Round 2 Day 14 Blackberries, NuDraper, Adventures Continued

Last weekend, aside from a decent amount of time spent in the kitchen, we did manage to get outside.

This is probably about the only time I will get to spend outside in Oklahoma, because after May and hopefully some time in June, it is far too hot to venture outside.

So we took my Oklahoma Hiking Trails book (thanks for the great Christmas present Rach) and picked a close by trail called the NuDraper Trail system, which was set up for mountain bikers.

It was raining all morning and relatively unhappy outside. We definitely got super lost trying to find it. Mainly do to my driving and forgetting the book. I had to stop by a bait shop and ask for help near Stanley Draper Lake. Luckily, it was worth the wait. The rain had mostly let up by the time we got there and during the middle of the hike it stopped completely. We were pretty much the only people out on the trail system, it was ideal.


If not a little muddy.

My shoes were the only thing that was unhappy.

It only got better though, when Brandon noticed some berries. I thought they looked just like the raspberries I used to grow when I was a gardener. Except they were blackberries! (yes I took me a while, I've never really eaten blackberries much). But the trail was COVERED in them, and when we realized they were perfectly ripe, we had the perfect local, pesticide free, snack.

They tasted great and neither of us got sick. And, hopefully as you can see by the pictures, it was beautiful, not what you typically picture for Oklahoma. It was very pleasant with lots of undergrowth, so different from the Colorado forests I'm used to.


Definitely one of my favorite weekends I've had in a long, lone time.

Round 2 Day 14 -- Good reasons I've not been blogging, Adventures visiting from Colorado

So, before I begin here are my excuses:

- Being back to a 40 hour a week job
- Only having true free time on the weekends
- Being pleasantly busy with meeting new people

- Having my last weekend occupied with my favorite person!

My boyfriend came and visited last weekend, which means no blogging, but grand adventures.

First we cooked! Which is something we haven't been able to do often, since we both worked as resident advisers in dorms. We have worked around that by focusing on those things uncook-able (like homemade egg-nog, orange juliuses, and malts). But with a kitchen (gasp!) we had an opportunity to bake and cook more.

We made homemade pie-crust for a cookies-and-cream pie. 

 

We've began planning out our next cooking adventure, when we get to be together in a few weeks, which we are thinking might be soup. 

We had to wait til the next day to partake in the pie, due to the mix needing to settle, but it turned out brilliantly.

It was gone by the next night, because:

1. It was delicious
2. We had company (who had a total of one piece)

3. We finished it off after finishing our other kitchen creation of the weekend, mojitos with homemade mint syrup.

This blog is a little long, so I think I shall finish our outdoor adventures with a different post. But i was wonderful to bake and mix in a real kitchen, with the best company.

Round 2 Day 1

My dad at the Nature Center

Today is my first full day back in OKC, bittersweet to be leaving Colorado, but pretty exciting to be back.

I finished unpacking with the help of my wonderful traveling companion/Dad. He drove me down to Oklahoma and helped me with everything, I know a lot of people think their father is the best -- but I bet to differ. We went out to dinner to celebrate his birthday tomorrow and got all of the things I needed around town. The silly thing is he remembers this town better than I do. He's been here three time and can remember how to get nearly everywhere and I can hardly remember the right turn to work. Oh well, directions have never been my gift.

We went to the Martin Nature Conservation Center, 144 acres of nature conservation about 15 minutes from where I live (nearly at the heart of town). We tried to go last year, but it was closed that day and my dad remembered I'd wanted to see it (once again, he is awesome).

It was a very forested area, with lots of "native" Oklahoma wildlife.

Park of the river, which had HUGE fish. I suppose that's what happens when they don't let you fish.

It included a lake and a river, which my dad was convined would make for good canoeing. Personally, I was a little scared after see a ton of turtles and what we estimated to be 40 pound carp.

We also ran into four deer, which we only saw because they moved. We had one literally 20 feet from us and did not see it. Sneaky white tailed deer.

White tailed deer

There were also many education signs, we skipped most of them but read one funny one about "The Eastern Red Bat" it was about how they hide during the day and how you won't be able to find them because they disguise themselves as dead leaves. After reading that we were skeptical of every dead leaf... they all looked rather bat like.

See the bats?

Anyway, it was a great day, I'm glad I finally got to go. Afterwards we had a quick lunch and I took my dad to the airport, never very fun to see family leave.

By the river, very tempted to try and cross it, but alas... they have lots of rules.

Now it's just me and the roommates, but dang it is so much nicer to have roommates already. Last year I arrived and had to wait over a week living alone without knowing anyone in the state.

Anyway, thanks for the beautiful welcome back Oklahoma! Can't wait to see more of you and figure out what you have to offer. This should be a great second "study abroad" I'll make sure to go out of my way to see what's out there...

Oklahoma Round 2 - Leaving Colorado

So it begins again...

Do people often study abroad to the same place?
Well, I'm about to. To Oklahoma City, OK. (as an intern)

I am living with two friends from Gunnison, CO, who will hopefully be up for a few of my energetic adventures to see a state I still know very little about.  I want to get outside, sight see, and learn the locals.

Am I excited? Mostly. Being a patriot of Colorado it is very hard to leave and family and friends and a wonderful boyfriend make it exceptionally hard.

I have two days left before I hit the road and saying goodbye is not particularly fun. 

Today I went hiking to Mattew Winters, an area near the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. It was positively beautiful and full of wildflowers. It was probably close to my idea of the perfect day, hiking in a beautiful place (with my wonderful boyfriend), having a picnic in the not-too-hot spring air, and picking (mostly receiving) wildflowers. Yup, cheesey but lovely.

Anyway, I will miss you dearly Colorado. Your perfect weather, long days, fishing, friends, boyfriend, family, and perfect mix of city and nature.

I promise I will be more optimistic and thrilled by Oklahoma when I arrive, but for now I will indulge in two more days of precious Colorado.