Day One: TX -- KS (589 mi)

They're off and runnin'!  Veritas has begun its Fall Semester trip, and it's going to be a great one.  We got away from the school a little after 7 a.m. and arrived at the Covered Wagon RV Park in Abilene, Kansas around 6:15 p.m.  Our route today, for those who are plotting our course, took us up I-35W (thru Ft. Worth) to Denton, Oklahoma City, and Wichita, KS.  We were a bit surprised by a toll from the OK/KS border to Wichita, but it was only $2.  At Wichita we diverted from I-35 to I-135 north to Salina, KS.  The final leg was east on I-70 to Abilene, a charming little town and home of former president Dwight David Eisenhower.

Originally today was supposed to be strictly a travel day, but when I realized none of us had ever visited the site of the Oklahoma City bombing I decided to take the time to stop.  It was a good decision; I strongly recommend this visit to anyone passing through Oklahoma City.  The national memorial is just off the interstate (I-235), about a five minute drive from the exit.  The memorial is breathtaking.  There is an outdoor fountain and plaza on the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, with the logos/seals of the 17 agencies housed in the building etched into the pavement surrounding the fountain, one of which, of course, was the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms), a primary target of Timothy McVeigh, as retribution for the April 19, 1993 fiasco at the Branch Davidian Complex in our own back yard in Waco, Texas. Adjacent to this fountain/plaza is a block long reflecting pool, book-ended by two huge, granite walls with the times 9:01 and 9:03 engraved on these walls.  The pool commemorates the time of the bombing, 9:02.  A "field of chairs" is adjacent to the pool.  This is a grassy area with 168 chair-like, bronze sculptures representing each of the victims on that horrible day.  A very sobering memorial and one with a direct connection to our community, making it that more significant to us.

This is Veritas . . . discovering our world, making a difference!