World United States Oklahoma Oklahoma City

2012

Glimpse of Oklahoma City, OK Jul 12, 2012

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Thursday, July 12, 2012 - From Rockwell RV Park, Oklahoma City, OK = We left Dodge City about 9:45 a.m. this morning headed south to Oklahoma City for a quick visit before we head further south to Texas.

About 45 minutes out of Dodge City, we discovered we had a problem with the Blue Ox towing bar that attaches the Saturn to the motor home. We had felt a couple of strange bumps and could see in the small rearview screen that the car wasn't tracking properly behind the motorhome, so we stopped to check it out. After assessing the problem, Tommy came up with a very creative (and unusual) solution (see photos) and we were back on the road again!

We arrived in Oklahoma City, OK about 3:30 p.m. and settled the rig in Space 45 at Rockwell RV Park, less than a mile off I-40. We plan to move on south in the morning so have only the rest of the evening to see a little of Oklahoma City.

With such a short time span, we chose to take the Bricktown Canal narrated tour which gave us a glimpse of the downtown area and is very similar to San Antonio's River Walk. Our boat captain was well informed and very personable which made for a fun 40 minute tour.

Bricktown was formerly a warehouse district, but is now an entertainment district east of downtown Oklahoma City. The major attractions are the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, the navagable Bricktown Canal, Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill, a view of the Centennial Land Run Monument and assorted restaurants and bars. There are plans to enlarge the canal area in the near future.

The Centennial Land Run Monument was probably my favorite part of the tour. The first major pieces were placed in April, 2003. When complete in 2015, the sculpture-in-progress will feature 45 heroic figures of land run participants frozen in motion as they race to claim new homesteads.

When completed, this piece of art will be one of the largest freestanding bronze sculptures in the world. It will span a distance of 365 feet in length by 36 feet in width and over 16 feet in height.

The artist, Paul Moore, is a 5th generation Oklahoman and is Artist in Residence and Professor of figurative Sculpture at the University of Oklahoma. His great-grandfather participated in the Land Run of 1889.

The sculptures are wonderful; so lifelike and each one with different characteristics. There's a dog running along beside the horses and even a rabbit nearby. One rider is barefoot, riding bareback on a draft horse. According to our tour guide, one of the couples driving one of the wagons represents the great-grandparents of the artist.

The traffic in the downtown area was terrible and there was a lot of highway construction in the area, but of course, we got a late start and wound up in the five o'clock traffic too! The canal tour was a great way to see a portion of the downtown area in just a short time.

Oklahoma City has a population of 541,340 and has a long list of attractions and things to do; you could easily spend a few days touring here. Wish we had more time, but maybe we'll come back in 2015 and see the finished Land Run Monuments.

So, until tormorrow ... may God grant you safe travels ... Cheers!