Oklahoma.....

One of our last stops before heading home was to visit Ronna’s niece and sister in Broken Bow Oklahoma.

We stayed a week at a campground in Hochatown which was settled by the Choctaw Indians in the early 1830; it’s now a large tourist area.

Broken Bow, the center of Oklahoma timber production, was named by the Dierks brothers, pioneer lumbermen, for their original home of Broken Bow, Nebraska. The Broken Bow post office was established in 1911.

While most of our time was spent with family, we did have a chance to visit the Ouachita National Forest that lies in the western portion of Arkansas and portions of eastern Oklahoma. It’s the oldest National Forest in the southern United States and the only National Forest in Oklahoma. The forest encompasses 1,784,457 acres, including most of the scenic Ouachita Mountains. Ouachita is the French spelling of the Indian word Washita, which means "good hunting grounds."

Our other stop was Beavers Bend State Park. It’s a 1,300 acres park located within the Ouachita National Forest and is approximately 10.5 miles north of Broken Bow. It was established in 1937 and contains Broken Bow Lake.

Broken Bow Lake is a 14,000 acre reservoir located on Mountain Fork River. It’s one of the largest lakes within the state of Oklahoma, and a popular tourist destination for locals and visitors from neighboring Texas and Arkansas.

Welcome center at Ouachita National Forest

View of Broken Bow Lake 

Broken Bow Lake spillway

Broken Bow Lake dam

Paddle boat rentals in state park

State park rental cabin

Views along Mountain Fork River

We arrived home on April 20^th and have been busy with spring cleanup since. There are a few outings planned for this summer, an RV rally in Ludington Michigan, another in the Ozark Mountains and another near Springfield IL. We will also be taking the camper to Ronna’s family reunion in Wisconsin.