Category Archives: Wildlife Preserve/Reserve

My Family, Parks, Wildlife Preserve/Reserve

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

05/20/2019 Danielle Huddleston 2 Comments

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

05/16/2019 Danielle Huddleston 2 Comments

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!

Anyone else do that?

Museums/Events, My Family, Wildlife Preserve/Reserve

Wildlife and Museums ~South Eastern Oklahoma

12/18/2018 Danielle Huddleston 1 Comment

Little River National Wildlife Refuge
To the left of the boys a deer was just standing there staring at us! This was the only established place to walk around that we saw there. It was a beautiful scenic drive though and my kids want to go back when it is warmer to see Alligators.
When we found out about the Museum of the Red River we knew we wanted to stop! It is under construction so very small right now, the drawings look amazing of what they are planning though and it was free. The biggest selling point for us was the state dinosaur!