100 Adventures - Part 1

When I first came to the realization that there are more than 100 weekend days in a year, I was surprised.  Shocked, really.  Can it be true that almost 1/3 of the year is weekends?!?  Add holidays to that and that's a lot of free days.  Free.  Carefree.  Free to do whatever I please.

Adventure #4:  Kayaking with loons and eagles at Lake Murray

This is the thought that spurred the "100 Adventures" challenge.  Why shouldn't we have 100 adventures in a year, since we have all of these days at our disposal?  Challenge accepted.

#30:  Spanish Canyon hike

Now, let me lay down some rules.  It has to be 100 different adventures.  The rope-wall yoga class at Yoga Home of Therapeutics where we hang upside-down suspended in our make-shift harnesses in downward dog and child's pose can only be counted as an adventure the first time.  The outdoor yoga class at Urban Agrarian, where we sometimes had to surrender the yoga mats to the Oklahoma wind, is another adventure - but only to be counted once, no matter how many times we greet the sun in salutations on the concrete pad outside the local food market.  

#38:  "Spokeswomen" at the Friendship Plant and Seed Exchange

There are some grey areas in the rules, too.  How many different adventures can you have in a single day, or on a single vacation?  When we played in and on the Blue Whale in Catoosa, posed at the Totem Pole Park in Foyle, hitched a ride on a stranger's boat on Grand Lake, and hiked at Natural Falls State Park; how many adventures should that count for?  One.  It was all on the same roadtrip.  The week spent kayaking in the Alaska wilderness and exploring glaciers was just one big adventure.  The day that I rode with the "Spokeswomen" on our inaugural bike ride to brunch in dresses with flowers on our handlebars, then later hiked to the Spanish Canyon with another friend, that counted as two separate adventures.  Basically, if there was a break in between, and maybe a wardrobe change, then I think they count as individual adventures.  Most days, the adventures all blended into one big mass of good times.

#47:  Eclipse at the Tallgrass Prairie and hike at Osage Hills State Park

#54:  Mani-pedi day with my niece

Of course, there are Family Days of Obligation, as my large, mostly-used-to-be-Catholic family refers to them.  The nieces and I had a few adventures of our own, but regular family get-togethers to see who is taller, compare who has the bigger belly or butt, and see how far we can revert to our pick-on-our siblings childhood ways - probably not really an adventure.  In other words, the adventure must be FUN.  I understand that these Family Days of Obligation, or regular obligations of life, might cut into these 100 weekend days, so weekday adventures are required.

#60:  Martin Park with the nieces

What adult has time for all of these adventures?  Well, I've never been accused of being an adult, so I don't know.  Make time.  It's important to my mental health to have a more-than-normal amount of playtime in the sun.  You may not personally require quite as much vitamin D, or quite the same level of adrenaline, or quite the travel distance to get to your places of adventure.  Maybe it is just a 30-minute swinging session in the park, or a pedicure in January when you are the only one that sees your toes.  Maybe it is a trip to the neighborhood pond to watch the ducks, or frisbee with the family at the newly revamped Myriad Gardens.  You don't have to go far, or take out a loan to pay for the gasoline, or don a helmet for an extreme sport.  Just do something you enjoy.  Share this time with friends, or find your own private adventure.  Remember those rules?  Forget those, make your own.  These are your adventures.  The new year just started, so resolve to make this happen in 2013. 

#81:  Viewing of private arrowhead collection after kayaking in Keota

Out of my 100 adventures in 2012, all but three of those were in Oklahoma.  Instead of running out of Okie adventures, my list to do and see and experience this year is even longer.  There were 15 unique kayak trips, 21 different hikes, multiple bike rides, climbing adventures, and live music experiences.  There was a photographic hunt for a snowy owl in Marland, a chicken farm tour in Tuttle, small town fairs and festivals, street parties, garden parties, and potlucks.  I have 9,416 pictures on my computer - just from last year - and they can only remind, but not capture the awe of these moments.

Stay tuned for the next blog post when I tell you about the 100th adventure of 2012.  I still had a month and a half to spare, too!  Want a hint?  The 100th adventure was in SE Oklahoma on the most beautiful hike I've ever experienced.

Dam Fine Day

 

David and Randy

We were skipping across the surface of Grand Lake toward Pensacola Dam with David at the wheel of the sleek, white boat.  David and his wife live on Grand Lake, with the dam across the water from their backyard.  We had met them just minutes before, and now we found ourselves on his boat with his daughter, Jennifer, and her husband, Randy.  We aren't stowaways, or even hitchhikers - we are just a really lucky group of friends reaping Oklahoma generosity.

Let me rewind.

The plan was to take a hike.  The group went from two to three to seven and back to four within about 48 hours.  I spent more hours than I care to admit searching online and on my paper map of the state, trying to plan a trip to someplace new.  There is one thing that I try to remember - expect things to NOT go as planned.  Once you have accepted this mantra, the real fun begins.

A designation was selected - Natural Falls State Park in Siloam Springs.  It made the top 10 list of most beautiful places in Oklahoma.  It is also three hours from where we live in the heart of OKC (or, 2.5 hours, the way I drive).  To break up the drive, I picked a "mystery detour".  As the other three friends met up for breakfast, all that they knew is that we might make it to Natural Falls, and that there were going to be planned and unplanned detours along the way.  They came prepared for hiking, swimming in creeks, and getting home late.

