Watching Out for Tornadoes in Oklahoma

Left Christiandom and headed into Texas. For some reason(Ok, ok, it took me a long time to get going in the morning), the drive was really long.  I had miscalculated my time – I did not take into account that I was moving from Mountain Time into Central Time which meant I lost an hour which meant things got a little rushed because I was off to see a few sights which closed at 4:00.

The drive was pretty boring – it was what you normally think of when you think of driving across Texas – flat, nothing to see. I was on a secondary road which meant that I got to go through a few small towns which broke up the monotony a little bit although it was sort of depressing – there sure were a lot of broken down old buildings and trailers along the way. I don't know what people do here to make a living.

I took a right off of Highway 152, drove a few miles and the landscape changed dramatically. There were hills, there was dark red earth and lots of oil drills. I headed into the town of Borger – to their city park which is where I was camping. There were 10 sites, each with water and electricity hookups and the cost was........FREE. Only restriction is you couldn't stay more than three days. This city park was pretty amazing – ball fields, basketball courts, walking trails, horseshoes and an aviary. This aviary had some extraordinary birds – I wish I knew the names of them.

 

 

Once we got set up, Miko and I headed to Alibates Flint Quarries. We were too late to actually see the Quarries – you could only see them if you got a ranger to give you a tour. I watched the movie and then Miko and I headed over to Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. Miko and I hiked around the hills, the lake is pretty much dried up so the marina and boat launches were all closed. It sure is getting hot here down south – time to start heading north for sure.


That whole section to the left is lakebed

On Saturday we moved to another city park – this one in Sayre Oklahoma. These people down south really do their city parks up good. This park had RV camping with water and electricity for $12. They also had a golf course, tennis courts, ball courts, swimming pool, playgrounds – everything a park should have.

The Sayre City Park is about a half hour drive from the Washita National Battleground. I left Miko at home because it was too hot for her to wait in the car for me and she wasn't allowed anyways. The visitor center had an excellent half hour movie that explained what this battleground was all about.

There is a long sordid history of white European Americans moving into First Nation land and grabbing land that they considered their god given right irregardless of any treaties in place. Some of the First Nation people submitted and moved peacefully to the reservations but others such as the Cheyenne and Arapaho decided to defend their land and their freedom.

In the winter of 1868, General Custer found Black Kettle's village camped in a valley by the Washita River for the winter. He thought he had found a village of Cheyenne warriors but it was actually a village comprised mostly of women and children. At dawn Custer attacked and within twenty minutes had control of the camp. He killed forty natives and to his credit, when he heard that his men were slaughtering the women and children, he ordered the massacre halted and the women and children rounded up as prisoners of war. Interesting fact: The Cheyenne got him back at Little Big Horn.

I walked down the trail for a little ways but it was too hot to go very far. This trail was interesting because it had a really great trail guide. You would stop at a numbered pole and then it would say – Magpie(one of the survivors) ran to those two mounds that you see ahead of you. Or the hill that you see in front of you is probably where Custer stood and watched the battle.

Sunday is move day to Oklahoma City. I have taken my lucky arrowhead out of the plastic and am wearing it around my neck to ward off any sort of bad weather. I did not see any tornadoes on my trip but the winds were horrible. They were 38 mph coming from the north which meant that they were hitting my high profile RV and it was extremely difficult to keep on the road. I got a little scared so about twenty minutes into the trip, I pulled off into a gas station and decided to wait the wind out.The wind was so strong, it ripped my vent cover off it's track. The winds died down a little bit so I took off down the freeway. I put my flashers on and drove fifty mph in the seventy mph zone. It was sort of like Gilliagan's Island where they went out for an hour long boatride and then the winds came up and they were lost forever. It took me 4 ½ hours to go 120 miles.

I'm in an RV park – very crowded. I have full hookups and plan to stay here for a few days. I was reading another blogger and he said once, when he was planning on settling in and getting off the road for an small extended time that he was going to stay put and allow time to catch up to him. I feel sort of that way since I've been moving every day for the last four days.


Miko's favorite spot while I get the RV all set up at a campsite