Day 27: Bass Pro Shop, Broken Arrow, OK: I dropped by to pick up a reason

So much cold. So much warmth. So much love. So many Turkeys. So many vistas.

Lovely night sleep in the cold. It’s nice to have a furnace. It’s double nice to have a furnace that runs on electricity or propane. We knew the forecast said it would dip below zero and we were mostly ready. Furnace set to 15C. Water hose disconnected. We left the waste tanks partially full to add thermal mass. We actually set an alarm, how barbaric. Up at 0750. Let Amy out and place my thermometer outside. Time for a walk. Temperature says -1.8C so I wore long pants as -2 is the cut off and it felt a bit colder with the wind. Campground had a bunch of empty spots. Even the fellas next to us packed up their tent and accessories (including the high quality outdoor speaker) and left sometime between dinner and morning. It was a nice walk down a trail we had done part of previously. Along the way I saw a bunch of footprints in the sand. I saw turkey, raccoon, and this shamrock like one that is either a domestic cat or a bobcat. Likely a domestic cat since we saw some during the day. There were a bunch of turkeys out gobbling around as well.

Prior to the walk we had discussed an alternate departure plan. Plan B was that as soon as I returned we would break camp, dump the tanks and head to the top of the canyon to see those vistas. While at the top, I could have breakfast and we could get more organized. We followed that plan. Dump went well. Still 100% not covered in faeces. There was some bits of ice after the secondary dump valve but the tanks were fine. Phew! For the record, in the US of A Winnebago includes tank heaters. But our van did not come with them as the heating pads were not CSA approved. I’ll add some this summer.

On the way to the top of the canyon we stopped at some vistas and said “wow”. Canyon top is flat. Funny that.

We had hoped to see some longhorn cattle again (we saw them when we arrived) but they would not come out and play. Maybe next time.

The drive from Palo Duro to Tulsa area was uneventful. We stopped for gas. We stopped for a picnic. We stopped breaks. Wasn’t too windy and it was almost literally all down hill. We passed the 100th meridian. We passed some longhorn cattle and some bison farms. Saw a few large gatherings of deer.

In Tulsa we had one stop to make before getting to Bass Pro. That was at Weber’s Superior Root Beer Restaurant on old Highway 66. We got a fountain root beer to share and a six pack for offspring #2. It’s a surprise. I can post that here as neither offspring read my blog. I don’t drink much root beer cause I lost that taste years ago, but it was pretty darn good. Good news, now we have a pack of warm root beer that we can consume! So what are you doing after the show?

Weber’s was right near Billy Sim’s BBQ joint. We did not go there. For those that don’t know who Billy Sims is, he was a standout running back with the Oklahoma Sooners. He then played for the Detroit Lions. He was really good.

Next stop, Bass Pro. We checked it out and found a level spot. It shall do. So we departed again to do a bit of shopping and get supper. Oh my. Main course was Five Guys. I know I should get something local but I had a hankering for a burger and it was convenient. Dessert was, and still is, Crumbl Cookies. On the left we have snickerdoodle cupcake and on the right, milk chocolate chip. We are a few hours in and still working on the snickerdoodles. We can do it!

Post dinner, more walking around with Amy. She seems to expect long walks now. Darn! We all (including Amy) went inside Bass Pro to do some shopping. We bought nothing. Sorry Bass Pro, beautiful store but the van is full.

Hopefully it will be quiet here tonight. Oklahoma does have a high percentage of “make my car/truck as loud as I can to compensate for you know what” people. There is even some ding dong driving around honking his horn, which is a train horn.

Heck, if we don’t sleep I’ll just pick up some more cookies on my morning walk. They open at 0800 and are only a few kilometres away. That would fuel us up for the day.

Tomorrow we aim to get to the west side of St Louis, MO. One side trip already planned. We will be stopping at a legit campground.