Road Trip 2- Missouri to Oklahoma, Oklahoma to Texas

We started our third day by visiting the Ha Ha Tonka Castle Ruins in Missouri. We went earlier in the morning in hopes of avoiding the heat. It was still humid and warm which made the walk a real sweaty one but the sights were great. It was neat to see the ruins of a carriage house, mansion and water tower that a man had built at the top of the mountain. The boys were just a little disappointed that they couldn't actually walk around in the ruins. There were also some beautiful views of Missouri. I can imagine that it would be a beautiful place to visit when all the leaves change colors in the Fall.

 

When we finished hiking the ruins we went on a short drive to our next destination, The Fantastic Caverns. These are one of just a few caverns that you can do a ride-through tour of. Grams did not want to have to walk down lots of steps so this ride through aspect really appealed to her. It was actually a pretty small cave but it was still neat to see the cool formations and the tour guide gave us lots of interesting information. We got to see how lighting in the cave changed over the years, we learned about the sink holes in the cave and how they can fill up with water, we learned about the 10 women who answered a newspaper ad and were the first explorer's of the cave, we learned how soldiers like to use bat poop from caves so the owner kept the cave hidden and we learned that they had a formation that looks like a monster from Scooby Doo ;). We also had another visit from a butterfly- Isaac saying hello again.

After the caverns we got some lunch and I was searching for other attractions on the route and happened to discover there was a Precious Moment Chapel and Museum on the route. Of course we had to stop there! It ended up being one of my favorite stops but I am sure they boys didn't love it. I bribed them with screen time and so they mostly behaved. Anyways it had a great gift shop full of things I wanted to buy, a fun little precious moment "town" outside the gift shop, a beautiful trail with precious moment statues and fountains, and a chapel with amazing murals and stained glass windows. I enjoyed hearing the touching stories behind some of the precious moments Sam Butcher had created and hearing the story behind his mural in the chapel. There was also a room dedicated towards the son that Sam Butcher had lost in a car accident. It made me a little emotional, even though I know losing an older child to a car accident isn't the same as a miscarriage, it still triggered some feelings. I ended up just buying a surprise bag for young girls (3 things in a paper bag for $30 that supposedly are worth $800), a few pictures and a postcard. My mom bought me a precious moment that was of a mom giving her baby to an angel. When I opened the bag it had a PM doll with a wedding dress, a PM heart shaped necklace and a Christmas ornament.

We had a longer stretch of driving after the Precious Moment Museum and ended our day in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our hotel was in a seedier part of town with quite a few homeless people. When we went to IHOP there was a guy sitting right outside the door. The kids and I talked about getting him a snack and water out of our car when we were done with our food but he was gone by the time we left. I need to do better at acting quicker on good thoughts.

Our fourth day we had been planning on going to The Gathering Place- a really amazing looking park- but it was just so warm that we decided we would go the Oklahoma Aquarium instead. I love aquariums and thought this was a pretty decent one. At a petting tank Steven touched something and said it was a shark egg and I said he was crazy. It honestly looked like seaweed with a bump in the middle. Then as we were walking a lady asked if we had seen the shark egg. I was shocked to find out Steven actually knew what he was talking about. I would say that the bull shark tunnel and the sea turtle that splashed Steven were probably our two favorite things.

After the aquarium it was a pretty lame day. We had a short drive and there was just really nothing to see and any places that we could have seen were closed because it was Sunday. Our hotel was in Shamrock, Texas which is pretty much the middle of nowhere. It seemed real empty and outside so deserted that it kind of was a little eerie. We also had troubles with the bathroom door because it would stick when you shut it. Not one of my favorite days.