Babies

We left Oklahoma on Friday morning and covered the 800 miles to arrive in Holbrook, Arizona Saturday just after lunch. We left tornado alley and are now simmering in the high temps they are experiencing here. Before we left OKC, we did get to go to the zoo. We wanted to see Malee, the baby elephant from last year. Not only did we see Malee but lots of cute babies. It was a fun day.

 

 

 

 

The parents were fun to watch too. They were up to adult like shenanigans…

The first part of the drive was very windy, pushing the rig a bit while driving. Not crazy about that but after we got to around New Mexico, the wind died down and it was much more enjoyable. Weather was great….blue skies and temps in the low 70’s. We spent Friday night at a rest stop in New Mexico and it was the quietest rest area we’ve ever stayed in.

In other news, Boomer is doing great after his surgery last Tuesday. He had a tumor inside his mouth that we only realized very recently when we had a new found friend, who’s a vet, look at it. She said it should come out, because it would only continue to grow. Boomer went under anesthesia and they cut it out and then cauterized it. He’s been on antibiotics but is back to normal. We’re happy that it went so smoothly.

In other medical news, my mom is home from the hospital. She went to Wal-Mart on Friday morning and passed out at the register. My sister took her to the doctor and they admitted her for 24 hours to check her out. Turns out the new heart medicine they had put her on a few days earlier was too strong a dose and made her blood pressure go really high. I talked to her today and she sounded great and they did a thorough check of everything while she was in the hospital. She too is back to normal and we’re very happy about that. Pennsylvania is under the gun today for some snow…yuck ! It was 85 degrees here today and they are looking at snow. Crazy weather…

Oklahoma City

We had wanted to go to the zoo last weekend but once I remembered that it was Easter and they were having an egg hunt (meaning lots and lots of kids), I decided that Sunday wasn’t the day to go. During the week we worked…that is always exhausting so we always enjoy the peace and quiet of the weekend. Mother Nature didn’t get the memo that those were supposed to be the conditions here this weekend. We were plugging along yesterday afternoon, with a few more stops to make, when we got a text from our friend Susie saying that there was a large storm headed our way. The sky had been darkening rather quickly so we drove back to the rig to assess the situation. The local TV channels were going crazy with tracking of the storms. Linda and I figured out our plan since there had been talk of bad weather this weekend. We had stopped in the office at lunch time and asked them about the siren system. As former PA residents, we don’t have those back in PA. We asked what exactly does it mean when it goes off ? Is there one on the ground within x miles or what. A: It means that one has formed or been spotted in that county. Where is the storm shelter and can we get in there after the office closes. A: It’s between the laundry room and the office and yes, the door will be unlocked after the office closes. Can we bring our dog in there ? A: yes  So we made our plan, knowing that the worst of everything was going to happen through the night.

So, back to watching the weather on TV…Linda was texting our friend Susie at the University, in Norman, where she is working. The TV station has a chopper in the air, near the storm. As the pilot is talking, he zooms in on the rain wrapped clouds and a funnel cloud appeared out of the clouds and dropped to the ground. Holy crap ! They are so precise out here at predicting the movement of these cells (they get a lot of practice !) Long story short, it touched down in Norman and skipped across an area about five blocks from the University where Susie was working. Bunch of damage….just a few minor injuries. Norman is the town where we were last week. We left the state park there last Friday and moved to Oklahoma City…an hour away.

Last night we had a 30% chance of any storms hitting the OKC area. We thought it would be a quiet night. It wasn’t….once the storms fired up, it was so noisy most of the night. So much lightening and thunder. We tried to lay down at 8:30, knowing that it was going to be a busy night. Didn’t get much sleep till midnight with all the storms. At 2:30 the siren went off. Even with my ear plugs in, I heard it. I had been concerned that I might not be able to hear it. We jumped up, did what we had pre-arranged to do and headed out the door to the shelter. I had Boomer and ran to the shelter with him. Linda took the car and drove to the shelter. We were one of the first to arrive. A lady met us as we came through the door and said the tornado was in Piedmont and was moving away from us. We had no idea where  that was but when we got back to the rig and looked off in the distance, the sky was going crazy with lightening. Tons of rain over night. The water was running down the street, here in the park.

