Prairie Dogs & Rocky Hikes {Road Trip Travel Journal, Pt. 1}

| Allison

Hello, my friends!

I’m so excited to start sharing some of the TONS of photos I took on our recent vacation. For years, my family has had the goal to visit at all the 48 contiguous United States, and now we can check that off the bucket list. This time we went through south/southwest states like Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Lousiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. We rented a motorhome and spent most of the time just driving, but we also made some super neat stops, like New Orleans, a foggy beach, gorgeous scenic overlooks and trails, the Silos at Waco, a random prairie dog town, and lots of other fun stuff.

I have waaaay too many photos to fit in one post, so I’m gonna make this into a series, okay? Today I’ll start with some Oklahoma photos. I loved how different the scenery looked there from where I live! We went on a beautiful hike and also stopped at the edge of the road to see buffalo, prairie dogs, and a Texas longhorn cow.

Alright, enough explaining what we did. Let me just show you!

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First up, we have a photos taken in or through the window of the camper. I discovered that golden hour is gorgeous in Oklahoma too. 😀

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My siblings and I read a LOT on this trip, my goodness. I love this picture. ❤

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Here’s a classic rearview mirror road trip photo…

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And a sunset through the windshield. ❤

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Okay, now we’re ready for the next day, I think! I honestly don’t remember what day any of this was – it’s hard to keep track of time on vacation. XD But anyway, we’re still driving through Oklahoma at this point.

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I wouldn’t want to live here, but oh my, I absolutely loved seeing the simplicity and colors of these landscapes! Isn’t there something so aesthetic about this blue sky and rust-colored grass and winding road? I want to paint it!

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We passed a sports car stopped on the side of the road in the middle of the wilderness. Doesn’t it remind you of some scene in a movie?

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By the way, you guys are welcome to use any of these photos as desktop wallpapers if you want! I was going to change mine, but I still love the astrophotography shot I currently have, so… I’ll just post them instead. 😉

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We wondered what the scenery would look like in summer, since we came in February and it looked pretty brown. It doesn’t strike me as a very changeable landscape, though, except for the few trees. Any of you guys live in Oklahoma?? Does it look a lot different in summer than in these pictures?

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We stopped to hike a trail… somewhere in OK. (We made several jokes about the state abbreviation, believe me.) We left cold weather behind us when we went on vacation, so the summer/spring temperatures felt AMAZING.

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We all tried to capture the scale of everything around us, but… cameras don’t work as well as eyes. They just don’t.

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The weird thing was, although it was almost too warm for comfort outside, the river was mostly frozen.

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Yay, and here’s the view at the end of the hike! (Well, as far as we went, anyway.) It looked way more impressive in person, but it’s still pretty in a picture.

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This picture reminds me of an agate slice or some precious stone, with the stripes of sun and shadow and turquoise water.

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We decided to take a family picture with the view in the background, but… to do that we had to squint into the sun, which does NOT make for a good portrait. Hehe. Oh well, you can sort of still see our faces. 😛

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The trail was perfect for getting out pent-up energy because you kinda had to jump and climb over huge boulders like this. Don’t they look so neat?

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I was rather surprised to see this fuzzy moss growing in a bit of shade because everything else was so dry-looking.

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(Wow my captions are rather short and boring today, aren’t they? Hehe, apologies.) Anyway, thus ended our brief expedition. Now, back to the camper…

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More aesthetic Oklahoma driving!

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The next stop was at a parking lot by the road, to see a prairie dog town.

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We didn’t realize there was a whole town on the other side of the road at first, so a few of us went over to watch one little prairie dog all by itself.

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I think he had seen many tourists in his time, because this little guy was unperturbed by us crowding around his hole and taking pictures. He just sat there and stared at us.

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I’m sure they’re probably pests like groundhogs are where I live, but when you’re not used to seeing them, prairie dogs are so amusing to watch.

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This one was posing for Dad and I. We’d take a few pictures and then he’d turn around or stand at a different angle for us to take more. :’D

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Before we left, I noticed a Texas Longhorn coming down the path in the distance! I LOVE THIS PICTURE.

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We have seen plenty of cows, of course, but it was quite fun to see one with such huge, curved horns.

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I mean, wouldn’t that feel a little top-heavy?? Hehe.

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She kept getting closer and closer and eventually we were like… hmm, maybe we should, uh, let her get back to her life… So we turned around and walked back outside the fence. XD

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Once again, the weather was beautiful but there was a random pile of snow to one side. Weird. So, of course Megan and I jumped in it to clean off our dusty bare feet…

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A little further down the road, we saw buffalo out the window! They look so ancient and fierce and scruffy. HAHA. That’s an odd combination of adjectives, but… it fits, doesn’t it?

