Monday, May 23, 2016 - Sand Springs to Lawton

Rain in the morning and more museums the rest of the day.  We left the Tulsa area just ahead of a line of thunderstorms - and we drove through them most of the way to Oklahoma City. Got to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum at 9 when we thought it opened - wrong, it opens at 10.  We drove downtown, then wandered thru the streets until we found the memorial for thre Oklahoma City bombing.  Did a slow drive-around, then to the Oklahoma History Center, where we looked through the galleries for the 30-something tribes in Oklahoma, a Kiowa painted teepee, and the CW exhibit.  Outside the entry, Apache sculptor Allan Houser is featured.

Back to the Cowboy Museum.  We'd decided to have lunch there, Navajo Taco or Frito Pie - closed on Mondays.  Guess I need to research better next time. It's a good museum, lots of great art, a firearms collection, western history, rodeo, western movies.  Worn out again!


On to Lawton w/o a real lunch. just a quick stop at a McDs.  Got to the Museum of the Great Plains, an interactive museum which is great for kids but a bit overpriced for adults familiar with the history & geography. A high point is the tornado experience simulation - you're in a cellar for a major tornado hearing all the sounds.  Sandra met a couple of bison, this giant bronze one

and this sleepy character

Right next door is the Comanche National Museum and Heritage Center.  The gentleman manning the desk was a relative of the last Comanche code talker of the 14 who landed at Utah Beach and were involved in the rest of WWII in Europe.  This museum covers the history & culture of the Comanche people in brief, and it's free.  It even has a "selfies site."

Found our Candlewood Suites & checked in, went to Golden Corral for supper, and had another surprise when we got back - a fraud detected email on my credit card.  Ouch!

211 miles on the day, 559 on the trip.  Tomorrow we drive to Pecos TX on I-44, US-277 & I-20.