We had a great break today. Susie and Dave Smeal met us at the Warren Theatre, in Moore to take in a movie. We first went to Taco Mayo, just a short distance from the theatre, for a bite to eat. We went to see 21 Jump Street, which was hilarious and the sound and picture image was the best I’ve ever seen (or heard). This is a gorgeous theatre !There is a restaurant and bar on the top floor, for folks over 21 years of age and willing to pay more to go up there. Lots of neat areas, wall murals and gorgeous neon in the art deco style. We loved it and it was nice to see Dave and Susie again before we leave the area. So glad that Bobbie gave us their contact info so we could meet them. Looking forward to meeting up with them out on the road as we criss cross the country.

It was a nice break but we arrived back at the rig to see that the TV stations are already tracking storms in the western part of the state. Very windy here right now. We pulled the slide in so the slide topper doesn’t take a beating.Bracing for more storms tonight. The good news is that there is a Sprint cup race tonight. The bad news is that it’s on FOX and will probably be pre-empted by the weather.   :(

National Cowboy Museum

We left Lake Thunderbird State Park, in Norman, on Friday morning bound for McClain’s to get the parts put on and then on to Oklahoma City to our next park. Arrived at McClain’s and left the rig to get the new board put on the monitoring panel and the new turntable on the microwave. We went out to make sales calls while they worked on the rig. Around noon, we came back to check on the status of the repairs. They were all done so we headed out to get set up at the park. Seems so good to have the microwave working again and now we can assess all of our systems since they got the new board put in. Life is good with the rig right now.

This morning we decided to go to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, which is only a couple of miles from  the park. We’ve never been there before but have heard great things about it. Wow, what an awesome place. We spent about two hours there and could have spent even more time. Anything to do with cowboys, settling of the west, rodeo and art work is there. The place is huge, as are some of the sculptures. Linda is standing at the base of this sculpture, which is 18 feet tall. It’s massive but so expressive and has an amazing history. The piece stands in the main entry of the museum.

Not only are the exhibits neat (and I’m not a great fan of most museums), but the outside grounds are breathtaking. The azaleas (many different colors), hostas, waterfalls and flower beds were beautiful. Check out these pictures…

The on-premise restaurant is gearing up for tomorrow’s Easter brunch. We got to see the menu and it looked awesome (was making me hungry just reading it). Brunch is something like $21.98 per person and includes free admission into the museum. The restaurant and the large banquet room were being set up for what looked to be a very large turnout.

Inside the museum they have a replica of an old western town set up…19 full size buildings with many of them open so you can walk inside and check out what the schoolhouse or bank would look like. A really neat way to show kids what it was like in the old west.

This is a picture I took of the blackboard in the old school house. Do you think those two words that are missing from the Pledge of Allegiance are a result of modern day controversy, weren’t there in 1905 or someone snuck up there and erased them? Curious minds want to know.

Neat place with lots of things to check out…a good place to take the little buckaroos too. Tomorrow we’re thinking about going to the zoo. Last year, at this time, a baby elephant was born but we weren’t able to see her due to the bonding of mother and baby for several weeks after the birth. Malee will be one in another week and we want to see her. Hoping for a nice day so we can go. Hope everyone is having a great weekend ! More to come….

Blogger Labels: National Cowboy Museum,

Coast Is Clear….

Last night we unhooked from shore power and stowed the power cord. I don’t remember if I had mentioned in a previous post that last Tuesday we purchased a portable surge guard, while we were at Camping World waiting for our microwave to get checked out. A neighbor of ours, in the 30 amp section of the campground, told me that there is quite a bit of “dirty power” here in the park and that concerned me. We’ve been lucky for the five years we’ve been on the road but figured that since the converter was being replaced, that we want the best chance of keeping our electronic items intact. Hence, our purchase…and they were on sale at Camping World so it eased the bite a little bit. But, based on the article I posted last night,a lightening strike to the ground around us could still do damage so we disconnected from the pedestal, stowed the cord and went to bed.

