Kansas & Oklahoma

Lake Scott State Park, Scott City, KS

There are two places in Kansas that I have pinned on my Pinterest “Wishful Whereabouts” board, and Lake Scott State Park is one of them (the other being Wilson S.P.) Happily it was almost directly in our route south, making it a natural next stop.

We had planned a one-night in-between stop, but decided to push through, arriving on a Saturday, which can be a risky thing to do even in late September. The campground with hookups was, indeed, quite full, but we found a fine dry camping space for an overnight, hoping for some campers to clear out the following day. I must interrupt myself to say that the online and phone contacts for the Kansas State Parks were relatively useless – no one, as polite as they were but no matter how many times they transferred us, could tell us a thing about reservations. I also must tell on myself to say that if I paid better attention to the notes I meticulously make ahead of time, we wouldn’t have had to move the next day because there was a second area with hookups available all along. If everyone would just listen to me, including me, life would be so much easier! Have I said this before? I feel like I’ve said this before, so if I have, well shame on me for not only being repetitive but for ignoring myself twice.

Lakeview Campground living up to its name.

We had errands to do in Scott City, picking up our first General Delivery mail (our new license plates were ready!) and making a quick grocery stop. We timed our P.O. stop perfectly, arriving right at the beginning of their lunch hour. With time to kill, we motored over to a city park, planning to take a walk while we waited for the postal workers to enjoy their midday meal. As I parked, TBG asked what I saw behind me, which irritated me because I thought he was criticizing my driving, which is so totally crazy because that never happens, but what he really wanted me to see was this

A disc golf course!

We dug our discs out of the back of the Honda, searched in vain for a course map, but finding none, finally just picked a tee and started winging our discs. Within a few minutes, a dude called out asking if we were looking for the first tee. Turns out, he was instrumental in getting this course built, and his friend who helped design the course was driving by as we were walking around looking lost, called this dude all excited that someone was there to play, so our dude raced over to help us. And help us he did, serving as our personal course guide, playing all 9 with us. Either it’s a strange phenomenon or just a quirk of disc golf in general, but we always seem to find a “helper.” Thanks, Sam!

Could I be trying any harder?

On the way back to camp, we stopped at an historical site.

 

We took the short hike above and into the canyon, imagining what it would have been like to be running and fighting and hiding there. Sobering and surreal.

We found a little friend hiding there.

It’s not poisonous and wasn’t the least bit interested in us, but added to our musings about battling and hiding in the canyon – did anyone get bitten by snakes during the skirmish?

Having most of the afternoon still available when we returned, we decided to take a bike ride around the whole park.

Root cellar to the old Steele Homestead

We stashed our bikes near the homestead, and climbed up to the overlook across the road in our bike shoes.

 Bold choice in sketchy shoes

The built-to-look-older-than-it-is lookout shelter.

 When we returned, I discovered my back tire was completely flat due to a thorn.

I always carry a mechanic with me.

 The following day was set to be hot – a 40 degree difference in the high temps from the previous day, and I would have loved to get my kayak out on the beautiful lake, but, unfortunately, it was experiencing a toxic algae bloom. Not only did that put the kibosh on any water activities, it cast a pall over our whole stay (for me at least) because every time I would look out at the pretty lake, all I could think was poison.

Misty morning walkabout

 While the morning clouds burned off, I cleaned out and reorganized the Honda, which may not seem very exciting, but organizing makes my heart sing. As I worked, the flies had their own fun, biting my ankles and butt while I worked.

We hid out inside for the hottest part of the day, then took a walk on the only trail in the park, which is said to be six miles total, but it’s not all clearly connected, and we only traversed one side of the park, probably getting in 3-4 miles of it.

Yield to serpents!

  

Too hot for ’em!

Just right for me!

Over morning coffee, while I enjoyed our lake view, a little kitty wandered into the front of our site.

Hello, do you have any non-toxic fish?

 It was a very young one, probably recently on its own from mama, and we watched it poke around a bit before it crossed the road into the brush where it mewled a few times, then hopped its way back up the hillside.

through-the-screen-door shot

  On our last full day in the area, we drove up to Monument Rocks early to stay ahead of the sweltering to come. We passed a sedge of sandhill cranes in a cornfield.

 Monument Rocks are very cool and startling sandstone structures on private land that the landowner graciously allows the public to explore.

 Do these rocks make me look puny?

They definitely make TBG look like TLG.

 As we walked around taking way too many pictures, TBG called out for me to come see something. It was something, all right.

WTF Kansas?!

Observing it from a distance, we determined it was no longer living, and I remarked that perhaps someone had placed it there as a joke because we were in Kansas, for crying out loud. Oh no, my friends. Turns out tarantulas live in Kansas. I can’t be the only one to be completely taken by surprise at that fact. I’ll bet a lot of my friends who are from Kansas didn’t know that, either. Do rattlesnakes eat tarantulas? Because that would be helpful.

There are two main areas of rocks to enjoy, and as we drove up to the second, we spotted another critter crossing the road.

 Ornate Box Turtle

These cuties are not only common in Kansas, they are the state reptile. I only noticed later when I was going through our photos, that this turtle had obviously been run over and the top part of its shell was crushed. I madly Googled again and learned that they can survive with a damaged shell as long as their innards aren’t also smooshed, and I’m going to believe this little one is going to live a long and happy life.

