Sunday,October 6, Monday, October 7, and Tuesday, October 8. Little Rock, Oklahoma City, and Amarillo, TX

Sunday. We left the truck stop and stopped by Walmart for essentials. Then went to Best Buy to get Beth a battery charger for her camera, one of those essentials we forgot!  An unexpected benefit of RV shopping is that groceries go from cart to refrigerator .  No lugging them in at home.  We checked in at the North Little Rock Municipal Campground which was right on the Arkansas River. We had great view of the Little Rock skyline across the river. There was only one space left here because all the Corps of Engineer's parks/campgrounds were closed by Obama until he can get the Republicans to see things his way.  We were greatly disappointed to find out that the Clinton Presidential Library was closed due to the government shutdown.  Grrrr!

Bill enjoyed the afternoon cycling along the riverfront park  bike/ pedestrian paths.  There are several bridges over the river that have been transformed into walkways and bike paths.   Beth liked her quiet time back at the camper and the cool weather.

Monday, after we crossed into Oklahoma, we stopped at  Lake Eufaula State Park.  We never saw the lake, but the campground was pretty and peaceful.  For seniors the cost for a spot with full hookups was $12.  Can't complain about that!

We drove to Oklahoma City and toured the Memorial of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building.   This solemn plaque indicates the purpose of the memorial, after which an appalling timeline unfolds. We "sat in" on a meeting which commenced promptly at 9:00 at a government building across the street . The meeting quietly and efficiently proceeds. At 9:02,  the explosion thunders, and then all the chaos...then the pictures of all the victims.

One of many displays of the devastation.  

There were powerful timeline displays and photos for citizens and EMS who were injured or died in initial rescue in the unstable  More 40 agencies who responded to continue rescue, stabilize this and numerous other buildings, help families, and enforce the laws which protect our freedoms.

 A Chair for each deceased with his/her name inscribed.  Nine rows for the nine building stories.  The small chairs are for the children who were in the daycare

Outside the memorial, is 100 feet of  fence on which visitors have placed remembrances.

One of the babies that died.

We left OKC, realizing we had only 2 days to get to Albuquerque, NM for the Balloon Fiesta.  We set our goal for tonight to stop close to Amarillo, TX.  Our online helps didn't show any good campgrounds:  there aren't many towns in the Panhandle of Texas or even truck stops!  We ended up boondocking at a truck stop outside of Amarillo.  We drove most of the day and were really tired.