Author: silverflash2

We loaded the car for the last time and headed for home. After driving a total of 3,699 miles over 5 states, it was good to pull into the driveway this afternoon. What a FUN month it has been!!

We began the first leg of our journey home this morning. Our route took us through Amarillo, Texas, where we stopped to see a quirky attraction. Standing all alone out in an open field along Route 66 west of Amarillo is Cadillac Ranch. Cadillac Ranch was invented and built by a group of art hippies from San Francisco. Their silent partner, an Amarillo billionaire, wanted a piece of public art that would baffle the local citizens. The hippies proposed an idea to pay tribute to the evolution of the Cadillac tail fin. In 1974, ten Cadillacs were half-buried, nose down, in the dirt. They faced west in a line, from a 1949 Club Sedan to a 1963 Sedan deVille, their tail fins held high for all to see. Years have passed, and now the Cadillacs have been stripped to their frames and spattered in day-glo paint. The smell of spray paint was strong, and sadly, empty paint cans were strewn over the ground. People of all ages were busy spraying designs, names and pictures on the cars. Bill and I watched and wondered…… We were baffled just as the designers had hoped!

We had a picnic in the car before continuing on to Albuquerque for the night.

With our cycling goals accomplished, we spent today at two very interesting sites, the First Americans Museum (“FAM”) and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. FAM shares the history, unique cultures, diversity, contributions and resilience of the 39 distinctive First American Nations now in Oklahoma. Only a few tribal nations were indigenous to what is now the State of Oklahoma. All others were removed from homelands across the contiguous United States to Indian Territory. In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state in the union. The State of Oklahoma’s name comes from two Choctaw words, Okla (people) and Humma (red). Translated it means “Red People.” (See our slideshow to learn more.)

The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum is America’s premier institution of Western history, art and culture. More than 10 million visitors from around the world have come to the museum to gain a better understanding of the West. We thoroughly enjoyed the collection of classic and contemporary art, the artifacts, and the interactive history galleries focusing on the American cowboy, rodeos, Native American culture, firearms, frontier military, and western performers. We remembered movies and TV shows from our childhood as we looked at displays about Gunsmoke, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Gene Autry, Will Rogers and John Wayne.

We strolled through an old western town where Sue visited the one-room school house, and Bill spent time in the saloon and jail. (See our slideshow from today’s visit.)

Our last place to visit in Oklahoma City was Stockyards City, home to the Oklahoma National Stockyards, the largest stocker/feeder cattle market in the world. We enjoyed a delicious steak dinner at Cattlemen’s Steakhouse, the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Oklahoma City.

The Oklahoma River Trail system provided the last 22 miles needed to complete this part of our 50 in 50 Challenge. Mother Nature gave us blue skies, sunshine and light breezes for the ride. We rode along the river to the Boathouse District to see the OKC National High Performance Center, an official U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training site — a 4000 meter race and training course. We were excited for the opportunity to watch kayakers and rowers practice their sports. What teamwork and precision is needed to maneuver those boats!

The Bricktown Canal Trail took us past the Centennial Land Run Monument that commemorates the opening of the Unassigned Land in Oklahoma Territory with the Land Run of 1889. It is one of the world’s largest bronze sculptures featuring 45 heroic figures of land run participants frozen in motion as they race to claim new homesteads. (See http://www.landrun.marbleart.us for more details/pictures of the monument.) Sue was especially moved as she looked at the monument. She couldn’t help wondering if her ancestors had been one of the participants in this run in 1889.

This afternoon we toured the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, built to tell the story of April 19, 1995, the date of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The bombing was the deadliest act of homegrown terrorism in our nation’s history. Through exhibits, theaters and interactive experiences, the museum tells the story of the events of that day. The outdoor memorial contains the Field of Empty Chairs, the Survivor Tree and the Gates of Time. The twin gates, standing at the ends of a reflecting pool, frame the moment of destruction at 9:02am. The 9:01 East Gate represents the innocence before the attack. The 9:03 West Gate marks the moment when healing began. Engraved on one of the gates are these words, “We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived, and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.”

Another reunion came with dinner tonight. Bill’s Aunt Darlene joined us for a delicious barbecue dinner at one of her favorite restaurants. More memories and updates on family members were shared. Bill and I were again reminded of the importance and blessings of older generations and extended family.

After dark, we returned to the Oklahoma City National Memorial to see the Field of Empty Chairs. Located where the Murrah Federal Building once stood, the chairs are arranged in nine rows to represent the 9 floors of the former building. Each person’s chair is positioned in the row that corresponds to the floor on which they worked or were visiting. Each of the 168 glass and bronze chairs is etched with the name of a person killed in the bombing. The 19 smaller chairs represent the children who lost their lives. At night, the chairs light up as beacons of hope. It was a sombre and moving experience to see the memorial and to remember those who lost their lives in that senseless act in 1995.

When we left Tulsa for Stroud, OK and Oklahoma City, OK this morning, the sky was gray and filled with heavy clouds. Rain was once again in the forecast, so Bill decided to cover the bikes. He used a different pattern for wrapping the ropes around the bikes, and we used bungee cords to hold the bottom of the cover together. It looks ugly, but, it WORKED!!!

Our stop in Stroud included a visit to the Stroud Cemetery, to the final resting place for Grandmother and Granddaddy Browers, Aunt Janie (Sowards), Aunt Dollie (Womack), Uncle Jack Mercer and their infant daughter Jacklyn Bee Mercer. As he had done after visiting the Tahlequah Cemetery, Bill remembered and shared stories of these family members.