I’d been watching the radar, before going to bed, and the advancing line of storms was a little ways off. Just a few minutes after going to bed, we heard a huge bang. Not talking about a “Clap” of thunder….this was very, very loud (if I can hear it through my mega-decibel ear plugs, it’s LOUD !) We both sat upright…as best you can in a loft style bedroom, without whacking your head. Whatever or wherever the sound came from, it was very close. There were other storms throughout the night, but none as loud as that one. This morning things calmed down. We had rain off and on today but nothing of any concern. We couldn’t believe the news about the tornados in the Arlington area. We worked a park there in December and that area is due south of us here. Wow, so scary ! Our companies headquarters is close to the area stricken today but everyone is ok. One of the employees apartment building lost its roof so he’ll have to find temporary housing for a while. Everyone was really lucky based on the videos of the damage in that area. Temps were in the 60’s today. Expected to warm up as the week wears on…Moving from here to Oklahoma City on Friday.

Lightning and RV’s

It’s gonna be one of those nights. A sleepless one that is. There are severe thunderstorm warnings out for the western part of the state and the string of storms is headed this way. Hoping it might fizzle out before it gets here. Just in case, we’ll unplug the rig and stow the cord before we go to bed. Our new friends, Dave and Susie Smeal sent us an article on lightning and RV’s, which was interesting reading. It’s a rather lengthy article but very important info so I’ve pasted it here, along with the credits of those who wrote it.

