Trip West - Missouri to Oklahoma

We come to an accident on I-70 and are reduced to a crawl for 25 miles.

It's starting to get dark as we leave Ohio

 and enter Indiana

We pull into an Indiana Rest Area - plenty of room - 150 truck spaces

 Across from Corn Fields

 After a lovely breakfast at Denny's we get back on the road.

 and run into construction slow downs.

We play leap frog with Aaron Lewis tour bus and tractor trailer.  He has a concert in Indianapolis

 Indianapolis!

 We  try a Harvest Host layover instead of a rest area or Truck Stop.  It is the Labaddie Brewery outside St. Louis MO.

We split of flight of brews and a bag of popcorn!

 On the road again 

 Missouri is a bit of a roller coaster ride.

and pass through St. Louis 

and the famous Arch

and interesting sculpture in Cuba, MO - The Osage Trail Legacy

We make it to Oklahoma.

 No Harvest Host or Boondockers Welcome sites in the area but I find an Army Corp of Engineers campground that is non-reservable just outside Broken Arrow, OK.  It is Sunday so I am hoping we will find a spot.   We luck out as the Park was full but today is the last day of Fall Break and everyone left!  $9.00 a night for a site with water and 50 amp service!  Guess we will stay a couple of nights.

 It is on the Arkansas River.  Our 2nd night a few severe thunderstorms passed through and there was a tornado watch.  Sounded really bad but we fared well.

Time to move on - I want Gary to see the Oklahoma City Memorial.  Had hoped to stay at a Boondocker Welcome site right in OKC but my request was declined - the nerve!  Back up plan is to park at Cabela's unhook and drive the truck to the Memorial.

We make it to the Memorial in spite of all the roadwork going on - they are redoing all of the expressway ramps and have taken down all the exit signs so you have no idea where to get off.

This fence was put up during the clean up of the site.  People walking by would put up mementos so it remains.

 
The Memorial consists of two walls and a shallow reflection pool in between

 at one end the wall has the time 9:01 a time of innocence - the minute before the bomb went off

The second Wall reads 9:03 - the minute after the Bomb went off - the time healing begins

There is one chair for every person killed in the explosion.  They are illuminated at night and the names on the base show up

The smaller chairs represent children to died.   The chairs are arranged in 9 rows - each row representing a floor in the building.  Those killed on the 9th floor are in the 9th row of chairs.

The Survivor Tree, an American Elm  almost 100 years old, withstood the full force of the attack. It continues to stand as a living symbol of resilience.

I had hoped to do the Museum but it is getting late and they don't have a wheelchair for Gary - it takes 1.5 -2 hours to do the museum - too long for crutches!  Just glad we got to do the outside Memorial

Back to Cabela's to pick up the 5th Wheel and on to a Boondockers Welcome site 50 miles west of town on Route 66

 

 It is a new campground in the making - the wife's family has owned the land since the 50's.  It is free to Boondock or $15 with services.  We opt for the $15 to have electric as it gets cool and night and it is a long night without TV.

 Just catch the morning sunrise - time to move on - next stop New Mexico!