Life Rocks when your living room rolls
![]() Our drive was what you may expect, flat and lots of farmland, many having pumpjacks. We arrive in Davis, Oklahoma and the sun is already setting. It was a gorgeous sunset but it was also our first time arriving in the dark to set up. We arrive at Turner Falls State Park with just a little bit of natural light left. The attendant is a young guy who has no cares. He handed us a brochure which had a small map of the park in the corner and our tag for the windshield and says we are all set. We asked which way to the RV park and he say he wasn’t sure. He points out and says I believe that way. We maneuver our way over the running water from Honey Creek, up a steep hill and finally see the bathhouse and RV parking. There is nobody else here. We weren’t given a site number so we picked a spot after much confusion on how to park on the slabs. The water/electricity was only on every other site. We finally get in place and can level and detach. This site does not have full hookup so we have to be limited with the amount of water we use or the gray tank fills too quickly. Showers are not possible in the camper when staying for 7 nights. We have to use the bathhouse showers but they are within walking distance so it’s not the worst, usually. It was windy and chilly. Chris quickly set up the outside things and I got to the inside so we could relax and warm up. We make some dinner watch a movie than head to bed. The next morning we hang out in bed for a bit then we get up. Chris gets his toiletries and towel then goes to shower while I make a coffee. I was surprised at how quickly he returned. He informed me that the showers were outdoor showers and since it was 29 degrees that was not happening. He had used the bathroom sink in the bathhouse to wash his face and hair then back in the camper he used a washcloth to clean up. We tried to keep positive and think about how we were going to get through the week like this. We agree we can get body wipes and use the bathhouse sink to wash our hair if needed. It also gets to 65 degrees during the day so we could shower during the afternoon. Okay, we can make this work. I do a quick wash and get myself dressed. We relax inside the camper with music on enjoying the sun shining in. The electric heater we had picked up is just the right size and keeps our home nice and warm. After some brunch, we go to walk around the campground and see the falls. Since there isn’t much of an explanation of where things are on the grounds we just wander. We find a path that brings us to an overlook of the river. We tried to stay off the road but it was the only way to get to the falls so we walked down the steep hill and found our way there. The falls are 70 feet tall and has a walkway over the river to view it straight on. You also pass by some castles as you walk down the road towards the fall. They are based on old English architects that were constructed with native stone and materials in the early 30’s. The buildings served as Dr. Ellsworth Collin’s summer home. We don't explore the castles because there are many people there and I can come back another day when its not so busy to get some photos. ![]() We walked back up the steep road and a bit further up to see what was around. There were just mainly cabins for rent but it looked as if nobody was staying in any of them. Back to the camper we go where we hung outside. We walked around the RV sites and considered moving to one further back but it was too much work so we stayed put. We decided to pull the drone out and get some views of the river and falls. The sun was going to be setting soon so it was good lighting. Chris got it all in place and flew it over capturing the land below. When it was back from the flyover the sun was setting. He snapped a few photos of the camper with the sunset then brought it in. We finished the night back inside the camper having dinner, watching TV then heading to bed. It was just too cold once the sun goes down to be outside. ![]() In the morning we skipped a workout because it was way below freezing out when we woke up. Chris gets washed up in our bathroom, dressed, and gets onto work. I also do a quick wipedown, get dressed, and make some breakfast. While he is working I go the grocery store. There weren’t any major chain stores so I tried the local market but was unable to get most things we needed. I find online that it’s about a 20-minute drive to get to one. I make my way there. It is an Aldi and Food City so I am still hoping they will have what we need. I find a few of the things we need but not all so I check out Aldi’s. There wasn’t everything but we will have to make do. As I am driving back I see a Walmart sign so I immediately pull in. It is a Super Walmart!! I am so puzzled why it didn’t show when I searched groceries on Google. Anyway, I found everything we needed and some things even better than what I had already got. While driving home I get gas and I have now been out for over 3 hours just to get groceries. When home I put the groceries away and Chris is just about finishing his work day. We again spend most of the evening inside before heading to bed. The next morning it is about 35 degrees but we push through and do a HIIT outside. We did get a beautiful sunrise to workout in. When we were done Chris was his sweaty self so he said he was going to go use the outside showers. He grabs his things and heads over. Again, he came back quickly to tell me that there was no running water in the showers. UGH, we have had enough. After some research, we found there is an RV park only 4 miles up the road. I can’t understand why we didn’t stay there so I called to see if they may have been full. She tells me they have plenty of room and asks if we want to make a reservation. I tell her the story of what we have been dealing with and let her know if the office gives us a refund for our remaining stay, then we will be in touch to make our reservation. Once Chris is done with his work day we go down to see if we can talk to anyone about this. We went into the store, found our sticker, and talked with the girl at the register. In conversation we asked if she knew who we could talk with about our stay in the RV park. There was another man there whom we tell him the story. He is maintenance and tells us that the park has no hot water at all. He told us to go down to the office at 9 am and talk to the office manager. They had written down our info and said they were also going to leave the note for the office. We thank them for the information and back to the truck. We stop at the castles so I can take pictures. Once we walk the grounds we go back to the camper and have another quiet night of dinner and TV then off to the bed. ![]() We both do a HIIT outside the camper in the morning, we take fast showers in the camper as we have agreed that since the other park is only $40 a night with full hookups we are going to move no matter what the office says. Just before 9 am, we get in the truck and head down to the office. We go over all the challenging situations we have had with staying at the park and ask if they are willing to cancel our stay for the remaining days and give us a refund. They said the manager is not in and only he is supposed to make this exception but they agree he would refund it. They gave us a full refund for our remaining night stays as well as the