TRAVEL DAY: RUSSELLVILLE, ARKANSAS TO GORE, OKLAHOMA.
Day 48 – At 7:45 a.m. this morning, it was 38 degrees and sunny. The White Pelicans were gathered at their normal spot near the sand across the river; an empty barge, pushed by a tug boat, traveled through the lock in a different direction. We packed up to leave, while watching life go on as usual around us.
We departed our wonderful campground at 11 a.m., after dumping tanks. It was 55 degrees and sunny, a beautiful day. We drove west through the rest of Arkansas and crossed into Oklahoma. There really wasn’t a huge difference in the scenery from our last several journeys, except we passed a sign, not too long after leaving the campground, that said, “Nuclear One Evacuation Route”, and we wondered what that was all about. We soon found out when we saw a nuclear power station in the distance. The internet says it is the only nuclear power facility in Arkansas and it is located on Lake Dardenelle, across from Russellville, right by where we were. Anyway, moving on, we stopped at a rest stop at the Oklahoma Welcome Center to eat our lunches and give the kitties a break. From there, it was only about an hour to our destination. Traffic was heavy for a Sunday, that was understandable when we remembered it was the four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend and people were heading home from their visits. As for the drive, the road was pretty good throughout until near the end of the trip – as usual, we ended up on a narrow, winding road as we approached the campground, jockeying for position with an RV that was leaving the campground.
We arrived at our campground, Strayhorn Landing, an ACE campground, at 2:15 p.m. It was 60 degrees with a light breeze and sunny. We had never been here before and didn’t know what we’d be getting. Turned out the campground was located on a small peninsula of land reaching out into the Army Corps of Engineer reservoir, Tenkiller Lake. It was very beautiful. Only two campsites were occupied. We drove through and picked a campsite at the end of the peninsula with a water view on three, plus, sides. Amazing. They close for the season on December 1. We reserved the campsite until December 1. Our campsite, #15, has water and electric hook-ups; there is a dump station. We had to drive slowly through the campground because there were a group of Canada Geese meandering along on the road. We hear the water lapping as little waves come ashore below us. We paid $8 per night for this site; this includes a 50% discount off the off-season rate with a senior pass. Life is good.
