Day Six of our Road Trip Across America - Happy Trails

We began our day after spending a wonderful evening at Country Inn & Suites - Meridian in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - http://www.countryinns.com/hotels/okokair.  Breakfast consisted of biscuits with sausage gravy and bacon on the side, it was wonderful.  Colette, the manager of the hotel was great and full of hospitality.

We spent the better part of our day in Oklahoma City, OK and I have to tell you - what a place to spend time.  It was completely the opposite of what I had in my mind Oklahoma City would be.  I was thinking Western, dry, rural and quiet - to my astonishment it was filled with amazing people, amazing locations and amazing topography, history and destinations!  What a way to begin our day than the National Cowboy Museum http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/.  When you enter this beautiful building you are struck with how rich the history and people were that came before us and forged this country into what it is today.  The sculpture you see above is an 18-foot plaster piece by James Earle Fraser called 'End of the Trail.'  It struck me how ironic it was to begin the day before the end of our #CIS1K with a tribute to this warriors end of his trail.  There truly was so many sights to see here, it was hard to fit it all into the microcosm of time we had.  Yet again, another place to return to - which causes excitement about a return to Oklahoma City, OK and it's gracious people.

We set forward to the Bricktown in Oklahoma City, OK - http://www.bricktownokc.com/ to take go on a tour via water taxi around the area - http://www.bricktownwatertaxi.com/.  We saw this amazing mosaic contructed by local artisans, as well as the corporate headquarters of Sonic, beautiful magnolia trees, this phenomenal Bronze sculpture outdoor exhibit that is still in process and when done will be the largest bronze sculpture exhibit in the world.  The bronze sculptures depicted the early cowboys that came to claim land in the area.  Back in the day, as long as you settled on the property and built a house within three years - 160 acres were yours for the taking, bring your flag!

We ate at one of the many restaurants along the waterfront, it was a New Orleans themed restaurant.  I had a burger topped with Andouille, called the Louis Armstrong, Mitch had a catfish po' boy and Kara Williams, our travel companion on the adventure had red beans and rice, while her husband ordered a shrimp po' boy.  The food was a nice adventure for our pallets and the atmosphere was similar to that which you would find in NoLa. 

We hopped back into our Ford Flex and drove to Sulphur, Oklahoma to pay a visit to the almighty Bison at Chickasaw National Recreation Area - http://www.nps.gov/chic/index.htm.  This Suite Stop required us to upload a video of us singing 'Home on the range....'  My 14-yo did not know the lyrics, I guess it's time to start renting musicals!  We began to notice a change in topography here, as well as wildlife.  We saw cactus growing, armadillo and heard we might even run into scorpions.  Aunty Em, we aren't in Minnesota anymore...

We headed to Texas to get a photo of us at the State Line and then on to Denton, Texas to catch a glimpse of the 114-yo Courthouse.  I found Denton to be lovely and we stopped at a local frozen yogurt shop called Yogurt Fusion.  Here they had several, self-serve flavors but what was interesting is at each section were three dispensers - one on each side for a single flavor, i.e. yellow cake on one side, peanut butter on the other.  If you used the middle dispenser - it would fuse the two flavors together to create say - yellow peanut butter cake.  Delish - I highly recommend this hotspot, they even have a Wii to create memories with the family.

As we wound down our day, we drove to Lewisville, Texas and were greeted warmly by Country Inn & Suites, Lewisville - http://www.countryinns.com/lewisvilletx.  I have yet to eat my shortbread cookie, but I guarantee I will thoroughly enjoy it.  Our room contained a mysterious box with a crepe-paper question mark taped to it.  Strict orders to not open the box were given until instructed - I love surprises.

Let me say before this trip winds down that over the last week my family has experienced things that we will be able to take with us for a lifetime.  It has generated conversations we would have never had the time to do and will make for future conversations as we continue to process the amazement of what we have been able to enjoy.  We are grateful to Country Inn & Suites by Carlson for inviting us to participate and sponsor such an amazing adventure as the #CIS1K Road Trip Adventure. 

Remember, you can schedule your own mystery trip - make the effort to do a road trip, slow your life down and get out to see this beautiful country that our forefathers fought for.  There have been so many wonderful individuals and experiences to mention.  Go to http://www.talkofthecountry.com/ and take us along with you on your family's adventure!  Cheers....