ESCAPING THE ARCTIC BLAST

Feb. 2, 2013 -- On The Road Again

Preparations for our trip to the Southwest started a few days ago, and not without incident.  Jim took the RV to J & R (Jesus and Ray) Tire Shop to get the tires examined because the back tires had gone flat while sitting in storage...Uff Da.  Ray tested the tires for leaks, and declared there was nothing wrong, so with Ray's tire expertise and the Divine intervention of Jesus,we are hoping the tire issues are a thing of the past.

The RV came home and sat in our driveway for 2 days while we endured -30 and -40 wind chills.  Feb. 1st we were ready to pack up, but found out the RV was frozen and wouldn't start.  An Emergency Road Service call was made before we even left the driveway.

If we stare at it long enough it might start.

The temp was -7 when we left Saturday morning.  We headed down ice covered I-35 and stayed on the freeway, hauling ass to get out of the frigid weather.  We arrived in Overland Park, KS about 5:00 where there was no snow and the temps were in the high 30's...balmy!  Georgia Ann (my cousin) and Roger Peterson's home was our stop for the night.  They served us dinner, poured various wines, and offered us a comfortable bed in their beautiful house.  We thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality.

CHEERS to cousins!

More Cheers! (Roger made the stain glass for the cabinet insert.)

Feb. 3 -  OKLAHOMA

The tires looked a little low, so when we stopped to gas up the tires got pumped up.  We arrived at our campsite in Oklahoma City, de-winterized the RV, then took the Jeep to the car wash to get off the road salt and grime.  Later, we took advantage of the RV park's indoor pool and hot tub.

Feb. 4th.  Oklahoma City National Memorial

We got up early to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial.  On April 19, 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City was bombed and took the lives of 168, and injured 680 people.  The blast damaged or destroyed 324 buildings in a 16 block radius.  The Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated on April 19, 2000 to commemorate the victims of the bombing.  The Memorial is built on the site of the Federal Building with a reflecting pool running east and west, with 2 large gates (The Gates of Time) on either end of the pool.  One gate is inscribed with the time 9:01 and the other is inscribed with 9:03 which represents the time of the blast.  On the south side of the pool, are 168 stone chairs which represent the empty chairs at the dinner tables of the victims families.  The seats of the children killed are smaller than those of the adults whose lives were lost. 

Oklahoma City National Memorial

Victims empty chairs.

Before leaving OK City, we stopped again at the car wash and cleaned up the RV.  Getting off all that salt and filth took some doing.

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

Staying on I-35, we crossed the border into Texas and turned on the air conditioner!  We stayed the night at a campground in the Fort Worth suburb of Arlington where my nephew Tim, and his wife Mary live.  After they got off work, they picked us up to go out to a Tex-Mex restaurant.  The chips and salsa were the BEST!

Great time with Tim & Mary!  They know how to pick a fantastic restaurant.