The Black Mesa, I have come to discover, is one of the best places to go birding and very lovely.

I drove to the panhandle (my first time to see it!) over the weekend on May 13 and found the drive to be really pleasant with the overall lack of traffic. The vegetation is mostly yucca and cacti.
Once I entered Cimarron County, I began to see the beautiful ring-necked pheasants lining the wheat fields as I drove – birds I had always wished to view in the wild but never had until now! I was able to see at least four on my drive and even a couple females. They are secretive birds and if I stopped to get a photo, the bird would duck down and slip into the vegetation to hide.
There were also a number of pronghorn I was so grateful to have seen. Those right off the highway were scared, but in the park, I had to actually step on my brakes as one crossed the road! I got some good photos of that one.

Within the park there was also prairie dog towns and the elusive burrowing owls, which rely on prairie dogs to live since they use the rodents’ burrows to nest and hide in.

Once you get past Boise City, there is very little cell phone reception. So, plan ahead when you get to the Black Mesa area.
As I arrive, I check in to the Bed and Breakfast, which is a cattle ranch run by Monty and Vicki Roberts, and then join my birding group from the Oklahoma Ornithological Society.
In the couple of days that follow, we are able to see many different types of birds – especially those that are not really found in central Oklahoma. I also saw some I’d never spotted before, such as the curve-billed thrasher and a Western scrub jay.

Other notable species include: northern shoveler, wood duck, Western grebe, Mississippi kite, Western screech owl, black-chinned hummingbird, Western kingbird, indigo bunting, etc. All in all, an impressive 148 species.
The mesas were formed by lava that once covered the region and they are covered in a thick layer of black basalt that caps them.
I really appreciated the hospitality of Vicki and Monty. Vicki cooked us a luscious and free breakfast of homemade food that was to die for. Everything from scrambled eggs to blueberry pancakes was on the menu and they have two big dogs there to greet you with wagging tails when you go outside! Not to mention a few cats!
My bunk was nice and roomy and very clean. The view is also wonderful.
The Black Mesa is also known for its dinosaur tracks, which I did find, thanks to a map. They aren’t marked, so you need to keep an eye out! The weather was perfect and though the nights were chilly, I could not keep from standing outside in the later hours to gaze up at the sky. I had never seen so many stars before. Thanks to the higher elevation and absolutely no light pollution, the sky was uninhibited as it revealed its myriad of constellations.

I loved every bit of it because it was so nice and quiet and you felt like you descended into a timeless place. The days were warmer for us, but not hot – probably due to a cool front.
The town of Kenton is a good place to see birds, too, and other than residential homes and a few churches, there is not a whole lot there – but that, for me, added to its remote mystique.

Some homeowners had bird feeders to attract hummingbirds, which we did see, and there were swallows that enjoyed gobbling up insects that our cars stirred as we drove.
We also hiked along Camp Billy Joe, which is where we got lucky enough to see various sparrows and jays.
The trip ended wonderfully. I enjoyed a detour up through Kansas and found even more prairie dog towns just scattered throughout the landscape near the highway. I got many shots of the rodents and their burrows with one burrowing owl flying over my lonesome car – the whole experience giving me a glimpse into the not long-ago past of what Oklahoma was like before farms and cattle.
I encourage anyone to take trips to our state’s local parks, near or far.

We’ve been to several, but one we never try to miss is TG Farms – it’s right near our home and we have known the owners for many years. They have two locations – one in Newcastle and one in Norman. I’ve been to both, and I like both. Norman is bigger, less crowded and more like a farm; Newcastle has a wider selection in their store, move graveled areas and a duck pond. Both locations have the corn maze, hay mazes, hayrides, tricycle races, petting zoo and the pumpkin patch.

Of course, there are also lots of fall things to take home, like an impressive variety of pumpkins, squash and gourds, hay bales, corn, and tons of jams, jellies and salsa.

