Vacation from our Vacation

My apologies, folks.  I've been so distracted during the last few posts that they haven't quite been up to my normal standards.  I know I can't watch TV and write or do homework or anything else requiring much focus but I tried to do that anyway.  Fortunately, there's a sports game on right now so I can focus on my blog without too much trouble.  I forgot to mention in my last post two things: In Missouri we also visited a second national park.  It was called George Washington Carver National Monument.  We had a nice time there.  We saw the film, I got my stamps, and I learned a lot about a man I previously had no knowledge about.  Also, I forgot to say that we stopped at what seems to be a very popular and well-known local landmark.  Its called the Blue Whale in Catoosa, OK.  It looks like a cool place to be in the summer when the water slides and other swimming activities are more pleasant and warm but it was still neat to explore and take pictures of on our way to Tulsa.  

I also promised some more history on the statue from my last post.  The Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza shows a horse and cart and a model T Ford vehicle.  This represents the meeting of the East with the West and of the modern world with the historical one.  

So.  Now we can move on to the current news.  Yesterday I slept late after having been up until 3 AM on my ride along the previous night.  When I got up my cousins and I went to go get breakfast at a place called the Corner Cafe.  It has a lot of Route 66 memorabilia and a monument in the parking lot for the Meadow Gold company.  Apparently it was located down the street for almost 70 years until it was relocated to its current position.  From the little bit of the plaque that I read, the company produced dairy products and sold them to the local area.  Mostly, I just liked the sign... 

After we ate breakfast, we drove around downtown Tulsa and explored some more Route 66 sights.  It was funny because the family Danielle and I are staying with had never noticed as many 66 signs and murals before we came as they did when we were driving around purposely looking for them.  It was fun for all of us! In the afternoon Danielle and I attended Church on the Move with my friends Phillip and Sarah from my Thailand mission trip all the way back in 2009! It was great to see them again.  The best part was after the service when Danielle decided to get baptized!!  It was a total surprise but a great one at that.  I was happy to be there so I could video tape the big day.

After dark (and the best part of the day in my opinion) we got to go up in the police helicopter!! I've never been up in a helicopter before.  People had warned me multiple times that I might get motion sick, especially if we got a call and had to fly in circles for an hour.  That made me nervous but excitement quickly won out.  Our pilots were great! When we first got up in the air there was a traffic stop going on and we thought the guy was going to run from the police but he didn't.  That was unfortunate because it would have been really fun to help with the man hunt afterwards.  We stayed in the air for almost two hours.  By the time we got home it was midnight.

Today we slept even later.  When we woke up there was snow on the ground!! Surprise! The temperature dropped almost 30 degrees between yesterday and today :(  We spent the morning with french toast and a movie.  When we ventured out this evening, we got a great tour of the office building where our cousin Nick works.  We also did another loop through downtown to take tourist-y pictures.  

We have been incredibly lucky to stay the weekend here in Oklahoma.  Last week was stressful and exhausting with all the driving and never knowing where we would stay the night.  That's why I titled this post as I did.  Saturday and Sunday have been a vacation from our vacation.  Tomorrow we head back out on the road.  We will stop somewhere between Oklahoma City and the OK/TX border.  In a couple of days we will be in Amarillo and with our next group of family.  

I feel lucky to know people in so many random places!