June 8 – Almost home

Day 28 – A day of steady driving through continually changing landscapes.  The hills are still rolling but foliage is becoming more dense, giving evidence of a wet spring.  We caught up with the cyclists in Bentonville, AR.  It was extremely hot and humid, they had just come through a terrible section of road construction where traffic had been terribly bad.  Carrie had fallen and scraped her knee so they opted to continue to the other side of Bentonville to the RV park with us.

We finished the day with a dip in the pool and a dinner of smoked sausage on the grill. (Carrie being a vegetarian opted for a garden burger.)

We cannot begin to express how we feel about this trip and the awe and pride we feel in Carrie and Jerry.  This has been an amazing journey, one in which we have grown to appreciate the wonderful woman our daughter has become and the love and respect they have for one another.  They get up each morning eager to get on the road and meet the challenges of the day with courage and determination.  What a couple!  We love you both!

June 7 – Boring, Boring

Day 27 – I went in early to have a new water pump installed in the truck.  Much to my amazement, Chevrolet no longer makes the 8.1L engine, the best engine ever put into a Chevrolet truck.  No water pump was available anywhere in town, one had to be ordered from Tulsa.  However, delivery could not be made until 2 p. m., then it would be a two hour job to replace the pump.  I didn’t get back to the campground until about 5 p.m.  I read every magazine in the Chevrolet dealer’s showroom, and went into sticker shock at the prices posted on new cars and trucks.  But I returned back home with a functioning truck and a lighter wallet.  It was too late to proceed on down the road so had to wait for the next day before leaving.  In the meantime, Carrie and Jerry again had to “motel” it.

June 6 – Murphy strikes again!

Day 26 – We are now in wooded rolling hills which are a prelude to the Ozark Mountains.  The humidity is up along with the temperature.  Nothing else to do but go into town and do laundry and make a Wal-Mart run while awaiting the cyclists to catch up with us. We finally know where we all are by use of cell phone, no problems, right?

While parked in front of the Laundromat known as “Bubba’s Bubbles” (no kidding), I noticed a large pool of water forming under the truck.  You guessed it – I have a water pump problem and, of course, it’s Sunday and everything is closed.  Having a trusty supply of coolant in the back of the truck, we replenished the loss and proceeded back to the campground.  Carrie and Jerry arrived and we spent a very pleasant evening planning the next day’s event – getting the water pump replaced.

June 5 – We lost them!!!!!

Day 25 – The plan for the day was to travel to Ponca City, OK., a distance of 50 miles straight east – “no big deal.”  We would arrive early at a pre-selected campground, establish camp, and hang out until the cyclists arrived.  Nothing unusual, our usual routine.

Upon arrival we found our pre-selected campground was full and over-flowing and the same was true with the campground across the road and all campgrounds in the area.  Ponca City is an oil town and a major pipeline was being constructed.  Hence, all the campgrounds were filled with construction workers.  In our search for campgrounds we wound up on the far west side of town.  It is now late in the afternoon, the sun is scorching, we have not been able to perform our duty in finding accommodations and we haven’t been able to contact the cyclists.  When finally making contact by cell-phone we understand they are on the east side of town and they are really on the west side of town.  In reality they were not even as far as Ponca City.  After much driving and phone calling we finally catch up with each other on the west side of Ponca City.

After a brief discussion, Carrie and Jerry being hot and tired, opted for a motel in town and we proceeded on to the next day’s destination, Osage Hills State Park, about 10 miles west of Bartlesville, OK.  

June 4 – A Day of Rest

Day 24 – A quiet day spent around the campsite resting and recuperating. 

Just a comment in passing, the Oklahoma State Parks are very nice and very well maintained.  There is a consistency about them throughout the state. 

Resting and Recuperating

Our shady campsite

We did do some additional exploring of the lake and dam.  The lake is formed for the damming of the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River.  

Salt Fork of the Arkansas River

A day of rest and relaxation came to an end and tomorrow we start again on the home stretch!

