Its hard to believe its been almost 30 years since we lived in Oklahoma City. When we moved back from Germany in 1994 we flew into St. Louis and drove through there, but didn't spend much time. We haven't been back since. For years we have wanted to go back and we finally did last week. Russ found a CE class he could take at the Dental school.
When we lived there Russ had a favorite barbecue place called Leo's that opened in the 1970's. Its in an old gas station and has been added onto since we lived there. After our hotel, it was our first stop!
I think it wasn't quite as good as he remembered or we've just found some other places just as good, but it was fun to walk down memory lane.
I think it wasn't quite as good as he remembered or we've just found some other places just as good, but it was fun to walk down memory lane.
Friday Russ attended his dental course and one of my dear friends, Kathe Madole, who I worked with at the Blood Institute when I lived there came by and picked me up for lunch. We had such a good visit and talked over some "good and bad" times. She remembers things about me that I have no recollection of. I know that was a very stressful time in my life & I think I just blocked a lot of it out when we left!!
When Russ returned from his course that day at the Dental school and I ask him how it went, I got an interesting reaction. He said when he walked into the school he had all these memories come back of how stressful and hard it had been. He asked himself, "how did I do it?" I told him, "one day at a time & we worked together!" He had really mixed emotions about going back.
We were amazed at how much they have done to fix up the city!! They have done a major facelift on downtown. After dinner we walked along the river walk, which is new to us.
When I told Kristy a couple of months ago we were going to Oklahoma she reminded me it was only a 4-5 hour drive from Kansas, where they live. We were so excited when they decided to drive down for the weekend and spend Easter with us. They arrived Friday night & we were up early Saturday to try and fit a lot in.
We started out Saturday by driving by our house we lived in for four years. The day we moved from Oklahoma we were both so emotional. Kristy told us it would be OK and we would make new friends. It was so cute, but I know it was all the hard work, stress, experiences & pulling together over the past four years that set our emotions off when we left. Seeing our old home almost seemed like another life time ago!! Here's an old photo from 30 years ago and how it looks now.
After our home we went to the Railway Museum, which the kids loved. Several of the old trains were opened so you could go in and explore the cars.
After our home we went to the Railway Museum, which the kids loved.
Several of the old trains were opened so you could go in and explore inside.
Several of the old trains were opened so you could go in and explore inside.
Shelten, Jazlyn, Matsen & Kelston
Kristy & Wes
Kristy
Matsen & Jazlyn
Our next stop was the National Cowboy Museum. This was way better than any of us thought it would be! There was a lot of "hands on" for the kids and it had a wide variety of exhibits. We could have spent more time in there, but everyone was getting hungry.
Somehow??? We ended up at Leo's barbecue again for lunch!!
Saturday night Kristy and I put together an Easter egg hunt in our hotel room. We hid 55 eggs in our room! The kids loved it!
Sunday morning it was quite cold and windy. We attended a ward in Mustang and we could all take a lesson from them in friendliness!! We were bombarded when we walked in the door with greeters! All the meetings were great and the kids loved Primary. Even Shelten loved nursery.
We stayed at the Hyatt Hotel and after church asked them if we could use their dining area where you eat breakfast to make some sandwiches. They were so nice about it. We had an Easter feast of sandwiches, chips, oranges & Girl Scout cookies!!
Unfortunately Kristy and her family had to leave after lunch. We're so thankful they made the effort to drive down to see us! Love those guys:)
It was a beautiful day so after Kristy's family left we drove out to see the temple that has been built since we lived there. We passed oil pumps, which we haven't seen in years and beautiful fields of flowers.
that had been built since we lived there.
We passed oil pumps, which we haven't seen in years and beautiful fields of flowers.
to Texas in a month or two.
We did go by the Oklahoma City National Memorial with Kristy's family, but didn't go to the museum so Russ and I did that Monday morning. It was a very sobering experience, but very well put together. The bombing of the Murrah Federal Building took place April 19, 1995.
This is a field of 168 empty chairs representing each individual who lost their life from the bombing.
One of Russ' dental school professors and his wife were killed in the bombing and he is listening to their daughter talk about them.
One of Russ' dental school professors and his wife were killed in the bombing and he is listening to their daughter talk about them.
The tallest building in OKC is the Devon Energy Center and was finished in 2012. Its 50 stories high and has a restaurant on the top floor. My friend was telling me they serve a buffet at lunch so we tried it out on Monday. I really wanted the view more than the lunch. It really is a beautiful building & wish we could have had a tour, but they're only on Thursdays.
Monday evening we flew home and had a lovely view of Mt. Rainer out the window of our plane.
It was really nice to go back and catch up with a few individuals, but almost seems like a dream we ever really lived there?? It was truly another whole way of life back then!!
