Westward Bound Take IV

After a full day of play and a night of sleep at Turner Falls park, we headed to Oklahoma City for a stop at the new White Water Center (Riversport Rapids). It is the new whitewater training center for the Olympic teams. They also have lots of adventure things that do not require water. We were a little hesitant going on a Saturday and we worried about downtown traffic. All that was so in vain-we were able to access the park VERY easily without going downtown AND the park was not full at all!

Here is the main structure: It includes a 6 story, high ropes/obstacle course, slides-one of which will make you go 22 mph, a rumble drop-you jump from the top of the structure, and a zipline.

The boys and I got harnessed up to try the high ropes/obstacle course.

 And...we made it! All six levels without a single fall!

Now, I didn't say that at times it wasn't a little nerve racking for some... He is only standing on ropes (Not that white metal thing)

Others just had a cool demeanor, despite the challenge or the height.

And to get down-you had a choice of 2 slides-the super fast or the safer, slower one. We opted for the slowest one for our first ride. Turns out, Jackson's favorite thing was the super fast slide. He climbed those stairs countless times...

It was indeed a hot day-temps at 100. We found every way to stay hydrated and cool!

They have a neat little water function that uses gears and pumps the kids can play with to get wet.

They played trampoline basketball.

 We ziplined!

 Raft swings...

 Those jumpy things like the mall has...

This was John Gannon's favorite thing. You had to try to climb to the top-it had layers of loose straps that you had to climb and pull through. It was quite the workout. You can see how high it is from the second picture below (it is the thing behind Jackson). When you got to the top, you could either fall through the straps to the bottom or slide down.

Climbing walls--and just for the record, I still have it-I was able to go up them all. At one point I heard this family taking bets if "that girl" is going to make it to the top.  For those two who voted no, HA! Thanks for the motivation to try harder! And yes-I hurried and went up quickly on your behalf.

                                      

 The blob....or the feet scorcher-whichever you prefer.

 The surfboard swing...

And the mighty, mighty, water slide. IT is tall folks--the biggest we have ever seen. We had so much fun on it. UNTIL, I hit the side coming down and got major burn on my arms. Actually every adult eventually got off crying (exaggeration) from some sort of injury. It didn't seem to bother the kids.

And then there was this...the Rumble Drop-the thing you just step/jump off of and fall to the top of that sign. Do you see that little spot of a person way up there? Jackson and I decided we were going to do it. There was no talking John Gannon into it at all! He wouldn't even entertain the thought for a second! So, we harnessed up and trekked to the top. Jackson went first-he just walked up there and stepped off! And then it was my turn. I walked up there and bent my knees and kinda waited for it to lift and take me (like a zipline). It didn't happen, there was no tension. The guy explained to me you have to step off before the harness gets tension. And that is when it all started-all the cognitive therapy I could implement. I mean-I am in a harness, my 6 year old just did this, they aren't going to let me plummet to my death AND if they did-my family could travel all they ever wanted to, this is stupid-just step off...at this point, I am pretty sure this is when the obsessive shaking started and I just kept on-telling myself all this truthful, rational stuff. But guess what-all that was NOT sufficient. You see, you can have all the "knowledge," "right answers," "thoughts" and there you are--still standing still, still in the same situation, still no change. While having right and truthful thoughts is indeed a benefit, you still have to follow though with the behavior. And that my friends is the hard part. It means putting fear aside and taking a step. It means doing things that you aren't excited about. It means doing things that you don't "FEEL" like doing. Take the step...I finally did--after about 5 minutes or so. I did, I took the step. Jackson said, "I didn't think you were ever coming down!" "Me either son, but I am so proud I did."

While all this adventure was going on, Johnny was doing his thing in the water. So much so, they just named a rapid after him!

At one point, when he came over to check in with us, we were telling him about our adventures. He said one of the craziest things I have ever heard him say, "Go up there and do it again and I will get your picture." "Ummm, NO. I did it. I am satisfied!" 

The way this place works is you pay for what you want to do: Johnny paid for a whitewater pass only; The boys and I paid for an adventure pass. You can do everything all day long, over and over. And that is what we did--about 9 hours of it! A few years ago we visited the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC. We had a great day there as well. It is much more spread out and many of the adventures are in wooded areas so it is much more shaded. However, being close to everything made it nice and it was easy to keep and eye on everyone. For example, I could climb on the wall while Jackson  was the bouncy trampoline things and John was in that spider climby thing because they were all right next to each other.

After our day of adventures, we traveled a little more Westward to El Reno, Oklahoma and set up camp-for free with full hookups!

 The sunset was gorgeous.

 In front of us--Lucky Star Casino. We asked if we could hook up and camp and they said yes. They were really friendly people. And save all your judgement, please. Anybody who knows us, you know we "ain't" about to let go of a dollar for the "thought" of winning another! We did spend some money at the convenience store to the right, though. So maybe that is worth a judgmental thought or so? This reminds me of the time when I was a teenager that someone commented about the amount of time I spent at Short Street (beer/liquor store in Nettleton, MS). I was actually just hanging out with my dad who worked there. People, please...I want to rant here, but then I will be just as guilty! (Takes a deep breath, thinks a peaceful thought and moves on...)

Johnny played us some tunes, and we enjoyed the beauty of creation and the Oklahoma wind.

Jackson, well he crashed. He didn't want to eat anything for dinner (red flag here--both of my children eat a lot). He threw up once. We figured he may be suffering from a little heat exhaustion from all the activity of the 2 days. He was out before we got to our camping destination and didn't wake up until about 8 the next morning (that is very late for him). Obviously, he was suffering from a little exhaustion, so we made the decision to spend the next day putting in a lot of miles so the boys could get some down time in. And that we did... stay tuned for where we landed...

Live a Meaningful Life!