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Ardmore Ride 9-10-2011

Start the day with a good breakfast. Lee & Vickie,Tom & Paula,Lavoyd & Linnie were joined by Gary & Barbara of Chapter B.
70 degrees as we ride to Commanche. First pit stop there at Love's.
Paula found a new mascot for their trike, one crazy cat!!
After heading east on 53 from Commanche we hit 70 at Wilson,OK. Then into Ardmore and their Museum.
The temp. was up to 82 degrees and sunny, perfect for a ride!
Many examples of life in early years of Oklahoma.
The museum is in the old Ardmore Armory dated from the 1930's.
In 1895 the growing town of Ardmore was almost totally destroyed by fire. A large photo gallery is on display.
The next time the town was almost destroyed it was a large explosion of rail tanker cars of oil.
This was in the early 1900's and caused 43 deaths and much destruction.
They have a very large collection of military items from Oklahoma service members.
Items from the Civil War on through the First Gulf War.
The military portion of the museum is more than half of the building.
A very large collection of uniforms from all branches of service and military schools.
The very first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy was a Oklahoma native, this is one of his uniforms.
These pictures are very little of what is on display in this museum. A person could spend a full day here. All items are on loan from Oklahoma service members or their families.
After a long lunch we took a 360 degree ride around Lake Murray. Pulling into many camp grounds and areas of interest
It had gotten warmer and at this stop near the water Gary went to soak a neckerchief and cool off alittle.
The last stop was at Waurika for some cobbler and ice cream before splitting up and each of us heading home or to other distinations. Great weather and good company made for a fine 300 mile day!

By LeTomp
September, 2011