Although our trip definitely had some rough patches, we were also able to see and do some really neat things! My husband's cousin also happens to be stationed at Fort Sill, so we were able to have dinner with them one night. We had never met his wife plus we hadn't seen him in probably about a year, so that was nice!
We're also not big plan makers, especially on vacations, so we decided to drive out to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge on a whim while we were waiting for my brother to do his processing crap right after graduation. (It was only about a 20-30 minute drive.) Here are some highlights from there in the pictures below...
Top left: Longhorn cattle rutting
Top right: Bison
Bottom left: Prairie dog
Bottom right: More longhorn cattle
All of the animals are free roaming, but there is a fence around the perimeter as well as another one in the middle of the refuge where some of the animals can't wander where the road is.
Some pictures of the scenery
This whole area was just kind of bizarre for me because I had never seen any scenery like this in real life. Then again, this is also the furthest west I've ever been, sadly. Mostly barren as they may have been, it was nice to see some "mountains" after driving for hours through Oklahoma. John's cousin said there is good hiking out here too. *sigh* Wish we would have known that! We would have come prepared!
We had decided ahead of time to take the rather "long way" home and stopped in Eureka Springs, AR for a day. Think of it as a smaller version of Gatlinburg, TN if you've every been there. We found a great little shop called Fain's Herbacy, if I remember correctly, and got some lavender, spearmint, and lavender essential oil from there. I can't wait to use them in our soaps! The lavender and spearmint leaves/flowers smell so freaking good!
I enjoyed the refuge in Oklahoma so much, that I couldn't help but want to visit the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge that was about 6 miles outside of Eureka Springs as well. It is a sanctuary mostly for big cats: lions, tigers, cougars, etc.
It was a really neat place, but it was also kind of sad, through no fault of their own. That refuge is a non-profit, so they rely solely on donations, gift shop sales, ticket sales, etc. Because funding is limited, not all animals have their own large enclosures yet, though they are continuously working on it. Most of their almost 130 animals come from private owners who either couldn't take care of them any longer or tried to dump them in the woods. Scary, huh? Many of them were from local areas of Arkansas and Missouri. It was really amazing, sad, and infuriating how many people think it's a good idea to keep large cats as house pets! I could go on and on about this place and their animals, but let's look at some pictures!
-Poor Myka. Little does she know, that tiger is probably thinking she looks like a tasty snack!
-That grizzly bear was freaking huge, and it wasn't even fully grown!
-The silly panther in the very middle picture was playing inside of an inner tube looking toy. lol
-Neither of us got a very good picture, but I just love the white tigers like in the very bottom right picture. They're so pretty. :)
*Note: All of the animals in the pictures above were in the small enclosures, waiting for larger ones to be built for them.
*Note: All of the animals in the pictures above were in the small enclosures, waiting for larger ones to be built for them.
Sorry to hear it wasn't as good as you expected - you could always write it up as a "what not to do" type of post! LOL The pics were great though and it looked like you got to have a little bit of a good time at least! :)
ReplyDeletelol Yes, and this would be the entirety of the post: Don't take road trips with toddlers. The end. lol Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteWow the longhorn cattle are neat ot see. I'm from a rural part of Michigan so we have farms and feilds everywhere but I've never seen a longhorn in person.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I had either! It was really neat. :)
DeleteWhat nice pictures! Glad you had fun. People shouldn't have big cats and I am so thankful for big cat sanctuaries. Hopefully, one day there will not be a need for them because everyone is educated about the risks of having a big cat, or laws will be changed.
ReplyDeleteWhat was really scary to think about was that if that many big cats came from private owners, how many people are out there that STILL have them?
DeleteI love seeing trips in pictures. But it can be heart breaking to think of the animals in small cages.
ReplyDeleteIt's so sad how many people just dump animals they no longer want. :( I don't know why some of them bother getting pets in the first place! It's nice to know there are places like this, but I wish they had better funding :(
ReplyDeleteMe too. I'd love to donate or sponsor if we had the money. It is nice that they are constantly working to build bigger habitats for all of the animals, though.
DeleteHow Cool! So often it's the things that we don't plan that turn out the best! Great pictures! Looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThat is so true! That's why hubby and I usually go by the "no plan is a good plan" philosophy. ha ha
DeleteThat's one state we've never had the opportunity to visit. May have to plan a trip out west!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, you're not missing much, Scott. lol Those were the first hills we saw since leaving home. ha!
DeleteYes road trips with toddlers are not exactly fun. We had a few that had me in tears when we finally reached our destination. But then we got a DVD player for the car and things got a little better.
ReplyDelete