Every state has a few parks, exhibits or attractions for which it is well known. Take for example: Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota or The Alamo in San Antonio, Tx. Then there are the hidden gems. In Kentucky, it was a small lake called Bashear hidden in between Caldwell and Christian Counties. It wasn’t the massive, and heavily traversed waterways of Kentucky Lake or Lake Barkely, but Lake Bashear produced the Bass. The nice thing about the lake was that it was secluded and you didn’t feel pressure from over saturation by tourists. In Oklahoma, it is Little Sahara and the place is just what the name sounds like. It’s a real sand dune desert like you’d expect in California or Saudi Arabia. It is a deep sand park with steep dunes great for riding a dirt bike, a dune buggy or renting a four wheeler and taking a family trip to see and experience it.
I’d always heard of it, but had to see it for myself. So, I rounded up three teen boys, another dad, lots of cash (to rent three wheelers) and off we went. We calculated it was three plus hours from Tulsa and it seemed every bit of it. The trip there was glorious though. Very diverse scenery was encountered along the way. We went from the lakes of Northeast Oklahoma to the western scenery just past Enid. Gloss Mountain State Park is along the way and what seem like scenes from cowboy westerns of the 1930’s and 40’s extend from before and after the park.
Finally, when you get to Waynoka, that’s where the dunes began.
We ate at the Diner. Yes one café and one Mexican restaurant were your choices. Then we got to the ATV dealer. We’d reserved five ATV’s of varying types, had to go through brief training and then headed out to the desert. Awesome! We were all very excited at this point.
I must state that each of us were at varying driving skill levels and had machines that required varying operator skill levels; however, the driver skill levels were not optimally matched to the machine skill level requirements. After a few stall outs by the boys trying to use the smaller ATV’s that required a clutch, we switched people out to match their skill level and machine requirements up better. Really we just made it easier for the boys to drive the ATV’s that required less work and had more power.
After the few start up issues, it got fun quickly. The boys took to it fairly well and were truly enjoying themselves. We got comfortable running up and down those dunes! Then a few spills happened. They were not excessive and no one had any permanent damage- just a few bumps and bruises. The machines did suffer a little. One got the handlebars pretty mangled on a tumbling roll down the hill. We even had one that snapped the starter unit on another tumble and slide. The guys at the rental place were great though and came right out to the dunes to repair it.
We got the boys to tackle bigger and bigger dunes and let them go off on their own some. After we had reached a point and knew it was time to go in, we started the trek back to the store. I didn’t realize that’s where the fireworks would begin. I was happy that no one got hurt in any meaningful way. Small spills and scrapes are learning experiences. No machine got meaningfully damaged either. All in all, we’d had a pretty fun day and got a few nice pics to show for it.
We pulled up to the shop to wrap things up. Now, they have a “hold” on your credit card that is fairly substantial (understandable) and they don’t release it until the ATV’s are safely returned. They take a few minutes to do a thorough check on the bikes before they have you sign off on the final charges and let you go. The bike with the bent handlebars was the issue. They wanted about $125 on top of all other charges to address the handlebar repair. Now I understand there is shop time as well as parts involved. However, the other dad, who came with us, was the one who was going to bear that extra expense. He did not like it and he let the shop owner know it. I wasn’t in the same corner of the shop, but heard the shouting across the large warehouse area – I just didn’t realize it was my friend and the owner who were shouting at each other.
I went out of the store portion of the shop to see the mechanics working on the ATV’s that needed clean up issues. The store owner came up and I thanked him for their service and support. I didn’t realize that I was being the peacemaker, but I could see as I was thanking the store owner that he was still a bit tense about the encounter he’d had. He asked me how the day went for us overall. I replied with, “We had a great time. No one got hurt, the machines only suffered minor tweaks that were repairable and the boys were happy and had a great time, so I was happy.”
The shop owner let out a sigh and seemed to have the weight of the world slide off at that moment. “I’m glad the boys had a good time,” he said.
Then, I went looking for the other dad, my friend. He was still steaming from the words he’d exchanged with the owner and expressed his feelings of frustration when I found him. That’s when I realized it had been him and the shop owner I’d heard yelling. After I repeated my conversation with the shop owner, the other dad asked if I thought the repair charges were fair. I said yes for this reason, “look at the total cost of the day, the quality of the machines we were provided and the service they provided when there was an issue out in the desert.”
After a few minutes, the two combatants came together again and both expressed a better understanding of the situation. We paid the repairs, but the shop owner actually thanked me for telling him how the boys had a good time. “I wonder at times if this service is worth it, then you reminded me why I do it,” he said, “that your boys had a good day made it good for me.” We laughed about it later, but it really was true. The priorities were met. Everyone came back healthy and whole, the overall expense of the day wasn’t excessive and we had a great time with pictures to prove it! Don’t miss a chance to visit one of Oklahoma’s hidden gems – Little Sahara at Waynoka, Oklahoma.
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