Tag Archives: Oklahoma

Keystone Mountain Bike & Hiking Trail ~Keystone Lake, OK

 I asked my husband if we could hike the Keystone trail so I could get new pictures to do an updated blog post.

We visit this trail a couple times a year but recently we have been running it so I do not bring my camera.

It was nice to go through it at a little slower pace last Saturday.

entrance

The parking lot is located across from the Keystone State Park.

I realized when we pulled up that it can be a little hard to find unless you already know what you are looking for so I took a picture of the entrance.

start

Once you pull into the parking lot there are two main entrances to the trail system.

We usually do a loop so it does not really matter which way we go.

There is a map at the travelok.com site to help you out though.

trailhead

This was one of the earlier hikes my husband and I did when we first got married, almost 10yrs ago!

We had gotten turned around a bit and went longer than intended(at least that is what I was told).

I remember thinking I was going to die…

My face was all red(I do not glisten, I sweat, and turn into a tomato) and I was breathing really hard.

My husband barely broke a sweat.

He almost got a rock thrown at him when at the very end he said “Hey! I am starting to sweat!”.

We were at slightly different fitness levels.

marker

I fared better during this hike, it is nice to know I am in better shape than I once was.

There is an easy loop for beginners(green).

It is a stacked loop system with 8miles of trail total with the longest uninterrupted loop(with portions of each loop) being around 5 miles.

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turtle

We saw two turtles nesting while out!

I had never seen this before!

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rocky

Portions of the trail are really rocky so I try to make sure I have sturdy boots when hiking there.

backpack

rocks

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rock

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I think the difficulty rating is geared more towards bikers but I am not one hundred percent sure on that.

The Expert portion does not seem as difficult as others we have done with a similar rating.

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ferns

You can avoid brushing up against foliage for most of the trail so we were able to walk away with few if any ticks.

plants

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paintbrush

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waterdrops

We heard a storm coming but thankfully it was not too bad.

I welcome rain while hiking(I was hot!) but I had not brought a bag for my camera and I do not like to hike in a thunderstorm.

trail2

rain

His hair goes curly in the rain.

family

We ended up with over 5 miles!

Nick had been in China for a week so I was pretty happy to be able to get out and hike a longer hike!

I try to stay away from long hikes when I am alone with the boys.

It felt really good to push myself!

If you live in the area you should check out this trail!

It is a great hike!

If you want to find more local hikes I have made it easy for you.

Check out my Oklahoma board on Pinterest, I included the map feature so you can easily find hikes and events I have done or want to do in the area.

OSU Botanic Garden ~Stillwater, OK

path

We parked at the south entrance so we could take the walking path to the gardens.

gardens

chimes

Sensory Garden

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wisteria3

I want an arbor of wisteria.

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wisteria

pond

cactus

birds

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beautiful

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globe

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chicken

This almost makes me want chickens.

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Just so I can take pictures of them in beautiful light.

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playhouse

They have a little play house set up.

hopscotch

seats

sweep

He could not believe how dirty it was and started sweeping.

Why does he not have that same compulsion at home?

flowerbox

They had window boxes filled with rocks that they could “plant” the fake flowers in.

Great idea!

windowbox2

watertable

They have a little water table area but it was not turned on.

flowers3

water

This is the second time we have gone to this garden!

I think I would like to go again this summer when different plants are blooming.

You can find information on this beautiful place at their site, here.

Do you have a favorite garden to go to?

The Zoorassic Exhibit at the Tulsa Zoo

sign

Our local zoo is having a Zoorassic exhibit for the summer.

I was not sure about it since it costs extra but I told the boys we would try it out once.

ticket

signs2

I liked the plaques filled with information about the dinosaurs.

I was shocked out how little evolution they put in.

It was a nice change for once to read just about the dinosaurs.

checkingout

The boys really enjoyed seeing all of these guys!

info

scared

They are all animated and makes noises.

I told the boys they needed to dial it down a bit before they scared some poor young child.

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hat

happy

spitting

It is hard to dial it down though when you are being spit at by a dinosaur.

spitting2

I am pretty sure the spitting one was their favorite.

Most people tried to rush by before they got sprayed while the boys waited and waited for it to go off.

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They really liked the baby dinosaurs as well!

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trex

The T-rex was the last one.

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He was huge!

excited

I tried to have them go slow but they were so excited we were done before they knew it!

Since there was not really a crowd we backtracked and did it all again.

At $5 a person($4 with membership discount) it was a bit much for me but they really liked it.

I am glad we went back through though and really took our time the second time.

penguins

Of course we checked out some other areas of the zoo while we were there.

jag

My oldest was my spotter for me.

Every time this guy would start his walk back towards me he would shout that he was coming so I could get this pic.

sealion

giraffebone

They had never seen this stuff out before at the giraffe exhibit.

The boys really enjoyed getting to see and touch something new!

tail

feeding

I think they had it out because it was feeding time!

We had never seen them have feeding open to the public either!

zookeep

We did not actually feed them since it costs extra but we had fun watching for a while!

If you have a little dino fan I would recommend taking them through the exhibit while it is here this summer!

It might be a little intense for really small ones though.

I saw a couple rushing through while their daughter covered her ears.

She did not like all the noises they were making!