TG Farms opens at 9 a.m. Monday through Saturday at at noon on Sundays, and they close at dark each day. Tickets are $8, but if you have a group of 20 or more and you make a reservation, they are $6. Everybody pays the same admission except for babies who can’t walk yet. They’re free. Admission includes all of the fun fall stuff – the only exceptions are the concessions, the store, and pony rides (which are $4 and generally offered only on weekends.)

We came with a group and used the barn (rental for two hours is $200) and so we brought food and ate there. They also offer consessions and have free picnic areas set up. You can bring your own food right in.

My kids love all of the fun activities, but I swear their favorite is just a big pile of hay bales stacked up for climbing. It has slides attached to it and the kids love to climb and slide or climb and jump off into the soft hay.

Don’t forget to pick up a pumpkin from the patch before you leave (it’s included in the admission price!)

You can find out more info about TG Farms at www.tgfarms.com or by calling the main farm line at 405-387-3276 or the reservation line at 405-387-9222.

Don’t live near Newcastle or Norman? Try these other farms on for size…

Bucket of Berries in Sapulpa offers pumpkins at their farm. They also have honey from hives at the farm and face painting, and do birthday parties and group tours. Call 918-227-0101.

Chester’s Pumpkin Patch in Piedmont has a three-acre mystery maze, campfire, hay rides, petting zoo and more on their 25-acre farm. Admission is $6 for adults and $5 for children and includes a free pumpkin. Infants and seniors ages 65+ are free. Visit their website at www.chesterspartybarn.com or call 405-373-1595.

Chitwood Farms in Sulphur has a 30-foot hickory hill slide and lookout tower, sorghum and hay mazes, animal petting barn and the Dairy Line Express ride. They are open Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Other times are available with reservations. Call 580-622-2519 or visit www.chitwoodfamilyfarms.com.

Clemons’ Autumn Acres in Elgin has pumpkins, farm animals, a picnic area, and a hay bale area for kids to play. Admission for children is $5 and includes a small pumpkin. Call 580-704-6733.

Cypert Family Farm – in Stratford has a big pumpkin patch with pick-your-own pumpkins available. Call 580-759-4060.

DaZe in a MaZe in Covington includes a pumpkin patch, corn maze, hayrides, hay bale mazes, a playground of four mazes, a dino dig of “cowasaurus” bones, a petting zoo, old farming equipment to climb on and picnic tables for family gathering Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. to dusk Sunday and weekdays by appointment. Call 405-234-6293 weekdays and 405-550-5964 on weekends.

Firey’s Mountains in Sand Springs offers a combination hayride/cookout/farm tour for groups. They also rent the barn for western weddings and other family friendly events. The farm tour is a guided tour of a replica of a 100 year old farm with a primitive log cabin, live animals, a garden, and many of the furnishings that would have been common on a farm 100 years ago. Call 918-363-8385 for more information.

Firey Trails of Tulsa is outside of Sand Springs and offers hayrides on private trails and a rustic log pavillion for birthday parties, coroporate gatherings, church outings or other groups. All events must be reserved in advance. Call 918-227-1025 or visit www.fireytrails.com.

First Church of God Pumpkin Patch in Pryor is free to the public and includes a hay ride, hay maze, Jupiter Jump, story time, crafts, cow train, echo bale and more. Saturday family events are planned throughout the month of October. A community fall festival with free music, food and entertainment is also planned. Call 918-825-1062 for details.

Grandpa’s Pumpkin Patch in Hugo has pumpkins, a hay maze, hay rides and apicnic area. They are open to the public on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 580-317-7852.

Grider Pumpkin Farm in Perkins has a pumpkin patch, corn maze, and gourds. They also have a living hay maze. Open dawn ’til dusk through October. Call 405-547-2722 for directions.

Jahn’s Pumpkin Hill in Cyril is open Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to dark and Sunday, 1 p.m. until dark. They have pumpkins, a petting zoo and a farm tour on a tractor-pulled hayride. Call 580-464-3419 for more.

KR Farms of Noble has pumpkins, tractor-pulled hayrides and a petting zoo. Admission is $8 per child and includes all events inside the gate (large pumpkins cost extra). Adults are free. Call 405-426-0430 for more information.

