Once again
we chose to stay at a campground we were familiar with. This time it was campsite # 4 in Boiling
Springs State Park. I blogged about this
campground in 2009/2010 as well you can read
the write up about it by clicking on the hyper link above.
The
campsites there are basically first come first served. This time we were in one of the only ten 50
amp sites in Whitetail campground, site #4.
While the site wasn’t bad, we have had better, much better.
Our nightly
rate was $21 instead of the posted $23 because this is an Oklahoma state park
and they give a $2 discount to seniors. It is open year round but the maximum
you can stay is two weeks and there are no weekly discounts.
The picnic
tables are so close to the pad asphalt pad that if your unit is very long you
might have to park a little closer to the benches of the table than you prefer.
At 37 ft we barely fit on the asphalt pad, in fact our rear stablizers were on
the gravel part of the pull through site.
We choose
site 4 because it had a bit of shade, appeared to be an easy in and out and the
drop off from the pad to the gravel was minimal, unlike a couple of the other
sites where it was almost a curb height drop off.
The bathroom
was a few rows over and while old and needing some renovation it was clean.
We weren’t
allowed to fly the quadcopter at this campsite so I am afraid still shots of
the area will have to do.
As the sign
indicated there are three types of campsites at this particular campground and
the best shaded sites are the tent sites.
However we saw a LOT of big red ants in those campsites, so if you are
tent camping come prepared for them.
In our evening
walks we went a couple of places at the state park itself. One was the nature trail very close to our
campsite and directly behind the nice playground with its own version of the
“Kissing Rocks” (see Dogpatch USA, post).
The other
was the boiling spring itself.
While on the
nature walk we took various photos of the campground, some unique natural
“sculptures”, huge Osage Orange (Bodark) trees and
the nearby tent sites.
This tree
was at our campsite and upon looking at it various times we decided it was a
tree spirit couple. Do you see the bearded
man and his mate?
When I wrote
previously about Boiling Springs State Park I
wrote about being disappointed about the “boiling” area. Not so this time. They have greatly improved the area where you
view the bubbling effect of the glaciers of years ago. There is now a nice park area with information
panels, benches and a nature trail to enjoy.
While the
actual “boiling” of the spring in this area is not all that spectacular, it is
interesting.
Every
evening we would see this beauty or one of its herd show up just a couple of
campsites away from us.
While at
Boiling Springs we naturally took a side trip to Ft. Supply and another one to Shattuck, OK to visit the Windmill Museum, both were interesting and
free. Although they do accept donations.
The best type of entertainment.
In our
travels through Gage, OK we stumbled across a Jim’s Metal Art Museum that was
out of business, but still had numerous sculptures sitting around.
It is a
shame that it is falling into neglect and disrepair. I bet in its heyday it was a fun place to
visit.
Not to be
out done there was the dino sculpture we saw on a hill top just before we
arrived in Woodward, OK coming from Amarillo , for our stay. Brilliant green in color it looked very much
like an old Sinclair gas station dino. We saw it and were by it before we snapped a photo. Maybe some one reading this will have a photo of it to share.
Not to be
outdone there was a coffee shop that had this rather unique playground in
Woodward.
Yes that
appears to be 10 Commandment monument in the background on the same playground. Closer inspection along with this sign showed is it is the 10 Commandments
on one side and on the other were Bible
verses used to back their belief that man and dino co-existed. That is a personal opinion everyone has to
decide on themselves… I am not saying
yay or nay just providing photos.
Whether man
and dino lived together as one may never be solved to everyone’s satisfaction
man and machine definitely live together today.
My
grandfather Jesse James Poyner worked as a yard hand for many years, before him many of the
ancestors of much of the nation worked hard to lay the path for the Iron Horses
to run. It was had work laying the ties,
driving the spikes and took days to do even a small segment.
Not so any
more we just happened to be at the right place at the right time to see
railroad ties being replaced at a major railroad cross in Woodward one
afternoon. It was fascinating to
watch. Each machine had a separate job
to do, include the guy leading the pack with a rail runner that carried one of
the most important pieces of equipment for the men. The lead rail runner was carrying what at
rendezvous is called a “hooter” more commonly called a port-a-John. At least the company provided for the needs
of their employees.
Still photos
do nothing to show how synchronized the work was, so here is a video for you
All in all
our stay at Boiling Springs was very enjoyable.
Jan who was
soon ready to move on to Edmond, Oklahoma on her way back to her farm in OK
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