daily admission fee we had to pay for each day we stay. They give us receipts, we thank them for their help, and head back to start packing up. I also try back to Smokin’ Joe’s RV park to see about reserving a stay until Saturday. There was no answer so I left a voicemail. I soon after got a return call back from Theresa. She tells us to come down any time. She gives me directions to get to the sites and tells us to pick any between 5-8. She said she would be gone but when she is back I can stop in to take care of everything. We are packed up, connected to the truck, and heading out just around 11. We make our way and find our way into the new RV park. We chose site 6, pulled in, got everything leveled, and detached from the truck. While sitting in the camper I get a call from Theresa saying she is home if I want to walk over to her rv and take care of things. I head over, she invites me in and we go over our stay info. I paid the price of our stay and we chatted some about how her cell phone had issues with iCloud. I told her Chris is an IT guy and could probably help. I take a photo of the message she is getting so I can show him. She asks if I would like to sit. I accept the offer and about an hour later I am still there chatting. I let her know I needed to head back to make some lunch. I said goodbye and went back to the camper. Chris was laughing when I went in because I had been gone for so long. I asked if he had eaten lunch, which he hadn’t so I made us each sandwiches. We don’t do much but hang out for the afternoon and evening. It is an early night to bed. We wake in the morning and head out to do a HIIT. We got our mats out set up our table and began our workout. We are soon greeted by a dog who is very happy to get pets. It even starts to hop around some as we are doing our workout. They leave and we finish up our workout. Once done we head in and get ready to start our day. A little later in the afternoon, we have a knock on the door. It's Theresa. She has brought us a brochure of things to do in the area and also asked Chris if he can help with her phone. He had already googled some things from the photo I showed him so he was able to fix it easily. While we are talking Theresa gets a call from someone in the park that there has been a stray dog for a few days wondering around and keeps coming to her camper. She tells us she has to go check on it. I asked if it was a gray dog and told her about the dog who came over while we were working out. She asks if Iwant to come over to see so I go along. The dog was very skittish. Didn’t want to go near anyone but it came right over to me. I was able to pet and check it over. Theresa said she was probably dumped as a lot of people do that around that area. We walk back to our camper and Chris comes out to see the dog. Theresa went to get some treats to feed it. While Chris and I wait we are talking about the possibility of keeping her if she is a stray. Once Theresa is back and the dog has had some treats we end up seeing if she would come into the camper. It took a little but she made her way in. We put a blanket on the ground and soon she laid right down on it. Theresa ended up leaving and we said we would talk more and let her know our thoughts. So now we are sitting in our camper looking at each other going, we have a dog in our camper….We go over the pros and cons and talk about if we want to lose our freedom to come and go as we please. After talking it through and going over everything we could think of we said we would make a vet appointment and see if she is chipped and have her looked over. If everything turns out we will see how she does with barking, chewing, traveling for hours in the truck, and just how they do around us. If things are good we keep her, if in 3 weeks things aren’t working we will find her a home. I give Theresa a call to let her know what we have discussed. She brings us down a bag of dog food and a small leash. We put 2 small bowls out and made her comfortable. I call and make a vet appointment for the morning. Chris washes her in the shower to get off some of the caked-on dirt. We have a quiet evening inside, the dog sleeps forever and goes outside a couple of times but overall seems to be doing well. The next morning we skip the workout because it is raining out. The pup has slept through the night and I take her out once we are up. She does her business and we head back in. We get ready, eat breakfast and I get laundry together to get it started. I can switch it to the dryer but have to leave before it is done to make it to the vet on time. Chris finishes up the rest of the laundry. I get the blanket the dog was lying on put it in the truck and get her in. Once at the vet, she is a little nervous as expected but overall does well. We are called in where they weigh, confirm she is a girl, she is not chipped and they say they believe 98% she is spayed. She has a scar that looks like she would be. They answer all my questions, look her over, and say she looks good and seems overall healthy. They say she is about 1.5 years old. I ask if they know of places I can look to see if anyone is missing a dog. They gave me a couple of Facebook groups to join and recommended I don’t give much info about sex, where exactly I found her and put just a photo of her with no collar or ways to identify gender. They also stated they have been getting a lot of calls about dogs being ditched. I don’t know how anyone could do it. We thank them, pay, and make our way back to the truck. Back at the camper, I go over everything with Chris. Since we have decided to keep her to see how it goes we come up with a name. Since she is gray and we are at Smokin’ Joe’s we decide on Smokey. Once Chris is done work we go to Tractor Supply to give her a good bath and pick up items that we will need. We get a dog bed, 2 bowls for water and food, some treats, a collar, a leash, poop bags and a holder. Smokey did so good with being in the store and her bath. When we are back home we get everything set up for her and we do our first test of leaving her alone. ![]() We are going to have dinner at the restaurant in the RV park. We get ourselves ready, say goodbye, and shut the door hoping to not come back to anything chewed or any accidents. We watch her in the window for a minute and she has instantly jumped on the couch. We go back in and put a blanket on it so she can sit up there. We leave again and watch her. She jumps on the couch again and lays right down. We are gone for about 45 minutes and when we get back she is lying in the same spot. Nothing is ruined! We hang out watching some TV then put the bed down and off to sleep we go. Saturday we are moving.. We get up, I take Smokey outside so she can do her thing while Chris showers and gets ready. I then get myself showered and dressed. Once I am ready I microwave breakfast sandwiches then it is time to start picking up. Chris heads outside and I get all the inside things in place. Once we have everything done, we get the camper connected to the truck so we can take Smokey for a long walk around the grounds. Theresa also asked if she could take a photo of us with Smokey to keep as she was so happy we were rescuing her. She meets us at our camper snaps a photo than we get smokey comfy in the back seat, jump in, and head off but now with a dog.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Adventurers
|