OOOOOklahoma!

Today I took Elijah to a day camp in the Arbuckle Mountains in south central Oklahoma.  For those of you out there who think Oklahoma is just a vast, flat expanse of waving prairie grass, think again.  Now when we say mountains around here, we are of course not speaking of the grandeur of the Rockies.  We are however talking about some of the oldest mountains ranges on the continent in the Arbuckles and Wichita Mountain ranges.  Back to my story.   Today we went to Camp Classen.  It is situated in the Arbuckles, near Davis, Oklahoma.  At just about 2 hours away from our home, you might think you were in a completely different region of the country.  The eastern deciduous forests become areas of western red cedars that then transition into grasslands that are typically associated with Oklahoma.

On top of the world, or at least Murray County, Oklahoma.

Lake Classen

This day camp we attended was a foretaste of what Camp Classen regularly puts on during the summer.  They have all the typical summer camp activities: archery, horseback riding, canoeing, hiking, etc.  Today the day campers were able to participate in a few of these activities.  Elijah chose to only participate in archery.  He really enjoyed it and was fairly good at it, especially for his first time.  he hit the bulls eye on one target twice and hit the target itself several more times.  He also shot the deer target through the ear.  Not a kill shot, but it can now wear fashionable earrings!

William Tell, watch out.  Literally!

After archery and lunch we went on a two-mile hike. For the most part it was an easy hike, with only one place where we had to climb a very high degree. It was quite fun. As we went on this short hike, we also walked through each of the previously mentioned ecosystems. The contrast in such a short amount of time was remarkable.

Fish in the almost dry stream.  They're thankful for the springs in the area.

Don't look down!

Invasive red cedars



Grass lands and cedars blending



Elijah is already bugging us about going to camp next summer.  Both of my nieces go every summer and they love it.  I guess we'll have to see.