Day 7: Still at Foss State Park

Today was a sunny, windy day at Foss.  The temperatures are rising again, up into the low 90's in mid-afternoon.

We set out in late morning to tour Washita National Wildlife Refuge.  It occupies the northwest sector of Foss Lake (while our campsite in in the southeast corner).  The refuge headquarters were closed on a Sunday, but we were able to view the prairie dogs that live near their buildings:

(I had left my camera back in the RV, so I was only able to snap pictures with my phone.)

We followed the refuge's "auto tour" to see the sites, but we seemed to be the only people out there on this hot day.  The tour was poorly marked, and the sites were unspectacular, but we did see a roadrunner and some scissor-tailed flycatchers along the roads.  (Quite a few of the roads on the tour were unpaved, so yesterday's car wash was a bit of a waste; the car is again covered with reddish dust.)

I took advantage of the park's laundry facilities to do some wash while Dan and Ranger lounged outside in the shade.  Then I took a short walk along the park's multi-use trail, which was quite pleasant while it was in the shade but awfully hot in the sun.

 Too windy to grill outside tonight, so it's an indoor dinner, with welcome air-conditioning!

Day 6: Relaxing at Foss State Park

I have heard that our day in Oklahoma began with a significant earthquake, but somehow we missed it entirely. (We are quite a bit west of the epicenter.)

Ranger and I had a lazy start to the day with a short walk and a return to the RV for (his) breakfast and (my) tea.  He was quite difficult on the walk, pulling back to the campsite, so I do wonder now whether he had detected the earthquake and wanted to go back to where he felt safe.

Anyway, we enjoyed sitting outside, on a cool sunny morning. 

I headed up to the park office at 10 to see their "buffalo feeding".  Some park employees drove a pickup truck out into the large field where the buffalo live, dropping some sort of food pellets.  The beasts RAN to get it---must be good stuff.  For the next fifteen minutes there was much pushing, grunting, and head-butting as they fought over the best of it.  

Dan fixed us a big brunch of eggs, ham, fried potatoes and English muffins before we headed out in the car to explore other regions of the park.  After riding around, including a trip across the top of the dam, we decided that we were glad to have gotten the site we did, in what seemed to us the nicest section of the park.

Dropping Ranger off in the air-conditioned RV, we headed into the town of Clinton to grocery shop.  Can't say much for the local store---small and limited selection.  One peculiarity of Oklahoma is that one can buy only 3.2 beer in grocery stores; for regular beer, you have to go to a liquor store.  Dan picked up some beer and put it our cart before realizing that it was 3.2 Miller Lite; the cans looked exactly the same but there was a small label indicating its "strength" of 3.2.  

We lounged in the shade for much of the afternoon, watching speedboats pull kids around on big inflated "toys" as well as many Jet-skis.  

It has been warm and very breezy all day but at least we're not getting wet from that storm that has been moving up the east coast!

Day 5: Oklahoma is looking better

There was no point in hanging around Lake Eufaula, so we headed out early for our short day of driving, just about 210 miles.  Our destination was Foss State Park, still in Oklahoma but only about 50 miles from the Texas border (Panhandle area).  

It rained going through Oklahoma City but cleared off as we arrived.  Cedar Point campground, one of six, is in the southeast corner of Foss State Park with a clear site of the dam that created Foss Lake back in the 60's.  Our site is close to the water with a great view, plus a level concrete pad and a few small trees for shade.

We were one of the earliest to arrive at this area of about 15 sites, so it was a quiet afternoon of lounging, reading, and exploring the campground.  Ranger got a good walk plus some time to enjoy the sunshine and breezes.  The weather has improved greatly from a few days ago: partly cloudy, mid-80's, light breeze.  

I am relieved that this park is nice, as we have reservations to stay through the weekend. With the holiday, there's a minimum 3-night stay policy, so we would have had to pay for three whether we stayed or not.  And it is good to have a few days to relax, with no driving.  The park is fairly large, so  we'll get out to explore the other sections including the wildlife refuge across the water; Dan bought a fishing license so he can hang out down near the marina on the dock; I will get some grocery shopping and laundry done.

As expected, the campground filled up as evening came.  Lots of people brought their boats and various  water toys.  Our little set-up looks quite small and simple by comparison!

Day 4: Oklahoma....not so OK

As I got ready to take Ranger out early this morning, I looked out the window and this is what I saw:

(Fuzzy photo due to it being taken through the window---I didn't want to scare it off by opening the door.)

