Osage Hills State Park

Finally, my favorite season has arrived. I love fall, for various reasons. Here in Oklahoma it's the best time to get outside. Since we can't do as much exploring on four wheels as we would like, we recently purchased a child carrier to lug Carter around in (it's proved to me just how out of shape I really am). Thus, we've been trying to get out and hike as often as we can, mainly just little hikes right in the Tulsa area so far. This past weekend, however, we headed out to Osage Hills State Park, which is located between Bartlesville and Pawhuska. The park has some good trails for both hiking and mountain biking. We took a trail that skirts a small lake and goes through the remains of a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp. It was approximately 2 miles and was very enjoyable. We hope to go back to Osage Hills and hit some of the other trails in the future.

Table Rock Lake

Another extremely hot summer has settled over Oklahoma and the Midwest. However, we have seen some relief as of late. The forecast for this past weekend called for temps in the 80s, so I knew we had to get out and go somewhere. After a little bit of research and watching weather forecasts for different places, we decided on Big Bay Campground in the Mark Twain National Forest, on the shores of Table Rock Lake in Southwest Missouri. Located on the other side of the lake from the traffic and annoying shows of Branson, Big Bay Campground, although close to the small town of Shell Knob, had the feeling of being isolated. The fact that the campground was almost completely empty was an added bonus. We went with some friends from church and had a great time, stopping at Roaring River State Park on the way back. Unfortunately it was kids' free fishing day at Roaring River and it was a madhouse. We had a quick picnic lunch and made our way back to Tulsa. Someday we'll have to return and check out the fish hatchery there. I didn't take a lot of pictures, we mostly just relaxed around camp. I did get up early to watch the sunrise over the lake, so here are some pics of that. It was one of the most beautiful things I've seen in a while. It was so good to get outside again.

Memorial Day Weekend

This past Memorial Day Weekend we took a trip down the turnpike to Oklahoma City, where we spent Friday and Saturday, and then came back on Sunday on the stretch of Route 66 between OKC and Tulsa. It was too hot to go camping, and I really don't have much desire to camp in Oklahoma anyways (although the Ouachitas would be a cool place to camp if it's not hot). Friday we went to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in OKC, where I had been once as a kid, probably 20 years ago or so. A lot has changed since then, as the museum has expanded greatly. As a student of American west history, I have been wanting to go to this museum for some time. I would also love to work there, even if it meant living in Oklahoma City (at least for a little while). It's a great institution and we enjoyed our visit. Much of the museum is off limits to photography, so I only took a few pictures. Saturday we hit the outlet mall in OKC; no pictures needed of shopping...Sunday we drove back to Tulsa on Route 66. I'm a sucker for Americana, and one of my dreams is to someday drive the entire length of Route 66 from Chicago to LA. I've been on other sections in Oklahoma, as well as in Missouri, Kansas, Texas, and New Mexico. Someday I'll drive the whole thing in one trip. First stop was at POPS in Arcadia. POPS is a gas station with a giant pop bottle beckoning tourists to stop and fill up or try one of the over 500 flavors of soda pop available at the station. We all got a pop (except for Carter, who was sticking to milk on this trip) and just enjoyed sitting out by the giant bottle for a while. At night the bottle lights up with various colors. More info on POPS can be found here: http://route66.com/28.0.html. We also stopped to take a snapshot of the famous Round Barn in Arcadia. Someday when we don't have an infant we'll have to go inside. We ate lunch in Stroud at the Rock Cafe. This is one of those timeless Route 66 icons. The character of Sally Carrera in the Disney Pixar film Cars was based on the owner of the Rock Cafe. Many celebrities have eaten here, and the restaurant was featured on Guy Fieri's show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. The Rock Cafe survived a fire in 2008 and continues to feed weary travelers along the Route. We stopped to check out an old stretch of Route 66 between Stroud and Bristow and then made our way back to Tulsa.

