Mid-week arrived during our planned sojourn across Oklahoma and Arkansas. After an exciting start, it was time for our yearly visit to the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. Bit of background before we get to 2021 …
Continue reading Ten Years Gone – Solo to the BuffaloWe’ve spent a lot of time in Northern New Mexico – Taos, Santa Fe, Red River, Las Vegas, Cimmaron, Clayton, and everywhere in-between. While it’s beautiful there, we’ve always been curious about the mountains further south, so we arranged an extended weekend for exploration. The plan was to do the usual Colorado trip, then head south to explore the area around the Lincoln National Forest. It was time to break in one of the new cars as well and with a kid and relatively responsibility-free weekend, it didn’t seem right for the new Hyundai Kona to sit at home.
Continue reading South by Northwest…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 …
Continue reading Make Oklahoma OK AgainThe summer of 2020 was a chaotic time. The pandemic was still in full force, coming back with another wave after declining in cases for a month or so. Business were open to varying degrees, with varying restrictions, tending on the more lenient side in our part of the country. We had settled into a comfortable routine of working from home, cooking from home, exercising from home, entertaining adult and teenage children at home … the list goes on. July was the perfect time for a break from all that. Yes, travel would still present challenges, given the lack of available dining opportunities, but it was also an excellent time for exploring the world on a socially distanced agenda, which is our preference anyway.
Continue reading A Masked Tour of Southwest TexasWhen you’re looking for a reasonably priced place to stay in the middle of an expensive area, a trailer could be an option. Discounts can be found when a place is not securely attached to the ground and the bathroom is the size of a marble. That’s how we ended up spending Labor Day weekend in a space not much bigger than a refrigerator.
The purpose of this trip was to explore the area around Las Vegas without venturing onto the Strip, or anywhere else in what is probably our least favorite city in North America. We’ve heard of this fantasy land of mountains and red rocks and wanted to find out if it actually existed as advertised. Hunting through AirBnB, we located and booked a trailer (mainly due to lack of other options) on a property owned by a cranky old man and considered possible fates: chopped to pieces by property owner and buried in the desert; murdering each other due to lack of space during a four-day / three-night time frame; or get eaten by wild desert animals.
Continue reading A Trailer in the DesertSo … we appear to be committed to long, painful runs that result in exhaustion, days of soreness, and spending lots of money for a t-shirt, a big clunky medal, and a few pictures we manage to catch along the way. Figuring that we’ve seen and pounded enough miles of pavement, we decided to branch out. Trail runs seem to happen on more frequently on Sundays which makes schedules a bit easier, but to offset that, it’s always a good idea to pick one that is at least 5 hours away – convenience is not a watchword we adhere to. Hence, the LSRC (Lone Star Runner’s Club) Palo Duro Canyon Spring Half – 13-point-something miles in the bottom of Palo Duro Canyon State Park. The club also hosts the Palo Duro Trail Run in the fall each year, but getting both of us there on a Saturday has proved tough. One of us walked the 20K (12.2 miles or so) two years ago, and ran (well, jogged) it last fall. While not a walk in the park (sound effect here for bad pun), it seemed like a do-able half marathon. Ummm, yeah.
Continue reading The Agony of the Palo Duro Canyon Half
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