Judy and I are at Robbers Cave State Park. We had a pretty rough drive from Norman, OK yesterday. Judy left earlier than me, but we both had to deal with the high winds. She pulled off at a rest stop for a while. Just about the time she was getting back on the road, I pulled off at a different rest stop on I40. It just wasn’t worth fighting the wind. I didn’t have a deadline. I’m on vacation after all! I thought I might just stay at the rest stop over night. It was a very nice place. They even has a walkway through a grassy area where dogs are allowed. Imagine that!
My audiobook, The Judge’s Daughter, was getting very interesting, so I listened for a while, then dozed for a while. When I woke up, I decided it would be too boring staying at the rest stop and I wasn’t sure that Judy had received my text message, so I decided to hit the road, even though it was still quite windy.
Once I got on the highway, I realized the wind had died down a little and I had more energy to wrestle with it. The thing I didn’t think through was the fact that I would arrive at the park when it would be too dark to see ANYTHING.
When I got to the town of Wilburton, where you turn off to go towards Robbers Cave, I couldn’t determine where to turn. I turned on some small roads and drove around for a while. Eventually, I called Judy. It was great that our phones were working. While she was trying to figure out where I was, I finally came to the turnoff, which was actually well marked and not too hard to see. It’s just that there was a sign earlier that made it look like I was at the turnoff when I wasn’t. You understand, right?
I still had about 15 miles to go, but it was a straight shot and not too bad. Eventually the GPS announced that I was at the south entrance to the park, but there was no obvious entrance. I continued driving, thinking I had missed the entrance and would need to turn around. Well… I was headed up a mountain and there was no place to turn around. A big truck came up behind me. When I finally found a crossroad, I couldn’t stop because the truck was right on my rear end. As I drove by, I saw that it was the entrance to the park.
I called Judy again while I was looking for another place to turn around. She had no idea where I was, of course. She said I should have turned right at the entrance. The truck finally passed me. I came to another turn off that said Robbers Cave. I was delighted. I thought I was at the other entrance. Well… It was a dirt road and I could not turn around. I was hopeful that I was headed in the right direction until I came to a fork in the road. At that point, while still on the phone with Judy, I decided I better turn around, since there was now a place to do it. Judy was trying to find my location on the park map. I stepped on the gas, but I couldn’t go anywhere, not forward, not reverse. I thought I was stuck in sand or something. I told Judy I was stuck, hung up the phone and jumped out. I walked around the van with a flashlight and I could see that I was on solid ground, so I jumped back in. I tried to move again, but I couldn’t go anywhere. I figured out that the brake was on. Smart, eh?? Maybe it was always on. I might have set the brake automatically without realizing it when I stopped. Anyway… I was turning around, thankfully. I hurriedly called Judy to tell her not to call out the rescue squad. Guess where she was headed!
I eventually got off the dirt road and headed back toward the entrance. It was still hard to see the turnoff, but I managed to get myself onto the right road. From there it was smooth sailing. Judy met me outside the circle where her rig was parked. She had found a nice spot where both of our rigs could fit. We even had hookups!!! If you’ve ever camped with me, you know I don’t like backing into a site, especially in the dark. I went in nose first. I thought I wouldn’t bother hooking up, but since I have two electrical cords, I decided to hook up. It’s nice to have electricity.
It’s a bit humid here in Oklahoma, but it had cooled down and it was nice sitting outside at the table. It was sometime after 9 p.m. when I finally got here. Judy had a little office set up at the table, so I joined her there for a snack and a glass of wine. It was very pleasant.
It was warm enough when Lacey and I climbed into the rig, after visiting with Judy, that I opened all the windows for the night. As soon as I could, I climbed into bed.
Sometime during the night, it started raining. I had to get up and close all the windows. Luckily, Lacey didn’t stir, so I didn’t have to take her out. It was nice listening to the rain. That was the first rain that we’ve run into. It was just a passing shower.
This morning, after Lacey and I woke up, we went out for a quick walk. Doggies need a walk in the morning. We checked out the restroom. Lacey didn’t want to go into the scary bathroom, but I needed to check it out, so she complied. The shower stalls weren’t great, but I checked the water and it was hot. We headed back to our rig. Once I had things straightened up and we could move in here, I headed out for a nice hot shower. I was glad I did.
On the way back, I ran into Judy heading out on a walk. We exchanged a few words and went on our way. I needed to dry my hair and get on with my day. I was still hoping to find a little time to blog. It has been a relaxing trip, but I never seem to get around to this. I’m too tired at night and there’s too much to do in the mornings.
I had a lot of dishes stacking up, so I made myself wash those before sitting down at the computer. We have a connection here, which is great, but it seems to be very slow. I’m hoping to finish this and get this much posted. I’ll have to try to backtrack and fill in the missing pieces. I’m sure you can’t wait to read every detail.
Judy just stopped by. We need to head up to the store to pay for our site. We’re going to stay here another night. It will be nice to spend more time here. It’s a beautiful park. Someone on the CyberRally recommended it and I’m glad they did. We’re not far from the Talimena Scenic Drive that we’ll drive tomorrow. Judy says it sounds like the park at the end of that drive, which is in Arkansas, sounds really nice, so we may stop there.
Okay… I’m going to stop here and go outside to explore a little. It should be a great day. It's cool or even cold, but that's good in my opinion. We haven’t spent two nights at any campground so far. This is a real treat!!!
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