Planning a trip in our household can turn into pure comedy. The person that picks the destination is usually responsible for making all the arrangements for the trip, by default that is. Everyone else runs around trying to avoid the conversation and pretending to sleep so they don’t have to engage in the decision making process. One year the kid asked why he never got to pick the location, so we gave him the privilege and told him he had to pick the activities and he had to determine the route we would take to get there. When he told us we were headed to Oklahoma City, OK., heads started spinning and it appeared we were cancelling our annual vacation. Two-thirds of the group were not interested in going to Oklahoma. Like seriously, what was there to do in Oklahoma?

As we started packing for the trip, my husband said he had a surprise for us. Really, a surprise in Oklahoma??? Yea, right! Our first stop, the big surprise, was in Turner Falls, Oklahoma. We stayed a couple of days at Turner Falls Park in their luxurious cabins and were welcomed by the most wonderful group of flies. We played a game of “Let’s Kill the Flies” the first night and we really exhausted ourselves running around laughing and chasing flies. We were later told, “That’s normal around here. You’re going to see flies everywhere.” And that was confirmed for us when we saw them in a restaurant days later and we were the only ones appalled by it. Despite fighting for space with the flies, Turner Falls was a great place to visit. The cabins were spacious and had everything needed to get comfortable and enjoy the stay. We spent time hiking and relaxing near the natural swimming areas. My husband was bold enough to dive into the waters and swim around. The kid and I, not so much. Putting our feet in and walking around a little bit was enough for us. And of course they had concession shops where we were able to get delicious snow cones and funnel cakes while we toured the park.

Our next stop was mama’s choice. We had a chance to take pleasure in visiting Frontier City Theme Park. You can find discounted tickets everywhere, online, hotels, at the park, etc. Tickets were half price after 4:00 P.M. but we chose to go before 4:00 (still got a discount) and that was a good decision. The park was bare and we were able to walk straight up to the rides and hop on. If we enjoyed a ride, we could jump back in line and proceed again with no hassle. We were able to experience the thrill of almost every roller coaster in the park before the crowd started coming in. The funniest part was when one of the coasters stopped at its highest point while my husband was riding. He was at the top waving and laughing while the kid and I took pictures. We thought he would get off when they got it moving but he was bold enough to take another spin.

Museums were at the top of my son’s ‘To Do” list so of course we had to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial/Museum. It was disheartening to walk through the museum and see the aftermath of the bombing. My son was at an age where he didn’t totally understand that sometimes people are cruel and will hurt others for no reason. He was saddened to know that innocent lives were claimed by someone that simply didn’t care about the human race. According to the attendant, it would take us about 1.5 hours to tour the museum. My son read every article, every plaque and every dedication. We ended up spending approximately four hours in the museum that day.

Our final pause was at the 45th Infantry Division Museum. My son thoroughly enjoyed this museum as well. Upon entering the museum, our attention immediately went to the light fixtures that were designed using the soldier’s helmets. We also had an opportunity to learn about the aircraft used during war. I spent a lot of my time in the chapel, sitting down. My son truly enjoyed the experience and as long as he was happy, all was well.

Shockingly, Oklahoma had more to offer than we thought. In the process of looking for things to do, we found they have many parks and a ton of museums. The experience was far better than we anticipated and I am glad we had an opportunity to step outside of our comfort zone.