June 3 – Great Salt Plains

Day 23 – The Great Salt Plains are a nearly perfectly flat 11,000 acre barren area with a wafer thin salt crust.  The salt was formed by sea water millions of years ago.  The sea water evaporated and deposited thick layers of salt. 

Many animals would come here for the salt and this made it a favorite hunting grounds for the Indians.  Today it is a major migration rest area for thousands of shorebirds.

American Avocet

Carrie and Jerry arrived at our campsite late that afternoon, very hot and tired.  After some discussion we all decided it would be a good thing for all of us to have a day of rest .  The heat was oppressive.

When we arrived at this park we were virtually alone in the campground.  However, we were surrounded quickly by the “Paxton Family Reunion.”  The Paxtons had been coming to this park for 40 years for an annual reunion.  Two of their young members told us they had attended every reunion.  One of them was 23 (he came to his first reunion when he was 2 weeks old) and the second was 20.  The 20 year old had brought his girlfriend to meet the family.  America will remain a strong country as long as there are families that are bound together with such strength.

June 2 – Destination: Great Salt Plains State Park

Day 22 – We drove into the little town of Beaver, Oklahoma and stocked up on ice and biscuits and gravy and filled the gas tank of the truck.  Gasoline is very much less than what we had been paying further west.

Driving mile and after mile through wheat fields, we finally left the Oklahoma Panhandle.  The panhandle was originally known as “No Man’s Land” simply because the strip of land was not claimed by any of the surrounding territories.  Hence, it was ungoverned by any form of law and was a favorite refuge for those fleeing from justice.  In 1890 by act of Congress it was made part of the Oklahoma Territory and was subject to Oklahoma Territories law.

We left the Panhandle and arrived at the Great Salt Plains State Park hot and tired and happy to find a nice shady spot to spend the next two days.  

We will be here for two days R & R (laundry, clean-up and other assorted duties).  Carrie and Jerry had a short day and are staying in what Carrie describes a beautiful “motel” in Buffalo.  It is actually several store front buildings that have been restored into a beautiful two room apartment-type complex.  She says they even have a little patio to go out in the late evening and have their glass of wine before bed.  Boy, this cycling is sure hard work!  Maybe Jerry will post some pictures on their blog.  I hope so.

Tomorrow we will explore the salt plains and report on them.

June 1 – Beaver Dunes Lake State Park

Day 21 – One of the joys of traveling in the southwest is anticipation.  Just think, around the next bend or over the far hill could lie one of the 7 cities of gold.  They must still be there because Coronado never found them when he was exploring the southwest in 1541.  Instead you find the small towns and rural communities that make this country great.  We did pass a large meat processing plant, Seaboard Hog Processing, as we left Guymon this morning.  Seaboard Hogs are to the Oklahoma Panhandle as Tyson Chicken is to Arkansas.

The countryside is semi-arid yet it produces cattle and wheat in abundance.  The humidity is much higher than the 8% we experienced in Taos.  The winds we experienced coming across the high plains is terrific. We really admire Carrie and Jerry having the courage to ride in this wind.

We arrived at Beaver Dunes Lake State Park and set up camp in a grove of cottonwood trees with a hot, humid high wind blowing, turned the air conditioner on in the trailer and hibernated until time to leave the next morning.

May 31 – Guymon, Oklahoma

Day 20 - Panhandle RV Park and Campground was our destination and we nearly missed it.  We are currently using a State of Oklahoma guide to RV parks in the state and this had a really good write-up in that booklet.  But after driving several miles past the beaten up old sign that said “RV Campground” we decided that that must have been it.  So we turned around and went back.  It indeed was the park  so we set up camp under a beautiful big old shade tree, put our money in the slot of a beat up old building that said “Office” and awaited the arrival of Carrie and Jerry.

That evening we were treated to one of nature’s beauties that we had missed for a number of weeks, a good old-fashioned thunderstorm with wind, rain, hail and rolling thunder.  It was a beautiful but frightening work of art.  The next morning dawned bright and clear so off we were again.