Riding through the Wichita Mountains

Today was a perfect day for riding and we decided to do it with some fellow biker folks...:-).  Meet Forrest and April who have been married forever and enjoy riding together....:-).  Forrest purchased a Victory Vision 1750cc that (to me) is the size of a car! ha

Here is the "spaceship"! haha

So after a few oooo's and ahhhh's.....and checking out "Ms Vickey" and "Maj", we decided to head out.  Forrest promised to show us a lot more "nothing"....haha

 

 First stop; Indiahoma, Oklahoma about 24 miles (38km's) outside of Lawton.  And THIS is just about all that was there.  This is their school....

this is the gas station complete with ONE working pump......

and their convenience store......I didn't go inside...

And then we went further into the prairie after discussing the route.......

We took a short break so that we could get a few pics and rest my "tender parts"....:-).  After all, I was the youngest rider....AND this was my first "ride" with other riders on my own bike.....Yay for me!...:-)

It had been a year since I had been riding through the plains and what made it interesting was that I had never been this particular route before.  So, I was excited about how much "flatness" I would see. ha

Now, if you live in an area that is very mountainous, this would seem like "foot hills" rather than mountains.  Ms Vickey was impressed since this was her first time seeing them...:-).

During one of our three rest spots we stopped at Prairie Dog Town and saw these little guys.......:-)



Scootard seemed to want to make a friend out of one of them......uh...they will bite if you get too close!

That road is the direction that we had traveled from so far......

More "foot hills"........:-)  This whole area used to belong to the Comanche Indian Nation before the goverment stole the land from them....:-(

I think Forrest and Scootard are having too much fun! haha

It was so quiet out there, you could probably hear a rubber band hit the ground if one fell..

it was time to keep moving to our next desitination.......



It was nice to see Lake Latonka after such a long time...It looked beautiful from a distance and very inviting as it was rather warm.  But no time for that today.....:-).  We have a lunch date with a historical restaurant!



But first......we have to cross this rickedy old plank bridge......:-(.  sheesh......! I don't think I have the guts for this one...haha.  Thank you, Scootard for taking Ms Vickey across for me.....:-).  I'll just take the pictures of what I would have missed going over it! 

This is the restaurant on the water where we planned to eat lunch.  But alas! It was not to be....:-(.  They were closed!  WHAT!?  Didn't they know I was coming! ha....

I snapped these pictures as I started my "foot journey" across the old rickedy bridge.......

People swim here a lot and back in the 20's and 30's a lot of famous people came through here to vacation (or run from the law) such as Jessie James, Bonnie and Clyde, etc.  It used to be a very active resort (and Brothel) area.

and this is the town where it all happened.....Medicine Park, Ok.  Yep, this is it; main street....ha 

So, we went a block down the road to another historical place called The Old Plantation hotel and Restaurant.  This is where the Brothel was run and the travelers and vacationers came to swim and rent rooms.  Almost all of the houses in Medicine Park are made of Adobe brick and have been here for many, many years......

Better lock things up.  As small as this place is, it does have it's own Police department!

  

Ms Vickey was ready for a rest.......And she didn't want me to have "monkey butt" either!

I have never been in that water although I have been here many times through the years of living just 15 or so miles away from it.  I keep thinking about all of the goose poop that would end up in my hair! haha.... I'll pass!

Time to eat, Ya'll!  Now, I took pictures of  lunch. April had a steak salad...... 

I had some chicken quesadillas and some coconut shrimp with a soda.....

Scootard had Pork Tacos which were actually bar-b-qued pulled pork on a taco shell with cheese and stuff.........

and I have no idea why Forrest's burger didn't get it's day in lights, but his looked pretty good too if you like burgers....:-) 

After lunch, Forrest and April continued on with their day and Scootard and I decided to double back and grab some pics that we didn't get on the way there.......But there was one problem.........

So, my patient husband took Ms Vickey over the dredded bridge for me....again......

The Wichita's are full of interesting rock formations.......

We got over the bridge and started back the way we had come.  We came upon what used to be my favorite place to come to and think and pray when I lived in Lawton.....It was nice to be here at Lake Elmer Thomas again.....:-)

It is usually quite active on the weekends, but since this was the middle of the day on a week day, it was quite peaceful and beautiful .........:-).

    A lot of fishing goes on here although I have never done any....at least not out here.    

See that bench facing the front....that's my seat; even in the dead of winter I would come here and sit for a long time.......:-)

"Maj" seemed to be enjoying some non-riding time too.....:-)  She looks good with those blue skies over her.....:-).

Well, it was time to start heading home.  We wanted to get some pics of the Bison that we saw coming in......

this used to be a "land mark" here.  I was never really sure of exactly what it was, but a few years ago it became a victim of arson......:-(.

But the Great Plains have endured all kinds of weather and harshness and always seems to come through with the wild life and wild flowers.... time after time.

 and the roads always seem to go on forever........

the Bison were out and near the roads.  This big fellow was sun bathing when we came by.  Having spent the last 18 years in Oklahoma, I knew not to get too close to him.

Scootard, on the other hand decided he wanted to stop RIGHT IN FRONT of the things and take a picture......  WHAT!?........

and then suddenly, this over 3 ton beast rose to his feet and started stamping his back foot!  Scootard was not more than 20-30 paces away from this thing.  I, of course was down the road screaming at the top of my lungs and waving my hands for him to get out of there in a hurry!!!  



Needless to say, we fast tracked it out of there and I was glad that I made it through the day without becoming a widow!......ugh! 

All I wanted to do at this point was get out of plains, get some gas and get back to the house where there was no possiblity of getting stompled to death!   We did see these "tar snakes" on the side of the road, but they were relatively harmless.....:-).

It was nice to be out here again, but nice to be leaving too.....haha

I wondered what was behind those rocks, but didn't want to know enough to go and see....hahaha.....Might have been that Bison's cousin!

Ok, I'm starting to feel a little better since we are headed toward the exit of the mountains.....

Whooo hoooo!  Now, just a few miles from home.........well, maybe a few more than "just" a few, but at least I was pointed in the right direction without any danger ahead except for cagers.....

and boy or boy was I happy about that!

We made it home in one piece with the only other challenge for me was the wind pushing me almost sideways as it swept across the plains and onto the highway.  I was clipping along at 100km's and was glad to see my front door again.  Now, to do something about this 'monkey butt" and to make dinner......Well, not necessarily in that order, but you get the picture.......:-).

See ya next time!