2021 - 2022 Trip To The Southwest, Day 146

 Tuesday, March 15, Lake Murray State Park, Buzzards Roost Campground, Ardmore, OK - 200 Miles, 5829.6 Miles for the Trip

A Downy Woodpecker

A relaxing drive on Texas state & farm roads, with one mile on I35. I heard on NPR this morning that Oklahoma had the cheapest gas in the country, so I drove past a Texas station selling it for $3.89. I hit OK & it was back up to $4.00. Luckily, a bit further down the road I found it for $3.79 & filled the tank. Of course, I managed to pull a Guido, and drove by a station at the entrance to the state park that was selling it for $3.69. I shouldn't whine - it is $4.55 at home in upstate NY.

I'm in Buzzards Roost Campground, site 16 (there are 8 campgrounds in the park), a back in concrete slab that has a steep entryway, but close to level once you get in. I needed 1/2" on one side & about the same on the tongue. Full hookup site for $41.33 per night - OK isn't cheap, and the price has gone up since my last visit in 2019 - the site next door was $28.00 per night! I'm here for 3 nights.

I did a quick check of internet speeds - AT&T is 38.9Mbps down & 4.3Mbps up, Verizon is 2.2Mbps down & 9.4Mbps up.

After setting up I went for a walk around the loop. The bathrooms are on the road above the one I'm on. A long walk unless you cut through the tenting area. Individual rooms for showers & toilets. 

They have a restaurant at the lodge. It is normally closed Sunday through Tuesday, but since we are currently experiencing Spring Break, they have opened it on Tuesdays. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting outside. A bunch of neat looking trees behind my site.

While I was sitting outside a Downey woodpecker (according to Photo Sleuth, although it was larger than the ones at home in Oswego - it was the size of one of our Hairy woodpeckers) banged away at a nearby tree. I took a couple of photos, as well as one of a couple of crows. Photos as well as today's site photo are at today's LakeshoreImages page.

So, I decided to head to the restaurant for dinner. I ordered one of my usuals - Chicken Fried Steak. Huge piece of steak, a bit salty for my taste, but a great meal. When the waitress brought the check it had the wrong ticket to sign - it was a different order & $10.00 less than my dinner. I pointed it out & my waitress & someone else banged away at the check out terminal for 5 minutes before she came back and asked me to sign the cheaper ticket. I guess they couldn't find a way to cancel the first charge slip. In any case, my $22.00 dinner was only $13.44. I did leave a big tip!

Until Tomorrow - 

2021 - 2022 Trip To The Southwest, Day 145

 Monday, March 14, Fort Griffin State Historic Site, Albany, TX, Day 2

A warm night with the low around 50°F most of it & 47°F at 7:00AM. I walked around the campground loop before breakfast, then read forums & journals.

I did a Speedtest on AT&T - 9.4Mbps down & 2.9Mbps up. I tried Verizon, and no connection, Jetpack or phone. The last time I was here I had a Verizon phone connection, but no data. They showed a 3G connection, and since Verizon dropped 3G in late February, that might be why there is no coverage. In any case, I was able to use AT&T to listen to internet radio & post yesterday & today's journals.

It was up to 68°F by noon with light to medium wind, so I spent some time sitting outside reading. Eventually, as the wind picked up to gusts strong enough to rock my chair & the clouds moved in, I headed into the trailer.

Dinner was a Healthy Choice Sweet Sesame Steamer.

Until Tomorrow - 

2021 - 2022 Trip To The Southwest, Day 144

 Sunday, March 13, Fort Griffin State Historic Site, Albany, TX - 260.6 Miles, 5,629.6 Miles for the Trip

Site 2

Another cool morning, although only down to 30°F and nothing froze other than my fingers getting the trailer ready to leave. I stopped at the Odessa Walmart to replace one of thee baby locks I use to keep a set of cabinet doors closed while driving - the washboard road I drove on by mistake broke the plastic lock I had on the doors. They come in pairs, but of course I left the second one at home, so now I have 2 spares. I also picked up some frozen meals and finally found a Marie Callender's large pot pie. Turkey rather than my favorite chicken with mushrooms, but at least I found one.

I hit Fort Griffin around 2:30. The campground is first come, but you need to check in at the park visitor center. I went to the visitor center before I hit the campground, so the attendant picked a site that he was fairly sure would be empty. He said if there was someone it the site, just pick another one & they would straighten out the paperwork. Nobody in site 2, which is a level site on gravel, water & electric for $15.00 per night. While labeled as a state park, I don't think it is part of the Texas State Park system - different reservation process & no daily per person charge. Reservations by phone, not the Texas State Park reservation system. When you reserve, they guarantee a space, but not a specific one. Different prices for tent, electric & water & full hookup sites.

