2024 Solar Eclipse… Was It Really That Great?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I didn’t know much about total eclipses until a few months ago. Luckily, I joined an adventuring group that chose a perfect spot for viewing the totality, which included great hiking and kayaking.

I initially only signed up because I wanted to kayak the Buffalo River. Kayaking the Buffalo River was not meant to be. Apparently, that river is 3 hours away from our campsite at Greer’s Ferry Dam.  (I’m a city girl, so no, I had never heard about the Buffalo River until recently. Check it out here.. It’s definitely going on my bucket list. I also had never heard of Greer’s Ferry Dam. It was awesome!) More details in a later post.

Anyway, back to the Total Solar Eclipse.

Was it everything it was hyped up to be???

Drum roll, please….

Yes, it fucking was.

Like most beautiful experiences, words ( or pictures) cannot fully express the feeling.

I can explain how it got darker and colder as the event progressed. I mean, it got really cold. The birds stopped chirping and the crickets started singing as it got dark. But seeing the sun completely blocked by the moon… Was fucking crazy. I knew the science behind it, but it still felt celestial and apocalyptic.

It’s a day later, and I’m still trying to process the experience. It felt like I was living in science fiction instead of watching it.

The next full solar eclipse will be in 2026 and can be seen from Greenland, Iceland, and Spain. After that, it’ll be 2028 and can be seen in Australia and a handful of other countries.

I’m not sure if I can leave the country to see another solar eclipse, so I’m super glad I was able to experience this one.

Did you see it? Was it worth the hype? Are you traveling to see the next one?

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Lake Clayton State Park, Trip Report

This was a special trip because, ladies and gentlemen, this was my first time solo camping. A round of applause, please. And yes, I was scared, but just a little bit. I’ve done enough day trips and camping with my hubby to feel confident enough to go alone. I also mentally prepared myself to go home if I didn’t feel safe or comfortable.

In hindsight, I should have chosen my first solo trip closer to home and/or maybe somewhere I’ve been before. But no regrets because I had a great time

 Clayton Lake is in the southeastern part of the state, roughly 3 hours away, so it is the farthest I’ve gone so far.

I wasn’t expecting much from this trip because there wasn’t much there, according to travelok.com. I actually wanted to camp at Robber’s Cave State Park, but there was something wrong with the website, and it wouldn’t let me book a site. Clayton Lake, on the other hand, was first come first serve and had sixty camping sites. Since it didn’t seem like a popular lake, I thought I’d try my luck. And I was lucky. I ended up with the whole north side of the lake to myself.

As I mentioned, I wasn’t expecting much, but it was beautiful and serene.  The lake sits in a valley surrounded by trees. I cannot tell you how much I regret not bringing my kayak. I thought it would be too windy, and I was a little nervous to have two dogs on a kayak by myself. But the lake was smallest I’ve been to so far and the water was perfectly calm despite the windy conditions. Opportunity missed!

My side of the park was empty. It could’ve been because of the weather. It was cloudy with a chance of rain. Thankfully, it didn’t rain until later that night. It also could have been empty because the bathrooms were locked on my side. For the first time in over a decade, I had to pee outside (GASP!!!). I’m proud of myself, there were no drips down my leg. 

Because the park was empty, I got to wake up to an entire lake on my door step.

Misc. Notes

There was no cell service.

Thankfully, I downloaded the directions to the lake on my phone the night before, but I did not download any hiking trails.

Thankfully, there was a convenience store 5 miles up the road where I was able to use their wifi and make calls.

For the doggies – there were no stickers or ticks this time around. Thank goodness. We encountered four unleashed dogs on three separate occasions.  Thankfully, tach time my dogs were on a leash.

Tents vs RVs: The RVs won. The RVs always outnumber the tents. I wonder if there will be more campers once it gets warmer.

Also, the ground wasn’t very level. This would be a good site for car camping or for one of those roof top tents.

Solo camping notes – I packed too much water and too much food. Next time, I’ll pack half as much so that I can have room for the inflatable kayak.

I’m definitely coming back next year… honestly, I wish I could visit next week with my kayak, but I’m trying to visit all of the state parks before I go back to the ones I’ve visited already. But there are a few parks in that area, so I’m sure I can sneak in a visit.

Gloss Mountain State Park, Trip Report

Oklahoma State Park #4.

This is the first park I’ve visited that did not have a park office, but I was still able to get my “I was there” sticker.

As I mentioned in the last post, I did this one in combination with Boiling Springs State Park. The plan was to wake up extra early, visit Boiling Springs, and then get to Gloss Mountain State Park before it hit 80°F. Well, I woke up late, and I stayed at Boiling Springs too long, so by the time we got to Gloss Mountain, it was around 82°F.

From the last trip with my son and his big lab, I learned that dogs may not enjoy hiking above 75°F. I thought we would try the hike anyway since my dogs are smaller and more in shape.

