a better than "OK" Trip

Friday, January 13, 2012

I left work a tad early, so that we could head to Durant, Oklahoma for the MLK Holiday Weekend. Tony had the day off Monday, so I took it off as well. We hooked up and headed out about 5:45PM. We had no issues driving the approx. 2 hours, and arrived at the Choctaw KOA approximately 8PM.  It was expected to dip below freezing, so we had to get the heat going pretty quickly. We filled the freshwater tank, so we'd have water overnight. We settled in and enjoyed the views out the window... We were in the last RV site of the first row, and had a great view of the Choctaw Casino Hotel. The exterior of the hotel has special colored lighting that constantly changes... It's mesmerizing! The only bad thing about this site was the distance away from the office; we had little or no WIFI, so that is why the blog didn't get updated while we were on the trip.

Driving in, view of the Choctaw Casino Hotel

Watching the light show out the window of Mammoth

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Today we took it easy, enjoyed a wonderful breakfast, then went exploring around the Durant area. We drove around the town of Durant. The historic downtown looks as if it is being revitalized... we picked up a map at the KOA office, suggesting so. We also saw the Durant United Methodist Church, built in the early 1920s. We also drove by the campus of South Eastern Oklahoma State University. It reminded us very much of our alma mater, ETSU, in Commerce, TX.

Durant First United Methodist Church

We then headed towards Calera, south of the Casino, and stopped in at "The Peanut Shoppe", a store specializing in candy and nut creations, such as peanut brittle and pecan logs. They had everything you could have imagined, though! Too many choices! We made some selections, and then headed back home.

The Peanut Shoppe

The day was perfect, in the high 60s and sunny, so Tony cooked hotdogs on the grill...not just any hotdogs, Omaha Steak hotdogs, that we received for Christmas from my aunt and uncle. They were delicious! Tony told me not to get spoiled, they were probably some high-dollar dogs. LOL! We even put the awning out on the rig... something we rarely get to do, due to wind/weather.

Cookin' Dogs with the awning out

After lunch, we went for a walk around the RV Park. We are at the back of the park, and there is a small pond not far from the edge of the park. I don't believe it's park-owned. Whoever does own it though,  had lots of guests! There were many ducks and a large flock of Canada geese on or near the pond. As we continued our walk, we noticed a Montana 5ver with water underneath, and water running from the site. We tried to look carefully to make sure this wasn't a horrible flooding incident... no, it looked like just a dripping hose. It may have been dripping a while though, as it looked far worse than it was.

The Pond

After circling the majority of the park, we decided to stop in at the park office. They had a Pirit (pronounced "Pirate") Heated Hose for a good price, so we decided to pick it up. The hose has a thermostat that activates heat when the outside temps get below 45 degrees. One of the issues we would need to address, though, is that the thermostat is at the male end of the hose. The male end of the hose typically attaches to the RV, in an enclosed area. We have read that this may cause the thermostat to not turn on, when the hose is actually exposed to lower temps outside. The solution is to add male/female conversions to each end, essentially swapping the ends, so that the thermostat is at the end that attaches to the supply faucet. The parts to do this are not that expensive, and can be found at most hardware stores, so we were not worried.

Later that evening, we took the complimentary shuttle and headed over to the Choctaw Casino. The World Series of Poker was going on, so the Casino was pretty busy. We ate dinner at the Casino Buffet, and then played for a while.

It was a nice relaxing day.

Sunset on the Mammoth, with Casino Hotel, in red

Sunday, January 15, 2012

This morning the wind began to pick up, and it was a little chilly. With the wind blowing at just the right direction, the freight trains traveling nearby seemed MUCH closer. Oh well, we're used to that! Tony decided to go to Durant to find the parts for the Pirit Hose conversion, while I stayed and worked on our church directory layout. We stayed around the RV Park until the afternoon, then went over to the Casino. Tony's folks had said they may come to the Casino, as well. Well, sure enough, not long after we arrived, we found them! We had a good time playing and visiting. Seems if you leave Tony and his dad alone, someone will win money. LOL! After a while, we decided to take our wins/losses and headed back to the Mammoth. Tony made spaghetti, while we watched some of the last playoff football and then our Sunday night shows, then called it quits. No, we didn't win enough to retire to Colorado, but we still had fun.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Today was our "bonus day". Usually a quick weekend trip means we're heading back on Sunday, so to get to stay until Monday was really nice. The wind had really picked up during the night, and was slightly rocking the trailer, so both of us got up early... not by choice! So, after breakfast, we crawled back in bed for a little more Z's. After getting dressed and eating lunch, we started to leisurely get the rig ready to head home. I like these kinds of departures, where the drive isn't so rushed, so we can take more time to do a little more thorough cleaning. The temps were in the 60s, just WINDY! We made sure to re-winterize the Mammoth (add RV-antifreeze to the pipes) so it will be protected from the next cold snap.

Preparing to hit the road

We decided we'd take the Mammoth straight to storage on our way home, so we packed everything up and put most of it in the truck... this makes it faster to complete the drop off when we get to storage. We pulled out about 3:30PM, and got home about 6:15PM.

A great trip with very nice weather. Even though it wasn't long and we didn't win lots of money, we are rich with memories and recharged for whatever comes next.