Sunday, June 19, 2016

We loaded the car this morning and started west again.  We had such a good time here.  They were great hosts.  I thank them so much for everything.

Our first stop was in Oklahoma City to see the bombing memorial.  Well, not the first.  First we ate lunch, then we went to the museum and memorial.  It's heart wrenching, it really is.  The museum takes you step by step through the timeline with videos and displays.  It counts down the minutes from when the bomb exploded to the hours it took to find survivors and, unfortunately, those who didn't.  And the following days and weeks.  What a display of cooperation between agencies and the efforts of the fire and police departments.  The outpouring of support, the trauma medical teams.  It's unbelievable what they all went through.  I think this is the first museum I've been to where I read all the information and really looked at every display and video.  It's an amazing place.

They have an Honor Gallery where every person who died has a shadow box, for lack of a better word, with their picture, usually an 8x10, and mementos from their life that their family chose to remember them by.  It was heartbreaking.  How could you choose what to put in them.  And the ones for the children, with toys and stuffed animals.  I cry just thinking about it.

They also have the get away car on display and the information and timeline for the arrest, trial and ultimate execution of Timothy McVeigh.  I can only hope it brought some closure to the families of those who died but I know it's something they will never fully come to peace with.

We continued on and drove as far as Amarillo, Texas.  We decided to go to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  It was jam packed with more than 50 people waiting when we got there.  It was to be a 30-40 minute wait but after about 5 minutes they seated us.  I'm sure it was because it was just the two of us and they had a small table open up.  Only after we sat down did it dawn on us that it's Fathers Day and everyone took dad out for dinner.  Duh.