Four hours later we arrived at our new lodgings, the Lucky Star Casino car park! The casino sits on top of a hill overlooking hundreds of wind turbines as far as the eye can see. The wind was blowing a gale - at least the turbines were in the right place! We checked in with security - no catches although I am sure they expected that we would be back to gamble! As with most casinos in Oklahoma the Lucky Star is owned and run by the native Indians. The majority of the staff were all descendants of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes and the income generated from the Casino supports their education and health care systems. We only know this because we talked with a lady when we were trying to work out how to play the poker machines with our free $10 gaming voucher we got from the front desk!
Our free RV site, front view
And the view out our back window
When we initially decided to head into Oklahoma we didn't realise or even consider that part of Route 66 runs through the state. We always try to find accommodation on the outskirts of a large city so chose El Reno because it is actually on Route 66 and in close proximity to Oklahoma City.
Route 66 is full of iconic things to see and do so with our trusty tourist brochure tucked under our arm we headed off to a town called Arcadia to view the 66 foot 'Pop Bottle' . At its base there is a 'gas' station, restaurant, gift shop and convenience store. The gift store has a selection of over 600 different types of soda (softdrink), the walls are literally lined with them! We had one of their signature burgers and a specially made chocolate and peanut butter milkshake before purchasing the weirdest flavoured sodas we could find.
The walls are lined with soda bottles
We just had to buy some soda
The USA is overflowing with museums, every town big or small has one! We had been told about the National Cowboy and Western Heritage museum in Oklahoma City and we are glad we went , it was just fantastic. The museum has a collection of classic and contemporary western art as well as an exhibition wing which includes a replica of a turn-of-the-century town and interactive history galleries that focus on the American cowboy incorporating a western performers gallery with a hall of fame honouring movie stars like John Wayne, Tyrone Power, Jimmy Stewart, Barbara Stanwick etc. We were so inspired we bought a number of old western movies from Walmart the next day!
We spent over 3 hours at the museum and still didn't see it all. An amazing portrayal of the Wild West!
Our final stop for the day was a visit to the memorial site for the Oklahoma bombings. In all 186 innocent people died precipitated by Timothy McVey's perception that the US government was infringing on the rights of US citizens and their handling of the Waco Siege and the Ruby Ridge incident. It is unfathomable to understand how killing innocent people including 19 children helped the cause. Timothy McVey was put put to death for his crimes.
The entrance
The third tree along is where the truck full of explosives was parked and detonated
As it was close to 5pm it was too late to go to the museum which is housed next to the monument in one of the many buildings that was damaged in the blast.
We headed home after a full day of learning - time for a drink!
We had heard that there was a cold front moving in and past experience has taught us that we need to take any and all weather warnings seriously!
Posted by RnR on their IPad
Location:El Reno Oklahoma
No comments:
Post a Comment