Oklahoma Aquarium

So the other night Chad and I were enjoying a favorite past time of mine, Shark Week! I have no idea why this program, that only airs once a year, is so exciting to me but I love it. It's a week long segment on the Discovery Channel that plays shows about nothing but sharks. I have nightmares about teeth and black beady eyes but I keep coming back for more. We were watching a particular show about Bull Sharks. All of these shows have a common connection and that is that all of them are narrated/hosted by some crazy dude from Australia or South Africa that has lost his ever-loving mind and feels an intense and completely unfounded urge to go swimming with these man-eating, quicker than you can blink deep water predators. Now do you see why I can't stop watching?? Anyways, so this show was like any other and had its very own insane person with a scuba diving certification and a cool accent. And he was about to go diving in a tank with a bunch of Bull Sharks. One of which was the largest in captivity. I assumed he was in California or Atlanta. But when he said he was at the Oklahoma Aquarium, Chad and I were more surprised at that piece of information than the fact that this guy wanted to hand feed these sharks like they were llamas at the zoo. So we quickly took to the almighty Google and we discovered that Oklahoma in fact has a pretty big aquarium in Tulsa. That's about an hour and a half drive from us, so I was quickly planning out our next Saturday afternoon.

This morning we loaded up and headed to Tulsa. Gavin's main concern was seeing the turtles. That kid loves himself some turtles! So when we entered, we started off showing him some jellyfish and starfish but all he kept saying was "go see turtles". So we found the exhibit only to find that it was under construction and the turtles were being kept in the back until it was finished. I was so disappointed. But Gavin took it like a champ and was completely over it when we discovered that you could feed the fresh water turtles!! You clipped little shreds of carrots onto a stick and those turtles went bonkers over it. Gavin LOVED it! I was pushing kids out of the way like paparazzi after a Jolie-Pitt kid. Crazy mom with a camera, people!!!!! 

We saw all sorts of fish. Huge fish, funny-looking fish, red fish, blue fish. We saw beavers, starfish, eels, we even found Nemo! (We always love it when we find Nemo!) I even petted a bunch of stingrays! Gavin and Chad were not interested in doing it in the least but I loved it! And yes, we even saw the Bull Sharks. As for having the largest one, well, they all looked huge to me. They had a tunnel that went though the tank that had the effect of you walking through the water while they swam around you. I could not get my camera to take a good shot inside of it but what I got will do. They are just as scary in person as they are on tv. Why anyone with a biology degree is dumb enough to voluntarily swim with one much less ten is beyond me. 

Gavin was beyond tired when we left so it was a nice quiet ride on the way home. We stopped at this VERY cool rest stop called Pops. We had heard about it and were glad when the huge bottle that sits outside came into view. It was PACKED with travelers and bikers. Apparently it is THE place to stop on Route 66. It has a restaurant and the largest selection of bottled soda I have ever seen. You can get a six pack holder and choose your flavor of choice. We passed on the soda but got Gavin a box of animal crackers. It was a really neat stop on our Saturday afternoon road trip.

I once read that you should go somewhere you have never been once a year. I actually think you should do it way more than that. Get out and explore! Stimulate that brain! It doesn't have to be someplace far away. It doesn't have to be exotic or expensive. Just new. You'll never know what you discover. Like a 66-foot tall soda bottle on the side of the road.