Sabbatical Day 6 | June 2, 2011
Amarillo, TX --> Oklahoma City, OK
Today was, I guess you could say, a spiritual day.
Our first stop of the day was at the VW Slug Bug Ranch - which is the VW Bug version of Cadillac Ranch. Someone put up 5 Beetles (Beatles??) nose down in tribute to Cadillac Ranch and you can walk up and spray paint them. It was neat! I was able to get some great pictures! I also discovered that my husband and I refer to the game differently - I grew up calling it 'Punch Buggy' and he grew up playing 'Slug Bug'. Who is actually correct? Who knows - but either way it was a fun and quick stop on our journey today.
Up next was the second largest cross in the Western Hemisphere. It is 190 feet tall and can be seen from up to 20 miles away and it weighs 1,250 tons (or 2.5 million pounds). It took 8 months to complete and 10 million people pass by it each year and almost a thousand stop every day. If this was the second largest, the first has to be HUMONGOUS!
What made me giggle were the signs near it that just said 'Cross'. Um. DUH. If you can't see it and couldn't figure out what it was, you probably shouldn't be driving. As we were driving up, we kind of half expected it to just be one of those 'hop out of the car, take a picture, get back in the car' kind of things but it actually was more than that. There was a shop there and I am assuming a chapel, and then around the base of the cross, it also had near life sized depictions of the stations of the cross. Then, there was also a smaller building where they had a replica of the Shroud of Turin where you could go in and see a replica of the shroud and watch a video that gives you more of a background of the shroud and the different theories and tests about the shroud. What I found amazing is that the builder and proprieter of the cross is the father of Zach
Thomas (most recently of the Kansas City Chiefs). His dad went to him with this idea and Zach pretty much paid for it. It truly is a magnificent sight and I am way super glad that we stopped. Matt and I had some really great conversations after seeing the cross and it was nice to know that he and I are on the same page on a lot of different things.
We stopped for lunch in Shamrock, TX and went in search of their piece of the Blarney Stone. We also found a couple of buildings in town that were inspirations for different buildings in the movie Cars, We did find the piece of the Blarney Stone and sadly, it was kind of disappointing. However, Domo did kiss it so we will see how THAT turns out!
We then went to the National Route 66 Museum. Due to it being almost 5, we were only able to go into 2 of the museums. I hope to god that the rest of the museums were awesome because it was kind of lame. Eh. It was fun to see some of the old cars but that's really all that I can say about it. After the museum, we went to Lucille's Famous Route 66 Gas Station. It was a quick photo op - though it might be fun to buy something like that someday... in a state that isn't so infernally hot.... and windy... and.... hot.
Our last stop of the day was the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. Unfortunately, I would have to say that I really don't remember this event happening :0( which made me realize that you don't really think about how selfish you are, or how absorbed in your own world you are when you are a teenager, until you go to something like this and then look back at that time in your life. It was a very peaceful site and it resonated with love. As you walk around, you can see remnants of the bombing that they purposely left behind as a reminder - along the side of the Journal Record building facing the bomb site, they left the blown out windows missing and filled them with black bricks. Where the wall separated due to the impact of the bomb (sections of it lifted up but did not hurt the building), they resealed the wall but you can see where they made the repairs. They also left the fire escape as it was after the bombing. On the other side of the site, where the Survivor Wall is, are the only remaining walls from the Murrah building. It was kind of surreal to see them after knowning what happened, and to touch them. And then there is the Survivor Tree - it is a 90 year old American Elm tree that was there when the bombing took place - and it survived, and it's still growing. The chairs that they put up in honor of those that died all face this tree across the reflecting pool. It was a very beautiful memorial and I am glad that we took the time to walk through and see it all.
After the memorial we headed to our 'kabin' - which was interesting. The bathroom/shower set up on this one was similar to something you would find at a TA truck stop. The bathrooms were like what you would expect or see in a restaurant or whatever. But then the showers were their own closets like you see at some of the truck stops. It was the weirdest thing ever! Not really a fan. BUT it was a shower and I could get cleaned up. (i.e. I will hate the shower passionately)
Amarillo, TX --> Oklahoma City, OK
Today was, I guess you could say, a spiritual day.
