{"id":2214,"date":"2013-07-02T00:33:53","date_gmt":"2013-07-02T05:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/?p=2214"},"modified":"2013-07-03T15:42:38","modified_gmt":"2013-07-03T20:42:38","slug":"military-move-musings-day-3-and-the-oklahoma-city-national-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/07\/military-move-musings-day-3-and-the-oklahoma-city-national-memorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Military Move Musings – Day 3 and the Oklahoma City National Memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Our<\/a>
Our view for most of Day 3’s drive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Day 3: Oklahoma City, OK (1200′ elevation) to Raton, NM<\/a> (6680′ elevation)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was not quite as long a drive as the previous day, but it was the least interesting day of driving. It was westward across western Oklahoma on I-40, then we turned northwestward in Amarillo taking U.S. highways (instead of interstates) towards Raton.<\/p>\n

Before we hit the road, though, we took a few minutes to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial<\/a>, which is a park at the site of the former Alfred Murrah Federal Building. The memorial is very beautiful and very well done. We visited at about 8am on a Sunday, so it was nearly empty. It’s sunk into the basement of the former federal building, and evidence of the bombed building can still be seen.<\/p>\n

\"They<\/a>
They preserved the foundation of the original federal building.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This<\/a>
This impacted me more than anything else about the memorial…seeing up close the power of that truck bomb.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Standing<\/a>
Standing at one end of the reflecting pool, you can see the 168 chairs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>
The wall at one end of the reflecting pool reads “9:01”, the minute before the bombing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The other side reads “9:03”, the minute after the bombing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The chairs have lights at the bases, and you can visit this area at night. It’s been described by one of my friends as “haunting” at night. The names of the victims are engraved into the clear bases of the chairs. Note the small chairs, those were the children.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We had Howie with us, and after about 20 minutes of wandering around the grounds, a security guard told us that dogs were prohibited…so we had to leave. The gentleman was quite kind about it, and even suggested we could “take our time” as we made our way to the exit gate.<\/p>\n

After that diversion, we hopped in our vehicles and headed westward.<\/p>\n

Some observations about Oklahoma:<\/p>\n