There were only two other vehicles at this section, one belonging to a nice kid for whom we took a photo and to whom I showed the turtle that was by then snuggled in the grass, and a hippie van belonging to a couple, the male half who was somewhere in the rocks auditioning to be the 4th Tenor. I couldn’t decide if I admired him enjoying the acoustics of nature in that way or if I resented the disturbance of the rocks’ tranquility.

  The morning light and clear blue sky made for ideal photo-taking, and we took too many to share here, but here is a sampling of some of our favs.

 That night, the wind whipped up again as the temps dropped, and we once more had to pull in some of the slides to prevent any damage to the toppers and to reduce sway and noise so we could sleep. If you’re wondering, like I was, if wind gusts can tip over an RV, the answer is that unless it’s an actual tornado or hurricane, no they cannot. It feels like they can, though, and I don’t care for that, but I’ll have to get used to it, especially as I eventually assume some of the driving duties in the future. 

 

Beymer Water Recreation Park, Lakin, KS

“Water recreation park” is a strange name for this place, although there is water, fishing is allowed, and you can do other recreational things such as picnic, walk, or camp. It’s just not what you might picture when you think of a “water recreation park” is all, especially since you can’t get in the water with or without a boat.

 

 Every time we come across one of these city or county parks, I am amazed at their existence. There is just no way most of them are money-makers, yet they are often pretty well-kept for their cost, this one being $10/night for water & electric hookups and plenty of spots to boondock for FREE. We stayed here for three days, which is the limit, and although we saw some folks just pass through, some folks come to walk their dogs, one fellow who came two different times to practice his archery, and the park employee a couple times, we had the place entirely to ourselves. This was not a Fabulous! RV! Resort! by any stretch, but we needed to fill in a few days prior to some upcoming reservations, and there is a whole lot to be said for inexpensive peacefulness. It’s also quite freeing to not have to close the shades every night, especially since we were celebrating one month of being on the road with a wild rumpus. Just kidding! About the rumpus part, that is, we actually did mark our one month roadiversary.

 

 There wasn’t really anything to do in the surrounding area, so what we did was a lot of walking/running around the park roads, working on our hobbies, and watching a movie in the rig one night for the first time since we hit the road. We hadn’t even watched TV since we left Old-Home or ever used the TVs in the rig at all, and it was a treat once we figured out how to get it to play in color.

The fruits of my labor.

 We did not see many critters with the exception of several Sharp-shinned hawks, or Short-shinned hawks if you’re TBG. Here is a crummy picture of one that is crummy because I took it through the screen. I need to quit doing that.

We also found a completely pancaked ornate box turtle on the road. Wearing the mantle of state reptile is a rough business.

The overcast skies finally gave up their rain as we moved along on our way to Oklahoma for the first in a series of reservations that will take us through most of October.

Black Mesa State Park, Kenton, OK

Let me start by saying the drive here was horrendous due to awfully rough roads. Oklahoma, you need to get your ish together, girl. Fortunately, it was a Sunday morning with little traffic, and we weren’t in any sort of hurry. Going slowly was aggravating, but not going slowly was surely going to cause brain damage from the repeated slamming of our gray matter against the insides of our skulls. We arrived only marginally stupider than we started the day, and found our saved space with no trouble.

 Reservations are a blessing and a curse. They are good because you’re assured a spot in what are normally popular places, but bad because if you get there and don’t like it or if the weather takes a dump, you’re either stuck or out money. We have made the decision that unless there will be truly dangerous weather or someplace is completely unlivable (and that would take a lot, frankly) we will power through any reservations we make. That doesn’t mean we mightn’t be a tad snarly about it.

Undaunted by the drizzly day, we hiked the park’s few short trails.

A vista of our housing development.

 

 There were thunderstorms overnight, but it had turned to a slight misty rain by the following morning. On went our Boonie hats and raincoats for a long (4+ mile) walk all around the park roads.

  Later that day, with rain threatening again, I entertained myself by watching this chubby squirrel through the binoculars.

The back of a wet squirrel. On a rock. The most interesting thing happening at the moment this picture was taken.

 Our fourth and final day at the park was forecast to be the clearest and warmest, and that is when we planned our hike up to Black Mesa Summit, the highest point in Oklahoma at 4,973′.

Neither clearer nor warmer.

 The first couple miles are flat, easy, and a bit dull.

Excuse us, we think it’s lovely here.

 After weaving our way through the scrub and cattle, we reached the majority of the 700′ climb up to the mesa. There are benches marking each mile.

 Mile 3

Sobre la mesa.

 Once through the climb, there is another flat mile-plus to reach the summit marker.

The windy vertex.

 Overall, it was an 8.4 mile hike, the longest we’ve done all year, and my sore feet confirmed that. It was also the first time this year I wore my full backpack, and I felt that the next day, too. We liked this park a lot and were sad that we couldn’t enjoy it in sunnier times.

Our southward trek continues, so stay tuned to discover if we ever find the sun again, or if we make it through Seasons 2-6 of Downton Abbey instead.