Category: RV Stuff

Day 20 Route 66

We went over to the Firelake Casino this morning to have breakfast and to check out of their campground after six nights of free camping. We are finally leaving–I think.

Fist stop was at the casino’s gas station where we bought 17 gallons of diesel for $56.26. Using our casino player’s card we paid $3.299 per gallon. They had a window washing tool with a trucker length handle so Dave was able to wash our windshield without having to stretch; that was nice.

Then we went East instead of West to go to a highway rest area Steve had told us about to use the dump there. The one at the casino was up on a curb making gravity not our friend. We had used that one the day we arrived here but Dave was reluctant to try it again. He was right to be reluctant. At the rest area he confirmed that things had not completely emptied previously which now resulted in a minor mess. It’s not pleasant to have to clean up those messes.

Then we went to WalMart to restock our groceries. They didn’t have everything we wanted but at least our cupboards are less bare than they were.

Finally we headed north towards Chandler, Oklahoma, where we left route 66 nearly a week ago. The road we took went through Meeker, which is where Steve and Carol just sold their house. It already felt like home to us going by places they had pointed out only a couple of days ago.

The wind gusts today are stronger than I like so I’m glad we don’t plan to go far today. We rounded one curve just as we came to the top of a hill where there was a break in the trees and nearly got blown off the road. Dave reassured me it would be better when we turned west since then it would be a head wind. How reassuring.

The dirt around here is rust red. I’m so glad the water in the RV park didn’t taste as rusty as the ground looks. My Dad’s water tastes like that which is why we didn’t fill our tank at his house. We wouldn’t have been able to stay here so long if we couldn’t fill our fresh water tank here. We are still doing that twice a week. Dave has a plan for installing a sight level that will give us a real reading on our fresh water level but he’s not yet ready to cut into our plumbing line to try it.  In the meantime, we fill more often than we probably need to rather than take the chance of running out while taking a shower. I’ve been there; done that; Dave doesn’t want to do it.

Finally we, once again, headed west on Route 66 stopping to take pictures of the Seaba Station and Arcadia’s round barn.  This barn is not hexagonal or anything–it’s truly round.  The theory is the farmer who built it believed tornadoes would slide by while leaving it standing.  It must have worked.

 

We had a very late lunch at Pops which sells five hundred flavors of soda pop in bottles. I had strawberry which made me feel about ten years old. I also had a grilled cheese sandwich but that didn’t make me feel as young since it had three types of cheese plus tomato slices on it making it a more adult grilled cheese than we had when I was a kid.

 

Now we are camped on the shore of Lake Arcadia at Central State Park. In spite of it’s name this is not a state park; I think it must be located in the center of the state. It is a Core of Engineers park which means my Access America card got us a really good price on a site with an electrical hookup right on the shore of the lake.

We plan to have a peaceful evening.

TTYL,

Linda

Detour 2

We spent six days and nights camping at Firelake Casino near Shawnee, Oklahoma. We were having such a good time playing with Steve, Carol, Larry and Sharon that we didn’t want to leave.

We all went over to the casino for supper the first night and talked for hours. We had a potluck featuring hot dogs another night and stayed out talking until we froze our buns. The guys stayed out even later one night watching Dave’s slides from Viet Nam. The guys also spent one afternoon crawling around our RV installing our new antenna.

 

Steve and Larry went fishing in the creek but didn’t bring back any fish for us to eat. Steve and I went geocaching while Dave and Carol worked on her computer. I taught Steve to ride my Segway–we’d already taught Larry at the Gypsy Gathering. We went into town and got flu shots–OK that was wasn’t much fun but eating at the Chill & Grill while we were out was since we got to see some of Carol’s photographs hanging on the wall there. She’s a professional photographer and the photos we saw were amazing! Dave and I spent one day huddled up inside reading and playing on the computer; I spent that day in my pajamas which was great! I don’t get to do that much anymore.

It was interesting camping in a casino’s parking lot. Along a creek they had a row of RV sites with water, electricity, picnic tables, and grills. All this was free as was the shuttle over to the casino for those of us who didn’t want to make the long walk across the parking lot. They hoped you’d come in and gamble but none of our crowd are into gambling. We felt a little bad about not paying for the sites so we went in to eat in their restaurant a couple of times. Then I realized–this is a casino. They are gambling on us coming in and losing. It seems only fair they should lose the gamble this time.

TTYL,
Linda

Day 17 Route 66

We had an odd night. Our electricity kept turning off then on. I first discovered this when I got up in the middle of the night and the night light in the bathroom wasn’t lit. At first, I figured the bulb burned out. Then I realized the clock on the microwave wasn’t lit, either. So, I checked the frig and it was running on propane instead of electricity. So, we shut down the computers. They were running on their batteries but why run the batteries down while we are sleeping? For that matter why do we use any electricity on them when we are sleeping?

In the morning Dave checked the EMS. That’s the electrical management system gadget that protects our RV from voltage that is too high or too low. It had been too high during the night so, to protect us, the EMS would turn off the incoming electricity until it dropped enough to not ruin our electronic systems. When the voltage dropped back into the safe range the EMS reconnected us.  Several times.  I’ll bet you never knew you could have too much electricity, did you?

Then this morning we found proof of how rough the roads have been lately. Our microwave oven had moved. It was no longer sitting flush in it’s cupboard. Dave had to remove the faceplate surrounding it to discover that a screw had come loose so the bracing bracket was no longer bracing it in place. He screwed it all back together, though, so we should be fine–at least until it shakes loose again.

Today was Dave’s turn to get us lost. He entered incorrect data into his iPhone so the map sent us wandering. We did eventually find the Will Rogers’ farm east of Oologah, Oklahoma.

  

It was nice enough but it made me think of the saying fulltimers use to help them clear out stuff: If it only has meaning because of who it used to belong to, who in the future is going to care?

I much more enjoyed the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma, because it talked about his life as an adult with all it’s entertainment value. I only took one picture there, though, since I was too busy being entertained to remember to take pictures.

For lunch we stopped at KFC.  I ordered their new original chicken strips which I greatly enjoyed.  I’ve often wondered why they didn’t offer them. They provide the best taste with the least mess.

Next we headed to Catoosa, Oklahoma, to see the famous Blue Whale and the Arrowwood Trading Post. They are the first things in town after you clear the trees so we almost missed them. By the time we saw where they were it was too late to pull over and the weather was too iffy to make it seem reasonable to turn around and go back. So, if you want to see them, you’ll need to Google them for yourselves.

We passed a billboard I thought said something worth remembering but I forgot half of it before I could get it written down so I can’t give you the exact wording but it said something like, “Save your money and someday it will do the same for you.”

So, now we are in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we drove down old Route 66 and admired a bunch of old buildings and signs that we did not stop to photograph. You’ve seen nearly as many motels and drive-in restaurants as we have by now so we need to save something for you to see when you make this trip.

We pulled into the Cherry Hill Mobile Home and RV Community after their office closed for the day. A quick phone call revealed that they parked 15 RVs here today–the circus is in town. But, they managed to find one more spot so we are safely tucked in among the mobile homes with our furnace running.  

It is cold enough outside today that our furnace started running when we drove away from KFC.  We turned it off again until we got here but I am very glad we have enough proprane on board to not have to wonder if it will shut off in the middle of the night.

TTYL,

Linda