Catching the Overflow Matthew 12:33–out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks

Spring Break took us on a whirlwind tour of northwest Oklahoma–but certainly not in a rushed feeling way!   My favorite type of road trip is one where you see more road kill than cars on the road, so making our way from the “big city” up to the northwest part of the state was a VERY pleasant drive.  And there’s nothing better than small town America.

And what did we find when we got there? Sand Dunes, Caves, Mountains, Springs, and Salt Plains!  All very distinct and  different!  Apparently there used to be a sea in Oklahoma a couple of years ago and when it dried up, it left behind some very interesting geological phenomenon.  I am by no means an expert, so please don’t go fact-checkin’ any details I might include in this post.  I’m just saying what I remember–it may or may not be embellished by my vivid imagination.  I’ll try to ground it with photos…

Sand dunes—Acres of sand dunes that appear to be great fun if you have a ATV or a dune buggy!  You can’t imagine the sub-culture that exists here.   Dune “enthusiasts” geared up, camping in tents, gathered together drinking beer and sharing community–it was beautiful!  and so were the dunes–lots of really big sand piles…very cool.

Little Sahara State Park

Salt Plains–This was an interesting sight.  This photo doesn’t quite capture the vastness of the salt plains.  From a distance, it looked a lot like water, especially when the sun shone on the salt.  Unfortunately, the area where you can dig for special crystals is closed right now…but we still enjoyed our venture here.  Except for the cold, relentless wind, and the curious lack of height at the Observation Tower.  And, yes, the ground does taste salty.  Yes, we licked the ground.  We’re just weird and curious like that. and apparently not proud.

Great Salt Plains State Park

Where we lodged—Loved this place!  We stayed  here just for a night, but certainly could have stayed longer.  It was not your average hotel/motel experience.  This sitting area in the pool area was one of my favorite things.  See?!  Look how relaxed I look!

The Northwest Inn in Woodward, OK

The pool was heated, clean and the kids had a great time here, and the grown-ups found it relaxing.

I didn’t have a great picture of the Gloss Mountains, aka Glass Mountains, so here’s a pic of me and Toni-Tone-Tone, aka Tonique.  The mountain is full of selenite crystals, which apparently sparkle in the sun, but it was fairly cloudy when we were there, so there wasn’t a lot of sparkle—except from me and T after we climbed that treacherous mountain.  Oh yeah, we’re quite the athletes.   I don’t know why Toni looks so composed and I look so…um…windblown.

The Glass/Gloss Mountains

For some peculiar reason, all of the public bathrooms in this area are referred to as “comfort stations”.  While I am usually more comfortable after I’ve visited one, I don’t always find them comforting at the time. hmmm…

Comfort Station

Boiling Springs State Park

…or “spring” because we only saw one.  But it DID look like it was boiling–although it was “showcased” by ugly stained concrete (I guess so we could find it easy–I’m absolutely sure that is NOT how the original settlers found the springs, though).  The wooded area around the spring is probably quite beautiful in the summer despite the fact that it looks like it’s recently been devastated by an ice storm.  Check out this gynormous tree that’s fallen.  The arboreal carnage was heart-breaking. And look, there’s a handsome teenager posing next to the tree but the pic is too small to see him very well, so you’ll have to trust me.

Alabaster Caverns

The guided tour of the cave was one of my favorite stops, but I don’t have any good pics of the cave (it was kinda dark and not very conducive to photography).  But, I did post some interesting cave facts here already.  Loved the cave–very fascinating!

So, where to next?…there’s lots more Oklahoma to see!