Lightning and Recreation Vehicles (RVs)
…treat lightning like a snake: if you see it or hear it take evasive measures…
The purpose of this paper is to acquaint the reader with lightning in general and the affect of lightning in particular on an RV. Many of the statements made in this article have been copied directly from the Internet site or homepage WEB pages of the National Lightning Safety Institute (NLSI). Other statements from referenced sources have been modified to relate to RVs. Others result from interviews or e-mails with people who have encountered lightning. The short version of the paper is If parked and a lightning storm is nearby, make sure the RV jacks are retracted and the shore power lines are disconnected and stored. Three examples of lightning detectors are provided.
Lightning has been known to strike more than 10 miles from a storm in an area of clear sky. There is no defense for lightning's bolt-out-of-the-blue occasional strike. But for the most part, lightning safety is a risk management procedure. Early recognition of the lightning hazard, with an awareness of defensive options, will provide high levels of safety. The frequency of lightning increases in the lower latitudes (closer to the equator), and in the higher altitudes (mountainous terrain). In the USA, central Florida experiences some 10-15 lightning strikes per sq. km./yr. Over the entire year, the highest frequency of cloud-to-ground lightning is in Florida between Tampa and Orlando. This is due to the presence, on many days during the year, of large moisture content in the atmosphere at low levels (below 5,000 feet), as well as high surface temperatures that produce strong sea breezes along the Florida coasts. The Rocky Mountain west has about two-thirds this activity. Half of the casualties of lightning strikes occur in open fields. The most common situation for a lightning death or injury in Florida was found NOT to be in the heaviest rain area with lots of flashes, but after or before the time when rain and lightning was the most intense. Essentially, the most dangerous times occur from a weak storm without too many flashes, at the edge of a larger storm, or early or late in the life of a storm. Much of a storm's lightning remains within the clouds, leaping from the negatively charged bottom of the clouds to the positively charged top. When an object on the ground, such as a tree, building or an RV, becomes positively charged, the lightning sparks to the ground. A bolt of lightning can be as great as 15 million volts.
Lightning leaders from thunderclouds proceed in steps of tens of meters, electrifying ground-based objects as they approach the earth. Ground-based objects may launch lightning streamers to meet these leaders. Streamers may be heard (some say they sound like bacon frying) and seen (we may notice our hair standing on end). A connecting leader-streamer results in a closed circuit cloud-to-ground lightning flash. Thunder is the acoustic shock wave from the electrical discharge. Thus, thunder and lightning are associated with one another. According to a NASA study, men are struck by lightning four times more often than women.
Flash/Bang. Sound travels at about 1,100 feet per second. We all possess a first-class lightning detection device, built into our heads as standard equipment. By referencing the time in seconds from seeing the lightning (the FLASH, or F) to hearing the accompanying thunder (the BANG, or B), we can range lightning's distance. An F to B of five seconds equals lightning distance being one mile away. An F to B of ten = two miles; an F to B of twenty = four miles; an F to B of thirty = six miles; etc.
New information shows successive, sequential lightning strikes (distances from Strike 1 to Strike 2 to Strike 3) can be some 6 to 8 miles apart. Taking immediate defensive actions is recommended when lightning is indicated within 6 to 8 miles. The next strike could be close enough to be an immediate and severe threat. Lightning is a capricious and random event. Lightning cannot be accurately predicted. Lightning cannot be prevented. Lightning, however, can be detected. Advanced planning in the form of a risk management plan is the best defense for maximum safety. According to the NLSI, common misconceptions and myths include:
Rubber tires or a foam pad will insulate me from lightning… it takes about 10,000 volts to create a one-inch spark. Lightning has millions of volts and easily can jump 10-20 feet.
Lightning never strikes twice… it strikes the Empire State Building in NYC some 22-25 times per year !
Recreation Vehicles and Lightning What happens when lightning strikes a recreation vehicle? The answer, gleaned from anecdotal observations, is all the way from "nothing" to "Wow ! What a mess. . . my RV is a disaster." I have determined that few, if any, RVs get struck while mobile. They are mostly vulnerable when connected to shore power and/or when they have their jacks deployed without at least five inches of wood or some other insulator between the jacks and ground. I have noted that RVs are more susceptible to damage from induced lightning surges when connected to shore power and lightning hits nearby transformers. According to the NLSI, lightning's median amplitude is assumed to be about 20,000 Amps. Typically, a metal plate 3/16 inch thick will not be penetrated by that high of a current.
Electrically speaking, at lightning's higher frequencies, currents are carried mostly on the outside of conducting objects. A thick copper wire or a hollow-wall metal pipe will carry most of the lightning on outer surfaces. This phenomenon is called Skin Effect. The same holds true for lightning striking a metal vehicle (a vehicle with a solid metal roof and metal sides): the outer surface carries most of the electricity. The persons inside this steel box are partially protected by a partial Faraday Cage. But, some recreation vehicles do not have a surrounding metal cage. If an RV is manufactured of fiberglass, a direct lightning strike will likely go right through the vehicle, even if the vehicle body does not conduct electricity. Wet surfaces alter the current path. One of the most dangerous places is just outside of a vehicle, because electric current travels around the outside of vehicles.
Consistent with lightning's capricious nature, situations alter results. Are the RV jacks deployed directly on the ground? Is your generator on? Both of these situations increase your chance to attract lightning. If the RV is made of fiberglass (a poor conductor), Skin Effect principles may not work. On a 30 or 50-amp shore power cord, the connector connects the RV frame ground to the shore power earth ground. This path is designed to prevent an electrical shock from touching an electrical enclosure. The power cable will not provide a sufficient conductor to ground in the event of a lightning strike to the RV frame. There are devices available to help absorb some of lightning's tremendous energy by putting MOVs (Metal Oxide Varistor) from each line to common, but there is no sure fire, 100% safeguard for lightning. If you are in a severe storm the best protection is to lift your jacks and unplug. You may run some risk of personal injury as you are exposed while you are unplugging. According to Richard Kithil of the National Lightning Safety Institute, most reports of the economic impact of lightning are contradictory and underreported. I could not find a paper or study on lightning and RVs.
The Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) Circuit Breaker Field Study, sponsored by the Leviton Institute, reviewed data from 13,380 building inspections and found 15 %, on average, of GFCIs were inoperative when tested. The study looked at both GFCI circuit breakers and GFCI receptacles, and found similar failure rates for each. The data suggested that lightning strikes are one likely culprit in many inoperative GFCIs. The study found a much higher incidence of failure in areas where lightning is prevalent. In those regions, as many as 58 percent of GFCIs were found to be inoperative.
