October 15-19, 2017 - Sequoya State Park, Hulbert, OK

October 15-19, 2017 - Sequoya State Park, Hulbert, OK 

Sunday, October 15, 2017
We took our time getting around this morning since we cannot check into our site at Sequoya State Park until 2:00 p.m., however we have to check out of Cone's RV Park by 12:00, so shortly after 12:00 we pulled out and drove less than 20 miles to our next stop.  We drove slower than normal, trying to waste a bit of time.  As we pulled into the campgrounds, we stopped at the camp host site and found no one was in our site, so in no time we were parked and unhitched shortly after 1:00.  

We were the first of our Chapter 17 Escapees group to arrive.  After getting everything set up inside we had some lunch and then enjoyed sitting outside for awhile.  The weather was beautiful and we have a lovely location.  There is not a campsite directly behind us so we have a wonderful view of Fort Gibson Lake out our back window to the east so we should see some pretty sunsets while we are here.  While it warmed up during the day, it was cool enough I wore jeans most of the time while we were camped here.  I enjoy this time of the year very much.

We had some beautiful sunsets but this was the only one I took a picture of.

It wasn't too long until our friends Keith & Drena pulled in.  They stopped and visited for a bit before moving on to their site several spaces down the road from us.  Just a short while later the President of our Chapter, Alvin drove in.  He lives in the area and his wife will drive out later.  We had our evening meal on our own, and then gathered at Alvin and Linda's to visit for awhile.


Monday, October 16, 2017
We missed walking each morning while we were at Tahlequah, since the RV Park was not large or in a good location for walking.  We did try to get in steps in other ways but just not our normal morning walks where we try to get in 2-2.5 miles at a fairly decent pace, usually 1 mile in 17 minutes depending on the amount of inclines we encounter.  We want to get back into our daily walking routine, so we headed out as soon as it was light enough.  This area is full of deer and we were not disappointed when we saw these beautiful creatures near the road ahead of us as we left the campground.

This morning we walked the outer road of the campsites in the Seminole area, then followed the road leading to the campground out to the main road, before returning to the campground and our site.

Later today our host for this campground, Phil and Janelle pulled in.  They also live nearby.  Phil loves to prepare smoked meats on his Traeger grill and we are looking forward to what he will be making us tomorrow night at our potluck meal.  

Each day we would gather at Alvin and Linda's rig or Phil and Janelle's (depending on where we could get out of the direct sun once it warmed up) to enjoy each other's company.  We never seem to lack for a topic of conversation.

Later in the day Dean and CarolAnn pulled in, and not too long afterwards Bob and Patty arrived.  This rounds out the 6 rigs attending this campout.  Dean and CarolAnn were not able to obtain a reservation for the entire time of the campout due to fall break starting later this week for the Oklahoma schools, but we are so glad they were able to spend a good part of it with us.  Later most of us caravanned into Wagoner, OK to have dinner at Lopez Grill Mexican Restaurant.  We ate here last year and it was delicious so I was very glad to return.  I have a tendency to be redundant with food choices and therefore selected the same thing from last year - carnitas.  Do you see a pattern here?  Tahlequah.... Wagoner...where to next for more carnitas?

After we returned to the campground Alvin started a campfire and we all showed up with coats and blankets to enjoy the fire and beautiful night sky. 

Enjoying the campfire.

Drena is a real computer tech (or at least as compared to the rest of us).  She shared a site that tells us when we can view the International Space Station in our area.  It so happens it will be making a showing over us this week - including tonight and tomorrow night.  How exciting!  The stars were just beautiful, the company was great, and we enjoyed making smores (thanks to Alvin and Linda who brought the necessary ingredients).  At the appropriate time, we finally located the space station as it went over - what a neat experience.  I tried to take a picture but by the time I got to the camera on my phone and found it's location, it moved behind a tree and I missed it.  Maybe tomorrow night??

By the time I got my camera ready the space station was buried somewhere behind this tree!

