Day Two Hundred Twenty-One: Lunch at Choctaw Casino

This isn't terribly original, but it was a First. On our way home from Sallisaw, we stopped at the Choctaw Casino in Durant, Ok to enjoy the all-you-can-eat buffet. We have eaten at other casino buffets before, but never this one. Our kids love buffets, especially "fancy" casino ones, and it's usually cheaper than eating elsewhere. Win-win!

Day Two Hundred Twenty: Box Hockey

There was a high chance of rain for today, so we decided to just hang around the KOA, enjoying some of its amenities. We ended up getting only about 30 minutes of rain, and the rest if the day was gorgeous, so in addition to playing many board games, we also got in lots of playing outside. We played family games if H-O-R-S-E and Knockout, frisbee, tetherball, and box hockey, which I had never even heard of and had certainly never played. It took me a little while to get the hang of it, but I didn't get beat too badly. I did have a lot of laughs and got to hang out with some of my favorite people, so that part was definitely a win!

Day Two Hundred Eighteen: Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge

Our goal for this gorgeous day was to find a nice hiking spot, and we definitely succeeded with a visit to the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. We did two very easy one-mile hikes that took us through forests, along rivers, and around lakes. We spotted some turtles sunning and swimming, an eagle catching a fish, and lots of ducks along the way. We even found a beaver dam, though the beaver itself stayed hidden from view. Clay was a little concerned we might see a "water neckison" snake, but, thankfully, we did not. We had a picnic and collected an untold amount of sticks, rocks, and seeds. It was an absolutely lovely adventure!

Day Two Hundred Seventeen: Sallisaw, OK

On Monday morning, Jeff and I were looking at our calendars and were shocked and delighted to find that, through some bizarre twist of fate, the coming weekend was wide open. We looked at each other in atonishment, quickly discerned each other's thoughts, and immediately started trying to get a plan together for a weekend getaway. The kids all voted for a KOA, so we literally picked the first place within a reasonable driving distance that had an available cabin to accommodate all of us and booked it. And that is how it is that I came to make my first-ever road trip to Sallisaw, OK.  We arrived just before midnight, so we haven't had a chance to explore yet, but I'm so very happy to be here!