Murphypalooza Day 12: Where the wind comes sweeping down the plains

Oklahoma. It lives up to expectations.

It is windy, dusty, dry and hot here. There are farms and fields within the Oklahoma City city limits and the city might be the smallest one we've ever seen. But that makes it sound like we didn't like it which is not true. We had a great day here.

We started with something special for Isaac: the National Cowboy Musuem, which was housed in the most beautiful, open and airy space. The boys wore thier cowboy hats, some of the few personal items they brought along for the trip. While I'm not all that personally excited about cowboys, I did enjoy the art, including this huge statue.

There was a jail, in a recreated old west town.

Ronnie.

A big section on branding, which fascinated the boys. In fact, they are planning on making their own cows so they can brand them. I asked them if they would be playdoh cows to which Finnian said "That would take way too long!" So I'm not sure how they're going to build their herd, but we will see I guess.

The best part was a whole section geared for kids, including this dress up area. Isaac found his outfit and wore it around the museum for the rest of our visit.

One dream come true.

Then we headed downtown for lunch. We tried to eat at Cattleman's, an old cowboy eatery in the heart of the stockyards. We were surprised to find it a bit fancier than advertised, so we passed (which was not such a bad thing as they are known for their lamb fries, aka bull testicles. Mo couldn't have resisted just trying the specialty and I would have been so grossed out. I'm throwing up a little in my mouth just thinking about it.) and instead ate at the Steak and Catfish Barn. Mo ate one catfish plate for lunch. Adam from Man v. Food ate 29 in one hour. He holds the record.

Afterwards, we hopped on the free trolley and did the downtown loop. The ride was great and we got to see little pockets of the city.

 

It ended near the Oklahoma City bombing memorial, which was disturbing, but really well done. You can see the old stairs and walls leading to the federal building that used to be there.

So many years later and still the fence surrounding it was covered with personal memorials.

Chairs for all of the victims, including small versions for the children. How awful.

We headed back to the campground via Sonic for slushes to help cool us down on this hot day. We swam, made dinner and did laundry. And now as I type this, I am serenaded by about a thousand tree frogs. It cools down enough and is breezy enough to sleep without the AC. Tomorrow is a big driving day and we will hit the great state of Texas. We hope to make it to Amarillo, but if we're lucky, maybe we'll get farther. The boys are tired so cross your fingers for us that they cooperate.