Camping near Cherokee Nation - May 26

After leaving Shanti's house, we headed west and drove through a scenic byway in Oklahoma.

The trees formed a canopy over our car as we drove down a scenic byway in northeast Oklahoma.

We drove along a river and stopped at a Cherokee cultural center that had a re-creation of an ancient village. I learned a lot about Cherokee culture and got my picture taken with some authentic Cherokee indians. One thing that was interesting was that Cherokee culture was matriarchal- the women inherited property and defined the blood line of the people.

Two Cherokee women practice the ancient art of basket-making in a traditional village.

A re-creation of a traditional Cherokee village.

That night we camped for the first time and I don't think I'll be doing that any time soon. Before starting the trip, I had romantic notions about how great camping would be- sleeping under the stars amid nature. Well, the truth was far from that. My mother and I had a horrible experience for many reasons:
- the ground was really hard and uneven
- there was a strong wind that made the tent flap around and make a lot of noise
- the tent was muggy and humid, which covered my entire body with a cold sweat
- we were close to the highway and could hear the noise of traffic
- the bathroom was on the other side of the campground
- my mom snored right into my face
- it took almost an hour to set up the tent and prepare our beds

Our first night camping! (and last)

The bottom line is that we both could barely sleep for the entire night. And to add insult to injury the old man who ran the campground charged us $22 for the camp site! Across the street was a hotel for around $30, which had two double beds, private bathroom, air conditioning, a TV etc. We felt like idiots and said we probably wouldn't be doing much more camping. If we do it again, I'll make sure we find a quiet, tranquil site that is reasonably priced.