Reported damage to vehicles includes pitting, arcing, burning on both exterior and interior places. Cases have been reported of total destruction of vehicle wiring, and associated electrical and electronic systems. Police department reports include bad burns to the hands and mouth where officers were using radio microphones when their vehicles were struck. Cases describe total blowout of all four tires in passenger cars. However, a video in the National Lightning Safety Institute library shows a station wagon being struck by lightning in a heavy rainstorm, with no damage whatsoever occurring.
Some general recommendations for RV users include: If parked, make sure the RV jacks are retracted and the shore power lines are stored and disconnected. Do not store your power cable under your RV. Retract and store all deployed antenna. Disconnect external TV/Satellite antenna wiring. Reported incidents and related injuries make it clear that a person inside a fully enclosed metal vehicle must not be touching metallic objects connected to the outside of the vehicle. Door and window handles, radio dials, CB microphones, gearshifts, steering wheels and other inside-to-outside metal objects should be left alone during close-in lightning events. I suggest pulling off to the side of the road in a safe manner, turning on the emergency blinkers, turning off the engine, putting one's hands in one's lap, and waiting out the storm. Do not wash hands or take a shower during a storm. Do not get close to electrical appliances such as the TV or plug in laptop PCs. In no circumstances, during close-in lightning, should the passengers attempt to step off the RV to the ground in an attempt to find another shelter. Very dangerous Step Voltage and Touch Voltage situations are created when a "dual pathway to ground" is created. Lightning voltages will attempt to
equalize and they may go through a person in order to do so. Do not get on the roof of your RV when a storm is nearby! Don't be an isolated tall object, and don't be connected to anything that may be an isolated tall object.
To further lower your odds, don't park your RV near the tallest trees or utility poles. Rubber tires provide zero safety from lightning. After all, lightning has traveled for miles through the sky: four or five inches of rubber are no insulation whatsoever. People should get into a safe shelter. If not possible, make sure all windows are closed and the "hands on laps" rule is observed. If you can't get to a safer location, avoid the most dangerous locations and activities. Avoid higher elevations, wide-open areas, tall isolated objects, and water-related activities. Avoid unprotected open structures like picnic pavilions, and rain shelters.
An open-framed vehicle, which includes most RVs, does not count as a lightning shelter. If lightning is imminent, it will often give a few seconds of warning: hair standing up, tingling skin, light metal objects vibrating, seeing corona discharge, and/or hearing a crackling or "kee-kee" sound. The recommended body position is to immediately get into the fetal position. A vehicle with a metal roof provides good shelter, and is much better than being in the open or in an ungrounded building, but the vehicle is not as good as being in a building that is grounded by wires and pipes.
One case history included the following information: "Our lightning strike came through the campground fuse box (we were #1 next to the box) via the local sub station that got the direct strike. The surge may have gone to ground from the battery rack or through the frame to the hydraulic jacks. The coach batteries were totally discharged, the charger was fried and a 115-volt line to the cab area shorted out against the frame. I don't think the batteries were boiled dry. When the charger failed the surge must have gone directly to ground and quickly discharged the six coach batteries. The chassis batteries still had a charge and I was able to shunt power to the inverter via the dash switch." Another case history noted that an RV was plugged into a house when a nearby power pole was struck. Many electrical appliances in the house were totaled by the surge into the house, but the RV, which had a power surge protection device, suffered no damage.
People, who have been struck by lightning, do not carry an electrical charge and are safe to handle. All deaths from lightning are from cardiac arrest or a shock to the body that caused breathing to stop. CPR or mouth-to-mouth-resuscitation is the recommended first aid. Apply first aid immediately if you are qualified to do so. Get emergency help promptly. A textbook response to someone caught away from shelter is to assume the lightning position by squatting down with your feet together (toes touching) or on top of each other as well as you can balance without becoming prone and spread out your group. Do not lie down. Avoid metal objects. The 30/30 rule is that if it takes 30 seconds or less between flash and the sound of thunder, then seek shelter and remain for 30 minutes after the last occurrence of lightning. The largest occasions of fatalities are in or near the water. The next category is under trees.
Detector Examples
• The Boltek LD-250 Lightning Detector ($800) puts a live lightning map on a laptop or desktop computer. This system would be applicable for commercial and government campgrounds or RV rally sites. Within milliseconds of a lightning strike, the detector beeps and your computer displays the strike location. The LD-250's direction-finding remote antenna measures lightning strike direction while the receiver estimates distance from received signal strength. Advanced signal processing in software improves distance accuracy, reducing the effects of strike-to-strike variations in strike energy. The LD-250 can warn of both close and severe thunderstorms. If a storm is detected closer than a preset distance or the strike rate exceeds a preset limit, the LD-250 sounds an internal alarm and activates the computers alarm tone or WAV file notification. Both the Close Storm and Severe Storm alarm status indicators are on the front panel. The LD-250 uses a small active antenna to receive the radio signals from lightning strikes. These signals are the crackling you hear on an AM radio during a thunderstorm. The direction-finding antenna is able to tell which direction the signal is coming from. The software measures the strength of the received signals to estimate distance. Special signal processing in software reduces the effects of strike-to-strike energy variations providing more accurate distance information. For mobile installations, generator electrical power is required and the antenna needs to be mounted on the roof of the vehicle.
• The SkyScan Lightning /Storm Detector ($190) provides an indication of the level of activity of the storm. This device could be used by individual RV owners and mounted on the vehicle. The device determines if the storm is moving towards, away or parallel to your position. Each time SkyScan detects a lightning stroke, the sensor emits an audible warning tone and lights a range indicator.
• StrikeAlert, by Outdoors Technologies, ($80) provides an early warning of approaching lightning strikes from as far away as 40 miles and indicates if the storm is coming. The detector is perfect for an individual for outdoor sporting events and activities. An audible alarm sounds when there's a strike and a corresponding LED light illuminates accordingly at lightning distances of 20-40 miles, 12-24 miles, 6-12 miles and within 6 miles. The detector is housed in a small pager-like casing that can be clipped on a belt loop and runs on a single AA battery.
I assume no responsibility for weather hazards or lightning detectors and provide this disclaimer as a reminder that you should follow good safety practices.
Sources:
The Outdoor Network , Lightning Safety for Outdoor Adventure/Recreation, vol ix, no.2, 1999 (Summer 1998)
National Lightning Safety Institute (NLSI)
National Severe Storms Laboratory, NOAA
Science at NASA, Human Voltage
http://www.struckbylightning.org/
John McHale Date Reviewed: 9/1/05