Ranger and I had a good walk of almost an hour along the shore line of Lake Dardanelle. Dan and I were in no hurry to have an early start as our next reservation was at a state park only about 170 miles west.  Our holiday weekend reservations (when one must reserve, and pay for, at least three nights) are for Lake Foss in Oklahoma, almost at the Texas border, a bit too long a distance to do in one day.  So we had a short day of travel today, and will also have a short one, just a little over 220 miles, tomorrow.

Anyway, we continued on I-40, passing through Fort Smith as the grey clouds dissolved into light drizzle.  At least with the rain, the temperatures dropped into the upper 70's, a pleasant change.

We are now at Lake Eufaula State Park, east of Oklahoma City.  First impression: a tired, somewhat run-down park, not well-maintained.  But it is for only one night.

I found the one, very short, hiking trail near this campground, and it involved about a five minute walk that ended at the shore of the lake.

There were a few tall white birds, way out, and I was without my binoculars, but they appeared to be great egrets.

So far....not impressed with Oklahoma!

Day 3: Still hot, hot, hot!

It was already warm when Ranger and I took our early morning walk, and by 8 am or so, it was getting really uncomfortable.  Good that we spent much of the day inside the RV, traveling west with the AC cranked up!

Continuing along I-40, we went through Memphis, where we crossed the Mississippi River....so I think we are officially in the West.  Arkansas is not impressive:  the roads were rough, with much (much-needed) road construction going on; there were loads of trucks on the highway; the scenery was dull and uninspiring.  To top it off, when we pulled into a rest area for lunch, every parking spot for a "truck" was taken, with quite a few semis pulled over along the road where "no parking" signs were clearly posted.  So we went on to the next rest area, about 40 miles along, only to find that it was closed for remodeling.

A couple of granola bars kept us going until we reached our destination for the day: Lake Dardanelle State Park.  As we traveled from I-40 through the town of Russellville on our way to the campground, the thermometer in the RV said 102!  

However, the park is very nice: Big (air-conditioned) visitors center, shady sites, and a level pull-through so that we did not need to unhook the car.  This is a popular place for boating and fishing; we can see the marina across the road from our site.  As I told Dan when I came back from checking out the restrooms: they have reach a settlement for the whole transgender bathroom issue.  There are a series of  small rooms, each designated with both male and female symbols, and each has a toilet, sink, and shower---and they  are well air-conditioned!  

The weather forecasts indicate a slight cooling trend over the next few days.   We'll see....

Ranger does NOT like this heat!

Day 2: Tennessee

Who knew that Tennessee was so L---O---N---G?! 

We started the day near Johnson City and within 50 miles we got onto I-40 which we will follow all the way to Arizona.  Outside the window it was green and rolling, with some mountains and farms.  Well, there was Nashville---not so pretty! 

And the heat continues. At one point in mid-afternoon the thermometer read 97 degrees.

Our stopping point for the day was Natchez Trace State Park, about halfway between Nashville and Memphis.  On the map, it appeared to be right off the interstate, and yes, we reached the park office about two miles along.  There we found out that the campground was another ten miles into the park, on Pin Oak Lake.  So we drove and drove (through some cooler forests) to arrive at the RV campground which is very nice.  Fairly new, pull-through site, good view of the lake….but little shade. 

Still that shower sure felt good after a long hot day, and we did have a little time outside in the shade of the one little tree along our site.  The campground hosts welcomed us and came over to answer my question about the route back to the interstate, quite a difference from the gruff guy at Warrior’s Path.

Then, back into the AC for a good night’s sleep (though with the time change, I was yawning by 9 pm). 

Day 1: Hot time in Virginia and Tennessee

We are off again, this time heading west for a visit to Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.  We got started a little after 9:00 and followed I-64 west to I-81, then traveled south on I-81 all the way out of Virginia (220 miles).  Shortly after crossing into Tennessee, we pulled off for a night at Warrior's Path State Park, just north of Johnson City.

Signage to the park was minimal, so it was good that we had the GPS.  Our site here is very small but adequate for the one night we'll be here.  Unfortunately, the temperature, which had been comfortably in the low 80's as we left, rose and rose, so that this afternoon it is in the mid-90's.  We stayed out long enough to give Ranger a walk and check out the campground, then retreated inside to the air-conditioning.  Not exactly roughing-it, but greatly welcome in this heat.

The park is fairly old and not particularly well-kept, not a place we would stop at again.  It does have a swimming pool and a golf course, so I guess it must attract locals.

Tomorrow, we  head across Tennessee and change time zones.