TISHOMINGO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE.
Day 171 – The rain on the roof was very soothing; we slept till after 8:00 this morning. It was warm & humid and still raining. Fog hovered over the Creek which had risen during the night. We made egg salad for sandwiches and headed out for the Wildlife Refuge, getting gas on the way out.
WHAT, YOU’VE NEVER SEEN ANYONE WITH NY PLATES BEFORE?
Day 170 – We were up at around 7:30 a.m., 44 degrees and already beginning to rain. We don’t think we’ll be seeing the sun for a couple of days at least. We showered & packed up to leave. The girls said, really? Again?
168 miles
WICHITA MOUNTAINS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE.
Day 169 – Beginning of Week 25. We were visited by a female deer this morning at the site. She was just walking through like it was part of her daily routine. Lots of wildlife here! A beautiful, clear day, 35 degrees at 7:30 a.m. We have no internet and no cell phone signal. Guess the blog will be late in getting published. Rob put the OK sticker on the U.S. Map.
THE GREAT PLAINS.
Day 168 – We were up at 8 a.m. this morning, and it was sunny & 33 degrees. We hung around a bit, then got ready to leave. The girls have gotten pretty used to this routine & are good about us taking them back to the bedroom for each trip.
252 miles
MEEP……MEEP.
Day 167 – Soon after we got up this morning, a large bird was scurrying around the campsite – a very large bird with a long tail. So he didn’t scare it away, Rob took pictures through the RV windows. Meep, meep, meep; yep, it was a Roadrunner. They are actually very pretty. And where was Wiley Coyote? Maybe we’ll see him later!
Great Camouflage! Roadrunner, Sanford Yake Campground, Lake Meredith NRA, Fritch, TX
TEXAS.
Day 166 – We were up by 7:30 and the wind was back. 24 degrees and a few clouds. We had planned to explore the State Park and take a hike, but after checking the wind forecast, we saw it was going to get worse out and remain that way until Sunday. We decided to move on rather than deal with the wind for 2 days. We could hopefully come back here another time to explore.
280 miles
BITTER LAKE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE.
Day 165 – At 7:30 a.m. it was sunny with some fog in the distance, breezy and 25 degrees, ice on the Honda pumpkin. We both slept well; it was so quiet without the roar of the wind. Two of the cats are already ensconced in the sun on the dashboard; the other two are in Rob’s lap.
RIDING AWAY FROM THE STORM.
Day 164 – I woke up at 2 a.m. The awning over the bedroom slide was banging and it felt like we were on a boat, the RV was rocking. The winds had returned. I got up & checked on everything, then put in the ear plugs and went back to sleep. We were up by 7 a.m. and it was 33 degrees (not the 20’s they’d predicted), windy, cloudy. An hour and a half later, we were getting ready to bundle up in warm gear and go out to the Petroglyph Site when we saw a dense layer of what looked like fog approaching us. It was a mixture of snow and rain – sleet. Right now we’re deciding whether to just pack up and head southeast to Roswell today, or stay and wait for the weather to do its thing. We can always come back here again to do the lava hike and the petroglyphs. Okay, decision made – we’re outta here.
112 miles
Day 163 – The wind was so loud last night that we both wore ear plugs so we could sleep. Windy all night, at times shaking the RV, but probably not as bad as yesterday. Once we got up, the wind began increasing again and the forecast is for the same sustained wind levels & gusts today until the evening. No one is leaving their RVs nor the campground, including us. It was 41 degrees around 7:30 a.m. A cold front is moving in tonight & the temperatures are supposed to drop into the 20’s. The big difference this morning is that most of the heavy clouds have blown over and the sun is shining brightly. But right now as I write this (in the morning), the RV is shaking and rocking from the wind gusts.
RIDERS ON THE STORM.
Day 162 – Beginning of Week 24. By the time we went to bed last night, we’d pretty much decided to get up early this morning and head southeast ASAP to beat the wind. We got up at 5 a.m. and Rob checked the forecast first thing. The weather had changed to a Winter Weather Watch with 4 to 8 inches of snow at 7,000 feet elevation and up to 16 inches of snow at 9,000 feet and above. (We were at 5,000 to 6,000 feet already, surrounded by mountains from 6,500 to 8,500 feet.) The storm was coming from the northwest, and wind predictions had increased to sustained wind above 30 MPH with 40-60 MPH gusts beginning around noon & lasting through the night.
63 miles
