…it was never that great.

Prior trips to Oklahoma have been variably successful. In 2012, while we were looking for graveyards of interest across the driveable radius from DFW, we wound up in Davis, OK, toured the area around Chickasaw National Recreation Area, explored some seriously hot and dusty cemeteries, and consumed questionable food in a variety of locations. We chose southern Oklahoma in mid-summer, which is less pleasant than say, St. Croix. Between the limited scenery, beverages, and frankly edible food, we drove home that weekend telling ourselves we would not return. And we didn’t. With the exception of stops on the way to and from Arkansas over the years, we have remained Oklahoma-free. This year, we were looking to squeeze in a quick road trip around kid’s schedules and COVID restrictions. Despite our lingering reservations, pictures of the Wichita Mountain region and taking a look at the terrain maps on Google convinced us to try one more time …

Saturday 2020 12 19

Lessons learned from our prior trip to the dusty north, we tried to prepare for the journey. With memories of closed restaurants and dry barbeque dancing in our heads, we headed north on a Saturday morning. First, a quick stop at the Denton Farmer’s Market for food. This is a great place to pick up vegetables, protein, coffee, and if you’re in the market for carved wood or some custom COVID masks, all the better.

Given COVID and sobriety, next stop was Gainesville to revisit a recent post-bike ride discovery in the area. Sarah’s is a nice little place on the square – good food, better desserts. Staring at the dessert case after eating, we even pre-ordered a couple of pies, arranging to return before Christmas to pick them up.

Waurika is just across the Oklahoma border. We were ready for a break from the car, so it seemed like as good a place as any to get out and stretch. We were greeted by an silent and empty main street, with an enormous American flag towering over the town. We couldn’t help but notice the flag was in better condition than the town itself. Empty storefronts and abandoned buildings immediately captured the attention of our cameras.

We were very curious about persistent potential buyers of this aluminum shed on the way out of town. Evidently real estate is in high demand in Waurika.

Following the instructions not to ask the owner about the shed in Waurika, it was time to head north toward mountains.

After quite a bit of wandering, we found our Airbnb off to the side of a dusty country road. This little purple and blue and white and lace and doily trailer would be our home for the next two days. Having actually arrived prior to midnight, we dumped our bags and groceries, and headed out to find some hiking trails, wanting to fit in some outdoor time before the sun disappeared.

After a short scenic drive along the nearby lake, we found the perfect spot and headed out for a quick evening hike. We were pleasantly surprised with the views from the Black Trail on Bear Mountain. Beautiful place, quiet, and some challenging ups and downs. Maybe Oklahoma wasn’t as bad as we remembered.

Having finished our physical activity, it was time for food. Rather than cooking in our trailer home, we decided to explore the historic town of Medicine Park. This area is one of a few resort areas scattered across Oklahoma and Arkansas, advertising themselves as oases in the midst of some pretty flat and uninspiring wheat fields and plains. Discovering the Old Plantation restaurant, we were intrigued by the refurbished interior, and sad about our inability to visit the extensive bar. That said, unlike our previous dining our experiences in Oklahoma, this one included a casual atmosphere (given), quick service, and tasty American standard dishes – we sampled chicken fried steak, good old iceberg lettuce based salad, rolls, and the like. All in all, a nice wind-down for a busy day of photography and exploration.

After dinner, we headed to Lawton for some evening drive time, coffee and a walk. We didn’t expect Lawton to be exciting, and it wasn’t. It was simply the closest location that offered coffee after 8pm. The first spot we found closed about 1.5 minutes before we pulled into the parking lot, so we backtracked to White Buffalo Coffee Bar (a local chain that we’d depend on in our efforts to avoid the Evil Multinational Coffee Corporation). Properly caffeinated, we stopped for a quick and slightly frosty walk (one of our party has a work-related Fitbit requirement for periodic walks – otherwise it will spontaneously combust) on the campus of Cameron University.

Having completed all the real-life related checkboxes, it was time to head back to the purple artist trailer and collapse into a surprisingly comfortable bed.

