Just because it’s a sunset photo doesn’t mean it should be at the end of the post. We are nowhere near close to getting tired of the amazing colors that each Oklahoma evening brings.
The sunset also means cooling temperatures. It’s been hot. Especially so mid-afternoon, inside the van. Each time we ask when the ridiculously hot days will cede the locals tell us that we should be happy with the Cold Front we were experiencing. So, to put everything in perspective, we took to soaking our heads with the hose and chanting “98 is Great!”. We’ve also been practicing the art of the afternoon siesta and are gaining a great appreciation for the craft.
The latest cold snap has the critters stirring.
Darlene had the job of coaxing this furry beast out of the ladies restroom one morn.
Speaking of morning, we’ve heard that eagles arrive at the lake in the early morning to feed.
So, we got up early one morning to look for eagles and we saw a bunch of vultures! No, we’re not saying that the locals don’t know their eagles from their vultures just that we didn’t see any eagles.
A cove near our tent site camping and a view of the dam (white line in middle).
On a side note… it has recently been reported to us that the best way to catch a mega catfish is to soak a wiener (ahem, hotdog) in WD40 and use it as bait. Despite our definite curiosity as to the validity of this report, we do not endorse this activity due to the obvious environmental impact on your local waters and wildlife. None the less, it does get one thinking. Just what wheels have to start turning for someone to arrive at the point where they say, “Hey, how about we try to soak some wieners in WD40 and fish with ‘em!”?
Moving on…
It is interesting to watch all of the new plants that pop up on the beach.
One day we’ll figure out what these cute little things are called. For now, we’ve nicknamed them jack-o-lanterns although their texture is more like paper lanterns.
These were not on the beach but their bright, pretty color stands out amongst the grasses along the sides of the road.
These Kamikaze Grasshoppers are everywhere lately. They truly have no idea where they are going when they take off and their flight seems to always end in some sort of crash landing. We’ve been hit in the face, the back of the head and other random locations. The one in the photo above landed with a thud inside the cart as we were tooling down the road at 20 miles per hour and was content to take a break and ride for a bit. Eventually, he saw something he liked better and jumped with abandon, out of our moving vehicle.
Big Hairy Acorns, anyone?
Seriously, these things are BIG and based on the way they get chewed by the critters each develops its own character.
Darlene named this one, Kenny. He was dead when we found him!
Bleep. Bleep. Bleep. We interrupt this blog post for a special news report.
Your campground is closing!
To clarify, your entire park is… CLOSING!
Watching this happen first hand was disheartening, to say the least. On a personal note, we thoroughly enjoyed our three weeks with the National Park Service and look forward to working with them again at some point in the future.
Calming photo interlude…
We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post…
We had one last afternoon at our 'get away' spot before having to leave the park. It was perfect. A cool breeze was blowing, the Loop A resident Great Egret was fishing near shore, big hairy acorns lined the road, monarch butterflies were migrating through and the water really was sparkling like that!
There is a sadness in our hearts leaving the Chickasaw area the way that we are. We are very excited though to once again be blowing along down the road. Only time will tell Where the Wind goes…