Spring Break at Beavers Bend OK

This Spring Break we went to Beavers Bend at Broken Bow, Oklahoma, with 3 other families, for a 3 day, 2 night trip. 

When we got to the Cedar Bluff area for paddle boat, kayaking, the greenish cypress trees in the water that I remembered were not there, instead the cypress trees were bald and grayish. The only obvious indication of spring was the early spring flowers in Oklahoma: the dogwood flowers and peach flowers dotted in the surrounding area. Looking carefully, some trees did start to bud. 

  

The group kayaked or paddled boats in the mountain fork river between two small dams at two bridges. There were surprisingly many people doing the water sports that day. Lily and I kayaked in a tandem kayak, first we paddled upstream, passing many paddle boats, avoiding racing kayaks from youngsters. We paddled to the north bank of the river, where the Sun shone and few boats/kayaks were there. I steered the kayak close to the bank, and zigzag through the bald cypress trees in the water, passing cedar bluff, and met many large turtles resting tree branches in the water,  we went further west, all the way to the upstream bridge. A father and son were fishing on the bridge, I waved to them and greeted them. They waved back. As we returned to the boat rental area, we paddled to the nearby downstream bridge through a narrow path between a small island and north bank, and inadvertently kayaked into a swimming area. When we realized that we should not be in the area as we saw a guy swimming,  a shop clerk came to us by a kayak and told us to leave the area.  It  was an easy 30+ minute leisure kayaking.

We left the park 4pm or so to check in at the cabin. As we arrived at cabin, we were impressed by its size, its huge connected 2-story area of family room and kitchen. The cabin also has a patio for BBQ, outdoor fire ring and Jacuzzi hot tub.  We have two fathers who are great at grill. We had BBQ dinner on the patio. As it got dark, we started wood fire in the fire ring, sitting around it, roasting bananas, grilled corns, chatted about many different topics until the fire faded. The kids joined their parents for a short period of time, and returned into the cabin to play cards and pool table.

The second day we hiked a 8 miles beavers lodge nature trail + skyline trail. The skyline was a difficult trail with very steep climbs. Most people in the group hiked for for the first time on such a difficult and long distance trail. Everyone in the group finished the hiking on their own, many of them were proud of their achievements! 

The decision to go on this spring break with 3 other families and to share the log cabin was a great one. Parents got time to talk and play, our teenage children had friends to hang out, to talk to and to do outdoor things together, which made the boring trip with parents fun.