The Blue Whale and Port of Catoosa

We spent most of our time relaxing at the ranch, but we did a little sightseeing in eastern Oklahoma too. Route 66 runs through this area, and some of the iconic sites are still open. Denisa had heard about the infamous blue whale, but we had never seen it in person. As we drove past, Denisa yelled, "Turn in here!" and Lucky skidded into the parking lot.

Considering it is almost 50 years old, the old blue whale is in pretty good shape. It was built in the early 1970's by Hugh Davis, who made it as a surprise anniversary gift for his wife. It became a local favorite swimming hole, and also one of the most recognizable attractions on Route 66.

When Mr. Davis died, the pond and whale fell in to disrepair for a decade. But a local fundraising effort brought the blue whale back to life. The last two years have been busy for the whale, as it has been the back drop for several events. It was featured in episodes of "The Great Food Truck Race," and "American Pickers." Most recently, on November 11 it was chosen as the third location of the Spectacle's launch by Snapchat.

We were actually in town to visit the Port of Catoosa. Who would know that land-locked Oklahoma would host one of the largest ports in the United States?! They have already seen more than 1,000 barges this year. Fertilizer from China is shipped upstream, while wheat and soy beans are shipped back downstream to New Orleans. There it will be loaded on ships to cross the ocean. The Charley Border tugboat is now retired, but it was the first of its kind at the Port of Catoosa.

The channel has to be nine feet deep in order to float the barges and tugboats that come through. It was interesting to see the rudders and propellers that are usually under the water.

We got a personal tour of the visitor center from the port's education director. She is used to school children's questions, so she did a good job answering everything we asked. After watching the barges go up and down the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, we had lots of silly questions. It was good to finally have an authority to answer them. They had a large map of the entire inland waterway system on a carpet that covered much of the visitor center floor.

After the blue whale and the port, the next stop was our favorite. We went to visit a nephew and his family. Interestingly enough, we don't have any pictures of Michael and Heather, but we have lots of pictures of their three daughters. We got a personal dance recital. After watching one dance, Denisa got to join them for the rest of the performance. No pictures of her dancing, because they were all blurry from so much movement.

Denisa got to do another favorite activity--playing piano duets. The girls had Christmas duets ready for recital, and they were lots of fun to play. Denisa and the girls get along famously because they all like to do the same things--dancing and piano-playing.

We loved our time in eastern Oklahoma. We were further entertained by the super moon. We couldn't see it until it made its way over the tops of the pecan trees that surrounded us. But with no other light pollution, we could see it clearly.

The last day we were camping at the ranch, we walked down to the creek. Another good activity for the grandchildren is fishing for the Mississippi white catfish that congregate in this pool on the creek.

They keep the bank we were standing on mowed and cleared for the fishermen. Lucky and Lizzie had also planned for a bench under two young shade trees on the bank. But the resident beaver had chewed down both trees since their last visit. All that was left of their shade trees were two pointy stubs now.

We didn't get a picture of these beavers, but it was fun to see other wildlife on the ranch. We went armadillo hunting after we saw evidence of the damage they were causing. Lucky and Lizzie have several game cameras, and it is interesting to see the animals that show up. This picture of two tom turkeys looked like they were posing for the game camera.