Tour Oklahoma: Sequoyah's Cabin 08/09/09

Sequoyah’s Cabin is a national landmark celebrating the home of the famed Cherokee known for inventing the Cherokee alphabet.

We had not planned to visit it but on the way to Brushy Lake State Park near Sallisaw, OK we saw signs for it and decided to stop by. After visiting Brushy Lake we went there and it was closed. Bummer.

It looked like a very nice place but we needed to get home. Maybe next time.

Tour Oklahoma: Brushy Lake State Park 08/09/09

When we first arrived we saw the sign to turn in. As usual we stopped and took a picture of the sign and then turned in. Then we thought we had done something wrong because we kept driving and saw private homes for quite a while. We even passed Reagan Road along the way so we took a picture of the sign for Reagan. Finally, we arrived at the actual entrance to the park.

This was a very small park that was just for camping. There were no trails or anything. If you were camping and there to enjoy the lake I’m sure you could have a great time.

However, we had spent the whole weekend at Lake Tenkiller and were just checking this park off our list on the way home so we did a quick drive through and were on our way out in about five minutes.

Nothing to see folks, move along.

However, on the way back through Sallisaw, I did take a picture of an old OTASCO sign. OTASCO (Oklahoma Tire and Supply Company) is a now out of business company that used to have stores all over Oklahoma and even into some other states. I used to work at one in OKC when I was about 18. I sold appliances. That's when I decided I didn't want to be in sales. Nothing against OTASCO. I just didn't like sales. Before that I worked at Kinney Shoes! Yes, I am a Certified Shoe Counselor.

Tour Oklahoma: Cherokee Landing State Park 08/08/09

Saturday morning we got up and ate breakfast and then drove to Cherokee Landing State Park. This park is at the north end of Lake Tenkiller and is really just a park full of places to camp.

There isn’t really much to do unless you are camping or brought your own boat. But the park was very nice. It still had the view of Lake Tenkiller which is gorgeous.

We did a drive through. Got out and took a couple pictures and left. That was all there really was to do since we weren’t staying there.

Tour Oklahoma: Tenkiller State Park 08/07/09

After Jennifer’s MRI was postponed, she and Judy made it to the lake house in Black Gum and we finally joined up with them while worried about being infested with ticks (see Greenleaf).

We unloaded, showered and finally went to the marina to their boat. As they started it up the battery was dead. Some friendly folks helped us charge it and we finally got going.

After all of the events we had all been through throughout the day we all kept laughing about our comedy of errors.

But then the fun began. We had a great time tubing, skiing, and swimming. The boys were having a blast. Jennifer had a devilishly good time trying to cause me pain so I didn’t ride too much.

The scenery at Lake Tenkiller is beautiful. The water is pretty blue for a lake in Oklahoma and everywhere you look it is simply gorgeous.

We had fun on the lake until dark and then went to the house, showered and crashed.

The next day we had planned on going to several State Parks near Tenkiller. However, the kids had so much fun the day before that I decided to be Dad of the Year and let them enjoy more time at the lake. We visited Cherokee Landing State Park Saturday morning and then spent the rest of the day back at Tenkiller with Jennifer and her son, Noah, who had now joined us, and Judy.

We had another great day. The water was more choppy which made the tubing more exciting.

After hanging out on the lake all afternoon we rode four wheelers for a couple hours. The boys had a blast doing that. Then we ate dinner at Big Daddy’s restaurant “on the Dam Highway.” It was pretty good.

Then we went back to the lake house and cooked S’mores outside on the fire and had a great time just talking. Everyone was exhausted and we finally went to bed.

The next morning we had a great breakfast together and then we packed up and left for Brushy Lake State Park.

We can’t say thanks enough to the Ashford’s for a great weekend. They have a wonderful place with a beautiful view and we had a great time just being with them.

Tour Oklahoma: Greenleaf State Park 08/07/09

Our plan for the weekend was to make our base at the lake house of our friends the Ashford’s (Jennifer and her mom Judy) and visit six more Oklahoma State Parks near Lake Tenkiller.

Jennifer had to get an MRI that morning on her leg (note the HIPAA violation) so we were going to go ahead of them and visit Greenleaf State Park and then meet them at the lake house in Black Gum, OK and then on to their boat at Pine Cove Marina at Lake Tenkiller.

We made it to Greenleaf State Park and were impressed. It is a large, nice park with a lot to offer. We wanted to see the cabins because they were built back during the Roosevelt administration through the WPA and by German POW’s. We drove through the park and looked at the cabins. Not much to look at. Just basic cabins. But it was interesting knowing their history.
Then we drove through more of the park and looked at the lake and the "Cabin Near The Lake." It all looked very nice.

Then we decided to hike along the trail. It is a huge trail that the sign near it says takes twelve hours if you hike the entire trail. Uh…yeah, that’s not gonna happen. But we did want to do a little hiking so we started along the trail and had a nice time. The weather wasn’t too hot because it was mostly shady. Once we turned around and headed back it was starting to heat up though. We finally made it back and got in the van and were about to leave the park.

And that’s when it happened.

Reagan yelled, “Aaaagghh! I’m covered in tiny spiders!”

He jumped out of the van and Tina started helping him get them off. I noticed I had them on me too. In fact, we all did. Apparently, we picked them up on the hike. They were really tiny. About the size of a pen dot. Hundreds of them.

We pulled over to a bathroom and had to change clothes and rinse off and realized they weren’t spiders…but ticks!

We left the park looking forward to getting to the lake house. Tina called our doctor to see if we were going to die. They thought we would live but told us what to do and what to watch for.