Oklahoma: The Trip! Day Three...

I could have snapped pictures the whole time. And thanks to photoshop I can fix 'em up real good to make them look as beautiful as in person. Check out this scenery. It was amazing.

Day three arrived and we packed up and headed to Turner Falls. At this point I'm getting real good at this daily packing business. Got it down to two bags! One big ol bag for all the water toys and other fun necessities and one bag for snacks and diapers, etc.


The park was a lot smaller than I imagined. I thought it was going to be really overwhelming and figured we'd want to go back to see it all. When you pay at the gate there is a big swimming area with a water slide and such by the front, then a beautiful winding stream back through the park from the big falls, then the swimming area at the big water fall. And that was it. Simple enough!

We parked and walked back to see the falls but didn't take stuff to set up camp yet. After we walked back to the water fall area we decided to just set up closer to the car so we wouldn't have to haul as much. There is parking all along the stream and it ended up being the perfect spot.





The falls were beautiful, but the so-called "sandy beach" that they boasted of was nothing more than a hill of red dirt. I don't think it could sustain a sand castle nor could I sustain the mess I imagined it would make, so we poked around there for a bit more, stopped off at a playground, then headed back to set up along the stream.

*This photo was borrowed from the following website as I surfed the web trying to find more information on the castle once we got back home; http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/collings.htm

We past a castle along the way back from the falls and checked it out. It was super cool! Joseph was a bit weary of the steepness of it all.....it was built into the side of a really steep hill and as a result there were many different levels to accommodate the grade. Joseph and Josh were ready to get back on solid ground so we didn't stay long, but I can't wait to get back and look around some more. And take more pictures!

There were stairs everywhere to get up and down in it and we found this one itty bitty stair well in one part of the castle. "There are stairs and doors to every rooftop." (Quoted from the afore mentioned website.)


*This photo was borrowed from the following website as I surfed the web trying to find more information on the castle once we got back home; http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/collings.htm


The castle was built by Ellsworth Collings in the early 1930's who was dean of the University of Oklahoma. The castle is now owned by the government who is slowly, but perhaps dragging their feet, trying to preserve this awesome building. It's actually two separate buildings but I'm not sure if one was the main home and one was guest house or what. There is also what is speculated to be two bath house and also stables all arranged around each other and plunked in to the hillside. Sounds like there isn't much information on the castle and it makes it so intriguing!


Super cool but not exactly two year old-friendly!


This was just funny! These guys were dipping their heads in a ritual to benefit from the healing powers of the water. Or maybe they were just workers maintaining the grounds and they were really hot.




Later that day after nap time, we ventured to the springs in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area.






And here is one of the springs. Pretty anti-climatic huh? But there you go. This one was super stinky too from all the minerals. It smelled like the intersection by our Walmart. I've always wondered why our Walmart smells so bad. Maybe it was built right by a secret medicinal mineral spring?




Another perfect moment in time caught on camera. The trip just kept getting better but I was also ready to get back home. One day left to enjoy our vacation then back to reality...and internet and satellite television.