Camping

Whirlwind trip west

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We spent a week with family in MN and then started our journey west, which was promptly paused 1hr in when our hubs broke off our tire (we never did find the tire).

After about 6hrs of searching for parts and the tire (and a lot of work on my husbands part), we got back on the road.

And hit a deer.

I was asleep and Nick had been having me watch videos on trailer sway so I thought this was it, we were flipping over.

Thankfully, although startling it did not damage anything.

We made it to our site and proceeded to wait for the wind to die down enough to finish our drive to the badlands.

Because of the wind we got to the boondocking spot after dark, which is something I really try to avoid.

This was even more intense because of the high winds and drop offs.

I had no clue where to go and we basically just chose the first flat spot and said this is fine.

Unfortunately I did not plan for the wind and it shook us all night. Since the wind was going to get worse the next day Nick wanted to turn the RV to compensate for it so we moved to a better spot the next morning.

And our tongue jack broke.

Thankfully I married a fixer.

Ha

Nick insisted on a spot with no steep drop offs and I am super thankful.

The next day our youngest thought it was funny to let the wind almost push her off and also let go of her jacket which was instantly gone.

I grabbed her and put her in the safety of the car and thankfully her jacket caught one of the only trees around…

Because of the high wind the boys decided to sleep in the rv and not try to set up their tent so we had a full house!

All that drama maybe made me appreciate the beautiful views all the more.

Thankfully the rest of our trip was a bit less eventful 😉

Museums/Events

Will Rogers Birthplace and Museum

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While camping on Oologah Lake we went to the Will Rogers Museum and his Birthplace Ranch up there.

I found a great deal for the museum on groupon which we have used before also. So if you are wanting to go, you might want to check there first.

They were having a special family day so they had some hands on activities for the kids!

The girls enjoyed grinding corn and watching butter be churned.

When you have kids with allergies there is always a bit of disappointment that comes when food is around (they were letting people try the butter) but it was still interesting.

The basement has a little kids area.

We drove over to the ranch on the next day.

It is such a beautiful place.

My kids loved the animals.

Even the ones that escaped their pens 😉

These goats had knocked off a board and would come and go as they pleased. Ha

I really enjoy learning about Will Roger and his family and the ranch is like a peaceful retreat.

Have you been to the museum or ranch? I think he is a great part of Oklahoma history.

Camping, Hiking

Hawthorn bluff Campground ~Oologah Lake

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After spending the week at Washington Irving I decided we should take advantage of already being packed and go to another campground for the weekend 😉 I am sure Nick loves all my ideas like this.

There was actually someone in our spot when we got there but thankfully we talked and they realized they were there on the wrong date.

This site was right next to the water which was beautiful but also it was right next to this cliff which was a bit stressful. ha

It made for beautiful sunrises though.

He wanted me to try his “way down” but I decided against it.

I realized I was not in any pictures from the week so I set my camera on a rock and fixed that while watching the sunrise with the boys.

It really was an amazing view.

The sites are a nice size as well.

There is a nature trail near the campground that is around a mile long for the long loop.

It had beautiful views of the lake!

The trail was also pretty wide so this is the perfect trail for summer hikes to me. I like them to be open to a breeze and not be narrow, it helps with pests not being as bad.

Next we took the Gazebo Trail to the swimming beach, I did not know it went to it so only the boys were ready to swim.

Nick took the girls back so they could get dressed and drove over to meet us.

After the amazing beach we had been at all week this was a bit disappointing but the kids enjoyed cooling off.

We also went to the Rogers County Fair, The Will Rogers Museum, and the Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch, but I will do a separate post about those so this one is not too long.

I loved to sit here and watch the water.

And make sure my kids did not fall off the cliff.

Need to work on cliff safety with my youngest three.

I made myself get up to watch the full sunrise the next day.

It was a beautiful spot for a weekend.

I am even thinking of staying here for a week like we did at Washington Irving. Maybe a little farther away from the cliff though…