Category Archives: Parks

Outdoors, Parks

Ray Harral Nature Park ~Broken Arrow, OK

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First I have to say that I have been horrible about being consistent on here!

I have been trying post once a week and I keeping missing that mark.

My goal in this blog is to share about the parks and places we visit. I have people ask me about different parks and after so many years of visiting any park that looks like fun, I just do not always remember if we have visited one or if I have been wanting to visit!

So this blog is supposed to be my memory for me.

With that being said, I am always astonished when I find something close to home that I have not been using!

The Ray Harral Nature Park in Broken Arrow is practically in my backyard and yet I did not even know about it until last year!

It is a very kid friendly place to walk that still feels like you are surrounded by nature.

The entrance is a little bit hidden by a school but if you know it is there you should not have too much trouble finding it.

Watching a turtle.

If you take the main path in a big loop around the park it is less then a mile.

There are other loops also though so you can add those in and get a little bit of a longer walk.

If you live in Broken Arrow and want an easy walk to take your kids on I highly recommend it!

Located off 121st east of Elm, behind the school.

Animals, Hiking, Museums/Events, Parks

Road Trip to the West

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We got up at 5am on Saturday to start our trip west.

I was hoping to get to the Great Salt Plains State Park before the sun was too harsh.

I love my pillow too much to have made it there for the actual sunrise.

It is a 3 hour drive from our house to get there.

We started on the northern side of the Salt Plains at the Sandpiper Trail.

I love this place.

It is a pretty short, easy trail.

Less then a mile total.

I think it is just beautiful.

Next we went to the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge.

There are trails to walk and an Auto Tour.

This is a short trail that is right off the Auto Tour road.

I am really glad I never saw the movie The Birds.

I have only seen commercials for it and still all these birds flying in massive groups made me slightly uneasy.

Thanks, Alfred Hitchcock.

Next we went to the Sod House Museum.

It is pretty close to the Salt Plains and I have been wanting to see it.

They built the museum around it!

I love history and grew up reading westerns so I was fascinated to see what I have read so much about.

They did say that mud daubers and non-poisonous snakes were thought to be a good thing because they killed mice, rats, and spiders.

So they lived with you…

I do not think I could handle that.

Next door to the Sod House is the Little Sahara State Park.

I have been wanting to see this for a while.

It is mostly for ATV’s and that sort of thing but we did find a small walking path to look around some.

Lot’s of playing going on.

We could not stay and watch too long because someone(me) did not put sunscreen on anybody!

I burned…

My skin sees sun peek through the clounds and it turns red.

This is my youngest philosophy on life.

Fling yourself as fast as you can and don’t worry about falling until it happens.

He actually does not care if he falls.

He would do it again the same way.

Last stop, Gloss Mountain State Park.

We actually went there pretty recently but I could not help stopping while in the area!

I thought the people going up the steps gave it a nice sense of scale.

This was actually taken by Nick!

I took some also but did not like them as much.

This little guy had a full photo shoot while we were there.

He has not paid yet…

I love how diverse Oklahoma is!

So much to see!

Hiking, Parks

McCormick’s Creek State Park ~Spencer, IN

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While visiting family in Indiana, my husband and I went to McCormick’s Creek to hike.

It is a great park and I am not sure why I do not go more often while in the area.

First we took trail 5.

I think the last time I was on this trail I was 16!

I remembered some stuff, like being scared stiff about going through the wolf cave.

Unfortunately it was closed this time.

I was so happy, I mean sad.

It is the Wolf Cave trail and is a pretty easy loop.

Around 2 miles total.

I think there was only one creek crossing on this trail.

Across from trail 5 is these steps…

What goes down must come up.

Those were my thoughts as I went down, down, down.

We wanted to get on trail 10 but took a little detour first.

That is what usually happens when I have the map.

I get turned around easily.

I think our hike was somewhere around 3 miles.

We took 2 to get to 10.

I call it the scenic route.

When we finally got on trail 10 there were a lot of water crossings.

It seemed like that was all we did.

I did not mind though.

I would have minded if I had fallen.

Thankfully I did not.

It was a miracle really.

You do not have to cross this.

He was just showing off.

Then came the moment I was dreading.

We had already gone down these, up, and down another set of stairs at this point.

My legs were begging me to find another way.

I tried to jog up but that only lasted 6 steps.

I kept saying over and over, “I want to be a contender!”.

I have never seen Rocky, so it always confuses me when I try to make a reference to the movie.

I am sure Nick found it adorable though.

Sure.

Any Hoosier’s out there?

Go to this park and run up the stairs humming the rocky theme song for me!