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.

The Final Countdown!

I'll be back in CO in just a few short days! I have nearly finished my internship (hopefully to a success! I should know if I will get a second internship in September). And I feel like I have mostly successful in my OKC goals for myself.

 I saw lots of places! Some of them my myself, mostly with groups, and many of them surprisingly gorgeous! This picture above is of Lake Arcadia, where I went last Sunday!

 I attended a Styx and Yes concert last weekend. Got a good old dose of culture! And had the company of my intern-mural company Corey.

 Who knew other interns might have a soft spot for classic rocks and 80's pop too?

 I went putt putt golfing with the Western group! And lost, but not too epically. I was only one behind Alex!

 This is Spencer and his lovely girlfriend Bryn, I made sure to take these before the immense sweating of being outside in the 105 degree heat began... approximately 2 minutes after being outside.

 Nothing like sideways me looking confused at a Lake!

 Smiling. It was evening and not too hot outside! Score!

 Broker Steve! This is one of the Broker's a worked with in Lusk! Who I caught up with when he visited OKC.

Beautiful Sunset. There is something different about the sunsets here. I don't know what it is. But they are still pretty... just different. I still some pictures to share from these experience and will have to remember to make a conclusion post.

But I can start that now! with the end so near.

I feel like one of my biggest accomplishments here has been achieving a greater level of independence. There is nothing like a new place and knowing pretty much no one to make you remember a little more about yourself and make you grow outside of the comfort zone. I even made bacon for the first time the other day!

It has made me appreciate where I live more. I can't tell you how much I complain about the weather, haha. There have only been 42(!!!!!!!) days of 100+ degree heat in a row. You can be jealous. I even had a sweating competition for the first time. Who is sweating more?! You or Me?! I think it's a great new hobby/event.

I have developed a little bit a soft-spot for the people here. They proved to be rather friendly and inspired a certain friendliness in return. They definitely are ready to help with directions and smiles. Not to mention everytime I went grocery shopping alone they had this face of concern and always would wish me extra luck. It was somehow refreshing, and somewhat concerning, do I look like I can't make it to my car?

One of my self let-downs has been the lack of focus on my own health. Not that I didn't, I tried plenty of new workout classes and played intern-mural sports all the time (My team won 3rd!!! Epic). But sitting 8 hours a day drives me crazy and I don't think being here has been good for my health over-all. More focus in the future!

I didn't get a chance to try a specific new hobby per say. I did some boxing which was pretty cool, and definitely some more cooking than usual, but I will have to try to expand my horizons a little more when I get back.

I had a great introduction to the Corporate World. I have never had so many dressing adventures. Dang, I suck at heels. But I sure feel extra cool wearing them!
The job really helped me explore the city more and met some great and supportive people. Thanks CHK!

I'm excited to go back. I miss familiar people, especially my family! That was certainly the hardest part about being away. I am a home-body and hope to always continue to be that way. I always forget how close I am to my family compared to other people. But it was nice to be able to relate to their business lives a little more :) I'm hope to visit them during the fall semester while the weather is still nice. Especially since my sister just got a puppy!!!

Something about friends who already know you and you don't have to be constantly explaning/introducing yourself to would be nice. 2.5 months is too little time to get to really know what a person is about, and while I met some great people that I would like plenty of more time getting to know, it will be inexplicably nice to be back with people who already get me and laugh with me!

OKC has been a great study abroad! It's a little city that deserves a little more respect. It apparently is the most recession proof city in America! and recently the 2nd hottest... But there is a cultural pride here that certainly needs more investigating... and maybe I'll be up for that task again. Someday.

Day 60 Purchase Power

Since my last blog was about one of my favorite things -- the beauitful outdoors! (which exists EVEN in Oklahoma) its time to talk about something way different -- shopping!

I've never been a huge shopper or quite the anti-shopper. We'll say I lie somewhere in between. Mainly I'm not too huge on spending money. But that went out the window a little bit this last week.

I bought my new suit! I have some pretty big deal presentations coming up soon, which meant I finally had to cave and buy a new business suit. I was not too stoked to have to buy one and had a short time frame, but after two hours I found one I really liked :) Just in time because I had a big VP lunch the next day.

*Drum Roll Please*

This is my "Ah! I'm wearing a suit face" Note the hand to indicate that I am fancy.

In other purchase news I also bought a new Garmin, which I bet I will still be able to get lost with, but it sure helped me a ton this weekend as I ran around Dallas. I doubt I would have had the slightest chance of getting to Turner Falls without it. I hope me and my Garmin GPS will have many lovely adventures together. I'm a little worried that I will lose all navigation ability because I will depend on it though and I vow to try to know where I'm at despite its existence. I feel like getting lost is good for your brain and using real maps keeps you sharp! So we'll see if I can find a kind of balance :)

Anyway, now that I've spend several hundred dollars the last week (gosh even typing that doesn't feel good) who wants to go to taco bell and go thrifting? :)

Well I never been to heaven, but I've been to Oklahoma.

Well I never been to heaven, but I've been to Oklahoma (this is a song lyric from Three Dog Night), which today definitely looked quite similar in my mind.

I was driving back from Dallas this afternoon and realized there are so many things I want to see in south Oklahoma, and that I happened to be driving through southern Oklahoma!

This doubled my drive time home but ended up being SO worth it.

I knew Oklahoma had hidden gems, I just knew it!

YATZEE!

 The river flows along like a waterfall, where people camp, swim, and listen to music all day.

 This is the main waterfall and giant swimming hole

The picture above is my very favorite! The elderly couple chatting in the river :)


Here are the Lake Murray Pictures:

 This one says: Happy is what we make it -- always has been - always will be

 A sail boat in the surprisingly blue-green water

 A flamingo overlooking the large collection of pool play things.

 

The lake between the lovely shady trees, it was significantly hotter at the lake than at turner falls (which was about 45 minutes north)

 I simply fell in love with Turner Falls today. I intended to drive by and check it out. I almost left when I had to pay a fee to get inside, but I'm so happy I paid and went hiking. I spend nearly 1 1/2 hours exploring this place today. It was just me, and I was so overwhelmed by how gorgeous it was I didn't care in the least. I did fall into the river... which if you cant tell by the pictures really isn't all that deep but I did get some pretty funny looks from other Turner Falls patrons. Oh well, also worth it. I would love to come back and swim around all day. This was like seeing a childhood dream in reality for some reason. It was several miles of shallow(ish in some places it was deep) accessible water to swim in and cool off. There were little fish too! It wasn't even too too hot out. I cannot express how beautiful this place is! I wish I could get a chance to go back, but with only 13 days left in OK I don't think it'll happen. Either way I'm a happy camper.


I also saw the less exciting Lake Murray, it was a pretty funny little place. I couldn't tell if it was private or what but I felt like a weirdo taking pictures of the little attractions and sayings. All I can say is I love exploring :) and that Oklahoma gave me quite the pleasant surprise today.