Looking Forward to a Driving Break, Remembrance Day

Eagle Landing RV Resort, Grove, OK

It was way too early when I first woke up on Thursday, Nov. 11^th. I realized that Bill, beside me, was also awake. “What time is it?” he asked. Our dresser clock goes on the fritz each time we go from generator to invertor power. It is an old one with no battery. A new clock is on our list. So, I misinformed Bill of the time and he got up with Gibbs, crawling back in saying “it’s 4:45 not 5:45” so we went back to sleep. We rested at least. My Fitbit won’t change time – the culprit.

A nice day coming our way

I think it was just before 6 when we all got up for the day. We made our tea and coffee and fed Gibbs. He still gets excited about all the trucks around us but has settled down a bit for our walks. I took him out for a long walk down the mock Route 66 strip and took pictures of the building. What a gorgeous morning!  I met a truck driver in shorts and flip flops and did a shudder. “I’m from Texas, it’s 80F”. 😊 I told him that we were headed that way.

The rest area is very nice

Each building has a nice picnic table inside

We had our cereal and read our books for a while, packing up around 8:30, and pulled out just before 9. Today, we’re looking forward to a short trip, arrival around noon hour. Within 10 minutes if not less, Gibbs was sleeping in the back. ♥ It was a smooth ride on I-44W and at 10:30 we took Exit 11(A) onto I-49S/US-71S for 16 miles. The temperature had risen from 48F/8C to 55F/13C and we only have about an hour left today. 😊

Look at the size of that oak leaf
That's a size 8 shoe 

Exit 24 took us onto US-60. We’ve noticed poor wifi service along the routes this year. Especially when we’re driving but also at some of our stops, it has been spotty. We are using our Hotspots on our phones but have to be patient for doing searches. Again, another non-stress concern. It is what it is. US-60 is a 2-lane highway with minimal traffic and a good road. Maybe today for the first time, things in the Suite won’t have bounced all over the place!

Pretty drive today

Some people are so creative, this is a fibreglass trailer

New state crossing

After driving for another 12 miles, we crossed the state line into Oklahoma! It was 10:54am. Soon enough, we arrived at Grove and crossed the Sailboat Bridge. Eagles Landing RV Resort is a membership park with our ROD (Roads of Distinction). That ROD gets us free camping but we’ve noticed over the years since starting this lifestyle that the parks can designate their own price, regardless. So, we’re paying $10/night for 3 nights and plan on just chilling and catching up on our zzz’s.

What a view coming down towards Grove, OK

However, before we pulled out of the rest area, we missed the part about No exceptions to their 3 o’clock check-in at the park, so after arriving at noon, we drove down the street to the Cherokee Casino and ‘put down stakes’. Not IN the casino, on the pavement. I was hungry and boiled up one of my noodle soups while Bill made his peanut butter and cheese sandwich. 😊 Loree, Ron, Suzie, George and us came here for a meal the last time we were here. 2017/18. It was the first time we met the Fonts. ♥ I remember that meeting fondly.

We all had a snooze at the Casino while
we waited for the park to let us in

We dozed and read. Actually, I managed to finish my book and give it 5*. At 3, we pulled out and drove the 2 minutes to Eagles Landing RV Resort. Staff ushered us down to Site #308 and after a fair bit of jiggying, we got into place on the cement tracks they wanted us on. The ground was so soft. As Bill started setting up, I took Gibbs for a long walk around the park, to keep him out of the way. I enjoyed reacquainting myself with the area and he enjoyed the smells in a new place. 😊

Finally, we were allowed in

Not everything goes smoothly and it didn’t for us. 😏 The front landing gear went down but once it got to the bottom, it stopped before we needed it to. Then it wouldn't go up for us to level out completely, nor would it go down further. The other 4 jacks went up and down easily. Our Suite was on a tilt front to back but no matter what Bill tried, those front ones wouldn't budge. It was a worry that if we were able to pull the truck out, would the trailer drop onto the tailgate? Bill called Andy at CanAm, back home, and got a couple of suggestions to try, which he did. 

The top white wire was the problem
Easy fix! 😄

It wasn't the switch and it wasn't the valve fluid. This pointed him in the right direction and he eventually found that a wire had come loose from the valve terminal. Bill almost did a little happy dance and I know our hearts were pumped when he said "we fixed her!" 👍👍 (Update: I waited to post my blog this morning, hoping we'd have it fixed Friday, one way or the other) We slept well last night regardless of the issue playing on my mind. I have the ultimate faith in my husband and if it can be fixed easily, he will figure it out. 😍

This big guy is across from the Casino

The park is on Grand Lake which makes for lovely photos

This little burp had us in a conundrum and so much for trying not to be stressed. I began thinking of the positives and the blessings. This could have happened at the rest area, it could have happened earlier today at the casino. It didn't,  so we are very fortunate to be in a safe place where we plan to stay for a while no matter what the outcome had been. Now we can carry on and enjoy ourselves. 

The waterfall pond was one of the last things they were working on
when we left in 2018

The weather will be decent, sunshine every day and nothing below 50F/10C for daytime highs. We can deal with that. For supper, we had omelettes on toast or a tortilla. It hit the spot. We need to pick up a few groceries while we’re here. There’s a Walmart in town. Our data connection seems sporadic so I'll be downloading and finishing my post in the morning. It was great news this afternoon to hear that my sister, Gayle and her husband, John, made it across the border as well. They had a bit of a wait, but were just happy to slip into the U.S. and start their winter journey. 💓

Love this rock and how they've used it

It was a quiet evening. Bill turned the tv on and used our antennae and we got quite a number of programs. The best was MeTV which was all the old shows from the 60's and 70's. We watched a special of the MASH finale and at 9:30 when Hogan's Heroes came on, I went up to bed. Bill stayed up until midnight, enjoying them. This was a great day; a short drive day, a wait at the Casino and a blip at the park but we will enjoy the rest. 

Eggs for supper 
Good night!

Thank you for stopping by. Remember the veterans today.