Travel
Foss State Park
There’s something to be said about hidden gems — those off-the-beaten-path spots that don’t get the attention they probably deserve, and once we find them, we are thankful. Foss State Park in western Oklahoma — featured on this month’s cover — is one of those spots. The park developed around the creation of Foss Lake, a man-made reservoir established in the early 1960s when the U.S. government built a three-mile-long earthen dam on top of the Washita River. Beaches evolved. Hiking and biking trails were blazed. Marinas were built for boats and campgrounds for RVs.
Foss State Park in western Oklahoma offers many amenities, including horse riding trails.
Iris Flores and Robert Bossick, F474809, stumbled across the park on one of their western journeys. Robert determines how far he wants to drive on a particular day, and Iris scours their Allstays app for the nearest campground. Foss was on the outer edges of their daily drive, and they were glad to find it.
“We loved it,” said Iris. “It’s a beautiful place; it really is. There was a herd of buffalo across the street from the park office. The lake and beach were beautiful, and there was a glorious sunset that evening.”
Because western Oklahoma is relatively flat, colorful sunsets fill the sky as the day fades over the water’s horizon.
“We liked the remoteness of it, too,” Iris added. “We prefer places where there aren’t a lot of people or all of the commercial stuff. We strongly recommend it as a place to visit.”
Robert and Iris typically take their 38-foot Monaco Diplomat — named Bertha after the previous owner, who was a close friend — on a summer trip. They’ve traveled to Alaska, Maine, and Florida, including various national parks. At this writing, they were in Michigan, en route to their home in Virginia after a trip to Montana and Idaho, and trying to stay north of the heat wave overwhelming the western part of the United States.
Foss State Park has six campgrounds to choose from around the man-made lake.
Foss State Park is about 100 miles due west of Oklahoma City on Interstate 40, which was at one time U.S. Route 66. The Route 66 Museum in nearby Elk City, Oklahoma, celebrates the iconic road’s journey through the state before it was consumed by the need for speed and progress. Elk City also is home to the Farm and Ranch Museum, for those who like old tractors and old-fashioned windmills.
For those more interested in modern windmills, Wind Energy Park in Weatherford, Oklahoma — about 35 miles east of Foss Lake — has on display a 120-foot blade from a modern wind turbine. Weatherford also is home to the Stafford Air and Space Museum, and the Heartland of America Museum.
Park And Area Information
Foss State Park
10252 Hwy. 44
Foss, OK 73647
(580) 592-4433
www.travelok.com/state-parks/foss-state-park
Campground Spotlight
Time Away RV Resort, Lincoln, Alabama
Owners Nate and Alicia Lawson started from the ground up with their campground renovation, seeing a huge potential for growth, from racing fans and from families looking for a little time away.
Twice a year, NASCAR fans flock to rural Alabama and turn the barren fields surrounding the Talladega Superspeedway into temporary RV campgrounds. Most are nothing more than dirt roads with a few portable toilets, although the 13-acre field nestled between Interstate 20 and Speedway Boulevard was a little nicer than most — barely. It had 30-amp electrical hookups and a double-wide trailer that served as a bathhouse. It was enough to attract race fans, but hardly what anyone would consider a destination. Still, Nate and Alicia Lawson were intrigued when the owner put a “for sale” sign on the property. They looked at the site and saw something most people didn’t: potential.
The couple bought the site; sold their home in Toledo, Ohio; and parked their Thor Aria motorhome in a corner of the field. They then rented a bulldozer and began a nine-month overhaul of the property, creating 100 full-hookup sites and adding a pool, bathhouse, Wi-Fi, basketball and volleyball courts, kids’ playground, pavilion, dog park, laundry facility, and walking trail. They also added several dozen trees for privacy and shade, along with gravel roads, and they rented space to Burton’s RV Service so there’s on-site repairs.
“We renamed it Time Away RV Resort, because that’s what we want this place to be for our campers — a time away from everything,” Alicia said. “We all need that these days.”
Alicia and Nate began their RV life shortly after getting married 30 years ago. Nate’s mother gave them her motorhome, which they used for their own time away — Alicia from a life in pharmaceutical sales and Nate as owner of a trucking company. When the real estate bubble burst, they started buying distressed properties, but they grew tired of painting walls and changing locks.
“Nate said, ‘I’m tired of changing carpet. I would love to have it where the people leave and we just sweep off the land,’” Alicia said. “He knows that if he says it out loud, I will make it happen, so we started looking for a campground to buy. That was three years ago. First, we looked around our hometown. Then the Midwest. They were all too cold. We looked in Florida, but it wasn’t worth the expense. Finally, we decided to just look and see who was selling under distress anywhere in the South. This place came up, and we were the first ones to call. We put together a business plan and determined we could make it work.”
Their purchase also makes this one of the largest Black-owned campgrounds in the United States, as well as a military-friendly facility. Nate spent 10 years in the Army, and son Terrance spent nine years in the Army, including service in Afghanistan; daughter Shirley is a Navy veteran. Shirley and their other daughter, Arlinda, are helping run the campground.
The Lawsons also added something else to the campground: rules. Talladega has a reputation among NASCAR fans as being a weeklong party, but the Lawsons are aiming to be more family friendly, including instituting an 11:00 p.m. quiet time. That may not sit well with some fans, but it didn’t stop the campground from being sold out during the spring race weekend, or deter others from staying on nonrace weeks.
While the races are the big attraction, there’s a lot more to do in the area, Alicia said, particularly for those who like adrenaline rushes. The Richard Petty Driving Experience lets people drive race cars on the track. Nearby Top Trails has more than 100 miles of trails for driving ATVs and other off-road vehicles. The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Alabama, displays more than 900 motorcycles. Combat Park, which is four miles away, has 12 tanks and other military vehicles people can drive. If you’re into military experiences, the CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park allows visitors to shoot high-powered rifles at targets up to 600 yards away.
For those who prefer a slower pace, Logan Martin Lake has kayaking, tubing, and fishing options, as well as Bryant Vineyard, which produces award-winning muscadine wines as well as ghost chili peppers, rated as the world’s hottest pepper. DeSoto Caverns lets you explore subterranean life.
Details
Time Away RV Resort
160 Summer Dale Lane
Lincoln, AL 35096
(205) 855-3033
www.timeawayrvresort.com