Livesay Orchards in Porter has pumpkins, hay bale maze, hay rides, pick your own apples and prepicked produce. Call 918-483-2102.

McLemore Pumpkin Farm in Colony, Oklahoma (that’s near Weatherford) grows 25 acres of pumpkins every year and has hay mazes, a corn maze, hay rides and wagon rides. This family run-farm is also home to the owners. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children, which includes a pumpkin from the patch. Babies are free. The farm is open on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. They are open on weekdays too, but call 405-929-7318 before you head out.

Mikles Family Farm in Shawnee has a five-acre maze featuring the OKC Thunder logo this year, and the stalks are thick and will be over your head. They have 25 varieties of pumpkins, gourds and decorative squash still on the vine and ready for you to choose and cut. They offer hayrides, barrel train rides for children, and farm animals. On weekends, they have the Cornstalkers Haunted Attraction (not recommended for children under age 10). They are open until Nov. 14. Visit www.miklesfamilyfarm.com or call 405-401-8217.

Orr Family Farm in Oklahoma City has pumpkins, a corn maze, train rides, hay rides, face painting, a picnic area, a petting zoo and concessions, plus a lot more. Call 405-799-3276 or visit www.orrfamilyfarm.com.

P-Bar Farms in Weatherford has pumpkin, train rides, corn maze, a haunted corn maze, tractor-pulled hay rides, petting zoo and a gift shop. Call 580-772-4401 or visit www.pbarfarms.com.

Pleasant Valley Farms in Sand Springs is open every day from 9 a.m. until dark, and they have pumpkins and what they say is the largest variety of winter squash in Oklahoma. They have a free hay ride, petting zoo and hay maze, plus and gift shop. Concessions are available on the weekends. Call 918-248-5647 for more information or directions.

Red Silo Productions Presents “the Maize” in Chickasha has pumpkins, train rides, a corn maze, a haunted corn maze, corn cannon, hay rides, animals and duck races. They are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Call 405-222-0624 or visit www.cornfieldmaze.com.

Rustic Acres in Mason, Oklahoma has a corn maze, pumpkins, barrel train, hayride, games, funny farm bouncer, chickens and more. They also offer a haunted corn maze in October. They are open on Fridays, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturdays, noon to 10 p.m. Call 918-623-3077 or visit www.rusticacres.net.

Shay’s Landscaping, Nursery & Pumpkin Patch in Bartlesville has pumpkins, hay mazes, hay rides, produce, pony rides, gift shop and concessions. They are open to the public Monday through Friday, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. until dark. For more ifnormation, call 918-335-6677.

Shepherd’s Pumpkin Festival in Claremore is free and open Thursdays through Saturdays through October, 10 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Free activities include the petting zoo, festive fall games, storytime, hay maze and hands-on learning center. They also offer hayrides for $4 a person and scarecrow making for $2 per scarecrow (bring your own clothes to stuff – hay and tools provided) They also have pumpkins, gourds and decorate fall items for sale. Call 918-342-5911 or visit their Pumpkin Festival Website.

Thunderbird Land and Cattle Company in Broken Arrow offers the Tulsa MAiZE and hayrides. They are open Wednesday through Friday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. utnil 10 p.m. The maze is haunted after dar, from Oct. 20 to Oct. 30. Call 918-493-1500 for more information.

Wild Things Farm in Pocola has a pumpkin patch and a 7-acre cornfield transformed into a maze. Come during the day, or visit bring a flashlight and explore the maze in the dark! Call 918-626-4053.

Williams-Hart Produce in Rush Springs has pumpkins, prepicked produce and a concession stand. Call 580-658-3200.

Woodbine Farms Pumpkin Patch in Ardmore has a hay maze, pumpkins, hay rides and a petting zoo. They are open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. They are also open some weekday evenings. Visit their website at www.woodbinefarms.net for more details.

So get out there and have some fall family fun!