Before leaving Stroud, we drove down Main Street to the Rock Cafe, a historic restaurant on US Route 66. Built in 1936, the cafe opened in 1939. Extensive repairs were completed after a fire in 2008, and the cafe was reopened in 2009. Rock Cafe proprietor Dawn Welch, a long-time promoter of US Route 66 in Oklahoma, is the basis for the animated character, Sally Carrera, in the Pixar film CARS. We enjoyed delicious hamburgers cooked on “Betsy, The Indestructible Grill.”

From Stroud we journed on to Oklahoma City, OK. After we checked in to our hotel, we met cousin Paul (Mercer) and his wife Lou Anne. As it had been with Debbie the night before, the conversation was lively and filled with memories and stories of experiences in Oklahoma. We look forward to seeing Paul and Lou Anne again at the Browers Family Reunion in Indiana next month.

We plan to finish our 50 miles in Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, so today was a day to rest, relax and do some sightseeing. Tulsa is a lovely city located on the Arkansas River. It’s known for its art deco architecture. For most of the 20th century, the city’s nickname was “Oil Capital of the World,” and Tulsa was one of the most important hubs for the American oil industry. We went to see The Golden Driller, a 75 ft. tall, 43,500 lb statue of an oil worker. It is the sixth tallest statue and largest free standing statue in the United States. It is built to withstand up to 200 mph tornadoes.

We also drove by the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, completed in 1929 and considered to be one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical Art Deco architecture in the United States. At dinner tonight, we learned from Bill’s cousin, Debbie, that her parents, Clyde and Lucille, sang in the church’s choir.

No visit to Tulsa would have been complete without a drive on the historic Route 66, which we did on our way to have dinner with Bill’s cousin Debbie Barnes and her husband, Ron.

Bill and Debbie couldn’t remember the last time they had seen each other, but it was most likely over 50 years ago! Needless to say, conversation was continuous! It is wonderful to reconnect with family members.

Today we rode three different urban trails – the Liberty Trail, the Creek Turnpike Trail and the Mingo Trail – for a total of 30 miles. The weather was the hottest and most humid we have had so far on the trip. Much of the trail paralleled the interstate, so we had the sights and sounds of traffic instead of singing birds and babbling brooks to pass the time. On our return to the car, trail maintenance caused a detour and added a couple of miles to our total.

We did enjoy the smell of honeysuckle flowers on one short section of the trail, and we saw the Outdoor Classroom & Outer Limits Center at the Graves Scout Reservation, a part of the Indian Nations Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

When we finished our ride, Bill discovered he had a broken cleat on one of his cycling shoes, so we made another trip to a bike shop to replace the broken cleat.

Today was a day of reconnecting with the past and remembering very special people and places! On our way to Tulsa, OK, we went to Tahlequah, OK, Bill’s birth place. Approximately 17 miles NE of downtown Tahlequah on Hwy 10, is a place called Rocky Haven, where Bill’s grandparents, on his dad’s side, lived. When Bill was a baby he and his parents actually lived with Mama Grace and Pop for a while. Bill has fond memories of time spent with Mama Grace and Pop at Rocky Haven. As we toward Rocky Haven, Bill commented that he hoped he would recognize the driveway to the house because the house is above and cannot be seen from the highway. Since we were approaching from the NE, and Bill’s memory of approaching Rocky Haven were from the SE, he was afraid we would miss the driveway. We drove down Hwy 10 slowly, pausing several times before saying, “No, that’s not it.” Bill finally sensed we were getting close and suddenly said, “There it is! That’s it!!” We drove up the hill on the driveway, parked the car, and were greeted by the sound of barking dogs inside the house. As Bill approached the front porch to knock on the door, the barking got louder and more frenzied. Bill only got close enough to read the name plate on the wall just inside the front porch before he realized Scott and Amy Batie, the current owners, were not at home. We stayed for about a half hour taking photos and checking out the changes to the house and on the property. Though changes have been made to the house and property, the memories made at Rocky Haven with Mama Grace and Pop stand strong!!

After we left Rocky Haven we drove past Hanging Rock and into town. We went to the Tahlequah Cemetery to visit the graves of Pop, Mama Grace, Aunt Vernice and Uncle Floyd.

Tahlequah is the capital of the Cherokee Nation, so we decided to visit the Cherokee National History Museum.

We learned that a Cherokee named Sequoyah began to study the structure of the Cherokee language in 1809, and created symbols for the 86 syllables used in the language. He used the symbols in various combinations to form written words. The syllabary was introduced in 1821, and was a major contribution to the rise of the Cherokee Nation. The time spent in the museum highlighted how incomplete and perhaps, in some cases, inaccurate our knowledge of Native Americans really is!

On our drive from Tahlequah to Tulsa, we continued to reminisce about Mama Grace, Pop, and Rocky Haven. We texted pictures to LuAnn, Sallie and Tommy, and they quickly “joined our conversation” with their memories and stories about visits to Oklahoma.

I believe there was a host of silent witnesses to our visit and conversation today.

We continued to explore the Razorback Regional Greenway. Today’s 22 miles took us around Lake Fayetteville, over bridges, and by rocky streams. We wore our Alabama cycling jerseys, but only heard one comment from a University of Arkansas fan who shouted, “You’re a long way from home!”

We head to Tulsa, OK tomorrow.

We spent the day riding north for 34 miles on the Northwest Arkansas Razorback Greenway Trail. We rode by clear blue-green streams, passed murals and sculptures, stopped to move a turtle off the trail, and even spotted Sasquatch! The trail had lots of hills, and winds were steady at 19 mph with gusts to 27 mph!!