Medicine Park

Packed my coffee and went over to Medicine Park for a quick errand. Always charming.

Mural on the side of the post office

Just another lovely evening at STR

It was the end of another amazing day at Stone Turtle Ranch Lodging, and the sunset the other day was absolutely amazing; I just had to share.

 Oklahoma has some amazing sunsets, but I haven't seen one this colorful in a while. It was nice to just sit back and enjoy something so simple.

What I love about Oklahoma

 

Is that Oklahoma offers amazing riding weather almost 365 days a year!

Back to motorcycles...

I'm sad to report that I've been a lazy rider. Not by choice, though! With work (Stone Turtle Ranch), school, an occasional hike, and the mailbox issue, I've been pretty busy. Looking forward to things calming down and being able to explore Oklahoma a bit more.

Coxs Corner

Procrastinating

It's the day before my business strategy paper on Dr. Pepper is due, and, of course, I found something better to do than actually sit down and write my paper. I had the opportunity to meet up with another rider who was staying in the area for a week. Paper Schmaper, I thought. I can start, write,and finish that 4-5 page paper in the wee hours of tomorrow morning. As I left the house, I'll be damned if I didn't see what appeared to be rain clouds rolling in over the Wichita Mountains. We met up at the gas station, and rode up Mt. Scott to feel the wind kick up and the rain clouds draw nearer.

It looks so cold in the pictures that you'd never believe it was 108 degrees. Yes, it was a tad bit warm and sweat began rolling down one's face just from the exertion of breathing. We rode back down Mount Scott and parked in the picnic area so we could check out the boulder field near the bottom of Mt. Scott. I finally was able to convince someone to jump through those boulders with me. Sure, a day with a temperature of 108 degrees may not have been the brightest idea, but I never claimed to be the brightest crayon in the box. My riding buddy even took some pictures of me riding. Impromptu rides sure do rock!

About 5 raindrops fell from the sky. Oklahoma is a weather tease. On a side note, I haven't seen Mt.Scott's Parking lot empty in a long time.

More picture on the Facebook album!

April 2011

So in my book it doesn't get much better than going for a ride and a hike on the same day. It's pretty awesome living a few minutes from the Wichita Mountains. Although, it usually means that I take more detours than necessary. I'm all about the detours.

Awesome thing about taking a bike is that parking usually isn't a problem...usually. I have managed to receive a parking notice. Go me.

So yesterday's ride went to the Wichita Mtns Wildlife Refuge (yet again) and out to Eagle Mtn. Running on slacker time almost got me into trouble. Blueberry needed gas, and I, thinking I was good on time, mozied on down to the gas station. It wasn't until I was getting close to the HWY 49 turnoff that I realized the group was meeting at 10:00AM. My clock read 9:46. So much for getting gas. I prayed it'd get me out there and back to a gas station.

Speeding on the Refuge is a no-go (not that I would ever speed...). Get on the refuge and a deer runs out in front of me. Looked out for its friends, but it seemed to travel alone. Passed a snake on the road by Mt. Scott. I didn't see what it was since I was running out of time. Passing an F-150 law enforcement truck reminded me to watch my itching throttle hand. Good thing too, because further down the road was another law enforcement vehicle parked with a radar. I probably shouldn't have laughed and said "hahaha, not today, boy" because karma is a bitch. I get to the meeting location shortly after 10:00. Not too shabby. I pulled into the Visitor Center (not going "too fast" in my opinion. I mean, home stretch deserves a coasting). I walk into the Visitor Center and nicely say "Good Mornin'" to the lady at the desk only to be told to watch my speed when coming into the Visitor Center. Seriously? I certainly went no faster than the dude behind me.

The hike was a blast. Hiked up Eagle Mtn out to Pennington Mine and back through the Narrows. The group learned a good rule of thumb: don't follow Dani. Those that didn't see the easy way and followed me weren't exactly fond of me, but they now have that rule of thumb memorized.

The Narrows

After a 6 mile hike and forgetting my fuel condition, I was brought back to reality. Yes, it happens occasionally. Blueberry and I were able to coast into a gas station miles after gas light started going off.

Overnight Lodging

Stone Turtle Ranch

 

If your ride brings you to SW OK, and you need a place to stay overnight, check out Stone Turtle Ranch. They have two vacation homes, each of which can sleep 6! Motorcycle friendly, and able to recommend places to ride! Close to Meers, Medicine Park, and the Wichita Mtns Wildlife Refuge.

It's not Sin City, it's Cox City

Destination: Cox City

So, while I was studying (okay, maybe procrastinating) I came across a road that looked like it had *awesomeness* potential on GoogleMaps. So, of course, I had to check it out. It's boiling hot out, and I laced up my boots grabbed my mp3 player and hit the road.

Route:  Elgin, Sterling, Rush Springs. Drive through Rush Springs on Hwy 17 (aka Cox City Road- original eh?) out to Cox City, Marlow, and finally Lawton. All in all about a 100 mile trip.

First things first. Since Cox city isn't Sin City, It's best to get gas in a town where they actually have a gas station (in this case Elgin).

The ride out to Rush Springs through Sterling is pretty nice. Hill country with a couple of sweeper curves. Note that the speed limit through Sterling is like 20mph (also note that the cop out there is...um...nicely put very active). Rush Springs is well-known in the area for it's annual Watermelon Festival which is coming up in the next week or two.

Just stay on the main road through Rush Springs and eventually you'll wind up in Cox City. It's a two lane rural road with, believe it or not, curves. Now, before you get excited, Cox City road is in oil country (who would have thought) and the road is horrible.

However, after the farm scenery outside of Rush Springs, the scenery changes and you can see oil pumps, curves, trees, and hills. Pretty Nice. Half way through the curves, you'll see:

This sign is something I never thought I'd see in Oklahoma, but there it is. The roads are extremely bumpy. Taking the curves at speed limit is impossible (on a bike). It's a nice cruise, though. I knew that on the map after the last curve turning south Cox City should be right there. After a couple of miles, I began to wonder if I'd passed it. I mean, I did blink a couple of times. Until I saw this:

That's right- it's Cox City. Good thing I didn't blink at that moment. The road's name changes into 13 mile Rd. Once again, very original. This road, however, is smooth and an easy ride.

After a while, you'll find yourself at the Hwy 29 intersection (turn right, west, to head to Marlow). Okay, some important things to know for this hwy. County Sheriff is omnipresent. Also, drivers (including many 18-wheelers) are speeding idiots. After passing through Bray I found myself with a line of trucks and 18wheelers riding my ass (speed limit's 65). Note,also, that there is no shoulder on this road. There seems to be a junk car transport facility on the left at some point. Watch out for the loaded 18-wheelers that pull out of there. Yeah, this is where my ride gets good. One of these loaded trucks pulled out infront of me. It had about 9 crushed cars on it. At first, only little metal dust flew off in my direction. But, as the truck started reaching 65-70 mph more shit flew off. Great. No shoulder and a line of tail gaters on a two lane hwy with no shoulder.

As more crap started coming off the semi, I looked for a window in traffic so I could pass. I found it, with some cars heading my way on the horizon.

End of Story: I now have a $350 ticket.

Good to know: after that last little hill, the highway has a shoulder.

More pictures from this ride can be found in Wandering of a Girl Ryder's Facebook album.