We made it up the dozens of stairs that led to the top, but when it came to going up to the summit, Marco Polo, the Adventure Dog, was not having it. So we had to go back down, and he immediately ran under the car to catch some shade.

I really thought this would be a one-and-done state park, but no, it is not. I’m looking forward to returning when its cooler and actually going on the summit. 

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Trip Report: Boiling Springs State Park

Oklahoma State Park #3.

This was my first two-hour drive from home, and the temperature was going to be above 80°F, which is my peak comfortable temperature. So I was supposed wake at 4AM to get out of the house by 5. So that i can visit Boiling Springs and Gloss Mountain.

I was only supposed to be at Boiling Springs for an hour so that I could hit up the second park before the day heats up. It should have been doable because, according to AllTrails, Boiling Springs only had one hiking trail that was around a mile.

I was again surprised. I ended up walking around three different trails for almost three hours.

There was a small spring i.e Boiling Springs, but the best thing was the trees. They were big beautiful and dead. 

They were spooky, scary trees.

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Fort Cobb State Park; Trip Report

Oklahoma State Park #2

The Oklahoma winds finally died down long enough to finally break in the two-person inflatable kayak I ordered from Amazon. After all, this is an adventuring site, not just a hiking blog.

My hubby accompanied me on this trip because I’m way too scary to have tried this on my own.

Like Red Rock Canyon and Roman Nose State Park, Fort Cobb Oklahoma State Park is less than 1hr 30 min from OKC. Fort Cobb only has one hiking trail, so I don’t think we missed much by not hiking.

We arrived at the welcome center, and I got more park stickers than I should have. The attendant (a super nice lady) recommended that we go to the Sycamore Rd day-use area to drop in our kayak.

Great advice, because there were life jackets at the site.  The universe was looking out for me because I only had some travel pfds that had to be inflated. Ironically, Princess Lola and Marco Polo the Adventure Dog had better life jackets than we did. Which is fine because I was more worried about them jumping into the water than us.

It took about five minutes to air up the kayak with the provided air pump. Then it was quick and easy to put the kayak in the water and hop in. Side note: We did practice setting up at home a few weeks ago before we took it out.

Quick Kayak review: INTEX Challenger Inflatable K2 Kayak did the job, and we enjoyed it. It was tight, but there was enough room for me, the hubby, and two small dogs. Princes Lola stayed calm and relaxed as she sat in my lap. While Marco Polo, the Adventure Dog, sat behind me. He kept moving from side to side, causing the kayak to lean a little. Other than that, I felt safe in the Intex two-person kayak, and it was easy to paddle. Like I said, though, it was a calm day. It was so calm that if we didn’t paddle the kayak, we would simply stay in one place.

After around 30 minutes, we packed it up, making sure to wipe it down so that it wouldn’t mold in the bag. 

Fort Cobb is a much smaller park than Roman Nose, but I still had a great time. We enjoyed the drive out and back. We even stopped in the city of Chickasha on the way home and had some burgers.

Roman Nose State Park, Trip Report

Oklahoma State Park #1

This was my first time at Roman Nose State and like Red Canyon Adventure Park it was a short 1hr21 minutes from the OKC, but there was no entrance fee.

The drive took me through a very flat area, and it was windy, so the song “Oklahoma” kept playing on repeat in my head.

Once I arrived, I parked at the lodge/ visitor center (super nice customer service, btw), got my “Roman Nose Lodge” sticker, and the dogs and I headed to our hike. The “Canyon Loop” trailhead was behind the dumpster a few feet from the lodge entrance.

I didn’t worry too much about getting lost because, overall, the trails were short, but I still checked AllTrails at every intersection anyway. How did people even hike without the internet? Also, this trail had lots of little bridges. I love bridges.

Anyway, it took an hour and 2.6 miles to finish the Canyon loop. I really wanted to try the paved ADA loop, but the trail wasn’t shady like the Canyon Loop, and it started raining harder. Also, it’s springtime in Oklahoma, and I was worried about severe weather rolling in.

ADA TRAIL

Unlike like our last hike, the doggies did not get any stickers in their feet. So that’s always a plus!

I’m looking forward to returning to try the other hiking trails, and maybe bring a bike or some roller skates on the paved ADA path and maybe try the lodge’s restaurant. Maybe visit the General Store the attendant at the front desk bragged about. Maybe even try some kayaking. There was so much I didn’t get to see!

Red Rock Canyon

Oklahoma State Parks #0

Full confession: Red Rock Canyon is not a state park. I did not know that when I was working on my itinerary for the month. I came here on an elementary field trip when I was a kid, and I had such a great time that I’m including it anyway. It was a state park until 2018 when the state returned it to the City of Hinton to save money. Alltrails, the app I use to find trails, still calls it a state park.

Red Canyon Adventure Park is a short 1hr21 minutes from the OKC with a $10/car entrance fee.

Because I suck at reading maps, it took me a while to find any trailheads, so I parked in the day-use area and followed the road until I found a trail.   

