Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (State #32)-Twin Fountains RV Resort

APRIL 3-10, 2016

We are back on the road after spending 5 months in Austin. My blog is WAY behind due to some internet difficulties last year on the road and no time to catch up when we were home. I hope to make those posts intermittently to make sure all has been recorded!

Our first stop will be Oklahoma. I had so many people ask me, “WHAT are you going to do THERE?” so I dedicate this post to ALL of you! Haha

We left Austin mid-day and drove a few hours to Lake Whitney Thousand Trails for an overnight stop. We had a nice spot right across from the playground with plenty of kids around. It was a very hilly camground which made maneuvering through the park interesting especially since it was our first time pulling the RV in a few months.

The next day we headed towards Oklahoma City but made a stop at Turner Falls, not far across the border in Davis, Oklahoma. It was a beautiful place! Our entrance fee was $4 per person for day use. Some of the swimming holes were not open and there was some construction but still plenty to do.

The falls are 77 ft and the largest in Oklahoma.

In the two or so hours that we stayed there, we walked to the falls and checked out the castles that were built to serve as a home and park headquarters at one time. The kids loved it!

In Oklahoma City, we stayed at Twin Fountains RV Resort. It was a very clean and family friendly campground. In fact, we found all of the areas we visited to be quite clean. There was much to do (mainly museums) within a few miles radius of the campground.

Here are the places we visited:

Science Museum Oklahoma-This place was GREAT! We got in free with our museum membership and spent two afternoons there because one certainly wasn't enough! We spent hours in a section called CurioCity and that was only a small part of the museum because this museum was HUGE.

By the end of the day we had only visited these few sections I noted with the stars. We had not made it to the SECOND floor at all!

Besides just having so much to do, the wonderful thing about this museum is that so much of it was stuff that we had not seen elsewhere. They even had a Segway course for the kids (and adults)!

And I have to share this funny thing: Of course the kids like to see themselves on the TV screen so they jumped at the chance to go to the news room. Well Jordan happened to be wearing a long-sleeved blue dress that day so nothing but her head and hands would show up! It cracked Jacob and I up. Jordan really did not find it humorous (in fact, it was making her pretty angry) until we reviewed the pictures a couple of days later.

Next, we visited the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Admission was $24 for the kids and I. It was a nice museum with some very pretty grounds but not really our cup of tea. It was a lot of paintings (some very nice) with some artifacts. Not really enough hands on for us. But they did have a nice kids' room to explore and a section called Prosperity Junction that was a town replica from the early 1900s that the kids enjoyed.

My favorite was the tenniboots. Who knew there was ever such a thing?! But why not?!

Then there was the Oklahoma City Zoo. It was only $14 for the kids and I to enter. There were a lot of extras to pay for including a charge for some of the shows. At first, this kind of irritated me but then I decided that it was great because you could return to the zoo many times for a low price just to see the animals. We were there from 10 am until about 4 with plenty to see and do. We caught a presentation on the Galapagos Tortoises and then one about elephants (both free).

The one “extra” we paid for was feeding the lorikeets. This was not something we had seen or had the opportunity to do at other zoos so we jumped at the chance. The cost was $3 per container of food and 2 containers were plenty for the kids and I. Jacob was a little nervous about it at first but then did great! The attendants were great too and told us a lot about the birds.

The kids will probably never forget a big gorilla who vomited in his hand then proceeded to eat it THREE times!

The last thing the kids and I did together was to go to the The American Pigeon Museum. We decided to go to this for three reasons: First, it was less than a quarter mile from the campground. Second, it was free.  And last, but not least, because it was just so unusual! I figured it would be a less than 30 minute visit but we ended up staying there for an hour! First we watched a ten-minute video and I must admit that I have lived forty years without knowing and could have lived the rest of my life not knowing that pigeons and doves are the same!!! Still learning new things all the time!!

We also learned why pigeons use parachutes ...

and then we got to meet and hold some pigeons.

Together as a family, we did a few things as well. One weeknight, we went to the Chesapeake Arena to watch a Cirque du Soleil performance called Toruk. We really enjoyed it and I was quite impressed at how they changed the scenes that was so beautiful and seamless.

We also went to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial. We went at night because the lighting was so pretty but the museum was closed (although I was not ready for another such museum after having visited the 9/11 museum in New York-just too sad).

On the weekend, we checked out the beautiful Botanical Gardens with an awesome playground.

And then went into Bricktown for lunch at the Bricktown Brewery where we feasted on Sea Salt Caramel Sweet Potato Fries with Bacon and Chicken Fried Steak before walking along the riverwalk. The fries were super delicious and the steak was just so-so.

The riverwalk area is being revitalized. It was pretty and quiet but a little too quiet. Not quite the San Antonio Riverwalk but also good it wasn't that crowded.

We had a very nice time in Oklahoma. While the terrain around the city was not real pretty, the city was very clean, had plenty to entertain us, was not crowded, there was no traffic and there was ample open parking everywhere we went. All in all, great fun!

Next stop is Kansas!