Thanks to our friends, Dave and Susie for sharing this info with us. Bobbie and Jim made the introductions to us and we made contact last week. They came out Sunday afternoon and we had a wonderful chat and dinner. It’s so neat to make new friends on the road and getting to re-connect with them as we make our loop around the country. One of the many wonderful perks of this nomadic life of ours.

It’s a Hot One !

On Tuesday we needed to pack up the rig and take it in so they could look at it and see why there isn’t any power to the monitoring panel and what happened to the microwave/half time oven. Spent the good part of Tuesday at McClain’s. Apparently the new spindle for the turntable will fix everything. With the new part installed, they say it will not turn on by itself, even without the timer set, and will operate as it should. We’re a little wary of this “fix all”. The reason for no lights to the monitoring panel is a burnt out board. That is on order, along with the spindle so when we pull out of this campground on Friday, we’ll go by McClain’s first to get the parts put on before going to the park in Oklahoma City. Hoping that all of these items do the trick since we won’t be here long enough to get a new microwave shipped to us. We have no oven to use in the meantime, only our three burners on top and our outside grill.
We’re working with the park rangers on creating a new guide layout. A really neat geological feature in this area is the barite rose. It’s the state rock of Oklahoma. Whenever someone would say something about red rock, I just thought it was a red colored rock. Turns out these rocks are really unique to this state. There are minor occurrences of them in Kansas, Morocco, and Australia but this is the primary place for them. They are actually growing formations of crystals and get an intricate pattern to them, to the point of looking like a little red rose. The piece on the far right, in the picture, is very rare due to its size and detail. Pretty cool thing to learn about and see up close.We’re working on using a picture of the rose rock as a background for the front cover.

