Wednesday, March 3, 2021 - Copper Breaks State Park and Nearby Quanah, TX

 Wednesday, March 3, 2021 - Copper Breaks State Park and Nearby Quanah, TX

I can't remember what woke me up this morning but it was around 4:45.  I laid in bed for 10 minutes or so and knew I wasn't going back to sleep.  I made the coffee and anxiously waited for it to finish.  It was 37.9 degrees when I came downstairs.  It reached 78 degrees this afternoon, and we had to turn the air conditioner on.  I was thankful it warmed up!!

Dean and I visited last night about our plans for the next few days.  Originally we planned to stay two nights here at Copper Breaks SP, then two nights at Great Plains SP in Mountain Park, Oklahoma, and finally two nights in Great Salt Plains SP in Jet, OK.   

Yesterday we visited with Brett.  He and family are going to be in Wichita this weekend before heading back to Nevada.  It will be awhile before we see them again, so we decided to alter our plans.  

We added an extra night here in Copper Breaks SP, cancelled our reservation at Great Plains, and added an extra night at Great Salt Plains, which actually works out better for us in more ways than the one.  Somehow I missed a major time factor.  Mountain Park is only 2 hours away - which is not a big problem except we needed to leave Copper Breaks by noon, and we can't check in at Mountain Park until 5pm.  That's a lot of time to kill between leaving and our arrival time. 

Since we wanted to see Brett and family before they leave, this change made it possible for us to do that.   It's less than 2 hours to Wichita from Jet, OK, so we'll drive up for the day, watch grandson Roman play basketball in the morning and meet up with Brett and family after the game.  We'll return to Jet late afternoon/early evening.  We planned to drive from Oswego the following Saturday to watch Roman -  it's a 3 hour drive, so in the long run this saves us a little driving time too.

Dean suggested we go into Quanah for breakfast this morning.  It's been almost a month since we've had breakfast out, a long time for us.  It's Dean's favorite meal, so I couldn't tell him no.  Before we left, son Marc called to let me know Kamron had bought a car.  I can't wait to see it and have her take me for a spin!!  I told him we were going to a flea market later.  He and Jen have really gotten into visiting flea markets in our area and are having lots of fun looking and buying.  He told me what he was interested in so I'll take a look while we are there.  (We did not find anything he wanted.)

We chose Sisters Cafe for breakfast.  I had a breakfast burrito, and Dean had his normal 2 eggs, sausage, hash browns, and toast.  The food was really good.  After we finished our meal, he said he was going to the bathroom before we left.  I was going to go when he returned but he said someone was in the women's.  There were 3 couples sitting a couple of tables behind us.  They said go ahead and use the men's and just lock the door....it's okay.  So I did.  I had the hardest time finding the light, and let me tell you that bathroom was pretty dark.  I felt along the walls but no switch.  I'm just glad there wasn't a fly or something worse on the wall that I might have touched.  I stuck my head back out in the entryway (outer door was closed) and noticed a switch there.  Sure enough it was the men's bathroom light, thank goodness!

Sisters Cafe

When I returned to the restaurant area, the 3 couples visited with us.  I had to ask them how they pronounced the city's name.  Qwan-ah, is what they told us.  That's what I had been saying so it was nice to know for once I got a name correct.  HAHA  I then asked them about flea markets and the best ones.  They directed us to one at the other end of town.  One of the ladies was the curator at their museum and invited us to stop in.  I told her I would love to but I wasn't sure if we had enough time, since we were planning to leave in the morning.  (We hadn't changed our plans yet).  When we got outside Dean asked me if I had any problem finding the light in the men's bathroom; I said yes, but I finally did.  He said I didn't until after I left, then I noticed it outside.  I don't know how he managed to "go" in the dark.  It was nice and clean though - so I guess he did a good job.  HAHA  He might not be too happy about me telling this little story, but it's pretty funny when I think about it.  We both had a good laugh about it.

