Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Yesterday started very early (5:00am) because we had one of our long drives ahead. The temperature was 54 degrees (the temperature comes into play later) when we left the beautiful city of Santa Fe. It has a very eccentric feel to the city. The city only allows pueblo style homes and no houses taller than the tree line. We are looking forward to our return visit to see family and find out more about this city.

After passing the morning driving through the last parts of New Mexico, we arrived in Texas. Texas is exactly as they say it is. It is so flat you can see the back of your head. No joking; nothing to look at but flat plains and too many cows to count. The wind swept plains of Texas is an accurate description. The only side note that made Texas worth mentioning was the side trip we took in Amarillo. We found the farm (right off of I-40, exit 60 to exit 62, in case you plan to visit) where the owner had buried 10 vintage Cadillac’s nose first and allows visitors to leave their own personal mark. (It has been in several movies and TV shows, so you might know what I am talking about.) Kim and the girls spray painted their marks on the cars and I finally relented and joined in the festivities. This is one of things Kim and I were hoping to experience with the girls on this trip. The wind was still howling and the temperature had reached a balmy 70 degrees.

Several hours later we arrived in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and the temperature outside read 98 degrees and 95 percent humidity. Needless to say it was a far cry from our brisk 54 degrees in New Mexico. We headed to downtown Oklahoma City for a fun night out with the girls. We went to Bricktown; a revitalized area of downtown to accomplish several things. First, Kim read about a new winery so we headed over for a couple of free samples. Let me state for the record that we in California are very lucky because we are surrounded by great wineries. Oklahoma City is still working on making a passable wine. Kim and I did our best to cover up the fact the wines were very average and we tried our best to hide our California wine snobbery but I don’t think we are going to order any wines from them anytime soon. They did have a great name though, Put a Cork In It. Our second stop was to a minor league ball game. We saw the Oklahoma City Red Hawks (AAA for the Texas Rangers) vs. the Nashville Sound (AAA for the Milwaukee Brewers). We saw a few potential major leaguers (Alcides Escobar shortstop the Sound) and watch the Red Hawks get pasted 14-3. There is a reason the Rangers will never compete in the American League West because they couldn’t draft a pitcher if their life depended on it. The lone baseball hi-light was that we sat in the all you could eat section and Keegan, Violet and I did some serious damage on hot dogs, peanuts cotton candy, nachos and soda. Our last stop was a trip to the Oklahoma Memorial. Words can’t describe the feeling walking into the memorial. It is truly breathtaking and humbling and any descriptions I put on it will not do its justice. It is something you need to see in person. We rode the trolley from the stadium to the memorial (we left the game early, as it was a blow out) and we missed the trolley on the way back so instead of waiting another 30 minutes Kim and I and the girls hiked it back 12 blocks to where are car is parked. Both girls were out by the time we made it back onto I – 40. By the way, whoever designed the on and off ramps surrounding downtown Oklahoma City is a complete idiot and deserves to be shot. My daughters 1^st grade class could design a better system and make more functional. When we left the stadium the on ramp for I-40 was over 4 miles from the stadium and I crossed I-40 twice before I found the on ramp on a stupid service road along the freeway.

Tomorrow we head to Memphis, TN and we drive through Arkansas. I here Arkansas is pretty country so I will let you know tomorrow. I hear the King calling me. Oh and really good BBQ too.

MZ