Today we went to the Medieval Festival, being held in Norman. It is held on the campus of OU. No cost to get in, just $5 for parking. Lots of food booths, arts and crafts, storytellers, jousting, fighting among knights, etc. It’s a huge event. We probably would have stayed a little while longer but it was beastly hot today. Humid and temps were in the 80’s. Quite a few people were in full period costume and they must have been sweating bigtime. Ick !! Fur skins, leather pants, tights….you get the picture and it’s not a pretty one. Great event…highly recommend it if anyone is around Norman, end of March.

Storyteller….	Living tree…
These guys were fighting..for real with special clubs. No holds barred…they had protective gear on to protect themselves from the blows.
Mermaids…the one was having a slight wardrobe malfunction with her sea shells.	A metal plate with detailed engraving.
This guy looked like Gandalf.

There was a booth where there were these magnificent wood carvings of dragons. They had taken a solid piece of wood to make the whole carving of two baby dragons and one large one. I loved the coloring of the dragons and the detail was amazing. The whole thing stood about four feet tall and the price was only like $275, which I thought was very reasonable for something so intricate.
The festival continues tomorrow but the temps on Sunday are supposed to be in the low 90’s. There were a couple of cooling tents set up today. We felt so sorry for all the little babies that we saw. We could see where heat stroke could have been a concern today. Hot weather !
Tomorrow we are having some new friends over for a cookout. A couple that our friends, Bobbie and Jim told us about are coming out to the campground. Dave and Susie Smeal live in Norman. We’re anxious to meet them and get to know them better. Hope you all are having a splendid weekend, full of rest and relaxation !

Quiet Now

The campground was pretty hectic here all weekend, with lots of campers milling around. Seems that the roads through and around Lake Thunderbird State Park are a favorite “cruise”spot for bikers and non-campers alike. The roads weave through the campsites and there seemed to be a steady stream most of the weekend. On Saturday we rode the trike into Oklahoma City to meet with the owner of the other park we are doing in the area to get paperwork signed. What a perfect day to be out on the bike ! We were loving every minute of it….short sleeve weather for sure.

Last year when we were here, the park was still recovering from the tornado that had hit the previous  year. The marina was being rebuilt and is now thriving ! There are several boats that look like houseboats….very neat looking. It had been raining a lot here so the lake is really muddy and things are pretty soggy everywhere (lots of smoky camp fires this weekend). It’s been spring break here this week so lots of families and kids around, enjoying their time out of school.

We went out for a bike ride mid-day today and came back to a much emptier park with peace and quiet ! There are a few campers around us but it should be pretty desolate up until Thursday or so. Tomorrow morning we meet with the park superintendent to get going on their guide. Going to be hot here all week….in the 80’s !

On Friday we got a new converter put in the rig. McClain’s diagnosed the problem we were having with losing power and said the converter was bad. Thor approved its replacement so they found one in Oklahoma City and picked it up and installed it. They called about the half time oven and were told that there has been an issue with the spindle malfunctioning and that’s why the turntable won’t turn. They are sending parts to fix it. When we were sitting here last night, playing cards, Linda went to warm up her cup of coffee. She put it in…set the timer for a minute and started it. There was a big “POOF” and a little cloud of electrical smelling smoke came our of the vent area. I jumped up and opened the door and Linda ran for the fire extinguisher. After airing the smoky smell out of the microwave, I cancelled the remaining time and shut the door. It started up again ! What ?!?!? I double checked everything and there was no timer setting or anything that should make it operate. Shut the door again and started up again. Oh crap ! So we sat down, rather puzzled, and played cards for a bit. I tried to take the front surround off to get to the plug to disconnect it but couldn’t get the plugs out of the screw holes. So I went to the breaker panel and flipped the breaker. Figured that was going to be a whole lot easier than bungying that door open all day long, especially while driving down the road. And that little bulb in the oven gets the interior really, really hot. Not a good thing to have that on all day long. We sat up awhile, rather paranoid about the whole thing. When we felt the coast was clear, we went to bed. Looks like we need a new microwave instead of parts for the spindle. It’s always something… Hope your week goes off without a hitch !

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