Amarillo

We spent a day restocking, checking MH fluids, car fluids, cleaning, laundry etc. We generally dedicate one day a week to this. Just needs to be done.

We played pure tourist in Amarillo. On Sunday wew drove down to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Beautiful day after a misty, foggy Saturday. As we approached the park, still 20 miles away, there was this big black cloud, of course, right over the park.

I wouldn't want to take the road down to the canyon in the MH, 10% grade and some hairpin turns. Car was fine. Park is beautiful. You start out at the rim a nd then go down into the park and drive along the valley. The fog/cloudiness cleared up a bit and wereally enjoyed the park and recommend anyone who is out this way visit.

Palo Duro-

Yes, that is the road down there.............

After that we did our tourist stops: Legs of Amarillo and Cadillac Ranch. We threw in Big Tex Steak House for lunch.

Legs of Amarillo-

The same person who created Cadillac Ranch commissioned to have these Legs built. The reason why is lost and not documented. Just a wierd quick stop along the highway.

Cadillac Ranch-

Here is the story behind Cadillac Ranch from Roadside America:

Cadillac Ranch was invented and built by a group of art-hippies imported from San Francisco. They called themselves The Ant Farm, and their silent partner was Amarillo billionaire Stanley Marsh 3. He wanted a piece of public art that would baffle the locals, and the hippies came up with a tribute to the evolution of the Cadillac tail fin. Ten Caddies were driven into one of Stanley Marsh 3's fields, then half-buried, nose-down, in the dirt (supposedly at the same angle as the Great Pyramid of Giza). They faced west in a line, from the 1949 Club Sedan to the 1963 Sedan de Ville, their tail fins held high for all to see on the empty Texas panhandle.

Next stop lunch at the Big Tex Steak House. Lunch was good, the food was good and the service was excellent. We both had a small Prime Rib, we have had better, we have had worse but the price was fair and we have now done out tourist duties.

Great Salt Plains State Park

Today we went for a day drive, of course, all on back roads. We had to head north since there were major rains south of us. We'll go south tomorrow.

This was a great trip. The State Park has a salt lake and there were Pelicans, lots of  Pelicans. We were in awe and shock to see Pelicans. The lake is a leftover from the ice age and is 50% as salty as the ocean. Pelicans love it. The other large quantity of bird were Vultures, why, we have no idea but there were dozens of them on a dock and in the trees surrounding the dock.

All in all a great day. Hope tomorrow is just as good.

Why so many vultures?

Pelicans evereywhere!!

The Vultures don;t even leave when we show up!!

Sad barn from the past.....................

Off to Canadian COE, Canton, OK

Packed up and moved to our next stop. Only 140 miles but a very tiring drive for the last 70 miles, had no shoulder, and then the challenge began. The road had losts of small bumps, we felt the backend was going in a  different direction than the front end. Then there was the trucks! We must be in oil/gas country and the trucks were rolling, all coming against us. Besides the bad road we had the buffeting of the trucks. Glad when all that stopped after about 50 miles.

We are now 7 miles from our destination and the road is closed, we looked at the GPS and decided we could drive straight. Next challenge was a low bridge, time to turn around and luckily we were by an oil transfer station so we drove in to turn around. Lots of heads came up when we showed up with a MH and toad. The guys were nice, gave us directions to get around the low bridge and to our campground. Probably made their day.

15 minutes later we were in our campground. Talked to the Hostess and elected to go to the A loop without trees. Did we make the right decision, brand new campground, level concrete spots, beatutiful view of the lake and a bonus, Prairie Dogs all over the place. They are so cute.

Pawhuska and Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, OK

Today was one of those days. First we hooked up the car the the same fuse blew and the car was again stuck in Park. Tom replaced the fuse and looked at the wire that attaches the electronic between the MH and the car and saw a pinched spot. Nothing we could do at this point so we drove off. Luckily where we are traveling there is not much traffic.

We had an easy drive, found some 4 lane roads that were straight. Out plans were to stop just south of Pawhuska, OK(Pioneer Woman) at another COE park. We pulled in and found out the park had a major power failure and since it was the end of the season it would not be fixed. We were welcome to stay there but would need to depend on our solar and generator. Elected to go to Plan B(always have Plan B) and go past Pawhuska to another COE. I have no idea where Tom had the GPS going but the campground for Plan B never appeared. We stumbled into Plan C(also called dumb luck), a small COE campground near Ponca City, OK. Only 14 sites but only 3 were occupied.

The major reason we stopped here was to pick up mail and visit the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve which has 2500 buffalo. The post office was closed for the weekend so we knew we would need to stay until Tuesday AM.

We needed replace the cable from the car to the motor home and decided we would need to drive into Tulsa to a big RV store but would call first. Tulsa is 1.5 hours away. I looked up the store on the Internet and they weren't open on Sunday. Oh well, no part. Ordered the part from Amazon for delivery to our next stop. Tom worked on the old cable and managed to get it to work again, at least temporarily.

On Sunday we headed off to the Preserve, after 40 miles or so on dirt roads we arrived and immediately saw Buffalo. We had driven through beautiful country, rolling hills, all fields, cattle and horses. Exactly what I had imagined Oklahoma should look like. We spent time at the Preserve, did the Bison Loop and saw some more Buffalo, up close and personal. There are 2500 free-ranging Buffalo in the Preserve. The Nature Conservancy manages the Preserve and it is the largest expanse of Tallgrass left in the US.