Our first stop of the day was at the VW Slug Bug Ranch - which is the VW Bug version of Cadillac Ranch. Someone put up 5 Beetles (Beatles??) nose down in tribute to Cadillac Ranch and you can walk up and spray paint them. It was neat! I was able to get some great pictures! I also discovered that my husband and I refer to the game differently - I grew up calling it 'Punch Buggy' and he grew up playing 'Slug Bug'. Who is actually correct? Who knows - but either way it was a fun and quick stop on our journey today.
Up next was the second largest cross in the Western Hemisphere. It is 190 feet tall and can be seen from up to 20 miles away and it weighs 1,250 tons (or 2.5 million pounds). It took 8 months to complete and 10 million people pass by it each year and almost a thousand stop every day. If this was the second largest, the first has to be HUMONGOUS!
What made me giggle were the signs near it that just said 'Cross'. Um. DUH. If you can't see it and couldn't figure out what it was, you probably shouldn't be driving. As we were driving up, we kind of half expected it to just be one of those 'hop out of the car, take a picture, get back in the car' kind of things but it actually was more than that. There was a shop there and I am assuming a chapel, and then around the base of the cross, it also had near life sized depictions of the stations of the cross. Then, there was also a smaller building where they had a replica of the Shroud of Turin where you could go in and see a replica of the shroud and watch a video that gives you more of a background of the shroud and the different theories and tests about the shroud. What I found amazing is that the builder and proprieter of the cross is the father of Zach
Thomas (most recently of the Kansas City Chiefs). His dad went to him with this idea and Zach pretty much paid for it. It truly is a magnificent sight and I am way super glad that we stopped. Matt and I had some really great conversations after seeing the cross and it was nice to know that he and I are on the same page on a lot of different things.
We stopped for lunch in Shamrock, TX and went in search of their piece of the Blarney Stone. We also found a couple of buildings in town that were inspirations for different buildings in the movie Cars, We did find the piece of the Blarney Stone and sadly, it was kind of disappointing. However, Domo did kiss it so we will see how THAT turns out!
We then went to the National Route 66 Museum. Due to it being almost 5, we were only able to go into 2 of the museums. I hope to god that the rest of the museums were awesome because it was kind of lame. Eh. It was fun to see some of the old cars but that's really all that I can say about it. After the museum, we went to Lucille's Famous Route 66 Gas Station. It was a quick photo op - though it might be fun to buy something like that someday... in a state that isn't so infernally hot.... and windy... and.... hot.
Our last stop of the day was the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. Unfortunately, I would have to say that I really don't remember this event happening :0( which made me realize that you don't really think about how selfish you are, or how absorbed in your own world you are when you are a teenager, until you go to something like this and then look back at that time in your life. It was a very peaceful site and it resonated with love. As you walk around, you can see remnants of the bombing that they purposely left behind as a reminder - along the side of the Journal Record building facing the bomb site, they left the blown out windows missing and filled them with black bricks. Where the wall separated due to the impact of the bomb (sections of it lifted up but did not hurt the building), they resealed the wall but you can see where they made the repairs. They also left the fire escape as it was after the bombing. On the other side of the site, where the Survivor Wall is, are the only remaining walls from the Murrah building. It was kind of surreal to see them after knowning what happened, and to touch them. And then there is the Survivor Tree - it is a 90 year old American Elm tree that was there when the bombing took place - and it survived, and it's still growing. The chairs that they put up in honor of those that died all face this tree across the reflecting pool. It was a very beautiful memorial and I am glad that we took the time to walk through and see it all.
After the memorial we headed to our 'kabin' - which was interesting. The bathroom/shower set up on this one was similar to something you would find at a TA truck stop. The bathrooms were like what you would expect or see in a restaurant or whatever. But then the showers were their own closets like you see at some of the truck stops. It was the weirdest thing ever! Not really a fan. BUT it was a shower and I could get cleaned up. (i.e. I will hate the shower passionately)
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