Sunday 2020 12 20

With the sun streaming in through our east-facing windows, it was time to get up and take advantage of a beautiful day. A quick check of the maps showed trails surrounding nearby Lake Lawtonka. This one looked like a good start:

Having survived the Black Trail, we were not disappointed with the views. Our run, however … We’ve abstained from alcohol for almost a year at this point. When we committed to this plan, the goal was increased physical performance and stamina by eliminating drinks and exhaustion and hangovers from our lives. As one will notice from one of the photos, we found that sobriety could be challenging. One of us is struggling to get through two miles without stopping to walk. We were debating whether one more year of zero alcohol would do the trick, or maybe alcohol was the trick. Five years ago, half marathons and long bike rides were the norm, all while drinking to excess on a regular basis and suffering through hangovers. But there was no stopping to walk during those long runs with a regular pace of 9-minute miles. Alas, age…

Having returned to the car and warmed up from our run / jog / hike, we were ready for a late breakfast. Medicine Park was calling and we listened. Spotting an open door and a moderately busy parking area, we chose the Riverside Café. Walking in, we were greeted by this friendly little gnome:

Seated in a pleasantly quiet patio area overlooking the creek outside, we enjoyed people watching and some warm sunshine. The food is remembered as not being amazing, but not the worst we’d eaten in the state.

Visible from our window, this little one lane bridge was constructed in 1906 and is still the only way to get a vehicle across Medicine Creek without leaving town. It’s very narrow: cars are strongly advised to take turns crossing to avoid unnecessary swerving and dropping into the creek below.

Medicine Park was established as a resort town. The founder was fascinated with a tale of healing qualities that the nearby Medicine Creek possessed and awed by the surrounding scenery. The medicinal tale was passed down from the Plains Indians, who originally inhabited the area. As with most of America, the Indians were gradually and rudely made to leave the area, while the land hungry white folks made their way in. Word about the creek and scenery spread, and visitors from all over began to flock to Medicine Park. It was a popular place for outlaws and bootleggers along with politicians and other elite citizens of early Oklahoma. The appeal of the town declined in the decades after the Great Depression, and didn’t recover until the 1980s, when locals took on a restoration project. There’s quite a bit of character here. Many of the old buildings were restored instead of rebuilt, and still have the original cobblestone exterior.

Unfortunately there was nothing other than gas station coffee to drink in Medicine Park on a weekend day. We took a quick walk onto the dangerously skinny bridge, enjoying crisp air and a nice view of the central canal area. We headed west to the Wichita Mountains, half convinced they didn’t exist. All of our prior experience in Oklahoma leaned towards “mountains” and “Oklahoma” feel like contradictory words.

Working our way out of town, we found that well before mountains appeared, there were some interesting sights to see. A quick walk across the dam over Elmer Thomas Lake, named after an Oklahoma lawyer and politician, provided a nice sample of the scenery we were headed into. There’s not much information online available about Elmer, but evidently he was significant enough to earn the naming rights to this lake.

Across the road was our next stop – Mount Scott, also named after an Oklahoma politician, General Winfield Scott, who has a much more interesting Wikipedia article. That aside, General Scott didn’t look like much of a mountain climber, or even someone who would appreciate the fact that a mountain was named after him, or even someone who appreciated being photographed. Or looked at.

Wondering if this was what qualified as a “mountain” in Oklahoma, we drove up to the top, making a nice little cinnamon roll on the map. General Scott might have appreciated the pastry, but then again, based on his visage above, maybe not.

The apparent height of General Scott’s namesake makes for an impressive view, largely because there is nothing interrupting it for many, many, many flat miles to the east:

Looking west on the other hand provided a glimpse of what might be larger than the molehill we’d driven up.

As we crossed the park boundaries, amid increasingly rocky and steep hills, the Parallel Forest was next on the list. Unless there is a General Parallel that we are not aware of, this one is just named for its general plan and layout. The forest was designed and implemented by the government as a test of ideas for counteracting the effects of the Dust Bowl – one idea being rows of trees in a big grid to break up winds. We wandered through the forest, stepping over tangled nests of thick roots and dodging other tourists. While initially fascinating and in places visually disorienting, it really wasn’t a place we wanted to spend the afternoon. It was time to find some mountains.

Of course, we couldn’t just go straight there. Around the corner from the parallel woods, we were looking for a bathroom, and instead found the Holy City of The Wichitas. Must have been God’s plan. This hillside is covered in buildings made to look like a couple of different historical periods (Renaissance Europe, pre-Christian Middle East, Oklahoma rural rockpile …), with a chapel, regular performances of the Stations of the Cross and associated Roman-on-Christian brutality, along with some history and religious art, and evidently “North America’s longest continuously running Easter pageant”. After soaking in all the American Christianity, and feeling a bit heretical, we parked by the surprisingly clean bathrooms. After using them, we worked our way up a non-ADA approved sidewalk and climbed a big rock to get a better view of the heavenly place.

We didn’t stay long. We figured Jesus would understand that we wanted to see things his Father had built, like better hiking trails. Looks like was busy acquiring a tan anyway.

