We stole a couple of days in Oklahoma City and really enjoyed this very easy to navigate small city. Of course, the visit started with tickets to see the Thunder play the Pacers. The temps were cold outside, but it was hot and hoppin' inside the Arena.
It was cool to see Durant and Westbrook in person. They did not disappoint and the adoring OKC crowd made the game a really fun experience. They love their team in OKC!
We went to the historic Oklahoma City stockyards on Monday and were lucky to be there on the day when they host a weekly cattle auction. The grounds were immense and they moved thousands of cattle through the auction that day.
The cattle enter through one gate and exit through the other so the bidders can see them. This goes on all day until there are no cattle left to sell. Bidders come from all around the area and are the "real" cowboys.
You walk on a catwalk, above all the cattle, en route to the auction. The walk provides another way for the buyers to view the cattle. 
We also visited the Memorial for the April, 1995 bombing of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building. The Memorial was very moving and throughtful. Below you can see remnants of the original building, scratched onto the surface of the parking garage that was adjacent.
The American Elm tree above is 80+ years old and survived the explosion. The Memorial honors the tree with plantings of new native trees - representing the first responders to the attack - all leading up to the Elm.
One chair for every victim. They are aligned in rows based on the number of victims per floor; one row per floor for a total of 168 chairs. The bases of the chairs light up at dusk for a beautiful tribute and reminder.
The bombing happened right downtown. The skyline surrounds the Memorial.
These scenes are all from inside the city's Myriad Botanical Gardens. It was a neat place to explore and it was also decorated for the holiday season.
