Our "farm stay" vacation (at an extremely affordable Air BnB property) was healing, restorative, and relaxing.
We got lost finding the place last Saturday, as the WAZE app I was using put us at the correct "fire number" address, but in the wrong town, where there wasn't even a building at the site.
Contacted the host, and she gave us the zip code, and got us on track, but we were over an hour in the wrong direction.
As expected, I could not get Dave moving that morning, and even though the host said we could arrive as early as noon, after leaving late, and getting misdirected, we did not get to the farm until almost 5.
With no stops, it should have been about 2 hours, instead of taking us from 11 am until 5 pm to get there. We stopped for lunch, and for a potty break, and we were stopped for quite a while when we were lost.
Once there, we got to see amazing, wide skies.... storms building, rolling across the sky, and breaking up, all a hundred miles away. Rainbows, and spectacular sunrises and sunsets.
One of those storms brought us an afternoon rain shower, and the sound of rain falling on a tin roof was checked off of my wish list.
We did fires in the fire pit the first two nights, but after that, it was too hot out at night. The 4th of July was quiet, except for community fireworks in the far distance.
We could hear an owl, and whip-poor-wills, outside every night.
Dave got the telescope set up one night, but the other nights, it was either too hot, or cloudy.
I got up at sunrise every day, and would sit outside in the cool of the morning, to drink my coffee and do a little spiritual work.
Coyotes sing at dawn, as well as at dusk!
We also had meadowlarks, red headed wood peckers, scissor tailed fly catchers, wild turkey, and lots of sparrows, though all we ever saw of the turkey was feathers in the meadow. There was a pair of sharp shinned hawks who had their territory over the farm, and lots of crows and buzzards.
We also saw what we think was a rat snake chase, catch, and eat a large toad on our first day out there.
There were deer on the property every day.... two families, each with a doe, and one with twin fawns. I saw the twins very close up on my first early morning coffee sipping "sit." SO precious!!
I can't remember ever seeing a fawn before, and on this trip, I got to see three!
I had also hoped to see a buck in velvet, for the first time.... but, sadly, the only one that I saw was dead by the side of the road. It broke my heart.
And, of course, the herd of cattle managed on the farm.
There is a creek on the property, and a few mornings, we went down there to explore, and look for wildlife tracks. Saw coyote, bobcat, deer, raccoon, and possum tracks.
I waded in the creek a couple of times, and got a free pedicure. The sandy shore and creek bed were great for my callused and dry feet... not to mention, the sand that was stuck to my feet, and inside of my "sport sandals" on the walk back!
After our morning meanders on the property, we would come back to the converted barn, have breakfast, and then decide if we wanted to go on a morning adventure, to avoid the heat of the afternoons.
(this was why I had originally scheduled our trip for New Mexico, where it is 20 degrees cooler during the day, and in the 60s at night, but turned out to be rainy season, and getting around would require a four wheel drive vehicle.)
We did not do this on Sunday or Monday, though... we just relaxed on the property those days.
On Tuesday, we went to the caves at Alabaster Caverns, and saw lots of bats during the underground tour. It was delightfully cool underground!! I had been there with Dave (and some friends) a few years ago, maybe 2017, but it was nice to go back.
Wednesday, we went to Boiling Springs state park to escape the big skies, and walk among some trees.
Aside: We both discovered, on this trip, that we are not big sky people. I really enjoyed visiting, but would not be comfortable living out there in the wide open spaces. The sheer brightness was really bothering my eyes after a couple of days.
Our hostess said that she can't go outside without sunglasses and a brimmed hat. I totally understand!
Thursday, we went to Gloss Mountain state park, and discovered that I was in too much pain that day to climb up the steep stairway all the way to the top (and there was only one entrance, and one way up), so we left there, and went to an Oklahoma Historical Society site where they've preserved the last sod house on the prairie, and have built a museum around it. It was REALLY interesting, and it was air conditioned, and had plumbing!
That helped my overall attitude of disappointment over not being able to spend the morning at Gloss Mountain, which is located in an area of mesas and high plains.... We had hoped to see jack rabbits, and some lizards, but instead, we mostly saw the inside of the car. I did get some great pictures, though.
Then, Friday, we went up to the town of Enid to drop off our recycling, peruse an antique and collectibles mall, and to have lunch. On the way back, we took a detour, and stopped at the Astrobleme museum (which marks the center of a meteor crater from 250 million years ago), and a winery-- which turned out to be closed.
Tuesday through Thursday, we'd come back to the farm, have lunch, and have a siesta in the heat of the afternoons.
I'd then do my more concentrated spiritual work for the day, and we'd read, or play a board game until dusk, when it was time to step back outside, at least for a few minutes, to watch the sunset and listen to the shift in wildlife sounds.
At night, we'd watch an episode or two of The Last Kingdom, and then sleep like babies.
There was one scrawny raccoon (had no "ruff" of fur around the face, and no fluffy tail, either), who came to visit after dark a couple of times.
Dave spent a lot of time on line, even though we had planned this to be an "internet fast" for us. I was more successful at avoiding going on line except to post my "daily gratefuls," and some pictures and videos, to the Book of Faces.
When we got back from Enid on Friday, we started packing things up, and I did laundry.
I had a voice message on Friday from the facility where my upcoming medical testing is taking place. That REALLY messed with my head, as one reason for this vacation was to NOT THINK about the fact that my scans were scary, and that things could be getting bad again.
This brought on waves of anxiety on Friday afternoon, but we had a bottle of wine that we'd brought for our "fancy" dinner that night, and that helped a bit. So did the fancy dinner.
All in all, the stay was very slow, and relaxing. The days rolled by at their own pace, and it was lovely to be disconnected, and to completely let go of anything having to do with work, or the news (mostly), or the world outside.
I would LOVE to take another vacation some day, where there is (supposed to be) very little driving to get there and back, and where the goal is to do a whole lot of relaxing.
This was my first time, and I LIKED IT!!!
Today, we will get the groceries, and I will do my usual chores. There's cat litter all over the floor, as our house sitter was not asked to do anything like sweep the floors.
Back to the office tomorrow, and I will return that phone call. Ugh.
Have a good week!!
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