Jack and Carol's Epic Journey: Oook-lahoma, Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Plains

April 13, 2013

Our state park lakeside campsite in Arkansas was great, very quiet, and we both had a good night’s sleep. We took a walk around the lake first thing—lots of birds. We saw coots, gulls, redwing blackbirds, chickadees, robins, and many varieties of wild ducks. This is a major reservoir for the area, covering over 40,000 acres.


View from our RoadTrek - Click to enlarge.

Note nuclear reactor cooling stack in background. This is the only nuclear power plant in Arkansas.

After the walk we dawdled around for awhile, reorganizing some of our clothes and “stuff” storage, and also finally filled the water tanks and dumped the waste. It was so cold in Virginia when we left that we hesitated to fill the tanks with water, in case it got below freezing while we were camping. (We had the tanks winterized, with RV antifreeze.) So now we got the antifreeze out and fresh water in, much more convenient than using jugged water to flush and wash dishes.

We got on the road about noon, still heading for Amarillo, TX to visit our granddaughter at West Texas A&M university. Traffic was somewhat lighter than usual, since it’s Saturday. It’s been a bright sunny day, a bit cool and windy. While Jack drove, I searched for likely campsites for tonight on the MyFi internet. I discovered a website called “FreeCampsites.com” that lists free and low-cost campsites in all states, and it mentioned a city lake and park in Elk City, OK, near the TX border where we’re heading, that offered 5 free RV campsites, including electricity! Seemed too good to be true, but I punched the address into the GPS. We figured all the sites would be taken since we wouldn’t arrive there until about 7 pm. But there were other private RV campgrounds nearby as a backup if it didn’t work out.

During our drive today, the terrain changed notably from low mountains to rolling hills and finally to flat plains. The wind really howls over this flatland, and the few trees are all slanted in the direction of the wind.

Guess which way the prevailing winds blow.

When we got to Oklahoma, we passed through many Native American nations: Cherokee Nation, Chickasaw Nation, Creek Nation and several others. Most of them had casinos right next to the interstate. Most of the terrain is agricultural though, and it’s beautiful with the spring-green grass and crops starting to grow, and blooming trees such as my favorite, redbud.

We got to Elk City about 7 pm, as expected, and the GPS routed us through a few turns to the city park, Elk City Lake Park. We drove through the attractive park and found the 5 RV campsites, just as described. Nicely paved, near the small lake. No other RVs are here, just a couple of tent campers and a fisherman. We plugged in, and sure enough, free electricity! How nice! We’ll have to send a thank-you note to the city.

Besides us, only one lone tent is using one of the five RV campsites with free electrical hookup.

Jack took a few photos as we walked around a bit. The lake appears very low, with a floating-type boat dock sitting high and dry.

A very dry drydock. Sign says 14-inch minimum on bass.

This area has experienced severe drought conditions the past couple of years. We walked out onto the dry lake bed and see scattered freshwater clam shells. I later notice, while reading the local newspaper on the internet, that an old oil well from the 1950s has emerged from the receding lake waters!

It’s very windy here on the plains, but we’re settled in and ready to watch a movie!