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Camping out’s in

By Rita SheRRowWorld Scene Writer

Remember when you were a kid and you went on family camping trips? Set up the tent, roasted marshmallows, caught a few fish and got a really bad sunburn? Well, if you’re thinking about giving your kids those same kinds of memories, you’re not alone.

Outdoor tent camping is trending, according to Tony Presley, manager of Oklahoma’s Sequoyah State Park, and there are good reasons for it.

“Mostly for the relaxation, the outdoor experience or to introduce their kids to the outdoors they grew up with,” Presley said in a recent phone interview from the park located 45 minutes east of Tulsa on Highway 51.

“Most kids now are inside on their smartphones or their iPads. … Tent camping is now starting to come back bigger than it was 15 years ago. Kids are now interested in wanting to go camp-ing and fishing and to have that experi-ence.”

But where do you start? It may have been years since you last camped, and there are a few things you need to know to get the most out of the experience, Presley said.

“The main thing is if you have camp-ing gear, check it out before you get out in the field,” said Presley, who grew up camping in southeastern Oklahoma.

“Make yourself a good checklist of what you want or need to take. Then decide, what are your interests? What do you need to accomplish your goals? Will you be hiking, fishing or horseback riding?

And don’t forget the bug spray. That’s the big thing people forget or they think a park is a place maintained to be tick free. You would be surprised how many people forget about the insects.”

It’s also important to do your home-work, he said. Research where you want to go. Oklahoma has 35 state parks covering thousands of acres, each with their own activities, amenities and ser-vices. Find out the rules. For example, can you have a campfire?

“Most parks prohibit the use of outside wood because of bugs, but some will let you pick up dead wood or buy wood there,” he said. “First, check online with forestry.ok.gov/burn-ban-information and see if there is a burn ban where you are going. That will apply to any kind of open-flame fire. People often ask ‘Can we burn grills even if there is a ban?’ If it has a fire in it, the answer is no.”

Check online at travelok.com to see what each park offers. For example, if cell service is a must, perhaps a camp-ground in southeast Oklahoma may not be the best choice. A lot of southeast parks have no cell service, he said, and people go there for that exact reason.

“That way, kids can’t be on the phone talking or texting to friends. It’s impor-tant to some people. Some don’t want TV or Wi-Fi service. They want the outside experience only.”

If security is a concern, ask if security patrols the park or are campers on their The camping season in Oklahoma extends from May through

October, and families can beat the heat by camping in the fall at places like Beavers Bend State Park. CourteSy/oklahoma tourism

Campers relax and enjoy the lake scenery at Oklahoma’s Fort Cobb State Park. KIM BAKer/oklahoma tourism

Haven’t camped lately? Here are some tips

See CaMP D2

Wireless upgrade makes BOK network more accessibleBy JeRRy woffoRdWorld Scene Writer

Get ready for more selfies streaming out of the BOK Center thanks to an upgrade of more than $1 million from AT&T to expand wireless capability.

Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett with city and BOK Center officials, as well as officials from AT&T, toured the BOK Center on Friday to show off the new distrib-uted antenna system, which will make the provider’s network more accessible during events when thou-sands of audience members are attempting to use their smartphones and other wire-less devices.

“You come to a great facil-ity like this, great programs and great athletics,” Bartlett said. “We’ll pull out the cell phone and we’ll want to take a selfie with my wife at the Eagles concert and I hit the button and nothing happens.

“The experience we’re go-

ing to have in this facility is of equality to any other place in the country.”

The distributed antenna system in the facility works similarly to the antennas phone users use daily — just on a much smaller scale. Hundreds of antennae boxes have been installed in the BOK Center over the last six months at strategic locations in pie shapes, which allows the most efficient coverage, said AT&T’s regional distrib-uted antenna system man-ager Richard Dreese.

The antennae receive phone data, and with hun-dreds throughout the building there are more entry points inside the building rather than a few terrestrial anten-nae outside the building.

This makes it easier for more people to access the network. People on the AT&T network trying to update Twitter, post a photo to Instagram or check the Thunder score should be able to have quicker access to

the network.For example, during

the George Strait concert in April, AT&T recorded 695,000 attempts and con-nections to the network with a data volume of 104.21 giga-bytes. Approximately 17,000 people attended the sold-out concert.

During some events, net-work access had been slow if it was accessible at all. AT&T officials said the new system should alleviate some of those issues for its customers.

The upgrades to the build-ing cost just more than $1 million, which was paid by AT&T.

“We want our customers to have a great network experi-ence wherever they are, no matter what they’re doing — whether that’s making a call, checking email, downloading apps or surfing the Internet,” said Michael Cooper, AT&T external affairs manager.

AT&T made the upgrades Mayor Dewey Bartlett (left) and Mike Cooper with aT&T show off the new Head End Shelter be-hind them, which houses wireless infrastructure, during a tour of the BOk Center after the comple-tion of a wireless network upgrade Friday. JAMeS GIBBArD/tulsa WorldSee BOk D5