From Saturday, June 11, 2011, Choctaw, OK
It was nice to wake up and not have to get ready to leave. We planned on doing nothing all day. I went to take a shower at 800am and although there were four showers, all were occupied. This was the first time I had to wait until later. But, this is the weekend.
Lots of families here. Kids in the pool. Hayrides in the evenings (tractor with a wagon hauling kids, etc. No hay that I could see). Charlie saw it going around Friday evening. He said they went about a mile an hour so the ride would last. But, I think it’s nice that the park has something to entertain families.
There is a dining room in which breakfast was being served. I had made some coffee, so we walked over and got something to bring back with us.
After I did one load of clothes, we just sat outside and read, etc. It was warm, but not that humid. Charlie brought Sheila outside and put her on her tie-out cable. She would have rather been inside because a couple of camp sites over there was a family with two or three kids making kid noises. Just those sounds make her nervous. We still try to expose her though because it doesn’t harm her and maybe she’ll learn that she’s safe with us.
Jonesie wanted to come outside. I brought him out and carried him over to one of the empty, grassy campsites. He likes to get on the ground and scurry around like a squirrel. I stay right next to him, petting him and making sure I have control. I would not want him to run away. I’d probably catch him, but it’s not something I want to have to do. When he showed interest in something that moved in the nearby trees, I picked him up and put him inside.
Then it started sprinkling a little and stopped. Suddenly there were some big drops starting. We gathered everything up and went inside. There was a short shower and then the sun came back out.
Sunday, June 12, 2011, leaving Choctaw, OK on the way to Tucumcari, NM
Early this morning, around 2:30am, Sheila woke us up. She was coughing like she was choking. We got up with her to make sure she could breathe. We couldn’t see anything in her throat or mouth. She drank some water and seemed okay. We went back to bed. Sheila sleeps next to Charlie’s side of the bed.
It again started raining a little hard with some thunder and lightning. I was almost back to sleep when Sheila started coughing again. We got up with her and checked her throat. She seemed to be trying to swallow. We gave her some bread, small pieces, thinking it might help her clear whatever, if anything, was in her throat. She liked the bread and ate it happily. Then had some water. We waited and she wasn’t coughing. Charlie went back to bed and I layed down on the couch. Sheila stayed with me and didn’t cough anymore. It was cooler here, so maybe it helped her.
While I was trying to go back to sleep, I suddenly had a strong urge to be home. If we were home and one of our pets had an emergency, we would know where to take them, but with Sheila we felt so helpless. Thank goodness she seems okay now.
We decided to have the Krispy Kreme donuts and coffee for breakfast. They were still good even though not fresh.
The air outside was cool with a breeze, so we turned the A/C off and opened the door so the cats could see through the screened door. Charlie was going out to start getting us ready to leave.
Jonesie and Jason were at the bottom of the steps with their noses pressed against the screen door. Charlie said “Boatswain’s Mates! All hands to the well deck. Time to cast off all lines!” Charlie’s old navy days come out in him sometimes. So, then, of course, Jonesie became our Boatswain’s Mate. He loves the attention.
It was funny because he just stayed glued to the door and was determined he was going outside. I finally took him out and over to his little grassy spot. He was happily scampering along. Then he went to the gravel and rolled on his back. I threw a small rock along and he chased it. When he got to it, he layed down. I threw it a few feet again and he chased. We did that a few times and then he started looking around for more to do.
I picked him up and brought him in. I don’t need to ask for trouble on our last day here.
We left the campground around 10:00am. Jonesie declared that he liked “living” at this campground. I had taken him outside twice!
Driving down I-40 was as windy as we’d seen it. There was a very strong crosswind from the left (south) hitting us. Our RV is really being pushed around. Our gas mileage will be under 6 miles/gallon! Oh, it was $3.45/gallon just west of Oklahoma City when we stopped after leaving the campground.
After only two hours of driving in this wind, we stopped for gas again ($3.59/gallon). We didn’t need it, but this wind was eating up our gas. I gave Sheila a walk. She was so distracted by the wind. It was warm, but I couldn’t live here! Our gas mileage was 6 miles/gallon that time.
Texas was better as far as the wind. It’s flatter, but not as much cross wind. We stopped for gas ($3.59) about 27 miles east of Amarillo. We stopped here at this same station when we came through on May 12. Gas was $3.79/gallon then. Hopefully this means it is coming down at home too.
When we got to New Mexico, we entered Mountain Time Zone and gained an hour back. Of course our driving time is still the same.
Charlie started noticing that the RV didn’t seem to have as much spunk. It was all he could do to keep his speed at 65 MPH. The speed limit is 70 MPH. The road seemed fairly level, but even the slightest hill caused the RV to go into Overdrive. We thought maybe we had gotten some bad gas at the last stop. Charlie mentioned that it was 86 Octane instead of our usual 87. We weren’t sure, but we weren’t getting good performance.
We were not far from Tucumcari KOA campground, which is where we were going to spend the night. We wanted to get some gas before stopping, but our exit came up and we got off. As we came to the end of the exit, the engine sputtered and cut off. Charlie got it started again, but it really sounded like it was not getting gas. We hobbled across the road and managed to get to the shade of an overpass.
It was hot and very windy outside. We called Auto Club, but since we do not have RV roadside coverage, they referred us to a tow service. Then Charlie remembered that with our insurance policy, Progressive, we have RV roadside service.
He called them and told them our problem. They gave us some services to call. Our problem with the cell phone was not only reception. If we didn’t lose our signal, the traffic overhead was so noisy we couldn’t hear. As it was, we stood in the sun between the overpasses.
I called the KOA campground because I thought they might know of a good towing service. I kept losing the signal, but after about 6 attempts, I managed to finish getting the number from him.
When I called the “All Rite Towing Service”, the dispatcher said “You’re off of Exit 339, right?” I said “Yes, but how did you know?” She said that our insurance company had put the call in and she was dispatching someone. They’d be there in 30-40 minutes. We felt better.
We sat and waited. When Charlie had been outside earlier, using his phone, he noticed some mud nests built up under the overpass. The birds were flying all around like they were mad that we had stopped there. I went out and looked and I think they were some kind of Swallow. We took some pictures of the nests, which were really unusual and numerous.
We kept getting recorded calls from Progressive, checking on whether our tow truck was there yet. We appreciated this service from them.
Charlie tried to start the RV and it started up. We let it run for a few minutes and it sounded fine. We waited for the tow truck. Then we saw a huge red, heavy-duty tow truck. He backed in front of us and started lowering the equipment.
We had decided that if we didn’t need to be towed, we would see if he would follow us to a gas station and if the RV was running okay, we’d go to the campground. Then in the morning, we would go to the mechanic and make sure the RV was okay.
The tow truck driver was agreeable to anything we wanted to do. We started the RV and he listened while Charlie revved up the engine. It sounded fine to him. He told us where a gas station was and then followed us there. The RV did okay, no sputtering. Charlie filled up with 88 Octane.
The tow truck followed us to the campground, which was not far at all. He told us that his garage opened at 7:00am and we could call and talk to the mechanic for a check up.
So, we were happy to get hooked up, get the A/C going, get everyone fed and wait to see what we are going to face tomorrow. For now, we’re getting a good night’s sleep.
I don’t think Jonesie liked “living” under the overpass for an hour this afternoon!
More later……….
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