After setting up, I headed for the campground shower. I rate the shower an "A". 2 hooks well out of the shower spray, a bench, standard showerhead with plenty of hot water, shower curtain & a good sized dressing area. All I could ask for is to have the showerhead 6" higher, and the building a bit warmer - the block construction holds in last night's cold even with an outside temperature of 71°F.

Afte my shower I made my usual Sunday phone calls - both my son Kyle & Anne & Guido went from green lawn to 6" of snow yesterday. I read that Tennessee got 6" - 8" of snow from the same storm - sure hope all that is gone by the time I hit the state.

Dinner was a turkey sandwich & a salad.

Until Tomorrow - 

2021 - 2022 Trip To The Southwest, Day 143

 Saturday, March 12, Monahans Sandhills State Park, Monahans, TX , Day 2

I may have discovered a low temperature limit of my Escape 21C. While I have survived low 20's after a 60°F day, yesterday's high was only 41°F and last night it hit 32°F by midnight, and 20°F at 7:00AM. Tried to flush the toilet at 7:00 & the pump kept running. The toilet flushed because the accumulator still had enough pressure, but nothing coming out of the fresh water tank. I shut off the pump & went back to bed. Around 10:00 the outside thermometer showed 34°F with the sun shining on the back of the trailer and the water system started to work normally.

The empty sites next to me filled up around 6:00PM, but everyone was gone by 10:30AM. Lots of kids getting a last minute slide in 25°F temperatures before they left. There are still 3 other RVs in the loop besides me, two that arrived this morning. The park is not a bad stop over when traveling on I20. Far enough off the interstate to limit road noise (although I heard a distant train & horn this morning) and inexpensive for a Texas state park. If you have a crowd, the $4.00 per person daily fee can add up, but for a couple it isn't bad. You do have to cross the railroad tracks to get into the park - it might be a long wait for one of those mile long trains that frequent the line.

With all the excitement of no water, and 20°F temperature, I didn't do my usual pre breakfast walk; I waited until lunch time. I did some reading - currently I'm on the third book of T. R. Ragan's Jesse Cole series - Deranged. Each one of the series is a little better than the previous one.

It warmed up to 60°F by late afternoon, with lots of folks sliding on the sandhills. While most of the RV sites are empty, the picnic parking area is completely filled with cars. Quite windy - as disks go down the hill sometimes a plume of flying sand streams out behind.

Dinner was a Saffron Road Chicken Biryani bowl.

Until Tomorrow - 

2021 - 2022 Trip To The Southwest, Day 142

 Friday, March 11, Monahans Sandhills State Park, Monahans, TX - 207.1 Miles, 5,369 Miles for the Trip

Sand Sliding

I can't leave the Oasis without a photo of one of the unique RVs parked in the place. An interesting generator. Photo as well as today's site photo at today's LakeshoreImages page.

It was also an interesting trip to Monahans Sandhills State Park. Either the coordinates I found for it were wrong, or I made a typo, but what should have been a 135 mile trip with 2 miles of it within I20 turned into a 207 mile trip including a very washboarded dirt road. In any case, I'm here.

I managed to choose the coldest & windiest days over the last two & next two weeks to visit, but the entire area is suffering from a passing cold front. It will be in the 70's the day after I leave here, and was 72°F here yesterday. The prediction for Van Horn was 40°F this morning - it was 22°F. Of course, with a 40°F prediction, I left my water hose connected overnight. It crinkled a lot when I rolled it up, but at least I was able to shut off the water faucet. 

On a previous trip that had the same problem I was able to remove my hose, but could not close the faucet. I worried what would happen as the day warmed and the plug of ice melted, but no problem - while disconnecting my electric connection the plugged faucet melted and sprayed me with ice water. 

I'm in site 6, a water & electric site (I won't be using the water) for $19.00 per night ($15.00 for the site and the Texas park per person per day fee which is $4.00 here). The site is just big enough for the 21 with the truck connected, but sloped enough that I had to disconnect to level the trailer. About an inch side to side & a 3" drop for the front. A back in site on pavement. Many of the other sites in the campground are pull through, but they were already reserved when I called in December. The park has a sign up that says they are full, although there are lots of empty sites as of 5:00.

As you can see from the photos, the name of the park is appropriate. My picnic table is buried in the sand, as is my grill. There is a shade shelter, but even in the bright sunshine, at 40°F for the high & 20°F predicted for tonight, I don't plan to spend too much time outside.

There are folks sliding on the sand hills behind my site. The park rents disks to slide on & many come to the park for a day of sliding. While I find it too cold to spend much time outside, I guess if it was snow, the temperature would be perfect. Everyone is dressed for a day on the slopes; it is just sand instead of snow.

By the time I got here, registered and set up in the wind, it was already 4:50, so I didn't do much else for the afternoon. 

Dinner was an evol Portabella & Goat Cheese Ravioli Bowl.

Until Tomorrow -