Wendy's Wonderings

Dear Peter,

To me day 3 of the vacation was THE BEST. :-) We left Witchita Falls about 8:00 am and drove into Oklahoma. We stopped at the Visitors Information Center to walk a bit, take care of business, pick up some more info about the things we wanted to see, and let the nephew by a t-shirt. This was just after paying the toll. Oklahoma has A LOT of tolls. I don't know how the people who live there afford to travel.

Anyway, we drove on into Lawton and our first stop was the Ft. Sill Museum. Now, I don't know why this did not occur to me sooner, but we actually had to go through a security check point. Not that we minded at all, it's just that it didn't occur to me that we would, even though I knew it was an operating military base. So, after going through security we made our way to the museum. Along the way we passed tanks, rockets, old guns that are on display, the barracks, and the officer housing. It was really neat to see all of that up close, and to hear the tanks and gunfire up close. This is where the army practices there shooting.

The museum was really great. We learned a lot about the original post, Geronimo, the Buffalo Soldiers, ect... David bought some souveniers for his friends, and we watched a 20 minute film about the history of the museum. It was very informative. The lady in the museum told us about the chapel on the base. It is the original chapel, and is the one they still use today. They also have a bell, and if you visit the museum you are supposed to go ring the bell. So, I have a really neat picture of the nephew ringing the bell.

We then made our way into the Wichita Mountains. Our destination, Meers Store; home of the 7" Longhorn Burger. Mom and I split one, but the "men" had their own, and finished it. These burgers are served on 9", tin pie plates, just to emphasis how big these suckers are.

After a very filling meal we drove into the mountains and the wildlife refuge. We saw some buffalo very close to the road. It was awesome to see them that close. We also saw hundreds of prairie dogs. Everywhere you looked there were prairie dogs. We drove into the Holy City of the Witchita's. This is a city built out of stone, and they perform the Passion Play every Easter. It is so cool!! The chapel has paintings of the 12 disciples on the wall, and angels painted everywhere, including the ceiling. Dave laid on the floor to get pictures of the ceiling. :-) After we left the gift shop we continued driving through the mountains, and then made our "treck" up Mt. Scott.

I have to brag on my brother here. The man does NOT like heights, but he drove over half a mile to the top of this mountain, and stopped twice along the way to allow me to take pictures. That's love for your family!!! They trip down was a lot easier. :-)

We then went to our hotel. We decided to just get fast food and call it an early night that night. This day was the most fun day, in my opinion. We laughed so hard that day, learned so much, and the weather was gorgeous. This is one of those days that you had to be there to really understand just how great it was.

Next time, days 4 and 5. That entry will be much shorter. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling