Category Archives: Camping

Greenleaf State Park for my son’s sixteenth birthday!

When we got on the road I was thinking how that went pretty well. Then…

Not what you want to see happen while driving down the road.

Thankfully I married a fixer. He did a temporary patch to get us down the road.
We had the best spot!

I am so glad we didn’t miss this!

His last day as a fifteen year old was pretty great 😉
The kids said they liked the Chandler park splashpad better than theirs. And it is a lot cheaper!

The girls liked the crafts table at the Discovery center.

This kid was a great sport even though I dropped the ball on the whole reason for staying in the area. We were planning on going to the Amish Bakery for his b’day but of course they are closed on Sunday. If only someone had checked the hours beforehand…

He still ended up having a great birthday though and I wouldn’t mind staying at Greenleaf again! We did not even get any hiking in 😉

Hawthorn Bluff Campground ~Lake Oolagah

We did another week of living life in the rv while Nick went to work! This time at Lake Oolagah!

I thought we would be staying in a lakeside spot like last time but the site map for booking ended up being a bit off and we were just on the otherside of the road.

It ended up being a blessing because I was not sure if I wanted to worry about kids near the cliff all week anyway.

I had lots of plans to visit the surrounding area while we were rving starting with day one!

Then I realized I had left my purse in my husbands vehicle…

It ended up being a perfect low key day though!

We hiked at the Skull Trail and took the longest loop which follows near the lake mostly.

It’s about 1 mile long for the longest loop
These guys and pill bugs were all over the trees!
We went swimming later at the swimming area near our campground
It rained a lot for the whole week but we were able to go to Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch still.
The kids liked all the animals
I wanted to hike the next day but it was going to storm so we quickly checked out the Teaching Garden in Claremore and then headed to the Will Rogers Museum
All the rain meant the dam near us was overflowing and had lots of birds.
This little guy blocked our trail on our way back from the swimming beach to our campground one day!!!!!! My youngest son almost stepped on it!
We checked out the Summerfest at Collinsville and it was a beautiful way to end the day.
They have it on the second Thursday of the month through the summer and show a movie in the park also when it gets dark.
Such a beautiful campground!

Had a great time and I am already planning when we can go again!

Thunderstorms, loud neighbors, and leaky air mattresses…our time in the Daniel Boone National Forest

Even with the hardships and struggles that come with travel and camping I find myself disappointed that it is over.

30mins into leaving my parents house on our way to Kentucky our brake caliper locked up and needed replaced.

Not going to miss the leaky air mattress though…kind of reminded me of my parents old waterbed but without the fun water.

Koomer Ridge Campground

Red River Gorge in Kentucky won me over with the first hike.

Hidden Arch Trail at our campsite

The woods felt earthy, deep, and wonderful. And I knew I would miss them.

Mountain Laurel abounded as well as magnolias, giving the place a rainforest and magical feel.

Thunderstorms came which lead to a lot of “keep away from the sides of the tent!” But also falling asleep to the sounds of rain (and let’s be honest kids complaining of rain leaking in).

Sheltowee Trace Suspension Bridge

Tearing down and setting up the camp is stressful and not my favorite but the endless possibilities to explore make it worth it.

I missed our RV but enjoyed being closer to the forest. I did not enjoy being closer to loud neighbors that liked to stay up until 2am though…

Rock Bridge Trail
Creation Falls
Angel Window’s Trail

Cumberland falls took me back in time and I reread “Moonbow Inn” by Laura Frantz while we stayed there. Seeing the places described in the book made it come alive.

Cumberland Falls State Park Campground was a letdown after the beauty and peace of the Koomer Ridge campground. The spaces were smaller, tons of light flooded our tent all night, and the heat and bugs were pretty oppressive but I loved the falls.

Cumberland Falls State Park

Next time I would just stop for the day. But I am glad we got the chance to hike out to Dog Slaughter Falls ( my kids were concerned about taking our dog to such a tragically named place though). Hardly anyone was on the trail and the hike and falls were breathtaking.

Dog Slaughter Falls

I feel like we went at a great time of the year, bugs were not too bad, the weather was pretty good although it got a bit hot once or twice, and the crowds were non existent.

I would not mind going in early May again!