Yes, indeed, there are mountains in Oklahoma! Who knew?!! I'm told there are some better ones on the eastern side of the state. We'll find out in late April when we are planning a visit to Grand Lake. This time we headed west. Tony and Tonya took us hiking in the Wichita Mountains last Saturday and we went to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge where there are wild longhorns, bison, prairie dogs and elk (so we're told, no one in our party had actually ever seen any here). We made our first stop at the top of Mt. Scott.
The wind was howling at the top! But we had a great view all over western Oklahoma. (You may recognize that first photo from Sunday's post:)
Our next stop was a quick one at the visitor's center and then we went on to Holy City...built by a man who decided to build a replica of Jerusalem where he could hold Easter services. I'm pretty sure it falls a little short of the real thing, but the thought is there. The chapel is very pretty inside and the stone architecture is interesting. It was very popular when it was built in the 1920s and drew huge crowds for decades. It's a little lacking now and could use some serious work, but they still hold Easter services.
After the holy tour we headed down the road to our hike. Along the way we stopped to see some of the residents.
Our hike took us out along a small river and up to a boulder field. Tony and his brother had scrambled over it a few weeks ago, we didn't...maybe next time :)
We were more than ready for lunch when we returned to the car. The Martinis took us to the hot spot for lunch, the Meers Cafe. It was built over 100 years ago and had to be moved when the wildlife refuge was established. It was moved to Meers and placed on a bed of granite rock. As the restaurant expanded rooms were added here and there at whatever level the granite allowed. The floors inside are sloped and uneven. Tony was sitting with his side leaning on the wall all during lunch :) The "famous" hamburgers here are made with longhorn beef only and were delicious!
Love the addition to the sign :)
On the way back to Yukon we drove around the wind farm and got as close as we could to the turbines...
And then the last stop of the day...something I remember well from my FAA tours of duty to the Academy in the 80s and 90s!
