Thursday, 6 May 2021
Lake Eufala State Park, Checotah OK
Friday, 7 May 2021
David & Anna's house, Richardson TX
Saturday, 8 May 2021
I didn't take any notes during my drive south, because I wasn't feeling well and was almost solely focused on getting back to Texas safely. So for this post, I'm relying solely on my memory.
Kansas
I know that we stayed at Hillsdale State Park during my month in Kansas, but things were a little different this time around: they would accept a reservation only in one section of the park, which wasn't the section I'd stayed in before. For some reason I had a real problem understanding the park's website and finally just called the campground for help. A very nice woman took the time to understand my concern (crowded campground and 2 bouncy lab mixes) and found a campsite that worked perfectly for us. It backed up to a road, so all we had to do was walk across a small field and we could avoid other dogs (helpful because there were many nearby). This section of the campground had unusually large campsites, so there was lots of space between ours and our neighbors - also helpful.
I'd forgotten that when I spent my month in Kansas, I bought a year pass to the state parks to help lower the price. That applied only to a calendar year, and I tried a while back to remove the sticker from my windshield when it expired, but with no luck. The campground host sold me a one-day pass, since I didn't figure I'd need one for the year, and he loaned me a razor to take off last year's sticker. Nice of him.
It was beautiful when we got there, but then it got really cold at night, and there was a strong wind blowing, which made the temp seem even colder. That's the same strong wind that had been blowing while we were driving from Iowa. Google said it'd take me just over 4 hours to make the trip, but it actually took several hours longer because of stops.
Oklahoma
There's a section of highways in OK that gives me trouble every time I'm there. Up in northeastern OK, several toll roads and several state and local roads all come together within a fairly small area. When I'm driving through, I'm having to take all sorts of little roads to transfer from one state road to another while avoiding the toll roads, and every time I've gotten lost. I've finally decided Google just can't handle it - my refusing to take a toll road - and it's muffing the directions on the local roads.
This trip was no exception. I spent at least an extra hour driving back and forth on roads Google hadn't bothered to mention, trying to find the ones it did mention. At one point I stopped in the driveway of someone's ranch and consulted the compass David and Anna gave me for Christmas. And that was weird because it told me I was going east when I was absolutely certain I was going west. For at least a minute I decided the compass was broken. Then I came to my senses and decided to explore the idea that I wasn't where I thought I was. So back down that road yet again, finally stopping in a partly empty parking lot and pulling out my trusty AAA map and figuring out where I really was. That map was right.
I didn't have a whole lot of spare energy, thanks to the continuing diarrhea and dehydration. Once I'd gotten out of this scrambled highways mess I still had almost 2 hours of driving to go. Google said today's drive would take me 5 hours, but of course it took much longer than that.
I've never stayed at Lake Eufala before, mostly because it's so popular it's hard to get a reservation. I honestly don't know how we got this one on a Friday night. And it turned out to be the absolutely perfect spot. Most of the RV campsites seemed to be set up in pairs, with the utilities for each pair next to each other, which would have the RV pairs back to back, in a way. Their cabin doors would open away from each other so they could have their picnics or whatever in separate areas.
My pair of spaces was almost a quarter of a mile away from all the others, and the other RV in my pair was owned by a couple about my age (without dogs) who were clearly not the wild-party type but instead had come out to enjoy the peace and quiet of nature. This set-up let me walk my dogs around the area without worrying about other dogs, always a relief.
And in the morning, it was a beautiful day with a pleasant temperature and a mild breeze and serious bird songs - I walked the dogs a couple of times but mostly just sat with the windows open enjoying the incredible peace and tranquility of the situation. Google told me it'd be a 3-hour drive from there to David & Anna's house, which I figured meant a 5-hour drive, but that still gave me a chance to just relax and enjoy the wonderful dose of nature we had. I think we didn't leave until nearly 10:00. Given OK's roads and traffic on a Saturday, the tranquility didn't last long, but it was nice while I had it.
I took US 69 south to Atoka OK, where I ran into US 75, which runs right through Dallas and about 2 miles from my family. Today too we had a hard time finding a place to stop for a break and a walk and some lunch, and I finally just pulled into a casino parking lot set aside for semis. Lousy place to walk because of no grass, but at least we got a little bit of a break.
Texas
We pulled into the driveway in mid-afternoon, David and Anna helped me unload a bunch of stuff, including the critters, and I took the RV down the street and locked it. Very odd to leave it, since for the last 40 months (nearly), we've spent every day living in it and every night sleeping in it. So I was sick and disoriented and tired and sleepy, but here I wouldn't have to shoulder all my burdens alone, and that's worth a lot.
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