And…if you post a comment here or at our facebook page, you can enter for a chance to win a family four-pack of tickets to TG Farms! Drawing will be held on Oct. 22!

I had been to the Memorial several times, but not the museum. The admission price of $10 for adults and $6 for children always seemed a little high to me. For our family, that’s $32, and that’s just because the baby doesn’t need a ticket to get in.

But I had been to the outside area, several times, so I knew what to expect.

We came on a Saturday, which apparently means free parking downtown. The meters say it’s free on Sundays only, so we fed the meter before someone wandered by and mentioned in passing that it was free the whole weekend. We were out of change anyway, so we took a chance and didn’t get a ticket.

The Memorial is such a quiet, serene place. Everyone is so introspective. It means different things to everyone, but it all revolves around what happened on April 19, 1995.

The first thing we saw was the fence. The fence is part of the fence that was installed shortly after the bombing to protect the site. People from all over (myself included) left items on the fence in the aftermath, and although it was not originally part of the plan for the memorial, planners later decided to keep a portion of the fence. A booklet from the memorial refers to the fence as America’s sympathy card.

It was sprinkling outside, so we went directly to the museum, in hopes of the rain lessening when we were finished inside.

Photography is not allowed inside, and the Memorial Foundation has been gracious enough to allow us to reprint their photos. All inside photos ©2009 Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation.

When you enter the museum, you go directly to the third floor, where the exhibits begin. You start off seeing what was happening on April 19, 1995, in the hours before the explosion. Museum planners focus on how the day was like any other, and no one expected what was going to happen.

As you move through this floor, you’ll see pieces of art that were retrieved from the Murrah Building, newspapers from the morning of the bombing, information about terrorism across the country, and a section on Judge Alfred P. Murrah himself and the history of the building. The children were most interested in this area, since Murrah was from our town.

From there, you move into the moment of the blast. Museum visitors are escorted into a room that is designed as a recreation of a Water Resources Board conference room, where a recording is played of a meeting that started shortly before the bombing. Again, this reinforces how it was just an ordinary day until 9:02 a.m. A few minutes into the recording, the explosion is heard. A moment later, you are enveloped in silence. At the same time, pictures are flashed on the wall of the 168 people that were killed. It is a sobering moment.

The exit door opens, and you walk into a world of seeing chaos. News reports from the day roll by on television screens.

Here is also items from the bombing – personal items like phones, planners, briefcases and shoes. The children’s shoes are heartbreaking. A clock taken from the rubble, stopped at 9:02, helps to solidify the moment frozen in time.

After this comes survivor’s stories and the aftermath, news reports and official investigation.

The Gallery of Honor was where things started to fall apart for us. I had been worried about bringing three children to the museum, but the lady I spoke to before coming assured me it would be a good experience. The children weren’t scared or anything, so we had that going for us…but they were bored. The 9-year-old could handle it, but she said it was boring. The 6-year-old was getting wiggly by about this point. The 2-year-old started to fuss about being strapped in the stroller for so long. And Ben and I still wanted to look around. This did not make for a good museum experience.

We swept through the next areas, pausing for a portion of the 168 penny campaign that raised funds for the museum and the children’s area. The kids did a puzzle in the children’s area, but didn’t mess with the other items – rescue coats and hats for dress up, interactive computers with information about the memorial, and drawing areas to express their feelings…they mostly did the puzzle. I think a piece was missing, which bothered them.

The children’s area was actually a little dated, in my opinion, when you think about the fact that most of the people who actually would remember the bombing would be adults now. My children didn’t know about the bombing before we went. I gave them a little information before we got there, but I didn’t want to frighten them or anything. I was glad that going through the museum didn’t scare them or give them nightmares. I don’t think they saw it as something that could actually happen to them, and it didn’t touch them in any particular way. The children’s area was designed to help children cope with the bombing, but mine apparently didn’t need to cope with it.

I can also say that when you are trying to get out of the OKC Memorial Museum quickly because your baby is fussing and ruining the silence, it is hard to find the exits.

