Pucker time....

8:11 am - Tuesday - April 24th - Joplin, MO - 48º F, 85% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the east by northeast.....clear blue skies with a forecast high we will not experience of 75º F.  Nice to have an almost windless day!

We had decided Sunday night we would not leave OKC until after 10 am Monday.....we were only going to drive a little over 200 miles for the day, plus there was no weather, or wind to outrun.  While TLE took care some housekeeping I dumped our black tank for the first time on our trip, checked the oil, and tire pressures of the trailer tires.  All went smoothly.  

I then turned my attention to an issue I had noticed while driving on Sunday.....my oil temperature gauge was not registering a temperature all day.  I suspected a wire had come lose from the temp sensor on the oil pan, so I checked it only to find exactly what I hoped to find.....the temp sensor wire dangling loose.......

The new connector connected to the oil temp sensor once again

.....I carry a supply of all types of 12 volt connectors so I opened up the trailer and found the plastic box containing them, pulled out a new connector, stripped the insulation of the end of the wire, and crimped on the new one.....easy peasy....and order is restored.

I fired up the big 6V92 around 10:10 am and we were on our way to the Interstate on ramp and cruising east bound on I-44 for about a mile.....our fuel gauge was just past 1/2 empty and Oklahoma is replete with low diesel prices right now so we found a station just off the Interstate charging $2.72/gallon for diesel.  We took on 107 gallons at a cost just under $300.  I checked our mileage and found we had averaged 7 mpg for the last 745 miles.....that's the best we have done in quite a while.  Usually we are around 6-6.5 mpg.

We were back on the Interstate within 30 minutes cruising north by northeast.  I-44 is a toll road all the way from OKC to the Missouri border.  Now, to be fair they really keep this Interstate maintained, and in excellent condition as I would hope they would.  We paid a total of $22.50 in tolls for the 200 miles to the Missouri border, and for that cost expect good roads.....

.....as I mentioned above they really maintain this Interstate, and there were several construction zones along our route.....some with the dreaded 'K' rail.  Through this section all trucks must remain in the #2, or right lane which is just barely wide enough.....it can't be any wider than 9.5, or 10 feet..........

Yup....that 'K' rail really is as close is it appears!

......TLE snapped the picture below using her review mirror to show how close I was to this 'K' rail for about 15 miles.....

.....see how close the trailer tires are to the 'K' rails?  All I could do was focus on staying in the middle of the lane.....it was definitely, and officially 'PUCKER TIME'!  Finally the construction zone ended,  just before the final toll booth..... 

.....and just past the toll booth was a toll road Rest Area replete with fast food, truck parking, and gift shops, so I pulled in, parked the Newell and cleared my head for about 15 minutes before we continued to the Missouri border, and the Downstream Casino parking lot.

Finally the Missouri welcome sign appeared, and the sign for 'Exit 1' in Missouri.....our exit.  Within three minutes we were selecting one of about 20 sites available for RV's.......all have water and electric (50 amp) which you can utilize for free for one one day.....after that the daily cost is $30.  I found this site on 'FreeCampsites.net', one of my several sources for overnight stays.  All you have to do is go into the  casino and acquire your 'Q Club' card and you are good to go for one night of free hookups!

So, after 7 days of travel we have now covered 1,517 miles (upper left corner of the Garmine GPS) and are very close to the half way point in our journey to Smuggler's Den RV Park in Maine. 

After hooking up our electric (I didn't bother with the water since we are only staying overnight, and I just topped off the fresh water tank before we left OKC) we walked over to the casino to get our club card, and register for our campsite.  We both got a club card with which you get $7.00 to gamble away if you wish......

......after buying a mocha frappuccino at their coffee shop TLE and I went over to the electronic penny slot machines.  I loaded in $5 of my $7 and began to bet .30 cents at a time.  My balance went up and down over the course of 30 minutes, but I ended up doubling the $5 walking away with $10.83!  I'm not a big gambler, so it's easy for me to stop while I'm ahead, which I did.  TLE was not so fortunate.....she ended up with .12 cents left out of her $5.  We cashed in our winnings and headed back to the Newell for the evening.......