Once we caffeinated up and filled our bellies with tasty, vegetarian fare from Red Cup, the roadtrip and 20 questions began.  Does the "mystery detour" involve food?  No.  Stores?  No.  Animals?  Yes.  Alive?  No.  Did they used to be alive?  Not exactly.  Mythical?  No.  Unicorns?  No.  Is it a zoo?  No.  (With animals that aren't alive?!?)  Is there water?  I don't know.  Is it interactive?  Sort of.  I conceded that it was about two hours away and was "an attraction".  After a few more guesses, one friend finally says, "all I can think of is the Blue Whale."  Ding, ding, ding!!!  We have a winner!

Famous Blue Whale in Catoosa on Route 66

Inside the Blue Whale

"Kissing Whales"

We get to the Blue Whale in Catoosa - one of the most famous landmarks along Rt. 66 - and do all of the required pictures and poses.  For a while, we had the whole place to ourselves.  Before we left, a group of three guys on an adventure from Pennsylvania to LA joined us and we exchanged picture-taking favors.  As we were leaving, we realized that we were playing like kids, yet there wasn't a single "official" kid in sight.  The Blue Whale was built in the 70s, and obviously before the days of safety rails; compressed, splinter-free wood; and helmets for every sport.  The "interactive" element requires imagination and actually moving your own legs and arms.  It may look like just a wood and concrete structure covered in brilliant blue paint, but it is actually a time-warp that brings you back to childhood when you walk under the kissing whales at the entrance.

Piling back in the car, we decide to visit the Totem Pole Park in Foyil.  It is home to the World's Largest (Concrete) Totem Pole, and also home of the Fiddle House.  Both the Blue Whale and the Totem Pole Park were on the list of 50 free things to do in Oklahoma.  We made complete fools of ourselves creating human totem poles that incorporated visual effects and yoga-ish poses.

There is nothing quite like an Oklahoma country

 road.

The field trip continued on to the real destination - Natural Falls State Park.  Wait, how did we end up on a complete (generous) stranger's boat on Grand Lake?  The Totem Pole Park just so happens to be on a road that leads right up to Grand Lake and the Pensacola Dam, on the way to Natural Falls.  Grand Lake just so happened to also make the list of top 10 most beautiful places in Oklahoma, and a tour of the Pensacola Dam was also on the list of 50 free things to do in Oklahoma.  Pensacola Dam is the longest multi-arch dam in the world - at approximately one mile long - so I just had to see this man-made wonder.



One of our traveling companions had a grandmother that used to live in a private community directly opposite the lake from the dam.  He thought that would be a good place for us to view the dam, even though it was quite a distance across the water.  It's a big dam, though, right?  The community had developed a bit in the 20 years since he used to play there.  New, lake-front houses lined the water's edge and it quickly became obvious that we would have to trespass in order to get the view of the dam that we came to see. 

We spotted a man and woman holding towheaded toddlers on a golf cart.  Our friend gets out of the car and makes a small request so that his friends might get a chance to see the dam from that particular perspective.  They immediately agree and we follow them to their driveway and get out to snap a couple of pics.  Minutes later, we are boarding their boat and David is navigating the boat across the lake so that we can get a front-row view of the dam.  Jennifer and Randy, David's daughter and son-in-law from Tulsa, join us on the boat and don't seem a bit surprised that their father has invited four complete strangers to join them.  (By the way, "yachting" on Grand Lake is on the Oklahoma Bucket List.) 

Total awe and disbelief at our good fortune completely overwhelm our traveling group.  I hope that we were gracious guests, despite our state of shock.  They were certainly more than gracious hosts as they drove us the length of the dam and pointed out a few sites along the way.  I wasn't sure if we were going to actually make it to our original destination, but couldn't pass up the opportunity that had been presented.  There was no need to worry, as David and family brought us promptly back to the boat slip so that we could continue on our journey.  We didn't even get their last names, so I just hope that they see this story and know what an incredible experience they gave us - not just getting to see the dam from the water, but to meet this exceptional family that shared this gift of their time with us.

It was about 5:30 in the evening when we finally made it to Natural Falls State Park - eight and a half hours after we met up that morning for breakfast.  We were way over-prepared with hiking shoes, backpacks, and hydration packs.  Small children in flip-flops and crocs passed us as we headed down the sidewalk toward the falls.  The 77-foot waterfall didn't disappoint.  It made me want to watch "Where the Red Fern Grows" again, since it was filmed here.  It definitely deserves its spot on the top 10 list, although I would bump it up closer to the top.  For the next two hours, we explored most of the other trails in the park.  Maybe it was the time of day, or the fact that the Thunder were getting ready to play in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, but the side trails were deserted and didn't even look like they normally get much traffic.  We discovered large caves, sleeping snakes, a sun-dried squirrel skull, and Seuss-like caterpillars.  In one patch of clover, we hunted until we found a total of four, 4-leaf clovers.  I already knew just how lucky I was.


Oklahoma and her people shared some of their best with us this day.  Oklahoma is beautiful, fun, exciting, playful, and intriguing.  Her people are generous and inspiring.  There is more than enough to share, and I hope to have the opportunity to give someone else a "dam" fine day.

Dam good friends - Tricia, me, Michael, and Curtis