Wednesday, April 26, 2006

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Gary and I visited the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Ok. We really had a great day. The cost was $8.50 per person. We had lunch there and it was also very economical. They had a special show highlighting the bead work done by American Natives on their clothing, articles that went on their horses, and various bags that they made. We were able to view pictures and sculptures by Russell and Remington. The museum features various galleries. One gallery features the American Cowboy which includes saddles, bridles, barbed wire and the rawhide works of master braider Luis Ortega. The Weitzenhoffer Gallery of Fine American Firearms features Colt, Remington, Sharps, and Winchester firearms. In the Western Performers Gallery, we enjoyed seeing costumes, guns, saddles, musical instruments, and various other items used in movies by actors such as John Wayne, Audie Murphy, Gene Autry, Barbara Stanwick, and Amanda Blake. The American Rodeo Gallery has videos of all the rodeo events. The Museum is also a place for the Rodeo Hall of Fame. Property Junction is set up as a 1900 Western town at dusk which includes a saloon, school and church. They also have a garden in which famous rodeo horses and bulls are buried. More photos can be accessed in travel photos link. Be sure to click on newest so you do not have to scroll through all the albums.

Amanda Blakes costume, John Wayne's shirt from the Searchers, Pistols from the Shootist



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James Earle Fraser's End of the Trail and Abe Lincoln


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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Lake Fork, Tx.

We spent 6 wonderfull days with our friends Jim and Sherri Reed at Lake Fork, Texas. They own a pontoon boat and we spent 4 days fishing, ending up with enough fish for a fish fry the last night we were there. We were entertained by Cliff Swallows building their nests underneath the bridges. It was a good thing we had a cover over the boat. We kept so busy that we were only able to play music one night. Gary and I are both looking forward to meeting up with Jim and Sherri next January at Quartzsite.

Cliff Swallows, Great Blue Heron



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Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Space Center Houston

Wow what a lot to see!! We visited the Space Center Houston on Monday. We got there as it opened and help to close the doors. We took the tram tour to Johnson Space Center. We were able to see the mission control center which was in charge of all the space missions. Then we went to the training center where they have full scale mock-ups of the shuttle and the space station. The astronauts use the trainging center to prepare for their up-coming missions. If you get a chance to go to the center, do the tram first, as lines form later in the day and you will not get to see everything. We were able to watch all the films that they offered. They have a section that contains Faith 7, Gordon Coopers capsule, Gemini 5, and the last Apollo capsule to go to the moon. They also have moon rocks and lots of space suits from various astronauts. We chose to take the audio tour, which consisted of renting an mp3 player which gave more information about the exhibits narrated by former astronuats. The worst part about the Space center was the traffic through Houston, so if you go, try and get a motel in the Southern part of Houston. As always, more photos can be found on our travel photo link.

Last vehicle to orbit the moon, America

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Gemini 5 capsule

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Fatih 7 Capsule

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Austin, Texas

We were privileged to stay with Gary's cousin, Les Massengale while we were in Austin. He has a beautiful place on a creek. He and his wife Linda were wonderful hosts. They took us out to eat at great places and took us to the capitol building. I have posted pictures of his place on my webshots folder under Les Massengale.

Creek at Les Massengale's property


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Our next door neighbors

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