We headed to the flea market when we left and oh my - what a place.  There was room after room and we didn't even make it into several of them.  A few places the aisles were so packed I was afraid to try and walk down them for fear of knocking something over or tripping over something.  Dean did buy a draw knife, but I really didn't need anything.  I was looking for Marc more than anything.  The main reason for coming here was to take a picture of a roadside item at this location, as well as another one a short distance away.

The Big Tennis Shoe @ the Flea Market

Quanah Indians Arrow @ Entrance to High School

Dean wanted to get fuel for the truck, and that took us back to the other end of town but I'm glad we did because as we passed by the little park on the main drag I noticed this sign.  I knew exactly who this was and told Dean - they made a movie about this guy.  I asked him to take me back around so I could get a good picture of it.  I know my daughter and sister will recognize the name as well.

Lane Frost - Well Known Bull Rider
Does anyone remember the movie about him?

After getting fuel, we drove back to Copper Breaks SP.  We stopped at the park office to ask if they would have a guided tour tonight of the night sky.  Unfortunately they are not doing that right now, but she told showed us on a map the area we should go to.  The large open area they have will provide a much better dark sky view than what we saw last night here at Bentley.  While we were at the park office we also walked through the display area they had giving an overview of the park area and how it had evolved.

When we returned to Bentley, we were still full from breakfast, so we grabbed a few almond bars, some water, our backpack, sunscreen and our walking sticks then headed out to hike a few of the trails in the park.  Our first stop was at the Thirsty Horse Trail.  It was a .3 mile trail, but that must have been one way as we walked a little over .5 mile.  It was an easy one to start out on.

The Big Pond

Another nearby stop was the Bull Canyon Trail - Short Loop that was a mile long, and also an easy one.  Neither trail offered too much in scenery, although we did get a few nice pictures along the way.

After leaving those trails, we stopped at Bentley for a few minutes, and then decided to check out the Juniper Ridge Nature Trail - a challenging one.  It definitely gave us a workout compared to the other two, but it wasn't too bad.  

It was a steep walk up.

Dam at Lake Copper Breaks

My handsome husband!

Interesting rocks

Neat rock formation

Dean looks like he is a referee or in jail.  I didn't notice this when I took the picture but pretty funny when I saw it later.

Neat rock formations

On our way down

We returned to Bentley to rest a bit before dinner.  My sister Cindy called and we visited for half an hour or so before I needed to start dinner.  Dean is going to grill bacon wrapped chicken breasts on the Blackstone.  Since he had it out, I asked him to cook sausage patties and bacon too.  They needed to be cooked before I forget about them.  We'll freeze them for future breakfasts, and I'll use some of the bacon in other meals too. I steamed some broccoli to go with our chicken.  The chicken breasts were huge, so I didn't worry about making anything else.  It was a delicious meal.

I decided to tell Dean I included his bathroom story.  I told him I was impressed with how clean the bathroom was after he used it in the dark.  He laughed and held up his phone with his flashlight turned on.   We both had a really good laugh at that.  We do enjoy some funny moments and laugh a lot!

Patsy, I almost forgot pictures of the campground, so I ran out and took a few as the sun was  setting.  This is the cutest park setup.  

Sites are very nicely spaced.

Each site has a Tepee, with concrete pad, table and grill.  They also have a fire pit.

Bentley

Sunset over the Tepees

Trails Map

There are still five other trails we can walk.  Tomorrow morning we are going to do the Rocky Ledges Loop - 1.6 mi.  The map says it is challenging - as it winds and climbs through rocky outcrops and woodlands.  We might also walk the Dark Sky Trail during the day - it's .7 miles long and is moderate.   

I'm glad we added another day here, even though we are going to pass on a park I was looking forward to visit:  Great Plains State Park in Mountain Home, OK.  Hopefully, we can make it back this way at some point.

The star gazing was really great.  I used to have an app that would tell you what the constellations are.  When I tried to download it (and several others) they wanted payment to use it. The one I used to have was free and I could not locate it.  We also checked to see if the International Space Station would be in the area while we are here, but it will be next week before it is in this area.  

Thanks again for following along on our journey.  Please feel free to comment.