Category Archives: Parks

My Family, Parks, Wildlife Preserve/Reserve

A Volcano and Camping in a Wildlife Refuge ~NE New Mexico

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Our first stop in New Mexico was the Capulin Volcano National Monument.

We had taken the boys there when they were little but it had been a 9 or 10yrs since we had been.

You can’t take trailers to the top so we left it at the visitors center which worked out great.

The view from the top is beautiful and you can hike around the rim and into the crater.

I did not hike the rim because someone needed to stay in the car with the dog.

Pets are not usually allowed out at national monuments.

We did not plan our next stop until last minute.

I saw the Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge on the map on the way to a state park we planned on camping at and decided to make a quick detour.

When we got there we found out they offered free camping! I was sold with this view! We also got to drive around that evening which is a great time to see animals. And we got to mark off another state on our map! It was rustic camping so no hookups but it was so beautiful! And the next morning I got to wake up to birds singing and beautiful views. This is my new favorite way to camp!

Hiking, Outdoors, Parks, Wildlife Preserve/Reserve

Black Mesa State Park & Nature Preserve ~Kenton, OK

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This is my second time visiting the Black Mesa State Park. I went during the middle of the day the last time and had a hard time seeing the beauty of the place so I wanted to spend a couple of nights there this time.

I have found that most places are beautiful at sunset and sunrise and thought this park might shine the brightest at those times. I was right, I fell in love the with the open spaces and desert landscape.

Some of my kids learned the hard way that you need to be gentle with the plants. And that the plants will defend themselves…

I was sad I could not make it to Oklahoma’s Highest Point.

I am just not at the point I can hike that far yet.

We did find the dinosaur tracks that are right across from the preserve though!

My dinosaur loving second oldest loved that and the dinosaur pit!

The pit was harder to find but he was excited to find it.

My kids were a lot more excited about this spot near the park where you can be in three states at once!

My favorite thing to do on trips is keeping moving and see everything.

So my lists for our trips of things to do is CRAZY looking!

Ha

Anyone else do that?

My Family, Parks

Family, Parks, and Nature Centers

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On the last two days without Nick(he was in Poland for a week), I was feeling burnt out.

So on Friday I decided to not go anywhere in the morning but did visit my parents who were in town in the afternoon.

Afterwards we went to the Washington Irving Park and I noticed that this nature area that I have seen for years finally had a trail in it!

It was pretty short but with this short hike and walking around the park I felt extra confidence to attempt taking all five of my kids into a store. We survived the store and I actually felt so good we ran into ANOTHER STORE! I know! Crazy, right? We played outside until dark because I feel better outside.

Ha

I would have prefered to stay home again on Saturday but that did not seem like it would work so we headed to the Fort Gibson Wildlife Management Area.

We were not there at a great time to see animals and I could not find a good place to go for a walk so we went to the Sequoyah State Park nearby. It had been a little while since I had been and the last time it was summer and TONS of ticks so I forgot how great it is. They want to going camping there now. They played on the playground, went to the nature center and went for a hike! The girl at the nature center was awesome with my kids and their thousands of questions. She told us all about the animals they are keeping there and it was a great way to end our week!We went on the Whispering Pines Trail and it was pretty.

We picked Nick up from the airport that night!

Everyone was super happy to see him!

Especially me…ha