Saturday, October 5, 2013

Flat

That is what we have seen today--flat, flat, and more flat.

We left Scott Lake State Park, Kansas, this morning, in the cold. Brrrr.

First time Vicky had been in Kansas.

Our plan was to drive to the Black Kettle National Grasslands in Oklahoma, which meant going through the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. Vicky had never been in those states either.

Vicky's question/issue was whether she could say she has "been" in Texas if all she did was drive through it, or if she had to officially have "boots on the ground" there to make that claim (or, as she said, referring to herself, "flip flops on the ground.").

While tooling along in a howling wind Vicky noticed something on her maps program--what appeared to a county park outside Perrytown, Tx. So, we said, "what the heck, maybe let's stay a night in Tex Ass."

For the past 200 miles we have been in flat. No other way of describing it. Just, flat. Miles and miles of being able to see the curving of the earth, because nothing was in the way. It has a certain beauty, but also a certain mind-numbing sameness.

And the wind.......howling, strong, and persistent. One of the reasons my father wanted to move out of Oklahoma was because of the wind. As a child I remember times when I was playing outside and would look to the north to see a red sky. I would run inside, tell my mother, and we would close up the house, waiting for the dust storm to rock our house. Well, today Vicky got a good introduction to Oklahoma wind.

 

So when we entered the state, I sang "Oklahoma" for her ("where the wind comes sweeping down the plain...").

She was very impressed.

We decided to explore this park Vicky had noticed on the maps program--Wolf Creek County Park outside of Perrytown, Tx.

It was only five miles off of our route, so we didn't think we had much to lose. Drove there, found it to be a very attractive oasis (much like Lake Scott in Kansas) in the middle of flat. It is the off season for the campground, but there were places we could hook up and stay. While driving around to find the site we wanted, Vicky saw what appeared to be some day use areas. We asked if we could dry camp in one of them and were told "sure" by the friendly people who run the park. Consequently, we are staying two nights, in the Texas panhandle, at a place we just happened to discover. Tomorrow we will hike around the lake.

And Vicky got her flip flops on the ground in Texas.

Our camping spot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

No comments:

Post a Comment