be spending more time in Elk City.  I'd done all my list items, but they had a museum complex that was adorable and I wanted to take a closer look in full daylight.