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And… that’s it for my photos of Oklahoma! Next up, we went to Texas: stay tuned for the most beautiful view and a visit to the Magnolia Silos. I’ll leave you with one more pretty blue-sky landscape before I go. ❤

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I hope you guys enjoyed the first edition my little travel journal series! I had so much fun taking and editing these pictures, and I can’t wait to post the rest and write down the fun and funny memories we made. Oklahoma was beautiful but I don’t have many interesting stories from this part of the trip. You’ll have to wait ’til later for those. 😉 Until then…

Have you traveled in an RV before? Which would you be most excited to see: buffalo, prairie dogs, or Texas longhorns?

Thanks so much for reading, my friends, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***

P. S. Photos taken with my Nikon D3400 and a 35mm lens. Edited in Lightroom.

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63 thoughts on “Prairie Dogs & Rocky Hikes {Road Trip Travel Journal, Pt. 1}”

  10. Wow! I have never travelled through the U.S before, so this landscape is really fascinating! It is so different from anything I have ever seen. And that Texas Longhorn…I guess I knew they existed but…my! you actually saw a real one!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Ahh I know, right? I’m so glad it was interesting to you too! And yeah! I think some people raise Texas Longhorns where I live too, but they’re certainly not common. It was neat seeing one more “in the wild,” hehe.

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  11. These photos you took are gorgeous!! I used to live in Colorado where we had prairie dogs and buffalo. It looks like you all had a wonderful trip! Thanks for sharing these lovely photos and post!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thanks so much! Really? That’s crazy to me. Buffalo seem like creatures from a history book, haha! We sure did have a lovely trip, and I’m glad you enjoyed the post about it. ❤️

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  12. What a cool trip!! Do you ever plan to do a northwestern trip someday? You should come to Idaho. I personally love it; so many different landscape types and so much forest and rural areas.

    That Texas longhorn looks so… amazing! He has one snazzy set of horns. And those prairie dogs sure seem to enjoy posing for pictures. XD

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    2. It really was! Yeah, we’ve actually been to the northwestern states already, including Idaho! I don’t remember it that well because I don’t think we made any stops, but I remember thinking the scenery was beautiful.
      Haha I know, right? 😝 Thanks for the lovely comment!

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  13. I live about 5 miles from the OK state line in Arkansas. It looks like you went through the southern part or the panhandle? Northeast OK & northwest Arkansas are both like being in a completely different state. The land is very very different from the southern parts.

    OK is called green country because it is very green in summer. So lush & beautiful.

    Other random comments…you saw the American bison, not a buffalo.
    The snow was still there because they plowed huge piles from clearing the roads & the piles take a long time to melt.
    I’ve read your blog for awhile but rarely comment. It’s cool you came through my home state but I admit that if you were only on interstates in Arkansas you didn’t see much. You have to leave the interstate to see most of our beauty.

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    1. That’s so neat! Okay, well that makes sense. I’ve noticed that about a lot of states – how the landscapes and scenery changes from one area to the other. Maybe we’ll have to go back in summer!
      Oh, really? I thought maybe “bison” and “buffalo” were interchangeable words, so I appreciate you telling me!
      Yeah, that’s what I assumed about the snow. It happens here too, but we don’t often get such warm weather after such a big snow!
      Well thank you so much for commenting! We did actually drive rather off the beaten path in Arkansas to stay at a campground, but other than that we didn’t drive through the state extensively. I’m sure you’re quite right!

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  14. About the whole bison and buffalo thing, most of us here in SD refer to them as buffalo even though they are scientifically bison…so don’t feel bad for just calling them what a local would 😆

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  15. Also, if Oklahoma is anything like SD, anytime from August to April the grass is brown and crunchy and from about May to July it’s beautiful green until the heat is too strong and dry for it to survive. Glad you had such a good trip!

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  16. I have never been in an RV, but I have always wanted to. I would love to see those prairie dogs if I could. The Texas longhorn and what you said about it was pretty funny. All these pictures were so pretty! And how did you find that heap of snow?! It looked kinda dry in that area. Same goes for the rivers. Seems like you had a good trip! Can’t wait for the pictures of Texas.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Yeah, RVs are great! And haha, yes! I’m glad you enjoyed the photos. ❤ Well, a lot of cold weather and snow had gone through the south just before we came, so some of the ice and snow and water was still left! We did indeed have a good trip, and I can't wait to post about Texas! Thanks for the comment, Inaya. ❤

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  17. I have never travelled in an RV. But my fiancé and I are definitely thinking about it! We’re trying to see all the states too. I’ve never been to Oklahoma. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Oh, it’s so fun! It does get pretty cramped when you have seven people in one place for a long period of time, but it would be better with two, I think. 🙂 That’s such a great goal, and you’re most welcome!

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  18. Beautiful photography, Allison! I’ve always wanted to travel in an RV, but we’ve only traveled to seven other states here in the Midwest. I think I’ve been to South Dakota about ten times, since we used to visit my grandparents most summers when they lived out there. We always stopped at the Prairie Dog Town to feed the prairie dogs and we saw a few buffalo (or bison) on the scenic drive. I’d be most excited to see a Texas Longhorn!

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