Tina and I decided to take the boys to do a little wilderness hiking. Well, as wilderness as we get. We are indoor people.
So we took a trip to Red Rock Canyon State Park near Hinton, OK. Reagan had been there on a school field trip and wanted to go back.
Full story below the slide show.
We left Bethany around 9 am and after a traffic jam on I-40 got to RRC around 10 am. The weather was beautiful given it was mid-July.
We hit the Rough Horsetail Nature Trail first and had a blast! It was shady, scenic and fascinating. There were some very interesting plants that apparently are what turned into coal 30 million years ago.
Then we went to the other end of the park to the California Road Nature Trail. This is what I remember from the one time I was there as a kid. This is why the place is called RED Rock. On the way we stopped at a canyon wall across from a pond and the boys enjoyed yelling at the wall and listening to the echo.
We then made the short trek up the trail. It was starting to get a little warm but was not bad. TIP: Do this trail early and do the shady trail when it is hotter.
After this we went to some random area where Tina and the boys climbed around a bit and saw what they swear were ten million grandaddy long leg spiders. I sat in the air-conditioned car. I told you were were inside people!
Then we went to the concession stand and paid $20 for lunch which we bought from the sweetest little lady in the world. But I'm not sure she could hear very well. And they were out of cheeseburgers. Out of cheeseburgers? So Tina and I ate bbq. Reagan had a corndog and Chase ate a chilidog. We hadn't really planned on eating there but we stayed because we were having a good time.
By now it was Noon. The public pool opens at Noon at there was nobody there. We had brought the swimsuits just in case. It was a great idea because we went swimming for about an hour and 15 minutes and had the pool almost to ourselves. This cost $13 and the scenery was great while swimming. Very relaxing.
I, the indoor person, had an idea while swimming. Why don't we as a family spend the next few years before the kids graduate and visit all the state parks in Oklahoma? It would be a great way for the kids to see the state and we could spend time together and create memories. So I asked the nine year old lifeguard how many state parks there were and he was sure there were at least two.
So when we got home I looked it up and there are 50! So we have lots of traveling to do but we are pretty excited about our mission. We think we can probably pull this off. We'll see how it goes.
After swimming I bought the boys snowcones. $4.
The whole trip cost $37 plus gas. The memories and fun were priceless!
Next stop? I think we'll try Roman Nose.
dm
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3 comments:
I think your plan is great. All fifty state parks!! Let's see. That would be, what, about nine a year?
I was at Roman Nose about a month ago. Nice trails for hiking there, too. However, I feel as though they are not marked very well. We ended up on a hike that took us about 2.5 hours to get back to camp. That's right, we actually camped at Roman Nose. I think Red Rock is next on our list.
Of the parks I have been to thus far, I like Quartz Mountain the best. Probably because of the weathered rocks and open spaces there.
if i go on a 2.5 hr hike somebody will be calling the paramedics!
Be sure to map these before starting your next adventure. Some of these are right on top of each other and could be seen in the same weekend after a lovely night in a tent. :)
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