O-k-l-a-h-o-m-a and Missouri

We have to return to the land of snow and cold. We stayed in Tulsa and last night in Kearney Missouri, the birthplace of Jesse James, on our way back to the flurries of Minnesota.
One of the biggest large cat rescue operations in the United States is just off the highway in Oklahoma. GW Exotic Animal Park is a non-profit organization. We saw lions, tigers and grizzly bears that people had purchased as pets before they realized that, gasp, these animals get big! And huge is more like it. I had never been less than 2 feet from most of these wild animals until now, and it was frightening. The lion marked his territory, luckily we didn't get sprayed with any of his "perfume". The bear got up on his hind legs and slapped the cage so hard I thought it would fall down! Truly humbling to be so close to these amazing animals.
We make it a habit to play mini-golf somewhere on vacation and we made it to two courses this time. Tulsa Incredible Pizza had a 9 hole indoor course with a Route 66 theme. Lee's Summit, Missouri had a 18 hole outdoor course which we played without jackets! I imagine that this course is very pretty when everything has blossomed. No one got a hole in one on any of these holes-a rare thing for us!

I just have to say that my kids are amazing and we've had such a great time together. They chose to leave their phones off, they chose not to text either, they told their friends they were on vacation and they'd call them when they got home. They are great car riders and play and read and laugh. We've played in the pools, we've played cards at dinner tables, and had some conversations that were special in their ordinary-ness. I'm so glad we went.

(Note the cats with their teddy bears, how truly big these animals are)