Scott and I actually stayed up until almost midnight last night chatting about where we want to go, enjoying the stars, the moonrise, a bottle of wine, and a small fire. Little drops of rain started to fall on us around 4:30 in the morning. I listened to the rain for a while and questioned whether to put on the fly. Honestly I was also questioning whether I wanted to move since it seemed between the two cuties rolling and the freight trains with blaring horns that sleep was never going to grace itself upon me.
I decided to get up and put on the fly. However, I have not attempted to put the fly on in quite some time, and the tent is taller than I am. Consequently I made a futile effort and waited for Scott to stir. The rain never became more than a few drops, but it is hard to determine how serious the rain drips are going to be when the sun hasn’t risen just yet. Thankfully the state park rangers began mowing at 7:45 so they kept us from sleeping in too late. I had the interior of the tent wrapped up by 8:30. We ate breakfast and were on the road by 9:30 headed to another playground the proud grandpa from last night had told us about.
Cody couldn’t stop long enough for a picture again. I caught him running with Keystone Lake in the background. I think the lake was rather red, Scott thinks it was just a bit muddy brown. Scott and I both spun the kids on what I called the “giant sprinkle donut” for quite some time.
Last night Scott had mentioned going straight through to New Mexico. While it might have been possible, I know it is hard for the kids (and me) to sit in the car all day. Before we left our friends in MO I looked up museums that should have been reciprocal with Kohl Children’s Museum in Northbrook, IL. There were two listed in OK: one in Tulsa and the Wondertorium in Stillwater. Always thinking about where we are going to stay, Scott wanted to go past Tulsa to Keystone Lake. This left us with Stillwater. It turns out the museum in Stillwater was not reciprocal, lesson learned, call ahead. However, it was, “tiny but mighty,” as one employee boasted. Consequently the cost was minimal and the fun was supreme.
We came just in time for Wednesday story time at 11. The museum was fairly quiet until 12 when three coach buses full of children came from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Oklahoma City. I thought Brooke and Cody were going to be overwhelmed by the additional 170 kids in a small space. Instead they not only embraced the kids, but thoroughly enjoyed them. They were some of the most polite and friendly kids I’ve come across. I didn’t think I was ever going to be able to pull the kids from the museum even though they were beyond hungry at one in the afternoon.
Favorites at the Wondertorium: the air wall- scarfs and yarn balls were quickly sucked through a maze of tubes and spit out; the train table, collecting eggs in the grocery area, the glow-in-the-dark room, the hospital, ambulance, and doctor’s office.
Lunch was served at Boomer Lake Park. We had a fantastic lunch of Nutrisystem just-add-water meals given to us from a friend along our way west. Since we don’t like to look a gift horse in the mouth we aren’t going to critique the meals. Instead we will say that we know now why people lose weight on the plan. We decided to be kind and share our fortune with others, in hopes that they may also partake in the delicacy that is Nutrisystem. The granola bars were quickly consumed earlier in our trip, so not all hope is lost for Nutrisystem.
Pictured above was our gift to the community of Stillwater, OK.
A bank in Enid, OK just posted 108 degrees. While it is oh-so-hot I’m not fully convinced it is that hot. Bank number two – 106 degrees. Uh-oh. 100 degrees is usually our max for camping and sleeping. We might just be venturing to a hotel tonight.
The first mesas on the horizon.
We are headed west on 412 with the next large destination being Taos, New Mexico.
We stopped at McDonald’s in Woodward for wi-fi in order to find a hotel for tonight. We also had a very proud parenting moment and had ice cream before dinner. Dinner was at a roadside picnic area. Fort Supply Picnic Stop – Do NOT Stop Here. Tenacious little pricklies,insane grasshopper armies, and terrible location. It is a stones throw from a large correctional facility. We didn’t see the correctional facility until after we ate. However, the large road sign that stated, “Hitchhikers may be prison escapees,” might have been a clue…
Cody had yet another fall. He was so excited to see a double trailer truck that pulled up behind us at the picnic stop that he attempted to “fly” out of the van to see it. I was teasing when I asked if he thought he could fly. He answered with his head down, “Yeah. Do you guys ever fly?” Poor kid. I explained that I flew out of an airplane, but that I had a parachute. Brooke of course was quick to point out that you don’t fly out of an airplane, you fall. Point well taken. Anyone else ever try to “fly” as a kid?
We are headed to Guymon in the panhandle of OK.
