Travel Day and More

Yesterday morning we were at Fenton Ford in Dumas before 8:00, hoping to get our overdue (just a year) inspection on the motor home done and get on the road towards Oklahoma.

We got right in, I think we interrupted their morning coffee routine, but the guys in service didn’t seem to mind.  The plan had been to go east from Dumas on Texas 152 and get on I-40 at Pampa, but after hearing about the storms in Oklahoma City and construction, on I-35 South, we opted to go south on US 287 and take the 335 loop around Amarillo, follow 287 to Memphis, (yes, that’s Memphis, Texas) and head east  on 256 from there.  We stayed on the back roads all day, avoiding most interstates.  It was a good decision, traffic was almost non-existent, the scenery was, well – it was what it was:

And before long, we crossed another state line:

The weather was cooperative with hardly any wind and no storms, so we just kept going, and decided that we would just finish the trip and get on to Lake Texoma State Park in Kingston, Oklahoma.   We arrived just after 4 and found our way to the park office.  Oklahoma state parks are interesting – they don’t publish a whole lot of information on their web site, and they don’t take reservations at their campgrounds.  But the parks we’ve visited have been really nice.  We are on a site with full hook-ups, parked on a concrete pad with a picnic table and charcoal grill included.  We’re on a little peninsula of Lake Texoma, so we are almost completely surrounded by water.

Our front view:

And our back view:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our travel day was just about 400 miles in 7.5 hours, and our fuel mileage averaged around 9.4 mpg for the day.  When we got parked and set up, we ate our crock-pot pork tenderloin that had been cooking in green chili salsa all day.  Then we just settled in for the evening, knowing that the next few days will be very busy with Jim’s family reunion.

This morning, we got our routines taken care of and drove over to Jim’s Aunt Ruth & Uncle Wayne’s place about 18 miles from here.  They weren’t expecting us until this afternoon, so it was a nice surprise for them. We had a lot of shopping errands to handle, getting food and supplies for the reunion on Saturday.  The 4 of us piled into Ruth & Wayne’s van and we headed off to Dennison and Sherman (Texas) for the shopping.  Two Walmarts and a Sam’s Club later, we had most of the food that will be prepared.  Jim is in charge of the brisket, so we know that will be good!

Most of the family will start arriving on Friday, and the main reunion day is Saturday.  We all usually go to breakfast on Sunday morning before people start heading back home.  We know it will be busy and fun for the next few days before we head off to more adventures. 

Oh, and I’m happy to report that I have my wish for warm weather!  As I’m writing this, it is just after 6 p.m. and the temperature is 97 degrees!  Woo-Hoo!