Can I just say - Oklahoma is gorgeous. Driving through this state has startled me and brought on a whole new appreciation for this little chunk of the country. I'd always imagined it to be like Nebraska or Kansas - little did I know that rolling hills and lush green trees would greet me as I drove head first into cattle country. My appreciation grew even more yesterday, while Alex and I drove to Turner Falls.
Turner Falls is a water-park-esque area with swimming holes and water slides, and of course, water falls all naturally made. Well - not the water slides - but if not for the dams the whole place was carved out of the Earth by erosion decades ago - leaving perfect summer time fun in it's path. We arrived and made our way to the water slides and diving board. I braced myself for the plunge of around 30 feet and watched as Alex went first - letting out a minor scream before careening into the water butt first. I am so happy I brought a water camera because I got to take pictures of us the whole time we entertained ourselves in the water.
We found our way over to the little water falls and swam under them, all the while I anticipated when we would go to the larger one. Finally, after about an hour, we decided to pick up our things and walk the half mile up the road to the larger water fall. Sadly, when we got there, we found that you are no longer allowed to swim in the waterfalls - apparently there have been deaths related to swimming in the falls and jumping from the rocks. No matter, we made our own fun swimming and laughing as Alex pushed the limits more and more. Eventually we made our way up the side of the hill, barefoot, to climb the side of this little cliff into a cave that sat to the right and above the waterfalls. Getting there was not scary for me, but terrified Alex - climbing up the rock face into the cave was a breeze for her and I was shaking and imagined myself slipping and falling over the falls several times - terrified I asked Alex to help me into the cave. The view was magnificent and well worth the near death experiences we both shared.
Later on, after we had gorged ourselves on fruit cups we watched as three or four people began swimming past the no swimming signs and climb onto the rocks. Slowly we made our way past the no swimming signs and frolicked beneath the waterfalls as we took pictures and tried doing rock-waterfall-yoga haha!
After an hour of this water hole we made our way back down the hill and took two more slips down the slide before succumbing to exhaustion and loading up the car. During the hour long car ride back I fell asleep, leaving Alex to sing to herself while I checked out - sorry!! We made it back just in time to shower and for Alex to make salmon - YUM! At this point it was time for me to go so we picked up our now developed pictures and I was on my way to Tulsa.
Well, I was supposed to make it to Tulsa by 7 for church and as I got on the highway I realized that it takes 2.5 hours to get there, not 1 as my blonde self had previously calculated. So needless to say, I missed church and made it into Tulsa around 9pm. Maggie greeted me with a smile and a hug and I remembered why I liked this girl so much!! After talking for a good two hours we called it quits and went to sleep!
I had such a wonderful time catching up with such a dear friend to me - Thank you for having me stay with you Alex and I cannot wait to see you again! I will post pictures once I have the CD with me :)
No comments:
Post a Comment