Arbuckle Mountains do exist ... In Oklahoma no less
I'd never heard of the Arbuckle Mountains before March 10.
This is an ancient mountain range in southern Oklahoma, formerly part of the Chickasaw Nation, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society online (okhistory.org). Steve and I have completed a 28-day journey through the southeastern United States, and this is one of the blogs to discuss the places we visited.
Ardmore, Okla., is about 12 hours south of Ankeny, Iowa, on Interstate 35. We took off from our daughter's Ankeny home in the wee hours of March 10, and sped south, excited to see one region of our beautiful country.
We did pass through Oklahoma City, but soon started to notice the mountains. I could not name the range but urged Steve to stop at a scenic overlook. That turned out to be most fortuitous: We saw the Arbuckle range off the interstate, and a forest fire. This is something we'd never witnessed in person, coming from our home in Eastern Iowa. I took several photos, attached to this blog.
The historical society reports the Arbuckle range is 1.3 billion years old, made of granite from the Precambian Period. From 500-290 million years ago, seas formed and retreated, depositing limestone, sandstone, shale and dolomite on the range. The area we saw was covered in forest, but there are apparently ranches in the region.
After watching the firefighters work for a while among the mountain forest, we continued to a motel in Ardmore. This was a great little community; and our motel experience (Hampton Inn), was excellent. On March 11 we started out after breakfast, and made a stop in Waco, site of my favorite home-and-garden television show, "Fixer Upper." (Note: This show has been taped for the last time, CNN-TV reports. The couple behind the series, Joanna and Chip Gaines, said farewell earlier this week).
We were in Waco on a Sunday, and the Magnolia Farms area was closed. Yet, we were among many tourists exploring the grounds of the silos, and stores set up and renovated by the Gaines.
Driving though Texas was something we did in the next week, heading to San Antonio. That state was by far the hardest one to drive in; lots of traffic, road construction and bad weather.
This is an ancient mountain range in southern Oklahoma, formerly part of the Chickasaw Nation, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society online (okhistory.org). Steve and I have completed a 28-day journey through the southeastern United States, and this is one of the blogs to discuss the places we visited.
Ardmore, Okla., is about 12 hours south of Ankeny, Iowa, on Interstate 35. We took off from our daughter's Ankeny home in the wee hours of March 10, and sped south, excited to see one region of our beautiful country.
We did pass through Oklahoma City, but soon started to notice the mountains. I could not name the range but urged Steve to stop at a scenic overlook. That turned out to be most fortuitous: We saw the Arbuckle range off the interstate, and a forest fire. This is something we'd never witnessed in person, coming from our home in Eastern Iowa. I took several photos, attached to this blog.
The historical society reports the Arbuckle range is 1.3 billion years old, made of granite from the Precambian Period. From 500-290 million years ago, seas formed and retreated, depositing limestone, sandstone, shale and dolomite on the range. The area we saw was covered in forest, but there are apparently ranches in the region.
After watching the firefighters work for a while among the mountain forest, we continued to a motel in Ardmore. This was a great little community; and our motel experience (Hampton Inn), was excellent. On March 11 we started out after breakfast, and made a stop in Waco, site of my favorite home-and-garden television show, "Fixer Upper." (Note: This show has been taped for the last time, CNN-TV reports. The couple behind the series, Joanna and Chip Gaines, said farewell earlier this week).
We were in Waco on a Sunday, and the Magnolia Farms area was closed. Yet, we were among many tourists exploring the grounds of the silos, and stores set up and renovated by the Gaines.
Driving though Texas was something we did in the next week, heading to San Antonio. That state was by far the hardest one to drive in; lots of traffic, road construction and bad weather.
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