Site #14....all concrete parking lot located a good 1/2 mile from the casino.....nice and quiet!

.....we spent the evening catching up on some recorded shows, plus one show ('Timeless') using our ROKU TV connection....sweet! It was so pleasant outside we left most of our windows open overnight.....haven't been able to do that for about a week now.

Some of you may wonder what sources I use to find overnight spots to park. Following is a list of my favorites:

1) www.freecampsites.com

2) www.RVParkReviews.com

3) www.passport-america.com/

4) Days End Directory....no direct link available as you must be a member of 'Escapees' to utilize this resource.

I never fail to find a great overnight site whether it involves an actual RV park where you pay, or something free, or as close to free as you can get utilizing these sources.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Oklahoma!

7:41 am - Monday - April 23rd - Oklahoma City, OK - 50º F, 90% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the north by northwest......cloudy with a forecast high for today of 74º F.

Shortly after awakening Sunday I was checking the weather on my phone and noticed that the winds would be coming out of the north all along our route with the worst of the wind around Elk City, OK at over 20 mph around mid morning.  Elk City was about 130 miles east of us so it was imperative we get back on the Interstate and cover as many miles as possible before the wind got bad.

We were rolling out of the Cracker Barrel parking lot by 8:10 am and up to highway speed on the Interstate within minutes.  Initially there was no wind at all, and it was very overcast......for a while I thought what we saw in the distance was rain.......

.....but it was not......just very low clouds.  As we continued eastward we saw this old, abandoned water tower that was leaning over so much I was surprised it did not fall.  I guess it has been that way for years......

......it soon began to clear, and eventually the winds from the north began to appear.  Most of the day we were going due east on I-40 so the winds were coming from the drivers side of the Newell forcing me to crank the steering wheel hard to the left almost 1/3 turn.....this is the kind of wind I hate, but at least it was steady and not gusting.

 Heading due east on I-40

Ultimately we entered Oklahoma, but there were no signs welcoming us like we saw in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.....just this sign indicating an Oklahoma Information Center and Rest Area 4 miles distant.....

....we finally got our official Oklahoma sign at the rest area.....it was well worth the wait.....it almost seems like the sign is shouting 'OKLAHOMA!'.  As we travel we stop every 60-90 miles depending on what is available, and at least once a day, sometimes more, we get dressed and go for at least 1/2 mile, but mostly for a mile, or more.  This day we walked 1.2 miles....a couple of times around the Rest Area.

The rest of the day's drive saw me fighting the ever stiffening winds continuously.  We took two more rest stops before finally reaching Oklahoma City.  We were here about 9 years ago and stayed at an RV park on the northeast side of town called Twin Fountains RV Resort.  It is right near the junction of I-44 (yes, we have left I-40 after 6 days) and I-35.  It fits our requirements for being 'easy off and easy on', and having very large, long pull through sites.  We hadn't plugged in for a few days, and TLE needed to do a load of wash so we got off the Interstate around 2:30 pm and snagged a site (P-4) which puts us right at the exit for the RV park.....perfect!  Just as 9 years ago we had no reservation at this very popular park, but got a site easily (it is quite full).

Once TLE got the wash going we walked across the street to a local 'health and wellness' school and walked for about 2 miles on their series of walking trails.....

....we walked a combination of their three trails to get our 2 miles of walking.

Around 6 pm we put on our bathing suits and walked over to the Jacuzzi for a good hot soak, and what a hot soak it was!  It was the perfect temperature.  You know how sometimes you in get in the Jacuzzi, or even the bath tub and it feels hot initially, but within a couple of minutes you are wishing it was hotter?  Well, this was was perfect in that I never wished it was hotter.  We soaked for about 30 minutes, which really helped relieve any residual tenseness remaining from our windy drive earlier.

We've now covered almost 1,300 miles on our journey to Maine, leaving roughly 2,000 miles to go.  We're going to slow down a little over the next week, and are planning on spending at least 3 days in St. Louis visiting TLE's brother, Creig (pronounced Craig), and his lovely wife Kay.  

Thanks for stopping by!

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