Oklahoma - Times 2

In our quest to fulfill the list of national park sites, Joe and I decided to take a weekend to go to the Washita Battlefield National Historic Site in Oklahoma. We left on Saturday night and drove part of the way, then we got up and went the rest of the way on Sunday morning. We had seen most of the visitor center and were watching the film when I got calls from Dad and my brother telling me that they had taken my mom to the emergency room. It sounded rather dire, too, in that her arms were shaking and she couldn't control them. The incident had really upset her and she had started crying.  So, my dad was sitting in the emergency room by himself. Sigh... I called Joshua and asked him to go meet dad, and he did (bless his heart). Meanwhile, Joe and I high-tailed it back to Texas and Steve came down too. Fortunately, by the time we got there - 3 or 4 hours later - Mom was home and doing pretty well. But, this has been the 3rd or 4th such episode. Each one is a little different, but each one lands her in the emergency room. I don't like that at all...

When Mom got back on her feet, we returned to Oklahoma. This time, we headed straight north and stopped at Chickasaw National Recreation Area and then went to Oklahoma City to visit the Memorial Museum. We had seen the memorial with Joe's parents a few years ago, but never been to the museum. It was really very interesting. They are re-doing part of it, so it would be interesting to go back and visit again when they are done. But, it tells the story of the bombing, the rescue efforts, some rescue workers, the survivors, the victims, and the search and ultimate capture of those who committed the crime. A lot to tell in a museum! We were there until it closed. We made it all the way through, but did not give proper time to the last couple of rooms. We walked around the memorial again when we were done, and then we headed to Cattleman's for dinner (a Triple D restaurant). After filling our bellies, we headed back to Washita to do the trail of the battlefield.

Chickasaw was very pretty, but there wasn't much water in the streams or at the springs.

The Memorial Museum

A little blurry because of the dark, but Cattleman's (for dinner)!

Washita tells the story of the surprise attack on a peaceful Indian tribe (the Cheyenne) by the US Army (in particular, Custer and his men). They had mistaken the Cheyenne camp for the less-peaceful Indian camp that was actually further down the river. Many died that night, including Black Kettle, the chief of the Cheyenne that repeatedly tried to make peace with the white men. As we all know, Custer got his in the end. But, the story is sad. So many lives lost.

The Battlefield at Washita National Historic Site

With a little time left to our weekend, we actually decided to go home back through Oklahoma City. A bit of poor planning, but it was interstate that way and we had driven the other way last time. On the way back through OKC, we visited the Capitol Building, which is also on my list of travel to-dos, and then we knocked out one more Triple D, Leo's BBQ.