Getting off of the road - Reunion

After 15 years of full-time RVing I have finally found a place where I would like to settle down. It is in Sulphur OK, home of Chickasaw National Recreation Area. The town of 5000 is the size that I like. The people are friendly and down to earth. It is a country town, but it is still close enough to the big citys of Dallas and OKC. Cathy and I are in the process of buying this house at 1416 Holly Lane and expect to close at the end of July. We won't move in until the few modifications that we require are done. I will probably take a 1039 (hrs/yr) position at the park in order to be able to afford keeping up the payments for both this home and the double wide at Michelles. Of course we will have a well worn path between the two since they are only about 65 miles apart. Cathy will get a hide-a-bed for grandkids and company and Tom will wire up the back yard for visiting RV friends. All in all, this promises to be a happy reunion and a great future here in Sulphur.

Back to Oklahoma for a while

Wow, time flies - it's been three week since my last post. A lot has happened.

The Last couple of days of the TxGCC contest were slowed down when my rear window on the van exploded from the heat. I had foolishly put my travel bug number on the outside of the window using black 4" letters and the concentrated heat was too much for the glass to handle. Bumper stickers are probably meant to go on bumpers! I did complete the contest in the prescribed time, so I should be one of the 25 prize-winners, both in the Houston and the Dallas Areas.

Cathy said maybe I shouldn't rush home because of the weather forecast, so I stopped for a couple of days at Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Sulphur Oklahoma. I missed the tornados that went through her neighborhood. Michelle's property wasn't involved but the store where Mimi was going to work for the summer was destroyed.

I spent a week or so at Cathy's, but she wasn't ready to do the garage sale. All I really accomplished was to get some things out of my trailer and truck that were excess ready to go into the sale, if and when it happens. I also traded her the antenna that I had been using before the lightning hit and that improved her TV reception on the one channel that was weak.

While at Cathy's a Chicasaw Ranger called and said that they wanted me to take a park host position as soon as possible. Before moving to Chickasaw NRA we went to granddaughter Emily's graduation in Arlington Texas. She graduated with honors and several scholarships. She accepted one and will be going to DePaul University in Chicago. She is the tall girl in this picture.

The host job at Chickasaw is different from working in the Texas State Parks. While the hours are longer the duties are less. At least 75% of my time is spent being a host, that is greeting and helping the campers know how to enjoy their experience. I find it more rewarding and I think that it probably brings more people back to the park because of the friendly feeling that they get from the personal involvement. I will be at the park for the next couple of months, if you want to come visit. The park completely surrounds the Lake of the Arbuckles, so water sports are the biggest draw now. There are also some sulphur springs in the older section of the park near town. Here is a video of one of the fun places - a swimming hole on Travertine Creek.