Lake murray, oklahoma

We ventured to Lake Murray, Oklahoma last weekend despite the rainy Memorial weekend forecast. Even with all the drama that ensued, I'm really glad we went! It feels like we were on vacation for days, rather than just two days and one night.

We left last Saturday morning. We met Erin, Paris, and Adeline Hollis - or the Toads as we lovingly refer to them- in the ENJJPT parking lot to combine or two cars' worth of camping gear into the jeep and boat. The drive to Lake Murray was under two hours and very pretty. Oklahoma is much greener and more pleasant overall than Texas, at least to me.

When we arrived at the campground, we looked around for a good (i.e. open) campsite. It was of course crowded with visitors, but we managed to find a site after all and even a parking place. We set up camp, put on swimsuits, launched the boat, and floated away in paradise.



The water was actually blue!! Okay, I know this is not as unique to many of you. Now that we are living in Texas though, a blue lake is like a diamond in the rough! This is Erin and little Adeline, also known as Buggy, out on the tube.

Several hours later, when our need for food had won over our need for watery sunshine, we headed back to land for brats on the grill. No sooner had we changed clothes and put charcoal in the grill, did the park host come over to inform us we had to move. (What?! Are you serious? Now? It's like 7:30. We've been here since noon!) Actually, some words might have been much more R rated than that.

Little to our knowledge (since there were tents all around us) we were in an RV only section of the campground. They pointed out a small sign behind the leaves of a tree indicating this fact. The RVers next to us had complained that we were on their turf. Apparently the tents around us were with the RVs, which was allowed. Angry and annoyed, but trying to make the best of it, we searched for a new site. We literally lifted up our tents from the ground and carried them around looking for a new site. About an hour later we found a site and transferred our gear there.

Oklahoma does camping a little bit differently than everywhere else. There are no boundaries to the campsites or designated number of them. You simply pay a fee and pop a squat wherever in the campground. You can take up as much or as little space as you choose. It looks like 500 people sitting around with campers and tents in a big field next to a lake.

In the middle of resetting our tents, a downpour began. We managed to get everything covered, the baby out of the rain, and begin cooking our dinner in the rain. By the time we were ready to eat, the rain had stopped. We ended up with a nice night, under a very starry and beautiful sky.

The next day was another beautiful one, and we headed out on the lake early. The water was glassy and smooth. Matt, Toad, and myself all skiied. It was so much fun! I had forgotten how much I enjoy water skiing. (I'm indebited to Mike and Matt's patience in teaching me how!) I'm glad we got out early, too, because the water was really rough the rest of the day because of the number of boats out on the lake. That did make for perfect tubing though. We each took a turn at that, including little Adeline. We were so sore the next day from holding on tightly through all those big waves and choppy water.

Here is Erin, Gunner, Adeline, and Toad (Paris) in the water.

Not too long after this, we spotted a storm coming in quickly, and decided it was time to head back. The only problem was we had to drive through the storm to get to the boat launch. It was exhilarating and a bit like those painful camp showers when we were kids (the ones that felt like pins and needles on your back). Thankfully there was no lightning, and we made it back safely. Even Adeline was fine; what an easy-going baby! Soaking wet again, we took down camp, packed up, and headed home. Another memorable Memorial weekend, and what a great time!

P.S. Just in case you wanted to know, Matt pins on Captain next week! There's no hoop-lah or anything that comes with this promotion. It is the last of his automatic promotions though. The next ones he'll have to seriously earn, which means we might even have some hoop-lah! :)

If you'll recall, Matt was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant after he graduated college. Two years later he automatically became a First Lieutenant. Now, another two years later, he is promoted to Captain. Apparently, people are usually Captains for quite a while (like 6 or 7 years I think), after which you have the opportunity to become a Major and move on up the chain of command. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it!