Wichita Mountains

Another beautiful wonder of nature close to our home.    They weren’t so much “mountains” like those I was raised upon, but they were gorgeous nonetheless.   We hiked around a lovely lake and enjoyed a Italian style picnic with a blanket and fresh grapes and olives and…..okay, we had Italian subs from Subway.   I did have some fresh fruit I nabbed from the local grocery store, but this was not a wine and cheese kind of day.  Our lunch was the perfect kind of picnic for a family with two kids not wanting to spend too much time eating, and chomping at the bit  to get out and explore.

          

Prairie Dog Town was a hit.   Thousands of little rascals running around an underground city of tunnels, stopping to pop out periodically.   The kids stood in awe watching them for over half an hour.   Then, Seth could stand it no longer, and he jumped the fence and took off running towards the mounds, ready to slip into the rabbit hole and disappear into his wonderland of prairie dogs.   It was funny to watch the creatures all scatter at first, and then stop to watch him in wonder.  It is not often that they get to see a crazed two year old trying to fit down a 2 inch wide hole, I bet.

Yep.   Here he is prejump.   Plotting.  Planning.  Finding the perfect hole……

There was also a neat Bible Town area where they have live  Nativity shows at Christmas.   Very cool.   There was a replica of many of the sites from The Bible.    We threw our nap-needing toddler into the manger and prayed for a baby Jesus sized miracle.  Later, after a 2 hour nap on the drive home, we received that blessing in the form of  the demon that possessed our sweet boy prenap was cast away!   Can I get a Hallelujah???

 

We finished off the day with a scenic drive up to the highest point (crazy to say that about a 3,000 foot peak).  

It actually did seem quite steep and high.   In fact, I joked that the air seemed thin…..

 

Wichita Mountains got two thumbs up.   While I prefer my hometown mountains that stand tall at 10,000 feet, these “mountains” were a great day trip away for an awesome hike and beautiful views.