Our welcome to the preserve

All open range

My car will neve be the same!!!

We took the main road back, just about  10 miles of dirt before pavement. This road took us to Pawhuska so we decided to eat at the Mercantile. It was Sunday and the Mercantile was closed. Actually, pretty much everything was closed except for Buffalo Joe and he closed at 2.

Buffalo Joe had excellent food. Tom thinks it was the best Chicken Fried Steak he ever had and their homemade meatloaf was wonderful. Totally unexpected. A good end to a good day.

One strange sound in the campground were sirens, lots of sirens, in a distance but way too many to make any sense. The other campers didn't know the answer either. Luck prevailed, the Ranger came by. He explained that the lake had a bit too much water so whenever the water was released or the volume changed the siren sounded. Feel better with an explanation.

On Monday the weather was cloudy and rain was in the forecast. We ran into town to pick up our mail and do laundry. Decided to do some exploring and ended up taking a back road into Ponca City. Knocked off little odds and ends. Gas for the car, dropped ink cartridges off at Staples. Walmart stop and lunch. We didn't realize Ponca City was so big. Probably the largest town we have visited in several weeks.

When we finally came back to the campground we were the last ones there except for 2 cats. Both cats acted like they had been abandoned at the campground. We tried to all the Ranger and tell him but no answer so we put a note in the Iron Ranger and hope he checks it before the bad weather sets in.

A lonely cat

And our lonely camper

Cooksen Bend COE, Cookson, OK

The last few days have been interesting. First, I am convinced that there is not a straight secondary road in OK so far. All have narrow lanes and numerous curves. The warning of a coming curve is all over the place, mostly no warning, some just with a sign or arrows and some with a speed limit. No consistency at all. Since we are traveling mostly backroads, you know the "blue roads" travel is slow. Took us 3 hours to cover 100 miles yesterday.

We are staying in mostly COE Federal Parks as they are all half-price camping for seniors. Relatively inexpensive normally, half is a super bargain. All have at least 30A electricity, some have water and there is a sewer dump on the way out if needed.

We pulled into our selected park for a few days and drove around to select our site. On the water, plenty long enough, had electricity. We unhitched the car and backed in the MH. I started setting up the MH(I push buttons) and Tom went to get the car that was in the middle of the road(there was no one else in the campground). He didn't come back so I thought he was talking to someone. I finally called him.

He couldn't get the car out of Park!!! I walked down, neither could I. We overrode the transmission(all cars have this) and got it shifted. Backed into our site and noticed we didn't have brake lights. Could all this be related? Changed the one fuse for the brake lights that was documented, still nothing and still stuck in park. Other strange lights were glowing on the dashboard.

Getting dark out so we gave up. Did some internet research and determine it was probably the brake light switch. Called a repair shop on Friday and he agreed, understood it was our only vehicle and we didn't want to drive in to have him diagnose it without having brake lights. He called around, found a brake light switch and called me back. Gave us an appt. for 10:30. Great........10 minutes after I get done with him, Tom comes in and he found another fuse block that had a fuse labeled "brake"(not documented). Replaced that fuse and everything is working again. Called the repair shop, thanked him and told him we found the problem. Have no idea why the fuse blew.

We drove into town and bought a  packet of fuses and then started our day. We managed to travel a bit but rain was in the forecast and finally showed up. Home we came. Been raining since about 10 AM, suppose to rain all day and through tomorrow.

Around the Camground

We have very weak internet and no phone service at this location. I hope everything uploads OK.

Today we are getting ready to move to the next campground. Only about 120 miles away but in northwest Oklahoma. We did drive around our current campground just out of curiosity. There are 2 seperate campgrounds, one has a wondrful beach. There are 84 campsites with only 3 being used. It is so nice camping at this time of the year, yes some things are closed but there are no crowds. This is another hue park as most COE parks are and of course on a lake.

Beaver Bend State Park

Today we drove to Beaver Bend State Park. Another beautiful drive through the Oklahoma countryside. The roads have all been good but we seldom met another car, these are not back roads so this feels very strange. I am not talking a few miles, for 20-25 miles and no car in either directions. We both are puzzled by this.

Beaver Bend is another huge park with trains, lakes, canoes, kayaks, trails. Just a great family vacation park. Great scenery as you will see.

We went through a museum at Beavers Bend and wood carvings were a mainstay of the museum. Quite fascinating. The carvings went from beginner to very professional and magnificent.

Robbers Cave State Park

Today was another touring day. We elected to go to Robbers Cave State Park and were hoping to find a gas station with relatively inexpensive gas and a supermarket. We were successful to find both in a "major" town. This town was old, the traffic lights were hung from a wire going diagonally across the intersection. One light per intersection(total of 2).

Surprisingly, the supermarket was great. Much larger than it looked like from the outside, very deep. We managed to pick up what we needed. We had plenty without the stop but were thinking steak so we needed the mushrooms and potatoes. Also bought some chicken to barbecue tomorrow.

Robber's Cave is another very large state park. A Lodge, cabins, horse back riding, canoe and kayak rental, many camping and picnicking locations, fairly large lake., lake swimming and a pool. Perfect for a family vacation. The surprising part was entry was free........very unusual.

Nature provided entertainment by having a Blue Heron chase an Egert around, the blue Heron was very mad.

Do you see the Cougar?

Wood cutouts were all over the park, did a double take th first few we saw