Day 14 - Elk City, OK to Forrest City, AR via the Oklahoma City Memorial
534 Miles
Very briefly about the ride, it was fairly hot (started in the mid-70's, shot up quickly into the 80's and all after noon was in the low to mid 90's. As you can see it was all interstate. That's fine. Starting tomorrow we're almost done with the big I's.
Arkansas was a classic example of what today's youth have lost and won't even know it. We used to ride along and see the rivers, lakes, farmland, etc. Now, once out of the plains, in so much of America they've let trees grow together along the interstates. Where you once saw wide open countryside, now you only see walls of trees with short wisps of scenery. Sorry - I've been noticing this getting worse for several years and saw quite a bit on this trip as well. Arkansas interstate seems to be be where it was most noticeable.
However, we want to focus the bulk of today's photos on the Oklahoma City Memorial. The architects did an excellent job focusing on the moment of the attack by having one entrance symbolize the minute before the attack and a facing entrance at the other end of the reflection pool symbolizing the minute after (9:01 & 9:03).
This was a panoramic view. Expand it to get the full effect.
Next to the memorial pool are the chairs they've lined up to symbolize the folks who were killed and where they were located when it happened.
The following was written over the museum:
These tiles were along the wall leading to the museum entrance:
Finally around the memorial, which is actually built in the spot where the Federal Building used to sit, are signs of the damage; small remnants of the remains of the original building.
When you get a chance, swing by Oklahoma City and check out the memorial and museum. It's important to remember.
Tomorrow we ride across southern Tennessee, down to Huntsville and make our stop in
