Day 12

Once again we started our day travelling west on Interstate 40.  Our first stop was at the Cadillac Ranch.  This is a collection of ten old Cadillacs buried half way in the ground.  They are covered in graffiti and the owner welcomes that.  Next we stopped near Pampa, TX at the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ Memorial.  This structure and the surrounding sculptures are dedicated to victims of abortion.  The memorial includes the Cross and the Twelve Stations of the Cross as well as sculptures of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. The cross can be seen from a distance of about 20 miles away  Our final destination of the day was Oklahoma City, capitol of the state of Oklahoma.  First we visited the Cowboy Hall of Fame.  This a great place with all things cowboy.  There is Western art, gun collections, hats, saddles and a great exhibit of memorabilia from the old cowboy movies. Next was a visit to the state Capitol Building which has an oil well on the front lawn.  Then we headed to the site of the Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrah Federal Building.  The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum is dedicated to the 168 people who were killed in the explosion.  There is a chair dedicated to each of the victims, many of them children.  That was a sobering way to end our day.

The Cadillac Ranch 

 The Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ rises nearly 200 ft.

Another view if the Cross

Divine Mercy Fountain

Sculptures of The Last Supper and  The Crucifixion

John Wayne's Winchester used in the movies Stagecoach in 1939 and True Grit in 1969.

The guitar of Gene Autrey, the "Singing Cowboy"

Sculpture of Buffalo Bill Cody

Saddle awarded to the World Champion Rodeo Cowboy in 1937

The Capitol of Oklahoma with an oil well on the front lawn.  This oil well actually pumped oil from 1941 to1987.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.  The chairs in the background are on the site where the building stood.  The reflecting pool is where the road was located and where the bomb was planted.

One of the chairs dedicated to those killed in Oklahoma City.