Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo, TX

Our last stop on the way to San Angelo was Amarillo, TX. Al had a place in mind he has wanted to visit ever since he first heard about it.  It was kind of a "bucket list" type of thing. It is called Cadillac Ranch. He had seen it on Google Earth. and some of our friends had gone there. It's just a piece of property where 10 Cadillac's are buried half in the ground.  A piece of art work, I guess. They were buried in the 70's and have been a tourist attraction ever since. You can see them as you drive along the highway. Several people go there every day. Al says they all used to be a light blue color. In recent years though, people have been spray painting graffiti on them.  Unfortunately people leave litter and even their spray cans behind, as there is no one is around to monitor the place.

On our way in, we passed a man and I asked him if it was worth the stop.  He said, "No, not really, I drove 120 miles just to see it.,  I had to do it."  Well, that about sums up the place.  It really was kind of a hoot and did give us a chuckle.  Hope you enjoy the pictures from different viewpoints.  No captions necessary.

 

 

 



 

Oklahoma City, OK

Sorry it has taken me so long to update my blog.  We arrived at Doug and Deja's last week and have been enjoying the grand kids immensely, and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with them.   I keep meaning to update and show you our last couple of stops before arriving here.  I will put up some pics of the kids soon.   I know I am behind on things,  but I wanted to share with you the last couple of places we stopped before coming here.  I decided it would be nice to visit Oklahoma City again since I lived there 40+ years ago and haven't been back since.   Since my oldest son was born there, it did have a great deal of significance to me.

We visited the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum there. I knew it was a place that Al would enjoy visiting. We were there for a few hours and really enjoyed all the exhibits. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos of much of it and where we were allowed, we couldn't use a flash, so the pictures didn't come out well at all.

From beautiful art work,  western TV stars, such as Hopilong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger and John Wayne etc.,  all kinds of firearms, as well as Native American objects,  and tons of historical artifacts that depicted western life back then.  I highly recommend a stop here if you are ever in the area.  Not only is it educational, but very entertaining as well.
  

                                         Picture taken outside the museum from parking lot.

  This is probably the only picture taken inside that came out fairly well, although blurry.

Another place we decided to visit was the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.  We all remember the horrible act of terrorism that happened here on April 19, 1995.  A memorial was set up here to remember those who were killed, and also those who survived, but whose lives were changed forever.  At this time in history, it was the costliest act of terrorism that had occurred on American soil.  One hundred sixty-eight people were killed which included 19 children.  Over 700 people were injured. 

We only visited the outside memorial, but there is also a museum you can visit.  Unfortunately, it was getting late in the day, so we didn't have time to visit it.  The outdoor Memorial was so nice and serene, a wonderful tribute to all those who perished on that day.

People leave all kinds of memorials here on the fence outside the place

 

 

This is called the Reflection Pool, flowing water that is supposed to help soothe wounds and provides a peaceful setting for quiet thoughts.   It is also meant to show the reflection of someone changed forever after their visit to the memorial.

 

Nice area to walk along the pool.

 

 

These chairs are set up as a remembrance of each of the 168 people lost on this day. They are set up in nine rows representing each floor of the building. A name is printed on each chair.

 

 

                                                    This building houses the museum.

Our next stop after Oklahoma City was to Amarillo, TX.  I promise a much more light-hearted post in a few days. 

North Little Rock, Arkansas

 

We are staying here at the Riverside RV Park in N. Little Rock. This park is owned and run by the city. It has only been here for 4 years. It is a really nice park, although it would be better if it had grass, but it is more like a huge parking lot. It is full hook up and the price was only $10.50 with our Passport America discount, so for the convience and our purposes we are very happy here.

The park we are staying at is located right on the Arkansas River, so the scenery is really nice. There is a walking bridge you can access from the RV park that takes you over to the Clinton Presidential Library. I took a walk over there today. It is 1/4 mile each way. After I got there I found out there was a $7 admission and I didn't bring any money. It was too nice a day to be inside anywhere so, after taking a few pictures I walked back.

Yesterday we took a ride on the trolley.  It runs from North Little Rock to downtown Little Rock.  It makes several stops and you can get off and on all you want.  We just wanted to get an overview of the city, so we only got off for lunch.  It was fun riding it and the driver pointed out all the attractions and of course, all the good places to stop for lunch.

Tomorrow we are headed for Oklahoma City.  We enjoyed our brief stay here and will definately come back for another visit.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

 

 

Here is a view of the walking bridge from the RV park. 

 

 

My view walking across the bridge

 

 

View of RV Park from bridge

 

Clinton Presidential Library

 

 

 

The Trolley on it's way to pick us up

 

 

Inside the trolley.  Can you believe this trolley cost $800,000

to purchase and we paid only $2 for an all-day pass.

 

Here is what the tract looks like as we cross the river.

 

                                                    

We stopped here and had pizza for lunch.

Finally We Are Traveling Again

Well, I didn't know for sure if this day would finally come, but we left our home on November 2 and are headed west.  So far, it has been cold everywhere, but it does seem to get a little warmer with every place we stop.  The first night we drove out past Buffalo and spent the night in a WalMart parking lot.  Not my favorite, but there were no RV parks open anywhere.   Luckily, there were other campers there, so we felt quite safe and we both slept well.  The next night we stopped in at an RV park near Cincinatti, OH.  There were almost no RV parks open in Ohio either, but luckily we found  an RV park run by Hamilton County.  We stayed there for 2 nights.  Our next stop was Franklin, KY and tonight we are staying at an RV park in a town about 50 miles west of Nashville.

I wasn't planning on updating my blog until we visit some interesting places.  Right now we are just trying to get away from the cold.  To be honest, I'm hoping for a low-key type of trip.  Other than spending the holidays with family in Texas, we are not making any real plans.  We are trying to take each day as they come.  We do have places in mind we wish to go, and are making short term plans as we go along.  It seems kinda nice to not have commitments after the events of the past year.  I must say though, I am feeling well, and I am determined that this is going to be a great year health-wise.  All of my tests came back normal and I am in remission.

Of course, we do have family members in NYC, NJ and Long Island who are experiencing some really difficult times right now.  They are just starting to get things back to normal and are now facing a Noreaster coming their way.   Not only were they without power, but some have had to wait hours in line for gas.  We are praying all goes well for them.

Stay tuned.  Will update again soon.  I promise to make my next post a little more interesting.