AZ Museum of Natural History in Mesa

Today we went to the Arizona Museum of Natural History

with Reid & Debbie.  It was interesting and they had displays ranging

from dinosaurs to outer space.  There was even had a 3-story waterfall

that would create a "flash flood" intermittently.  An original jail from the

1800's was there and they built the museum around it.

A photo taken by the Hubble Telescope

Another photo from the Hubble

"Crowned Crocodile" skull

Ancient buffalo skull

Canyon Lake & Tortilla Flat, AZ

This week we have been spending time with our good friends, Reid & Debbie.  They are in the Mesa area for just a week.  Monday we went to Canyon Lake & Tortilla Flat (Population: 6). 

Reid in the saloon at Tortilla Flat.  (He was trying to give me his mean look). 
Notice all the dollars on the wall behind him.  They estimate that there is
over $100,000 on the walls and currency from 70 countries. 

Debbie in the ladies room at the saloon.

Superstition Saloon at Tortilla Flat

Another wall full of dollars.

Beautiful Canyon Lake.  We were going to take a cruise on
the Dolly Steamboat, but they were sold out for Monday & Tuesday.

Canyon Lake

Canyon Lake

Oklahoma State Capitol Building in OKC

After visiting the Memorial & Museum, we went to the State Capitol Building.  If it was earlier in the day, we would have gone on a tour.  This is the 3rd Capitol Building we've visited this year (Santa Fe, NM & Little Rock, AR).  I guess we need to go to Lansing next summer. 

The State Capitol Building

Notice the oil well & derrick.  This is the only State Capitol
grounds with active oil wells.

Statue in front of the Capitol.  I think
this is Sacajawea.

The back side of the building.

Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum

Today we spent the afternoon at the Memorial & Museum.  It was very interesting and moving.  I did skip one part of the Museum because it was just too emotional for me.  They have a room with pictures and momentos from each of the 168 people that died and right after that is a room where they loop video of their funerals, memorial services, etc.  I just didn't want to sit through that.  Other than that, it was a beautiful presentation and when you hear about the way the people of Oklahoma and the rest of the country banded together after this tragedy, you realize that after it's all said and done there are a heck of a lot more GOOD people in this world than bad.

A very interesting story was that Florence Rogers, the President of  the Federal Employees Credit Union in the Murrah Building, was having a staff meeting in her office that morning.  When the blast occurred, the 8 employees sitting across from her desk literally disappeared.  The floor under Florence's desk & chair remained intact.  All 8 of the employees died.  Florence had one small tear in her dress and other than that, she was fine.  Can you imagine?   

This is the outside of one of the end panels at the Memorial.

Some of the debris from the bombing.

More of the damage from the bombing.

A photo of the Murrah Federal Building after the explosion.

This car was parked in front of the Ryder truck that
the bomb was in.

The license plate from the Ryder truck.

The face of a monster.

It's still amazing that he wasn't
sentenced to death.  161 life
sentences should be sufficient, though.

This is one of the end panels at the Memorial which reads
9:03 - one minute after the explosion.

The chairs at the Memorial.  There are 168 chairs, one for
each person that died.  The smaller chairs are for the 19
children that died.

The other end panel at the Memorial, which reads 9:01 - one
minute before the explosion.  In between the end panels
are the chairs. 

This press pass was in a display case of
press passes.  The rest of the passes were
 for access to Oklahoma City.
 I found this one to be very eerie.

Part of the fence in front of the Memorial & Museum.  I
thought it was interesting that this large one was from
Tawas City, MI.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

We arrived in Oklahoma City today.  After we set up our 5th wheel, we went to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.  It was interesting, but not what we expected.  For some reason, admission was FREE today (instead of nearly $20.00 for both of us).  That was a pleasant surprise!

"End of the Trail" Sculpture

Ronald Reagan

Bob...right where I want him.  I tried to convince the
guy to throw away the key.  ;-)

The Duke...John Wayne

Abe Lincoln

This sculpture was at one end of the parking lot. 
I thought it was beautiful.

Mountain Lion sculpture

Rodeo cowboy

Native American rug commemorating 9/11.

Owensville, MO & Grove, OK

We are at the Bear's Den Resort in Grove, OK for 3 nights and this park is really nice.  It's on Grand Lake (which we really think covers have of this city) and we have a great view of the lake and bridge.  The park we were at prior to this was the Lost Valley Lake Resort in Owensville, MO.  That park is amazing.  I really think it has more amenities than any other park we've stayed in.  They have a 30,000 sq. ft. indoor sports arena, 3 lakes, 3 pools & hot tubs (2 are indoors), a huge clubhouse, cafe, etc. etc. etc.  It's just beautiful!  On Wednesday we will be going to Oklahoma City, OK for 2 nights so we can visit the Memorial.  After that it will be 3 overnighters and then into Mesa, AZ for 15 weeks.

This is just one of the statues at Lost Valley
Lake Resort in Owensville, MO

The Sailboat Bridge from out campground

A gazebo by the waterfront at Bear's Den Resort

M-R geese!  :-)

An egret on Grand Lake

Joplin, Missouri Tornado Damage

Today we drove to Joplin, MO to do some shopping.  When we drove into town we were reminded immediately of the huge tornado that went through there on May 22nd.  159 people were killed and the devastation seemed to go on forever.  Seeing the images on TV did not really make the impression on us that seeing it in person did.  It's hard to grasp that Mother Nature can cause such fury!  The Home Depot seemed to be severely damaged and they had a HUGE tent set up in the parking lot that they were using for a temporary store.  The Walmart was GONE and they had one of their semi trailers in the parking lot (which is all that was left) with a sign painted on the side of it saying they looked forward to reopening in the fall.  I'm not sure what year they were referring to, but it definitely wasn't 2011!

This used to be a parking garage across from Hope High School.

This tree had metal & steel wrapped around it .  A very sobering sight!

South Middle School

Another view of South Middle School

One of many, many destroyed homes

Hope High School...how ironic!

Another view of Hope High School