Camping in Oklahoma

Howdy folks! I'm a bit behind on my blogging, as it seems to take me a while to post anything and then I'm posting about stuff that happened a week or more ago. Ah well, better late than never, I suppose.

Last weekend, Isaiah and I packed up our car to the gills, loaded up the boys and headed to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma to go camping with our friends Brooke and Heath. We arrived pretty late (10:15?) and it was freeeeezing, so we spent some time sitting by the campfire Heath made and then set up our tent before it got too late. I knew it was going to be cold but I didn't realize it was going to be as cold as it was, so thankfully Brooke had an ear-warmer band and an extra pair of gloves she let me borrow. (Cue classic Dumb & Dumber line..."You've had an extra pair of gloves this WHOLE time?!?!" But I digress...) Anyway, it was super cold but we made it, with Tuggy on a blankie next to us and Murphy burrowed down into Isaiah's sleeping bag.

The next day after a wonderfully prepared breckie by our camp cook (Isaiah), we headed off to explore the refuge and went on several hikes. The dogs had a great time romping around, especially Tuggy, who took every opportunity to swim in the lakes and creeks we encountered. Brooke, Heath and I all got our feet wet during a semi-successful creek crossing, so we had to dry out our shoes by the fire when we got back to the campsite.

Our first buffalo sighting, just off a trail we were hiking:

Isaiah and Tuggy checking out the buffalo at very close range:


I got brave enough to get close too so I could get a good picture of him:


Isaiah, Murphy and me by the dam:


Tuggy couldn't be bothered to be in the family photo b/c he was too busy swimming (that little thing making the ripple on the right side of the picture is Tug):


Crossing the creek:

Brooke and me hiking:

A dog and his boy:


Wichita Mountains:


That afternoon after a yummy lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese, we all napped and read a bit in our tents before commencing the pumpkin carving contest. Boys against girls! It was fun and although we considered asking the man at the campsite next to us to judge, we didn't follow through. I think they both turned out well....but Brooke and I definitely won! ;) Due to the pumpkin excitement, we had dinner really late, but it was yummy. We brought pork ribs and finished them off on the grill, along with potato salad and jalapeno beans. Mmmm!

Tuggy exhausted after a full day of hiking, running and swimming (yes, that is a string of drool hanging off his mouth...he was really tired):

Dusk at the lake at our campsite:


Heath giving it his best shot:


Brooke and I posing with our "fine art" tools:


Brooke's and my "Bugaboo" on the left and Heath and Isaiah's "Ichabod's Fate" on the right:


We turned in kind of early (if midnight is early) and slept soundly until a masked intruder invaded our campsite! Heath heard our little mischevious raccoon friend, but not until he had already opened their cooler (!) and stolen a package of opened hotdogs, creamer and candy corn. I guess he was pretty intent on making a play at our cooler as well, b/c Heath said he was super close to the chubby fella and it was obvious he was not moving....we like to refer to the incident as Heath's Last Stand! Thankfully, we let Tuggy out of our tent to investigage and he chased off said intruder. Everybody went back to bed...until soon after, what sounded like an entire battalion of wild hogs came rutting through our site. Ah wildlife, how we love to look at you but don't want you waking us up. (Insert sarcastic voice here...) The coyote songs at night were fun too!

Anyway, after another fun breckie of pancakes and sausages from our camp cook, we packed up and cleaned up our campsite. Isaiah and I took another tour through the refuge to see more animals and we were rewarded. What a fun trip with some great friends! I'd love to go back sometime, maybe in the springtime. The animals we saw while we were there include: prairie dogs, turkeys, geese, deer, buffalo, longhorns, wild hogs, coyotes, raccoons and squirrels. So fun!

Why hello there, Mr. Prairie Dog!

Buffalo and wiley coyote hanging out....we couldn't figure out what they were doing together...who knows?

This week has flown by. I had the pleasure of attending Erin’s daughter Avery’s second birthday party on Monday, and that girl made out like a bandit! I'm also busy at work on the January/February issue of Lubbock Magazine and Isaiah's been working very late to get a project done by the end of today.

This weekend, we're planning on....nothing! This is the only weekend until Christmas, I think, that we're not going anywhere or having any company. It will be nice to spend a quiet weekend watching football and burning lots of wood in our fireplace. Yay! Now if the Aggies can just pull off our third win in a row....