Too Cold! Getting out of Texas

 Lucky Star Casino, El Reno, OK

On Sunday, Mar. 30th we were up and moving by 7. It was a cold, bitter morning only 5C but feeling cooler with the strong winds. Get us outta here! Bill had eaten so went out to do his his tire check. After my breakfast Gibbs and I went out for a short walk. Short and wind-blown!

Good morning!
Our spot at the Information Centre

We were pulling out of the information Centre at 8:05 and pulled directly across the road to Buc-ee's. It is a brand new facility here in this location; 63 fuel pumps, easily accessible, no transports and there is a selection of stores and food venues. Beats walking across the busy highway to Denny's for a meal! Diesel was $2.80/gal. Another time we will venture over to see what is offered.

Gibbs waits while Daddy does last minute
outdoor things

It is cloudy so we hope to see some clearing throughout the day to charge our batteries. Needless to say we switched from shorts and sandals to long pants, jackets, socks and sneakers. Yes, we are spoiled after a winter of heat, leaving Yuma at 90F/32C. We got back on I-40E and by 9:30 we were in full sunny skies, just as I hoped.

Buc-ee's is huge
and roomy for small cars to
big rv's.

Across from Buc-ee's
is where we stayed overnight.
An easy entrance to I-40E

At a non-facility rest area (truck pull-off) we pulled off to let Gibbs piddle to help settle him. He took his last Gravol pill this morning so he's at least laying down. If he could only talk to tell us why he pants so much. This route, I-40, is where we see a lot of familiar sights from our trips since 2016.  In Groom, TX, the 19' metal cross (Groom Cross) is always picture worthy, most of us capture it as we pass. Plus, the Leaning Tower of Britten (Texas) has an interesting story of its origin but you'll have to Google these yourself. They aren't 'linkable'. 😉 

The Groom Cross
and
The Leaning Tower of Britten

Another few miles and we crossed into Oklahoma. I missed the picture again but I did get a nicer one. A full service rest area wasn't far down the road so we stopped there for Bill and I. We try not to open slides if we don't have to on the road, and our bathroom doesn't have access unless we do. I'm sure you remember THAT dilemma!🤣 This is where I captured a lovely Oklahoma sign. Wasting no time, I was excited for our short travel day, we were on I-40 again.

The Oklahoma Welcome Rest Area
Bottom left: light at the end of the tunnel?

The temporary clear blue sky was replaced again by clouds and with that, the temperature never rose above 50F/10C during our drive. We did reach our destination, Lucky Star Casino at El Reno, OK in good time, arriving at 12 noon. There are 12 FREE full hook-up sites available, first come first serve and today we were only 1 of 2 taking advantage. With a bit of a snag (so far) on Black Beauty, we plan to stay 2 nights at the minimum. We'll find out more on Monday. It's okay, we were going to be dragging our feet a bit anyway, not in a rush to cross back into Ontario's spring aka winter! 😜

Pretty ponies, more clouds but
smooth highway, spring blossoms!!

Once set up, that darn north wind is very cold, the sun made some appearances and we had egg salad sandwiches for lunch. Bill went in to register at the casino and the rest of the day is for relaxing. He didn't sleep well last night, worry keeps him awake too, so went up to the bedroom with Gibbs to catch some zzzz's. I put the furnace as soon as we got opened up since the Suite was only 55F/13C and we don't like that! We hope to reach about 61F/16C but the wind will determine that. We are safe and settled for a few days.

Arrival at a familiar spot
originally found on www.freecampsites.net
in 2016/17.
We've been back often.

A couple of our friends have arrived back home to their homes in Canada, one in B.C. and one in Ontario. Glad to hear that all went well and their wheels are on home ground. 😊 We watched a movie together and then at 5, wandered over to the casino for a meal. 

Our temporary back yard.

Bill says I've been good enough to deserve a night off cooking! (even though his meals aren't that great!) 💗 We got our fill and then took a chance on a couple of 1¢ machines and walked out with the loss of only $1 between us. Bill was luckier than me. 

Shrimp, mashed potatoes and gravy
with '5-way' (5 mixed veggies)
Tasty, hot and filling.

Back home, we found American Idol at 7 pm and it would soon be bed time for me after that. This was a great day and we hope tomorrow brings good news for Black Beauty. It will be another cool night so we brought the Blue Flame heater out rather than using the furnace. 

While my boys were dozing, these strays visited.
I tapped on the window and they wandered off, like
2 lost souls (no collars) up to the highway.
After supper, a single sweet looking dog came around
ours and the 2 neighbours sites. No collar. ????
So sad as they all looked friendly.
Good night!

Thank you for following us on our easterly route. Your comments are appreciated.