We did find them and went back down the elevator to the first floor. We went through the gift shop and stepped outside, where we were again greeted by drizzle. Although it was raining, there were still a few people outside.

I always wonder what brought them here today. Are they a friend or relative of one of the deceased, and this was a special day, like a birthday or anniversary? Maybe they were a survivor and needed to come that day. Maybe they are tourists from out of town and this was the only day they could come before heading back home. I wonder what the stories are for the people at the Memorial, and what they are thinking.

The east wall, representing the moment before the blast – 9:01 a.m.

The field of empty chairs.

The blacked out windows of the present museum building, representing the windows blown out the blast.

The survivor tree – this also has a section dedicated to it inside the museum.

The east wall, representing the moment before the blast – 9:03 a.m.

Okay. Here’s our take on it.

If you have not been to the Memorial, go now. It is worth a visit and is definitely something to see. It will stir up memories of that day and what you experienced. They turned something terrible into a place of beauty and serenity, and it is worth your time.

Take the kids to the Memorial if you like. You can give them a brief outline about what happened, and what everything means. It is park like, and they will enjoy seeing the different gardens, the chairs, the reflection pool and the Survivor Tree.

There is no charge to see the Memorial, and if you go on the weekend, parking is free too.

If you’ve never been to the museum, I recommend it highly…unless you are traveling with your children. Like I said, even the 9-year-old was very bored, but she was able to behave regardless. The younger two couldn’t do it. I know where they were coming from. It would have been boring to me as a kid. It was interesting to me because I could relate to it, and they couldn’t.

I think it might have been a better experience for the oldest if I had been before, and I had been able to focus on her entirely and follow her lead. But I wanted to see what was there too, so it wasn’t the right time for her to be there.

So, go, but don’t take the smaller kids. Teenagers could handle it, and might be more interested since they probably would have already learned about it in history class.

The Outdoor Symbolic Memorial is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Memorial Museum is open seven days a week. Monday through Saturday they are open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday they are open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors 62+ and $6 for students ages 6 through college. No charge for children ages 5 and under.

There is a lot more information online at their website: Oklahoma City National Memorial

We tried to do it on the cheap, although we spent $21 on corndogs, lemonade and chicken-on-a-stick to feed our family of 5. Not bad. Of course, some of our people are still very small. Your family might require more than a $3 corn dog for dinner. Alternately, your family might be more vocal about their demands for a more filling meal. Ours are still pretty distractable.

We were at the fair for about five hours, and we probably didn’t do a third of all we would have liked to. We’re going back on Wednesday (our oldest two kids are performing at the bandshell) and so we have plans to hit a few more things then.

Here’s what we did, what we didn’t do, and what we’re planning to do.

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But first, we drew the names of the State Fair contest winners. Three lucky Okie Tourist readers will get four tickets each to go and enjoy the state fair themselves! One winner came from okietourist.com; the other two came from our Facebook page. All three shared what they liked best about the fair.

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To enter, just leave a comment on this post, answering this question.

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This being our first drawing, we wanted it to be as fair as possible.

We went through each post and numbered each comment in the order it was received. Then we weeded out the relatives’ comments and any doubles on one post. We got 49 eligible comments!

Then we went to an online number generator and asked it to pick a random number between 1 and 49.

The number selected was 17.

And that lucky winner is…

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We’re going on Saturday and then reviewing it, but here’s your chance to check it out for yourself!

All you have to do is comment on any of the reviews or posts on The Okie Tourist. On Sept. 12, we’ll draw one name from all commenters and send that lucky person four free tickets to Frontier City! You can comment as many times as you like, but only one comment per post will be counted. So you can comment on each post and get several entries, but if you comment several times on one post, you’ll only get one entry.

Clear as mud, right?

Regardless…enter now! We’ll announce the winner on Sept. 12!

I did my regular online search beforehand, and the reviews I saw didn’t shine a good light on the place. I read about broken rides, awful lines, smelly astroturf and rude staff.

But we gathered up the sunblock anyway, and went to see for ourselves. And we didn’t see any of those things. Not even one.

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