Grand Canyon Vacation - Day 10 (Little House on the Prairie, Drive Home)

Last Day of Vacation - Day 10. We didn't have much planned for this day. Another long drive day with a stop or two along the way. Driving straight home from Bartlesville would take us 9 hours.

We packed up our hotel room, checked out and headed to the van.

Will was a bit tired this morning! 

Let me say one thing about the kids - they are troopers! Our trips aren't "vacations" like a lot of people consider when they think about a vacation. We do a lot of driving, lots of sightseeing, history lessons, getting in & out for quick stops and photo ops. We stay up late and get on the road early. Typically, a new hotel every night...which means we unpack the van of all our stuff only to have to repack it a few hours later. It isn't easy nor fun by any means! There is nothing relaxing about our vacations. BUT, these kids have seen more things in the US in the last 8-10 years than the majority of people (not just kids) will ever see in their whole lifetime. What an amazing blessing to be able to travel and see our beautiful country!

As we packed up the van, a few of us snuck away to ConocoPhillips Park (from Day 9) across from our hotel. We wanted to see the fountains and landscape in the daylight. It didn't disappoint!

Our one and only stop for the day was in Independence, Kansas at the Little House on the Prairie Museum. This stop is one that has been on our "to visit" list for many years (since 2008). We debated about visiting the museum in 2014 when we vacationed in Kansas City, but decided against the extra driving. 

We left Bartlesville and headed to Independence - an hour north. We actually slept in a bit and left around 9:00, since the museum didn't open until 10:00.

The girls loved the donkeys at the museum (the first thing we saw as we walked through the entrance. Ironically, the person who would've loved them the most (Will), was sleeping in the van! 

We walked around the property, reading the signs and checking out the cabin, school and post office. 

We headed into the gift shop and loved looking at the memorabilia (Little House on the Prairie Board Game!) and articles, remembering the Ingalls Family. 

Heading back to the van, Will was still sleeping and oblivious to us making the stop! It worked out well in the end, he most likely wouldn't have enjoyed the stop as much as the rest of us did.

We settled in for the long drive home - the only stops for the rest of the day would be gas, meals and restroom breaks.

The kids stole my phone while I was waiting for the food!

One of the rest areas that we stopped at had really low walls - we had fun with that.

We arrived home late that evening, around 9:00. We unloaded the van and cleaned it out so we could return it (rental) the next morning. We had all asked for the next day off from work, we weren't sure if we might add a day while on vacation...it worked out well to have that extra day to recoup, do laundry and unpack. 

What a wonderful trip! We traveled almost 5,300 miles, changed the clock in the van too many times to count (I'm talking to you, Arizona!), visited 12 States and multiple National & State Parks, over 20,000 pictures taken (yes, that number is correct!), 5 picnics (with and without food!), 3 visits to Walmart and 1 trash compactor! We finally got to visit places that have been on our vacation itineraries, only to be axed due to time, location or Covid.  We really enjoyed the time as a family. 

Overall Favorite Stop from our Grand Canyon Vacation - 2022

Matt - Carlsbad

Becki - Antelope Canyon

Kaitee - San Antonio Riverwalk

Alex - Grand Canyon

Will - Garden of the Gods
Maddie - Grand Canyon

2023 - we are looking forward to heading East, where the states are MUCH smaller!!

Grand Canyon Vacation - Day 9 (Dealey Plaza, Oklahoma City, Bartlesville)

Day 9 - We left Waco around 8:00 and headed north to Dallas. Our first stop on the day was at Dealey Plaza. This is the location, in November 1963, where President John F Kennedy was shot and killed. On the drive from Waco to Dallas, I found multiple articles about the events of that day and read them out loud to the family. It was heart-wrenching to read the articles, but we needed to hear what happened and we wanted the kids to understand what we were going to see.

We found a place to park and then walked towards Dealey Plaza, stopping at the JFK Memorial Plaza first.

As we took this picture, we were stopped by a conspiracy theorist who asked if he could take our picture. He had Will point up to the window where Lee Harvey Oswald was positioned (within The Texas School Book Depository Building) when he shot JFK. We listened to the theorist for a few minutes then excused ourselves and continued around the plaza.

In the picture below, look in the lower right corner of the center right window; you can see a piece of paper with a hole in it . . . that's where Oswald was positioned and took the shot that killed the President.

We walked around Dealey Plaza - reading the signs and trying to imagine the unthinkable that happened in 1963.  X's are painted on the asphalt marking the location of the President when the bullets struck him. Such a sobering site.

The next two pictures show the X marking where the President was when the fatal shot struck, with the Texas School Book Depository, where Oswald took the shot from in the background. 

In the foreground of the picture below, you can see the cement pedestal that Abraham Zapruder stood on -- his film camera captured the most famous film of assassination of the President. 

See the square "windows" in the white wall just to the left and behind the lamp post? You can see them in a frame from Zapruder's film. In our picture below you can also faintly see the X where the fatal shot happened right in front of Zapruder's camera.

We finished our time at Dealey Plaza and headed East on Elm Street to the John Neely Bryan Cabin and Founders Plaza, ending our time back at the JFK Memorial Plaza. 

