Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024
Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunday, September 21, 2014

A Walk, then a Drive North with a Big Mistake - Fri., Sept. 19

Thursday evening, as promised, Bob did a 13-mile run on the multi-use trail at Arcadia Lake. It didn't go well for him as he felt tired, and his chest was in irregular rhythm. He thinks he must have been in Afib. He left the 5th wheel as it cooled down in the evening and didn't get back to the 5er until well after dark. (He ran with a flashlight.) We had dinner and called it a night.

Friday morning we were up at 4:15 a.m. to do the Oklahoma City 10K (6.2 mile) Capitol Volksmarch. Our start point was at a downtown YMCA that opened at 5:00 a.m. I think we actually started walking around 6:00 a.m. Needless to say, it was very dark out and I loved it!
A deserted outdoor courtyard restaurant (not open at 6 a.m.!)
Church
Cool neon
One of many decorated buffalo.
I feel very fortunate to have seen the OKC National Memorial in the dark. To me, something would get lost seeing it in the daytime. When it's dark you get the full effect of the Field of Empty Chairs because they are lit up.
 
The Gates of Time
The Field of Empty Chairs represent each of the people who died in the OKC Federal building bomb blast. The small chairs are for the children from the day care center who died.

Field of Empty Chairs
 One hundred sixty-eight people died and 16 buildings were damaged or destroyed.


Memorial Reflecting Pool, Survivor Tree in background
The Fence with memorials to those lost
Our walk criss-crossed through the deserted streets of downtown Oklahoma City. At 6:30 a.m. we only saw construction workers, hospitality industry workers, and a few others. It was nice to walk in the middle of the street to get a photo if I needed to. Don't worry, I watched out for cars and nasty tripping curbs.

Hilton Hotel in the heart of Oklahoma City
Bricktown and the Amtrak train depot
Colorful hotel design
 The following bus stop gave me my morning chuckle.


Former building for the Oklahoma Historical Society
To the left of the former Oklahoma Historical Society is a Veterans Memorial Plaza. The bas relief memorials are very well done!

Korea
World War I
Thank you for our freedoms!
Oklahoma Capitol
The top of the Capitol dome
Sculpture tribute to the"Romantic Riders of the Range"
It was too early to go into the Capitol, so we continued our walk through beautiful, historic neighborhoods.
We walked part of Route 66

Overholser Mansion
Overholser Mansion - different view

1907 Greek Revival
Johnson-Hightower House
Johnson-Hightower House entry
Very cute house
The previous homes are in Heritage Hills.
We thought our morning walk in Oklahoma City was terrific. We headed back to the 5th wheel and prepared for our drive to Topeka, Kansas.

Here are a couple of scenic photos from our drive through northern Oklahoma:



In corresponding with Janice of Ready to Go Full Time RVing, we discovered they would also be in Topeka. Janice said David found a wonderful campground at Lake Shawnee Park for $20 per night. If we wanted to, the campground would let us park the 5th wheel there free for a couple of hours while we did our walk. Our plan at that point was to continue on to Lincoln, NE that evening after we finished our walk. Ha! Little did we know we would make a big boo-boo in our navigation.

You see, when we got to Wichita, Kansas on our way to Topeka, we should have taken I-35. Gulp, mea culpa. Instead, we got on I-135 north toward Salina. We didn't even realize it until we were almost in Salina. We ended up going the two long sides of the triangle, instead of the shorter diagonal. Oh well. Plans made in Jell-o and all that, we decided to spend the night in Topeka.

When we arrived in Topeka, the truck was running on fumes so we had to find a gas station that sold diesel where we could fit our 33' 5th wheel as well. Let me tell you, it's not easy to find a gas station in a downtown where a long pick-up truck pulling a 5th wheel can get in and out with ease. We finally found a station with diesel that Bob thought he could get into. Bless his heart, he shoe-horned that big beast in between two rows of pumps and we got our diesel. Whew!

All were happy after that and we continued on to Lake Shawnee Park to meet Janice and David. We secured our spot overlooking the lake next to Janice and David. When we were set up, Janice said she had made a "snack." We went to their place and she had taco salad all ready and waiting. She had a willing audience, because in all of our driving around lost, we never did eat lunch. Thank you, Janice, for being so good to us. You are an oasis of good food for the hungry. LOL.

Janice, David and Bob
View of sunset from our back window
We chatted and visited each other's rigs. Janice could tell I was about to pass out on her couch I was so tired. We headed back to our 5er and promised to say our good-bye's in the morning.

Travel Bug out.

9 comments:

  1. We, too, saw the OKC Memorial in the dark. What a wonderful job they did remembering the lost. Wish you could have gotten into the church right across the street. We visited with the Father who told us how the bomb blew out the windows of the church and his secretary had been sitting at her desk just seconds before it went off. God was looking out for her for sure.
    What awesome photos you got in the dark. I am sure it feels so peaceful to run that early. No busy traffic to interfere with your thoughts.
    We met Janice and Dave in Houston. What a wonderful, fun couple. Glad you got to meet them face to face.

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    1. Hi Marsha and Paul,
      The OKC Memorial is so awesome. The dark made it doubly so. Interesting story about the church secretary. She was truly blessed.

      In meeting Janice and Dave, I only wish we had more time to do some things with them. I would have liked to cook them a pancake and fried egg breakfast, but our schedules didn't work out that way.

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  2. I know the day will come when we end up going the wrong way, all's well that ends well. Enjoy your trip, safe travels northward.

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    1. The only things worse than getting lost are going a route with an overpass that is too low, ending up on a dead end or "No Outlet" street with nowhere to turn around, and running out of gas. We're dreading the day that any of those things happen.

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  3. ha ha. ..love your "oasis of good food". . .that is a fact for sure. . .you can just look at us and tell. . .

    I think we will see the OKC Memorial after dark also. . .probably both. . .those chairs lit up are very poignant. . .love that. . .

    Glad you guys arrived safely in Iowa. . .waiting to hear about the Fairgrounds. . .face kinda scrunched up. . .almost afraid to know. . .LOL! Hope it was okay!

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    1. We love the fairgrounds, we love Des Moines, AND we're staying another night. We have squirrels, bunnies and groundhogs within view. (But we do see what you mean about unlevel!! All part of the adventure.

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  4. How beautiful that memorial is in the dark. I would have never guessed. Of course, walking the town in the early morning was wonderful as well. Loved the photos. I just can't believe how green Oklahoma looks! sheesh! out west everything is brown and crispy.

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    1. We love how green everything is too. Of course South Central Texas in the summer is nothing, if not brown!

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  5. I am thinking you were very brave to wander around downtown OKC in the dark! :)
    Glad you enjoyed your visit to Oklahoma. Next time come over to the north east corner. Lots of interesting sites in Bartlesville. Including Frank Lloyd Wright's only sky scraper.

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