Beavers Bend State Park - Virtual vacation part 2

Broken Bow Lake at Beavers Bend State Park, Oct 2019

I thought it would be fun this week, in lieu of week two of our 2020 vacation, to  play catch up and finally post about the last part of our Sept/October 2019 vacation. (See the end for links to posts about the first part.)

Beavers Bend State Park, along the shores of Broken Bow Lake and the Mountain Fork River in Southeastern Oklahoma, was the third park we went to. Since our first two weeks of vacation were more stressful than restful, I was--to be perfectly honest--wanting to go home by the time we got to Beavers Bend. When I told John, he said we could leave if I really wanted to but that of the three parks Beavers Bend was the one he was most looking forward to.

So I decided we should stay and I would make the best of it and enjoy it for his sake. I did enjoy it, mostly. It helped that the weather cooled down eventually and it started to feel like Fall at last. I was also thankful when some of the plethora of people cleared out after a couple of days and it was more peaceful.

At least it was peaceful when the sirens weren't going off.

We arrived on a Sunday afternoon. On Monday, the next day, a loud siren went off several times. John said it was to warn everyone that the hydroelectric power plant on the river, near our camp site, was about to release additional water into the river to generate more power.

I wanted to see it. So, we jumped into the car and went looking. When we couldn’t find the place, John asked at the office. The lady told him where to go but said, "it isn’t very exciting.” I wanted to see it anyway--after all what is vacation for if not to be whimsical?

By the time we got there the water was already being released. We were surprised how little water they seemed to be releasing given how loud the siren was and how many times it went off to warn everyone.

But we enjoyed it anyway. It was a beautiful day and the river was stunning. Here are a few pictures.

I also took this little video:

After that first day the sirens got annoying. John said it was like being in a horror movie. Thankfully they never did it at night! Given all the fences, warning signs,  and rules to not ever swim or boat in that stretch of river, it seemed like overkill to have such a loud siren going off for such a small amount of water being released. I wondered what they would do in case of a real emergency--like the large dam on Broken Bow lake giving way for example. I'm glad we never had to find out!

The next day we took our inflatable canoe out on part of the river where they do allow boating.  Being Fall it was the off season so the canoe and kayak rental office was closed. But since we have our own canoe that wasn't a problem.

A weir and bridge where people were fishing in the background. We didn't get very close as it didn't look like there was a safe way through

Broken Bow Lake was also really pretty. We intended to go out on it in our canoe sometime but ran out of time (and energy to be honest).

The water really did look this blue. The other two photos above were with John's camera. It doesn't always capture the colors quite the way mine does.

On the other hand this photo is one John took and it is much better than I got despite several attempts!

We only saw a few of these amazing little flowers in one spot near the river. I don't know what they are called. 

John also caught this deer peering between the trees

John enjoyed several hikes. I think I only managed once but it was really fun and pretty.

There were many stunning sights. Maybe that's partly why it is such a popular park.

Another weir. The river was full of them. I loved the fall colors reflected on the water.

They have a small but impressive nature center. The staff were friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

I was surprised to learn that there are actually alligators in that corner of Oklahoma. We didn't see any. I think they were only in the more remote areas.

We ate dinner one night at the camp restaurant. The meal was delicious and the atmosphere charming.

We celebrated the first really cool fall-like morning by wearing flannel shirts and taking photos of these fun decorations. A nice couple offered to take our photo.

A cute little fungi because I can't resist cute fungi :-)

Thanks for coming along on this "virtual" vacation.


To see posts about the first part of the trip go to:

https://ashighastheheavens.blogspot.com/2019/11/vacation-2019-week-one-robbers-cave.html

https://ashighastheheavens.blogspot.com/2019/11/vacation-2019-week-one-post-script.html

This next one is a compilation of things from the year that I was thankful for. The part about our vacation is near the end.
https://ashighastheheavens.blogspot.com/2019/11/some-things-im-thankful-for-in-2019.html