Vacationing at Broken Bow Lake in Oklahoma in September 2014

We started our vacation at Cedar Blue for the weekend, then headed to Broken Bow, OK for Monday through Friday and ended the trip back at Cedar Blue for the weekend.

Upon arrival at Cedar Blue on Thursday night we found our cement patio all poured and most of the metal roof completed.  YEA!!  It was so awesome to see most of the work completed.  There is some trim work left on this project and cement needs to be poured in front of the storm shelter but all is now usable.  We hung up our colored lights, moved the fire pit into the middle of the patio, setup the new rocking camping chairs as well as the hammock and got the grill set in place. 

John and I still have projects to do but they are all things we can take time to do.  We need to build some fencing around the patio so the girls can run free on the patio and we don’t have to worry about them taking off.  The outside of the new room and our shed will need to be painted so they match.  John is going to build a folding table for the inside of the room that can be used as a buffet table, a game table or a dinner table and finally, we will need to do some landscaping.  Whew, that’s a bunch but it’s always good to have projects.

On Monday we headed to Broken Bow and stayed in a small private RV park across from Beavers Bend State Park.  We decided to take our waverunner with us so had to tow that separately with the jeep as the RV, jeep and waverunner all hooked together was longer than the 65’ limit.  It was still cheaper to drive the jeep then rent a waverunner.  The SE part of Oklahoma is absolutely gorgeous.  It’s hilly with lots of very tall trees.  You feel like you are in another State.  

John had done some internet searching for jeep trails and sure enough the forestry service has tons of roads to do 4-wheeling on.  We got some maps and advice from some nice ladies  at the park service and off we went on Tuesday morning.  After traveling several miles on gravel roads we took a turn onto a side road and bam, boy did we hit the jackpot for our first time out 4-wheeling.  This was a narrow road with weeds growing up between the tire lanes as high as the top

of our jeep engine.  It was a 3.2 mile road and very slow going.  We crossed 15 creeks with the last one being quite a bit bigger than the others.  We crawled over large rocks, down steep terrain, through water and then steep climbs up the other side.  Part way down the road we encountered a truck coming out.  We both had to really crunch to the sides to pass and were able to chat with the two guys in the truck.  They were very nice and told us they lived at the end of this road and we were welcome to turn around there as that was the end of the road and check the place out.  They had a couple of cabins and a large garden.  It appeared from some signs that they allowed hunters to join them as there was designated hunter parking.  Not sure if the hunters can stay overnight but they obviously can park there.  The forest was gorgeous and we had a great morning driving through it.

That afternoon we headed out to the lake with the waverunner and were awed by the beauty of this lake.  There are no houses or businesses other than a State lodge and a marina on it.  It is surrounded by thousands and thousands of very tall trees.  There are several islands throughout the lake that are also tree-filled.  Over the course of two afternoons, it took us about 3 hours to check this lake out with just a few short stops to swim.  The State Park is also gorgeous and I’m thinking this may be a new favorite place to visit in September.  The tourists are mostly gone so the lake has almost nobody on it and we didn’t have to contend with others on the trails with the jeep.

On Wednesday we did some more 4-wheeling in the morning and hit the lake in the late afternoon.  Our time on the trails got a little interesting in that we thought we were lost.  The maps we had weren’t great and I thought I knew where we were.  But then we started heading in the opposite direction I thought we should be going so we turned around.  We found a road that appeared to be a dead end on the map so we decided to check it out to see if that was in fact where we were.  Part way down the road here was a forestry service employee out in the middle of nowhere!!  An answer to prayer.  He had a great German accent and was very helpful.  It turned out that we originally were headed the right way.  We just hadn’t gone far enough.  We eventually came to the Glover River which is supposed to be the only free flowing river left in Oklahoma.  It apparently is not dammed. 

After lunch we took the girls and explored the State Park a bit more and then got back out on the lake with the waverunner again.  This was going to be the last hot day for the season I think and it was nice to be able to do some swimming and riding around the lake.

On Thursday we woke up to lots of rain.  It was a nice gentle rain for most of the morning and much cooler weather.  Instead of mid-90’s it was in the low 70’s.  We explored more of the park in the afternoon and found some gorgeous places along the Mountain Fork River that runs through the park.  There are lots of places to tent camp or park the RV along the river.  The park also has a swim beach on the river, horseback riding, and you can rent canoes, kayaks and paddle boats.  There was also a place we found where folks were fly fishing.  In addition, the park has a very pretty lodge that overlooks the lake where you can rent rooms as well as lots of cabins throughout the park.  I’m sure this place is absolutely mobbed in the summer but in the Fall it is almost empty and a great time to visit.  We will definitely be back.

 

On Friday morning we headed back to Cedar Blue.  We woke up to more rain which continued the entire drive back to Cedar Blue and the temps were only in the 60's.  Wow, what a change.  The drive was uneventful, thank goodness.  I was a bit concerned about our windshield wipers on the RV.  They had recently started acting up.  If you used the washers you had to turn the engine off to turn off the wipers.  If you didn't use the washer but did use the wipers they would stop wherever they were when you turned them off.  Ugh.  Could be a long drive home in the rain.  John had tried to check them out but was unable to do anything about them.  We figured it would be a trek to the truck center.  Well, I turned them on as we started down the highway and amazingly, they worked just fine and turned on and off the way they were supposed to.  God is so good.  He takes care of even the little details.

I will end the weekend by getting my feet wet with the Board of Directors for our Cedar Blue park that I was recently elected to.  Tomorrow we meet to get us newbies up to speed and my first monthly board meeting with the property owners next weekend.  Keep me in your prayers.