Today marks the first day of a new and exciting road trip. This one is special because instead of traveling with my family, I’ll be driving to Texas with one of my best friends!
We’re gonna visit three of the major cities: Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin, but first we have to get there from Missouri, where I live, to Texas, via Oklahoma
It ended up being about a 9 hour drive, but we broke up the journey with lots of stops, so not too bad!
Here’s where we visited:
1. Ozarkland
Ozarkland is one of those places that you see a ton of billboards for on the highway, selling everything from fudge, to taffy, to silly t-shirts and unimaginable numbers of knick-knacks.
They also have a ton of jams, jellies, and honeys made by the nearby Amish communities, it’s good stuff!
2. The Blue Whale of Catoosa
The Blue Whale is an above-the-water playground located right on Route 66 in Catoosa, Oklahoma.
This was actually my favorite place that we visited today because of how much fun they packed into one little roadside attraction.
The whale himself is a true relic of the 70’s. You can climb up a pipe-ladder into his head and peek out at the people below through a row of little portholes. Or you can climb up onto his tail for a sweet view of the pond. He even has fins made out of water slides from which you could theoretically splash down into the pond.
Too bad you can’t swim in the pond anymore.
Still, a whale shaped playground is basically my dream come true!
3. BBQ Revolver
It took awhile to find, but we eventually made it to the BBQ (Roadside) Revolver in Atoka, Oklahoma.
It’s especially cool to think that this attraction used to be a fully-functional BBQ pit.
It’s a little hard to get to, though, so we had our fun taking silly pictures, then left.
4. The World’s Largest Peanut
If you’re driving through the adorable little town of Durant, you might just come across the World’s Largest Peanut in Durant, Oklahoma!
I’ve just been informed that this is not, in fact, the WORLD’S largest peanut, but I’d bet that it’s at least the biggest one in Oklahoma!
It’s also a time capsule for the city, with it’s grand re-opening set to be in 2023!
I know I already mentioned it, but I LOVED the small-town feel of Durant, and would really love to go back sometime to see the rest of the city!
5. Some kind of War Memorial
Somewhere in Atoka, Oklahoma, I had to pee really bad. We pulled over to a park type of area, and went to look around.
From the memorial stone as well as the surrounding structures, it was clear that this place was some kind of historical battlefield.
There were some prairie-days-looking cabins, and a memorial that told of a battle in ‘Indian Territory’. Beyond that was a graveyard with tombstones dating back to the 1800’s, some of which were unmarked for unidentifiable soldiers. It was pretty sad.
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Overall, driving to Texas was not bad at all! At the end of it, we decided to settle in Dallas, Texas for the night. I can’t wait to decide what to do tomorrow, but I promise that I’ll tell you all about it here!
~ WTB