Lake Murray

The trip to Lake Murray was wonderful. Oklahoma has quite a few state parks including Lake Murray. All the land around the lake apparently belongs to the park. The CCC built the entire park between 1933 and 1940. The lodge is not as wonderful as I had hoped, but it was funky in an old sort of way. Our room was nothing fancy – just a room with a bed, closet and bathroom. I think the cabins would be the way to go next time. They were also old, but much more interesting with lots of windows and screened in porches and some fireplaces.

We walked around the lodge and out on to the pier. Then we headed down the road to the Fireside Restaurant. The meal was excellent. I had prime rib while Toby had the salmon. I can cook a pretty mean salmon myself, but prime rib was a treat. We finished off the meal with a huge slice of cheesecake with three different toppings to choose from and a cup of coffee. As we left the restaurant, a storm was blowing in. We went back to our room and turned off the lights and lay across the bed watching the lightning show over the lake. All that thunder and lightning, but no rain!

The next morning we tried one of the hiking trails. Being off-season, it was not well maintained or marked clearly. That was okay; we got our walk in and headed back for breakfast at the lodge. Later we drove around looking at the cabins and then around the whole lake picking out future spots to visit - maybe camping is the way to go. The lake has lots of camping sights, picnic areas, and boating ramps – all at different prices. As we looked over the different camping areas or cabins, we kept in mind how the grandbaby would do there or could Jesse launch her kayak. We tried another walking trail that was also a bicycle trail. We probably walked three to four miles. Toby thought it would be great to bring our bikes next time – yeah right! We also checked out the ATV area. I was horrified. There were four-wheelers and motorcycles of all sizes along with people of all sizes and ages. Some vehicles had whole families piled on. Others were wearing their full racing outfits with helmets. All were roaring around making jumps and such or stopped just to visit in this one large area. It looked like an Okie accident waiting to happen. Toby loved it.

After exploring the lake we headed in to Ardmore where we ate at Polo’s. It has the best Mexican food in OK. Then it was back home for us. We managed to make a quick trip into Duncan to see the grandbaby before I completely collapsed from exhaustion. It was really a great weekend and a perfect birthday.