We wandered further west, looking for a good place to get out and explore. Our first hike was just a spot on the side of the road near Mt. Lincoln. While scrambling over some big boulders probably wouldn’t really classify as a full hike, we hopped out for a few minutes to see what we could see. Further up the hill, we met a family ranging from toddler to grandfather who evidently traversed the trail from our parking area up to the top of the nearest mountain and back every year. Very cool.

Passing in and around immense rocks, stepping over pools and puddles of water, and because of the season, not worrying too much about rattlesnakes and scorpions and mosquitos, we could see a lot.

Noticing the sun heading towards the horizon, we clambered down the hill and took a short drive over to the next set of trails. Here we ended up on the at the Crab Eyes Trailhead leading up to Elk Mountain. Less boulders on this side, more hiking trails, but still gorgeous high plains and hills, with views across the valley.

Determined to stretch the day out as much as possible, we took the long way home – west out of the reserve, back east to Cache for groceries, then north through Meers on the way to the purple house. Having learned our lessons during prior trips, we’d brought food so an edible dinner was available.

Monday 2020 12 21

With the entire day open on Monday for travel, we had enough time in the schedule for a morning hike. Having scouted out some of the area on Sunday, we headed back over familiar roads past Lake Lawtonka, the Parallel Forest, The Holy City, and finally to the intriguingly named Narrows Trail.

This turned out to be an excellent choice. Fortunately, the refuge and trails were not busy on a Monday, especially given the very limited parking at the trail heads. A bit unsure about how far we’d be able to go with minimal gear, we put on some light layers, sunscreen and set out. After a bit of flat and winding forest, we started heading up and over the hills in front of us. We were not disappointed with this scenery in the least – fall and winter colors, sunshine, rocks and water all around. The sounds of all this nature unfortunately were frequently drowned out by military jet exercises from nearby Lawton, where evidently Mondays are “hit the thrusters over the park” day. Flowing water and birdsong shattered by fighter jets. We blamed Oklahoma.

Amazing place, despite the noise (which thankfully diminished as we got further down the valley). Crowds were minimal this morning, which is always good, although we did pass a crew of climbers using one of the vertical walls above the river for rappelling and ascent practice. What was intended to be a short hike turned into a couple of hours of relaxation and calming nature. Arriving back at the car early in the afternoon, we realized it was time to head home.

Direct return trips are increasingly rare in our travels – that would be too predictable. Closing our eyes and waving a hand at Google Maps, we decided to backtrack before turning south: past The Holy City, past the Parallel Forest, and around Lake Lawtonka. That route took us through Meers, where we hoped to find food – unfortunately the the Meers Store & Restaurant was closed. We bookmarked the store for a future meal option, and also saw the signs for the Tour de Meers. Holding out less hope for the quality of the food (despite the high ratings – everything is relative in Oklahoma) than the quality of the bike tour, we continued north.

Wide open country between Meers and Anadarko left no options for food. Approaching starving, we stopped at Randlett Park for a quick walk. Monday afternoon in a small Oklahoma town meant the park was empty. Walking through the park, something we’d noticed through most of our trip really stood out. Every tree in sight had the same damage to their limbs, snapped off or dangling from where they broke, with stacks of fallen branches lined up purposefully on the side of the trail. Finally checking some news, we realized this was the result of the massive ice storm from a few weeks prior to our visit. Mystery solved …

Hiking, driving, sightseeing, thinking, and walking makes travelers hungry. With the pandemic still ongoing, businesses struggled and especially in smaller towns, had either closed or were operating in a very limited fashion. Trying to support the locals, we found a hole in the wall burger place – Jo’s – where we were able to get a good old-fashioned hamburger and fries. As we wrapped up our meal, an elderly local man discreetly paid for our meals. Excellent burger, and a generous crowd. We’ll be back.

We had vaguely discussed looping all the way through Oklahoma City, but leaving Jo’s, we only made it as far north as Gracemont, then east, then south to the edge of the Norman area. Going south through Chickasha reminded us of our first visit to Oklahoma, where we spent some dusty and hot days around Chickasaw many years prior.

The sun went down before we hit Texas – disadvantages of winter travel. While we drove through the night, we compared notes and memories from this trip to our prior Oklahoma experience. All the things that were wrong before – the lack of open restaurants, the bland or just plain bad food, the steaming, unbearable heat, the scarcity of alcohol– weren’t a problem this time. Of course, winter is more tolerable in Oklahoma than summer, and lack of alcohol is not an issue since our inebriated road trip days are past.

The unhurried drives, the surprisingly beautiful scenery, the food (admittedly some of it brought with us), and even the people (especially the generous patron at Jo’s), were all much improved this time around. As we rolled toward DFW in the dark, we decided we will return.