Our last day of vacation and it was a driving day, of course. That's the only problem with Colorado, it's a good 2 day journey there and back. We had a great 2 room suite at the La Quinta in Elk City and after breakfast, we applied the last stickers to our Stow-a-Way and loaded up. About an hour and a half later we arrived in Oklahoma City. We didn't have a lot of time to sightsee, but we did stop at the Capitol Building. Franklin loved walking around the Arkansas State Capitol building earlier this year so I thought he'd enjoy the Oklahoma one too. It's been years since I've been there myself, but I did spend some time there as a kid. I attended two state History Day competitions in the Capitol and I remember going into conference rooms to be interviewed about my historical papers, plus sitting at in the chairs on the floor of the House for the awards ceremony. Also, in 1989, I paged for the Speaker of the House, Jim Barker from Muskogee (shortly before he was ousted from the position). I served for a week and learned how to get around the Capitol pretty well. When we arrived today, we discovered that the west exterior side of the building is under construction, but we soon found a door in. After a run through security, we had the building to ourselves essentially. We ended up in the House gallery and the memories came flooding back. I had forgotten that the carpeting was green and that the ceiling had stained glass panels. However, I pointed out the exact seat I sat in as a page (near the dais so the Speaker could summon me quickly). I also pointed to the spot I sat for the History Day awards ceremonies. We scampered down the back stairs and ended up outside the Speaker's office (same location as it was in 1988) and I explained how there's actually 3 offices inside: reception, conference room, and private office.
Running short on time, we went back into the rotunda and I marveled at the inside of the dome. The dome was added to the building in 2002, so I'm still not accustomed to it being there. The last time I visited, there was a flat stained glass ceiling over the rotunda so what's there now is visually better, but still not the same. We loaded back into the car and soon did a drive by of the OKC Bombing Memorial as Jason wanted to see it. My sister later told me there is a good museum there now too, but we were out of time. We pressed east and ate lunch in Shawnee. Afterwards, the Cubs were playing so we piped in the game over the radio and were soon crossing the state line into Arkansas.
This vacation has come to an end, but it was fantastic! The ten days away did a world of good for me and I hope the kiddos made some lifelong memories. It'll be good to review photos over the next week or so and relive the adventure, but for now, it's back to the office and normal daily life, which sound appealing!
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