The name of the trail on AllTrails vs. the map I got at the entrance is a lot different, but since I used AllTrails exclusively on the trail, I’m going to use their names for the trail. The dogs and I hiked the Outer Loop. Thank gawd for AllTrails cause I’m sure I would have been lost for hours on end because the trails were badly marked, especially at the top. Still had a super fun time. There was a little campsite/meeting stop halfway through the trail that made me wish I had packed a picnic. But the dogs did have snacks, so we stopped, drank water, and they snacked.

I would think twice before I brought the dogs again. The area was full of sticker weeds that would stick in their paws.

Overall, I had a great time. It was a good day and a short trip. I’m looking forward to visiting the park again to try some of the other trails, maybe try out one of the glamping tents, and see if my new adventure wagon can handle their overland paths.

Total Eclipse of the Heart

I’m going to whisper this because I might offend someone, but I don’t know what’s so great about the upcoming solar eclipse?

Millions of people are going to flock to see it. If you depart right after the eclipse, you’re being told to stock up on water, gas, and food because you’ll most likely be stuck in your car for a few hours.

I am traveling to the next state to witness the eclipse, but that is because my adventuring group suggested the trip, and there will be kayaking and hiking.

Since I don’t understand it, let’s do some research and see why this eclipse is so great.

The upcoming eclipse will be a total solar eclipse, which means the moon will pass between the Earth and the sun and completely block it. The sun will be eclipsed by the moon.  It’ll be another 20 years before this happens again.

One of my best friends, who started her adventuring earlier than me, traveled across the country to see the last total solar eclipse.

So I asked her what the big deal was, and this was her response.

“I’ve seen a total solar eclipse and an annual solar eclipse. I probably wouldn’t travel again to see an annual eclipse, but the total eclipse was pretty cool. I’d go and see it every time if I could. This one is especially important to see because it won’t happen again for another 20 years. It’ll also get dark outside, and animals will emerge thinking that it’s nighttime.”

Okay, I’m officially excited!

What’s In Your Backyard

When I helped move my daughter across the country, we made it an official road trip and stopped at the Petrified Forest, The Grand Canyon, and Joshua Park because they were recommended stops using the Roadtrippers app (I also remember one of my besties going there on vacation).  That trip was inspirational, and I’ll never forget it for as long as I live.

It wasn’t until I went to Carlsbad Caverns for my birthday (August 2023) that I decided to do more research on National Parks. According to Google, there are 63 US national parks, but none of them are in my home state!

So, I’ve been low-key looking into how I can move out of Oklahoma so I can be closer to these national parks. (I know I was out of mind because I seriously looking to Utah) However, a creator on Instagram talked about how she moved from the Midwest to Washington State and hated it. According to her, the parks were hard to get to, and they were always too crowded.  Her post (I wish I had bookmarked it) reminded me that I need to take stock of what’s around me because there are probably some incredible parks in my own backyard. 

So, over the next year or two, I’m going to make it a goal to visit all of the state parks in Oklahoma. According to the Stateparks.com, there are 40. Most of these parks are around a two or three-hour drive, but that’s not a big deal. That’s why we got the adventure car. And driving a few hours one way, it’s definitely a lot less work than moving across the country

If you’re from Oklahoma (or the Midwest), what are your favorite state parks?

A picture from Red Rock Canyon State Park Adventure Park. It is not a state park anymore, but it’s a great example of what Oklahoma has to offer

Revamped Blog Loading . . .

I am revamping my blog.

I have not been writing, at least not consistently, for wat about five years (I haven’t blogged in longer than that). It has just been way too hard to sit my ass in the chair. I kinda want to blame it on social media sapping up my extra attention, but really, I got sick of sitting down and staring at a computer screen at home after spending eight hours staring at a computer screen at work. (Also, once the Mainstream Publishers learned how Amazon Ads worked, I stopped making money). 

To feed my creative side and desire to get my ass out of the chair, for the past three years, I’ve been gardening after work instead of sitting on my ass. I suck at gardening, but it’s still fun.

Also, at the beginning of my writing career, I used to hear voices, Coal in particular. If I went too long without writing, he’d bug the hell out of me. The voices are still there, but they aren’t as loud as they used to be. The call of the wild is much louder (lol, did you see what I did right there?).

Recently, I’ve discovered hiking and camping, i.e. adventuring… I like it so much that it’s inspired me to start writing again. So, fellow readers, this blog will become a travel blog, an adventure blog. And I’ll slowly try to figure out social media. I’m much more familiar with constructing sentences than creating images. 

If I had my way, I’d be a van dweller working on my stories and traveling non-stop. But that’s not an option; I have a day job that requires me to report to the office every day. So until I win the lottery, I’m officially a weekend warrior.

So put on your hiking boots, fill your hydration pack, and strap on your seat belt; as this Black city girl, tries to get more into nature and adventuring.

Edit: I found the instagram post from @maddymarq explaining why she moved back to the Midwest from the PNW. There is a lot of hate in the comments, but hey she’s inspired me.