16th anniversary trail driving/back roading -OK and AR

January 5, my incredible wife and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary with a short weekend trip to a friends cabin on the side of Winding Stair mountain in Talihina, Oklahoma. Spent Saturday and Sunday crawling around the backroads and mountain trails up near the Talihina state park in Oklahoma, and a few around Mena Arkansas.

We headed north from Caddo Mills Texas after a long day of work at the body shop. Made a stop in Antlers Oklahoma to snag some groceries, and a DELICIOUS meal (surprisingly enough) at Roma's Italian Restaurant. As we continued to navigate further northeast toward our final destination for the night, and started to gain a tiny bit of altitude as we approached the mountains, the fog began to encompass everything and everyone in sight. Speeds slowed to between 20-40 mph as visibility was significantly diminished. Once we hit 82 north in Talihina, visibility was near zero. crawled the last few miles to our friends cabin so we could unpack the truck, and lay our heads down to get some rest. Hell of a ride up, but the best was yet to come.

I'm pretty new to the offroading/trail driving scene. (at least in full size vehicles, I used to race cross country/off road motorcycles, and have LONG loved the thrill of technical outdoor riding on two wheels) I decided to download the OnXoffroad app on my phone to provide some insight on some backroads or trails we might hit, and it did not disappoint. We didn't have anyone else along for the weekend, so I wanted to make sure and keep all off-roading VERY low key, and very low risk. I'm basically a stock Tundra. Only a leveling kit, good tires and four wheel drive. I was quite unfamiliar with the area and terrain, so I took my sweet @$$ time navigating any and all muddy/rocky sections of the trails. MAN did we enjoy some gorgeous scenery in the great outdoors!

Saturday was interesting, as the fog/clouds never lifted all day. We trekked along a couple easy dirt/rock road with some small mud puddles to play in, a few nice elevation changes, and very few minor technical obstacles. Only engaged 4wd to ensure no slippage on the rocks on some of the steeper inclines. The time spent was absolutely priceless, and the views never got old. We thoroughly enjoyed plenty of driving along the mountain roads. After a few hours on a couple trails, we travelled east to Mena Arkansas to snag some lunch in a small cafe downtown and procure some more weekend essentials at my least favorite retailer ever, Wal mart. we decided to travel back to Talihina along HWY 1, aka the Talimena scenic trail. I'm quite familiar with paved roads around and in Mena, as we've frequented the area over the course of our marriage. Heck, we spent our honeymoon at Queen Wilhelmina state park lodge back in January of 2008. LOVE That area. BUT, I digress. The route back was not the most "scenic" due to the persistent fog and low clouds. We didn't get to enjoy the typically spectacular views the pass provides, but the adventure of driving along with minimal visibility provided some sense of adventure and excitement.

Sunday morning was much of the same, save for the weather. The skies cleared and opened up to the most beautiful blue, and the sun shone down on us to light the way for our next off road endeavor. We crawled along a couple different trails we found on OnX and enjoyed a great variety of terrain. From dry fire roads, to rocky steep inclines, muddy trail, TIGHT wooded areas, great hill ascents and unbelievable views of all that nature had to provide. It was a spectacular weekend where just the two of us could almost completely disconnect from reality, and pour into our marriage and really enjoy the company of one another. For that, I'm forever grateful.

I'll share a few pictures here as well. (hope thats ok) REALLY enjoyed the area and all the great driving it had to offer. Cant WAIT to continue our off road adventures and keep learning more great places to explore. Thanks for reading my late friday evening rant! hope you all enjoy the brief story and pictures, and you keep adventuring and enjoying the amazing and beautiful country we get to call home. Cheers from Texas.

Saturday. First little low water crossing.




















Kid at heart...I can't pass up a good puddle.










Sunday the clouds and fog lifted before sunrise. . beautiful view from the porch.


Time to hit the "road" again. . .