As this weekend was the first three day weekend since we've been in Kansas City, we decided to take advantage of our extra day and go camping with Zach and Bri. We found out a few weeks ago that our cousin, Ryan, would be visiting his girlfriend (AND NOW FIANCEE!!! as of this weekend) in Tulsa, so we thought it might be fun to find a place in between us and them so they could join us for a day. According to our "Best Tent Camping in Missouri" guidebook, Big Bay Recreation Area at Table Rock Lake in the Mark Twain Wilderness Area of the Ozarks (try saying that 10 times fast) was the only place in the general direction of Oklahoma. A jam-packed Camry, 4 siblings, and a puppy named Kona later, we were on our way to the hills.
We arrived, set up camp (with a hilarious scene of Zach attempting to put a queen-sized air mattress in their two-person backpacking tent--see picture below) and went down to check out the lake--a mere jaunt down the trail from our campsite. The water was surprisingly warm (considering I was comparing it to the Pacific Ocean), so we changed into our swimsuits and went for a mid-afternoon swim, all the time trying to convince Kona, part-lab, part-pointer, that swimming in the lake was fun. The rest of the afternoon and evening we filled with games, reading, a trip to the antique store in town, amateur whittling, bratwurst and beans, campfires, smores, and the general avoidance of big spiders we had never seen before.
Sunday morning we woke up, Alec went fishing for a bit, and we piled in the car for a hike the book promised was the best in the area and only 10 min away. After a 30 min drive down some pretty hairy roads and directions from the locals, we came to what our best guess of the trail-head was. About a mile down the trail, however, poison ivy and/or oak (I wasn't sure which and didn't want to risk either) began to cover our way, so we were forced to turn around prematurely. Back to the lake to do some more relaxing, swimming, and waiting for Ryan and Adrienne to join us, bringing the story of their engagement.
When they arrived, as is almost expected of the Keeler family, we began a round of forehead (which I won, but the scores were so pitiful, it hardly constituted as a game. No calling Denise, however.) which took some pauses for dinner and more fishing. Lots more escaping spiders and other creepy-crawlies, smores, chatting, and a campfire later, we all headed to bed.
Monday morning after Costco muffins and OJ, we packed it all up, said our goodbyes and one last congratulations and headed back to Kansas City. All in all, it was a very enjoyable first camping experience out here and we will definitely make our way back to the lake again. Next time, we'll see if we can't borrow a boat or seado or at least have an inflatable whale to float on. And although I'm still pretty sure that the Ozarks can't be classified as mountains at 800 feet, it is some beautiful country on the Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri border.
As this weekend was the first three day weekend since we've been in Kansas City, we decided to take advantage of our extra day and go camping with Zach and Bri. We found out a few weeks ago that our cousin, Ryan, would be visiting his girlfriend (AND NOW FIANCEE!!! as of this weekend) in Tulsa, so we thought it might be fun to find a place in between us and them so they could join us for a day. According to our "Best Tent Camping in Missouri" guidebook, Big Bay Recreation Area at Table Rock Lake in the Mark Twain Wilderness Area of the Ozarks (try saying that 10 times fast) was the only place in the general direction of Oklahoma. A jam-packed Camry, 4 siblings, and a puppy named Kona later, we were on our way to the hills.
We arrived, set up camp (with a hilarious scene of Zach attempting to put a queen-sized air mattress in their two-person backpacking tent--see picture below) and went down to check out the lake--a mere jaunt down the trail from our campsite. The water was surprisingly warm (considering I was comparing it to the Pacific Ocean), so we changed into our swimsuits and went for a mid-afternoon swim, all the time trying to convince Kona, part-lab, part-pointer, that swimming in the lake was fun. The rest of the afternoon and evening we filled with games, reading, a trip to the antique store in town, amateur whittling, bratwurst and beans, campfires, smores, and the general avoidance of big spiders we had never seen before.
Sunday morning we woke up, Alec went fishing for a bit, and we piled in the car for a hike the book promised was the best in the area and only 10 min away. After a 30 min drive down some pretty hairy roads and directions from the locals, we came to what our best guess of the trail-head was. About a mile down the trail, however, poison ivy and/or oak (I wasn't sure which and didn't want to risk either) began to cover our way, so we were forced to turn around prematurely. Back to the lake to do some more relaxing, swimming, and waiting for Ryan and Adrienne to join us, bringing the story of their engagement.
When they arrived, as is almost expected of the Keeler family, we began a round of forehead (which I won, but the scores were so pitiful, it hardly constituted as a game. No calling Denise, however.) which took some pauses for dinner and more fishing. Lots more escaping spiders and other creepy-crawlies, smores, chatting, and a campfire later, we all headed to bed.
Great to see that you already got your blog up. Although on our blog, we are going to tell everybody that I won Forehead! We had a great time. Great blog,
ReplyDelete-Zach