Road Trip - Day Three

This morning we left Tulsa, OK and drove to Oklahoma City to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The site of the federal building which was destroyed has been turned into a beautiful memorial. The indoor museum is closed due to a water line break which flooded one floor of the building. Fortunately, none of the exhibits were destroyed. We were able to view the outdoor memorial which sits on the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building which was destroyed. There is a survivor’s wall, a field of empty chairs (one for each victim), a reflecting pool, a rescuers’ orchard, the survivor tree and a children’s area. At each end of the reflecting pool, which is located on what was the street in front of the former federal building, sits a Gates of Time monument. The East Gate represents 9:01 a.m. on April 19, 1985 and the innocence of the city before the attack. The West Gate represents 9:03 a.m., the moment the bomb exploded. Ellen and I were moved by this memorial and how the innocence of this city and the country changed in less than one minute’s time.

We left Oklahoma City and drove just over three hours to Dallas, TX. We visited the Dallas Book Repository the site of the assassination of President Kennedy. We took an audio self-guided tour that was very interesting. We were able to be on the 6th floor of the building where the shots were fired. Later, we walked the roadway, sidewalk and grassy knoll where the president’s car was passing at the time of the shooting. Ellen and I each reflected on where we were when the announcement came that Kennedy had been shot.

We left the Book Repository exhibit, had dinner at a nearby restaurant and then left for our hotel for the evening. Tomorrow, we are off to San Antonio, TX which will be a four hour drive.

We are doing well and enjoying ourselves.

Here are links to pictures taken at these two sites:

http://picasaweb.google.com/tschick62/OklahomaCityNationalMemorialMuseum?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/tschick62/JFK?authkey=qgLMMNIm6HA&feat=directlink

More later . . .