Our 4-year old grandson, Will, waits patiently for the Forest Lake 4th of July parade to begin.

I miss my peonies (not really mine anymore)

Minnesota - July 2

We arrived early in the day, so we took a little drive to the old homestead. Looks about the same, trees a little bigger, weeds a little longer....

No offense to the Iowans out there, but this is why we drove very quickly through the state.

We barely had time to go through the Cowboy Museum. This sculpture, "End of the Trail" by James Earle Fraser, was in the main lobby. There was much more Western art, indian artifacts, cowboy memorabilia, and rodeo stuff. A great collection that we wished for more time to see.

A cool dude and his cool dog...dog had goggles on, but dude did not.

Gates of time...these gates mark the entrance to the memorial. The east gate is marked 9:01, representing the innocence of the city before the bombing at 9:02. The west gate represents the moment the city was changed forever.

Field of empty chairs. These represent each of the 168 lives lost.

This was the building across the street from the Murrah bldg...now it houses a 3-story exhibit that re-enacts the moments leading up to, during and after the event. The large tree on the right is called the survivor tree, a 90 yr old elm that survived the blast.

June 29 - Oklahoma City, Ok

We spent a day in Oklahoma City to see the National Memorial and Museum. The Murrah Federal Building was bombed on April 19, 1995. Here I'm standing at the entrance to the memorial, and behind me you look across the reflection pool to the west gate.