Ouachita Mountains

Running east to west in Southeast Oklahoma and into Arkansas are the ancient Ouachita Mountains. We miss the mountains and the pine trees, and a trip to the Ouachitas allowed us a brief opportunity to spend some time outdoors and make us a feel a bit more at home. It was also Carter's first trip outside of Tulsa, and his first (of many to come) rides on a dirt road. Day 1 saw us leave Tulsa, head south on Highway 75 all the way to McAlester (which has a beautiful downtown, someday we'll have to go back and do some urban exploration) and then made our way to Talihina. Talihina marks the beginning of the Talimena Scenic Byway, which runs from Talihina to Mena, Arkansas for a little over 50 miles through the mountains. We ran half of the byway on Friday and then took a side trip north and stayed the night in Poteau.



  Day 2, Saturday, saw us leave Poteau with lingering rain showers. As we got back on the Talimena byway and begin to ascend, the fog became thicker, to the point where we couldn't see more than 20 or 30 yards in either direction. Needless to say we missed many of the vistas and views along the byway that morning, but it was kind of nice to get out and just enjoy the silence. We only saw several other vehicles on the drive and at times it felt we had the whole mountain to ourselves. That's not something we get to experience much in Oklahoma; just another thing I miss about the West - the ability to find isolation.

Once we descended off the byway and out of the mountains, the fog cleared and we made our way to the Poteau Mountain Road, which is just north of Waldron, Arkansas. This dirt road runs along the spine of Poteau Mountain for 22 miles.

 The Talimena Scenic Byway and the Poteau Mountain Road were beautiful drives, and it was good to see new areas that neither one of us had seen before. It was so nice to get out of Tulsa, and we didn't want to come back. We're tired of city life and wish we could have spent some more time in this beautiful part of Oklahoma and Arkansas. Our first trip with Carter was a success and we think he'll be just as good of a traveler as Lilly (we hope). He'll certainly get more opportunities in the future.

Buffalo National River and Ozarks

We were able to get away for a few days over the weekend of October 7-9. We originally had planned to camp but an afternoon exit from Tulsa would have had us setting up camp in the dark, so we got a motel room for 2 nights in Harrison, Arkansas. Harrison is situated in the Ozarks just east of the Fayetteville/Springdale area. Our plans were to hit a few spots on the Buffalo National River on Saturday; we weren't able to go to all the places I wanted, and didn't spend nearly as much time on dirt roads as I would have liked. But, it was still fun and we got to see some pretty fall colors. The Ozarks are pretty, but they'll never quite compare with the rugged mountains of the West.


One of the places we went to within the boundaries of the Buffalo National River was the townsite of Rush. Rush was a mining town whose last residents left in the 1960s.


We were also able to find a cemetery where some of Marie's ancestors are buried, although not the one ancestor we were looking for. Apparently he is buried in another cemetery close by, near the town of Gaither, Arkansas. We'll have to save that trip for another day.

Tallgrass Prairie Preserve

This summer in Oklahoma has been one of the hottest on record. The last few weeks we have finally seen some relief from the heat. Labor Day was a beautiful day with sunny skies and temps in the mid 70s. We decided to head to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, a privately owned preserve north of Pawhuska, OK. It was quiet and serene out on the prairie, which was a nice change from the fast-paced life of Tulsa.




We have been in Oklahoma since May. I am back in school, pursuing a Master of Library and Information Studies from OU-Tulsa. We miss the West, with its mountains and deserts, but we hope to explore the beautiful areas around us, particularly the Ozark and Ouachita mountains. Look for future posts from these and other areas.

Bannack

"The roads and boardwalks are deserted. The doors sway in the wind. There are no children laughing and adults gossiping. The gold rush is long over. It is but a memory left in old dusty journals. With nightfall the spirits return to tell their tales." - Sue Kaiser

These words grace the cover of the visitor's guide to the ghost town of Bannack, Montana. Unlike Montana's better known Virginia City and Nevada City, Bannack is a true ghost town, save the few employees who reside there. Operated by the Montana State Parks system, Bannack lies 24 miles southwest of Dillon along the banks of Grasshopper Creek. The town was founded in 1862 after the discovery of gold. While parts of the town have turned to dust, Bannack easily remains one of the most intact and well-preserved ghost towns in the West, thanks to the efforts of many, including the state and the Bannack Association. Last weekend afforded my brother and I an opportunity to visit this shrine to a bygone era.



If you ever find yourself in this part of Montana, take the time to visit Bannack and enjoy the history lessons it has to offer.

More information on Bannack can be found here: http://www.bannack.org/index.htm