Redlands, Red Skies and Johnnie Walker Red

After a quick hours drive from Tulsa, we ended up in Stillwater, Oklahoma. We were excited to see the rustic cabin that Scott Rouse (some of you may know him as the best man from the wedding) was living in. What this cabin ended up being was a really nice, roomy house. Sure, it was rustic, but it fit Scotty's style perfectly. After his living in a tipi in Austin, a place with air conditioning was a bit of a shock.

We were greeted on his front porch by his awesome new pup named Koda. Surprise surprise, Koda took to Ashleigh in no time.

We sat at the kitchen table and discussed the great American west. Scott, being an outdoorsy fellow, was chock full of knowledge of trails, routes, and parks that we should check out. I always trust his opinion fully, but it was really solidified when he pointed out some of the destinations illustrated as posters hanging all over the cabin. As we talked, Neil Young's Harvest Moon played in the background I sipped on a nice cold glass of Johnnie Walker Red Label, and Ash could barely keep her hands off of Koda.

Scott led us around the perimeter of the Redlands camp ground. Pointing out some of the ropes courses along the way, which were incredibly impressive. After going around the entire perimeter to get our bearings, we ended up at the lake, where there was a dock to dive off of. We had to take advantage.

Koda was less interested in fetching the toy Scott brought, and more interested in swimming to the nearest person, then climbing on our backs. He did a pretty mean impression of a backpack.
Afterwards, we hopped into the bed of Scott's truck and drove halfway (and walked the rest of the way) to a field that he watches the sunset every night. If you've never seen a sunset in Oklahoma, take it from me, there is a reason he does this every night.

The field had a look of a Parisian or an Italian countryside. There were times when the conversation would wane, and we would sit in a fitting silence. We sat there for a while after what Scott calls "phase 2", in which the sun has set, but the clouds still reflect beautiful colors. Afterwards, Scott cooked us a fantastic meal of chick pea curry over brown rice, and a nice salad garnished with one of Ash's famous dressings.

Once the dishes were all done, we sat out on his deck, which he built after tearing out a room in the cabin. As we talked, we watched lightning crawl horizontally across the sky. I can't remember the last time I saw lightning that lasted as long as these bolts. They would stretch forever, past the tree lines. Ashleigh went to bed and snuggled with Koda, as Scott and I stayed up until the wee hours. Once we started to hear thunder, that was the signal the storm was close enough to close up for the night.