TRAVEL DAY: GORE, OKLAHOMA TO NORMAN, OKLAHOMA.
Day 51 – Boy, you can sure tell we’re heading west! It is extremely dry – the air – you can feel the dryness in your nose and throat and on your skin. We haven’t seen any rain forecast in the weather reports, whereas we were seeing that forecast regularly. It’s not cold anymore – I didn’t think we’d be this warm until we reached the desert of New Mexico & Arizona. I expected it to be colder in Oklahoma. Right now (4:30 p.m.) it’s 77 degrees in the RV and 73 degrees outside. We’ve had full sunlight with few clouds for about a week now. Aside from cowboy hats and boots, ranches instead of farms, and ALOT more cattle and horses in the fields, this dryness is one sure way to pinpoint where we are.
We are still meandering towards Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge (where the prairie dogs and buffalo roam). The two-night stopover we are driving to is at Lake Thunderbird State Park in Norman, Oklahoma. Norman is a decent-sized city south of Oklahoma City; the state park is east of Norman. We are stopping here for access to Oklahoma City and good grocery/health food stores for fresh produce, because there are several Half-Price Book Stores for more book trade-ins, they have a Jersey Mike’s which is perfect for travel lunches, and if we find a good restaurant, that’d be the icing on the cake.
Until something else came up today while traveling, this shopping was our plan for the day tomorrow. We departed Strayhorn Landing, ACE Campground near Gore at 10:15 a.m. It was 57 degrees, sunny and still. This was a wonderful campground with fantastic views. We will come back again, off-season. We stopped for gas in the RV just before getting on I-40 – $2.86 per gallon again! The drive was almost completely on I-40 east and was uneventful, we thought.
We arrived at Lake Thunderbird State Park at 12:55 p.m. It was 70 degrees and sunny. After checking in at the Park Office, we followed their instructions and drove through several of the many campgrounds that are part of the Park. We found a campsite we liked and made a two-night reservation online. We set up at site #9 at the Hickory Hills 2 Campground, which offered full hook-ups (water, electric, and sewer), and a good lake view. We had a late lunch and unpacked.
On our journey today while on I-40, a vehicle pulling a trailer was spewing gravel/rocks/something-like-that. We pulled way back after a few pings as whatever-it-was hit us. And forgot about it. That is, until we saw a chip in the windshield of the RV when we were setting up in the campground. Goody.
We called our insurance company and they referred us to the nation-wide company that they use for glass repairs. We called the company and they are sending someone out tomorrow between 8 a.m. and noon. So we may not have time to go into Oklahoma City tomorrow depending on how long the repair takes. If necessary, we will stay here another day. The damage is small in size, so we’re pretty sure the windshield shouldn’t have to be replaced. Rob took a picture of the chipped windshield for the insurance company. It is below.
