Touring the Countryside

Lake in the Quartz Mountain Range

This morning my friend Barbara picked me up and took me sight seeing.  We drove out to the  Quartz mountains, and drove in and out of the Wichita Mountains. The countryside on the way there was very pretty.

There were crops of winter wheat several inches high already so the countryside was very green.

 Old School House

This is the area where Barbara grew up. Her father went to school in this school house to the right.











As we were driving along we came across this flock of vultures. There are not a pretty bird.

 Barbara could not remember ever seeing that many all together before. They are  very large birds and when they are in the air they have a very wide wingspan. If you click on this picture it should enlarge so you can get a better look at them.


When we arrived at the Mountain Range there was a beautiful lake nestled in the mountains. Barbara told me it used to be way bigger but there has been  a serious drought here the last couple years.

Two years ago there was a terrible thunderstorm that started a fire on top of these mountains. It spread from one mountain to another and could be seen for miles.  It completely  burned all the brush off the mountains. The firemen managed to save all the buildings at the   base of the mountains, including a couple of church camps but the fire came very, very close to the buildings.

As you can see from the black remains of the trees, the fires was within a few feet of the buildings.










We drove  up into the mountains to get a better view of the lake.

The ground surrounding the lake was much redder than it appears in the picture. It was a very bright sunny day so it washed out the colors somewhat.










On the way up the mountain, we passed a beautiful campground and found over 20 deer grazing there.

The deer did not seem to be at all disturbed by our presence. We sat for awhile and just watched them.










Also nestled in the mountains was the Oklahoma Arts Institute where artists of all kinds from all over the world come to study.

The bridge you see crosses over the water-or where there used to be water coming in from the lake- and joins the rest of the complex pictured below.
It is a massive Institute.

There are a number of buildings, including dorms for the students, a swimming pool, library and beautiful statutes and artwork throughout the complex. All the buildings look out over the lake.

Barbara on patio of restaurant at Art Institute

There was a very nice restaurant there and a lovely patio on the side of it where you could eat while looking out over the lake.

The lobby of the main building is full of artwork from floor to ceiling.













We continued on and I took several more shots as we came down the mountain.

We made it back to Hobart just a few minutes late for lunch at the Seniors place.  Barbara introduced me to everyone there and they seemed quite amused to have someone from Canada show up there. They were a very friendly bunch and they told me that they would like to see me come back tomorrow if I am still around. The lunch was only four dollars and included rice, gravy, baked chicken breast, peas, and chocolate ice cream for dessert. It was delicious.
Barbara took me to the The Western Technolgy Centre where her friends were making quilts. They were definitely artists at work. The one below especially caught my eye. It is part of a quilt that is actually going to be a wall hanging when it is finished. I cannot even begin to imagine how many hours of work is in this piece.

After leaving there Barbara took me to her beautiful home where she showed me some of her quilts.  They were all beautiful works of art. 

Barbara with one of her quilts.

It was a wonderful day! 

 For those of you who are wondering about it, I have not forgotten  about the ghost story I promised you. I will put it in my blog tomorrow.

Keep warm.

Quote for the day:

Friends are like angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.

Wayne Zaharia