We headed north out of Dallas, making a stop for lunch at Texas Roadhouse (while in Texas, right?). Texas Roadhouse is a family favorite and definitely a special treat. It has become a tradition to find one during our vacation for a special sit down meal. We planned our morning (Dealey Plaza) so that we would arrive at the restaurant just as they opened. We knew that we wouldn't have time to wait for lunch. It worked out splendidly!

The next stop on our agenda was Oklahoma City. While in OKC, we had two planned stops - Centennial Land Run Monument and the Capital Building.

Day 9 proved to be extremely hot. It was another day of well over 100° but we were facing high humidity as well. It was miserable. Once we arrived in OKC, our first stop was at the Centennial Land Run Monument. Let me just say that this area was beautiful! I really wish that we'd had more time...but more importantly, that the day had been cooler. We would've spent more time there for sure. 

Bricktown River Walk Park holds an amazing monument - Centennial Land Run Monument. These sculptures/statues were built to commemorate the opening of the unassigned land in the Oklahoma Territory. This was the 1889 Land Run. This monument features 45 figures, all in motion as they hurry to lay claim to the newly opened land settlements. It was so life-like and drew us in, like we were there with them in the moment!

Remember how I mentioned it was hot...Dead squirrels - dead from the excessive heat!

It was 107 degrees out, so hot that Matt's phone overheated and shut down - no more pictures from him until after his phone cooled off in the car's a/c.

Kaitee asked if we could stop at the Oklahoma City National Memorial. We had visited it 2015 and she was wanting to see it again. 

After our visit in 2015, we read about the Ten Commandments Monument, which had been built and located at the OKC Capital Building. After a tumultuous few years, the monument was relocated from the Capital to the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, just down the street from the Capital Building. For this trip, we added that to the agenda (as well as the capital building).

We first stopped at the capital building for pictures and then headed to the Ten Commandments Monument.

We finished our day in Bartlesville, OK where our hotel was located. This town was the hidden gem of our trip! I had chosen Bartlesville for our hotel because it was on the way from OKC to Independence (where our next stop would be, on day 10). I had no clue that we would drive away (on day 10), having fallen in love with the town!

When I realized that we would be arriving at our hotel fairly early in the evening, I did a Google search of Bartlesville to see what we could do/see. I found 2 things - Price Tower and Sooner Park Play Tower. We headed to the Play Tower first. What a fun find! We waited our turn as another family was already up in the sphere. Once they came down, we climbed up. It was intimidating for a few of us and when we reached the top, the breeze moved the tower. Unfortunately, there was another family waiting for their turn so we didn't spend a lot of time up above. We took a few minutes to enjoy the view and take some pictures, but that was the extent of our time at the tower. 

Notice the bench that goes the circumference of the sphere. It would be nice to sit there in the morning or evening to watch the sun rise/set. 

We googled ideas for dinner and settled on Simple Simon's Pizza. Luckily, they were open and had dine in seating! It wasn't your typical pizza/Italian place - a little less conventional - but the pizza and cheesy bread were delicious and just what we needed!

Matt asked if we could find a letterbox which was on the way to our hotel. As we pulled up, I recognized the building immediately! It was Price Tower, which I saw on my Google search. Price Tower was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1950s. It was built for Harold Price - as headquarters for Price's oil company. Another interesting tidbit - Sooner Park Play Tower was commissioned to be built by Harold Price's wife in 1963. She wanted to have something built for the kids of Bartlesville. The first tower (1963) was decommissioned in the 1990s due to deterioration. In 2014, the city restored it (50 years later) and opened it back up to the public.

We arrived at the Price Tower Plaza around 8:45 - it was an absolutely beautiful evening, just as the sun was setting. Matt looked for the letterbox while Kaitee sat on the rocks, enjoying the quiet of the evening. Maddie & Alex ran through the fountains and explored the plaza area. I loved walking around as well - taking lots of pictures as I walked. Will stayed in the van, he was ready to get to the hotel.

Just before the video below, Alex made the mistake of trying to jump/walk over a spout. Let's just say she got doused!

We left Price Tower Plaza and headed to our hotel for the night. I asked Matt to stop so I could hop out and take a picture of this tower. All lit up at night and the gorgeous sunset behind it - beautiful!

.

Matt went in to the hotel to check in and Kaitee and I headed over to ConocoPhillips Park, directly across the street from our hotel.

While Kaitee & I walked through the park, Matt, Alex & the twins unpacked the van and got settled into the hotel room. They headed down to the swimming pool for a bit too - the one and only time of swimming on the trip.

The evening hours that we spent in Bartlesville were such an unexpected gift! We had no clue that this town would be so enchanting! We loved the Sooner Park Play Tower, dinner was yummy and our time at Price Tower Plaza and ConocoPhillips Park was so serene. For me, this evening is one I will never forget.

Favorites from Day 9

Matt - Dealey Plaza, Bartlesville

Becki - Bartlesville

Kaitee - Enjoyed Evening at the different plazas

Alex - JFK history/Dealey Plaza, Price Tower Plaza
Will - Texas Roadhouse, Hotel (Really nice hotel and swimming)
Maddie - Texas Roadhouse, Price Tower Plaza, Swimming