The Nature Trail of Stone Turtle!

Time for a post close to home. Literally. While taking a break from Project (Color) Madness, I found myself strolling along The Stone Turtle's nature trail. It's a pretty awesome feeling to be able to randomly decide to go for a walk and be able to do so without having to drive anywhere or walk on a road or sidewalk. Whether it's the 1-mile version or the full 2-mile walk, there's always something to see. The birds are chirping, the hawks are swooping, and the neighboring cows are grazing.In the summer, the cacti and sunflowers are everywhere. In the winter, the cedars still add a touch of life to the trail. Even when it's the dead of winter, the dried out weeds and wildflowers are still gorgeous!

Did I mention the awesome view from the picnic area?! Okay, enough basking. As, I strolled through the cedars, I came up with idea of a treasure hunt. How cool would it be to have a small treasure hunt set up along the nature trail! So many cool opportunities. Hm, maybe following that blue bird was a good idea after all.

"The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man."     — Author Unknown

Check out pictures taken on the nature trail on our Facebook page.

Check back in two weeks to read about Ingrid's adventure to Coil, OK!

Greetings from Oklahoma,

~Danielle
The Stone Turtle - Lodging
www.stoneturtlelodging.com

This blog is brought to you by the lovely (biased opinion, we know) Stone Turtle – Lodging, a small family owned and operated hotel / lodging business near Lawton, Oklahoma, Fort Sill,  the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Meers and Medicine Park. Yeah, that’s right we’re a small lodging business close to all the awesomeness Oklahoma has to offer!!

 

The Stone Turtle and Bees

      I have been playing with the idea of having a beehive or two for many years now. I love bees. I love to watch them flitting from flower to flower. Their industriousness is always so inspirational to me when I am procrastinating in my lawn chair and feeling a little guilty because they are so busy and I am just sunbathing. They always seem to tell me, "Get up and get busy." In actuality, I am doing a lot of mental work when the bees see me in the lawn chair. Somebody has to do the thinking.
      A few years ago, I decided to get a little bit more serious about introducing a hive on our farm. I ordered some beekeeping books for beginners and started to read them in my lawn chair while all those worker bees that came along to pollinate my herbs and tomatoes were busy, busy, busy.
      I watched a swarming hive or two move past my house and was not only totally impressed by the sight but also really intimidated by so many bees that could possibly sting me. It really brought home the concept of building or buying a bee box and then trying to install a hive of a few thousand bees, plus the queen in a cage, in that box. How in the world would I get those bees in the box without them all swarming around me, enveloping me in a dark bee fog. And, how in the world do you get that queen out of the cage??? So, the books went to the book shelf and I stopped thinking about bees for a while......until I saw a post on Craig's List about a beginner's beekeeping class in Tipton, Oklahoma, a few weeks ago.
      I attended Tipton Valley Honey Company's class last Saturday. All I can say is that it changed my procrastinating attitude about getting a beehive. Gary Gorse is a master beekeeper and the day was packed with information and stories from the life of a professional beekeeper. Did you know that there is a huge difference between a beekeeper and a bee-haver? As a beekeeper, you need to know as much as you possibly can about your environment - from soil type to fauna and flora around you to the effects of adverse weather.  It brought home the fact that a little insect like the bee shows us how everything in our environment is intertwined and connected and how important it is that we are keepers and not havers, so that the magical web of nature can go on doing all the magical things it does everywhere around us.

Photo by Dani Blaylock

      Our modern life style, that does not allow a single weed to grow in our manicured lawns, does not make it easy for the bee to survive and go about her daily business of ensuring our food supply. Therefore, I will do as much as I can in my small world to help the little bee out a bit. I will plant lots of bee-friendly herbs and flowers, seed out some red clover, hope for many dandelions to beautify my lawn and hope for some much needed rain. And I will get my first bee box this spring.
      I am ready for my next farm girl adventure - beeware, here I come. I have dreams of honey and all things wax can make and lots of happy little bees visiting my herb garden. What a beautiful dream, what a beautiful life!

Lots of Bee-Happy Greetings,

Ingrid
The Stone Turtle - Lodging
www.stoneturtlelodging.com

This blog is brought to you by the lovely (biased opinion, we know) Stone Turtle – Lodging, a small family owned and operated hotel / lodging business near Lawton, Oklahoma, Fort Sill,  the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Meers and Medicine Park. Yeah, that’s right we’re a small lodging business close to all the awesomeness Oklahoma has to offer!!

 

New Year. New Book. New Stone Turtle Lodging.

Welcome, welcome, welcome!


We are so excited to be here another year! Who we are, you ask. Well, we are The Stone Turtle- Lodging! We are a small family-run lodging business just outside of Lawton, Oklahoma. Our cabins are also located close to the treasures of Oklahoma. Okay, that's a biased opinion, but the Wichita Mountains are just too amazing, and we count our blessings every day that we are located so close to such an Oklahoma wonder. Medicine Park (a quaint little cobblestone community), Meers (home of the world famous Meers' burger), and Fort Sill (home of field artillery) are all just short drives away.

We love to do things differently. You won't find cable or internet in our cabins. However, you'll find books, movies, coffee and tea, and star-gazing opportunities to your heart's delight. We also have a 2-mile nature trail where the wild things grow (gorgeous wildflowers) and the rabbits zip around. Not to mention the million-dollar views of Oklahoma's spectacular sunsets over the Wichita Mountains. So we're a tad bit in love with our small piece of Oklahoma paradise...

Whether you're in town for a hiking or bicycling adventure or coming for a military graduation at Fort Sill, stay with us because we'd love to make your time in our area special! Check out our website and our Facebook page for more information about us.

So what is this blog all about? It's a place where we hope to showcase the awesomeness of our area of Oklahoma. We hope to share our adventures on Stone Turtle and in the area with you. Most people don't think the terms vacation and Oklahoma go hand-in-hand, but we're willing to bet (if we were bettin' women, that is) that Oklahoma will surprise you.

From belly dance to yoga, from gardening to exploring, we love to do a little bit of it all, so stay tuned!

Greetings from Oklahoma,

Dani (Wanderings of a Girl Ryder) & Ingrid

This blog is brought to you by the lovely (biased opinion, we know) Stone Turtle – Lodging, a small family owned and operated hotel / lodging business near Lawton, Oklahoma, Fort Sill,  the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Meers and Medicine Park. Yeah, that’s right we’re a small lodging business close to all the awesomeness Oklahoma has to offer!!