We called it a night about 9:00 and returned to Bentley.  Tomorrow is the first official day of the October casual campout.  


Tuesday, October 17, 2017
This morning we didn't have to walk far to see our four legged friends - they were right outside our back window.  We are fortunate that no one is parked near us at our site and they were enjoying this open area.  (You may need to enlarge this picture to see all of the deer)

After our morning walk we returned to Bentley.  Tonight is our potluck dinner.  I am making a low carb blackberry cobbler.  After breakfast, a shower, doing a little housework around Bentley and making the cobbler, we didn't walk down to where the others were parked until after lunch.  We spent the afternoon visiting with everyone.

Our host Phil got an early start this morning around 7 to begin smoking the pork butts he will have for us at our potluck this evening.  Everyone set around his site today - moving as the shade changed.  It was quite warm during the day and we were enjoying the sunshine.  A little before 5, everyone left to get their potluck dish and bring it back to Phil and Janelle's.  Their son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren joined us for dinner.  

Linda was having a fun time with their grandson - as they raced to and around the fire pit.

There is one thing everyone in these camping clubs do well - and that is cook.  We never lack for good food and tonight was no exception.  The other thing we do well is visit - never seeming to lack for something to talk about, often related to camping in some way or another, where we've been, what we see, computers and apps, working on problems, etc. with lots of laughing thrown in!  What a great time we have.

After our dinner and everyone had taken their leftovers back to their rigs, we joined up at the fire pit again this evening with plans to seek out the space station again.  Tonight I was better prepared for pictures than the previous evening.  

Now, this is enlarged significantly and you cannot see the shape like we could as we watched it move across the sky, but this white dot is the space station!  You can check out the website to find where and when you can view the space station here.

 And we enjoyed another nice campfire.  

A great ending to another beautiful day.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Once we had our morning coffee and it was light enough we headed out for our morning walk where we saw our friends again.

After our morning walk this morning, we were on a mission.  Recently, we've noticed that every time we leave home or a campground one of our slides and some of our jacks have not come all the way in, or up.  If we wait a few minutes and try again they always finish coming in or up but it may take a few times of trying before they completely retract.  I was reading Facebook a few days ago and I saw a post from one of our fellow Heartlander's, (Heartland is the brand of our RV) Mike where he shared how he had recently replaced a 50 amp circuit breaker so his slides go in and out without stopping a few times.  I passed this on to Dean, so today we headed into Muskogee to the same RV supply store we visited last year while we were here when our toilet broke.  For less than $6 we now have slides and jacks that work just like they are supposed to.  Thank you Mike for sharing your RV repairs and making it such an easy fix for us!  We are not sure if we are jinxed while here with RV repairs or blessed that we've been able to get the fix or repairs as needed so quickly on short notice.  I've decided I'll go with the blessing!!

So great news, about 3 this afternoon I received a text message from a couple that has looked at the house a couple of times now and they made an offer on our house.  We are pretty excited that maybe something will happen here and we can move on with our plans for a full-time life in our Bentley for the next several years.  

Dean and I decided to take a walk around the campground after lunch and we walked down to the lake and followed the shoreline.  It was such a beautiful day.  We enjoyed watching some pelicans and seagulls.  

Advertising son Marc's hobby business!!

Fort Gibson Lake shoreline at Seminole Campground 

Today was another day of visiting with our SKP friends, and tonight we are having a weiner roast at the campfire.  Dean and I brought hot dogs from our local locker.  Once we had some of Matt's dogs we prefer them over others we have tried and we wanted to share the goodness!  Everyone seemed to enjoy them.  After all, is there anything better than cooking over an open fire?  Phil and Janelle added some chili and fritos.  We had other condiments and toppings including ketchup, mustard, relish, onions, cheese, jalapenos, along with a few other dishes and desserts.  I made loaded deviled eggs - cooking the eggs in my instapot - the only way I will ever make hard boiled eggs again.  Someone mentioned how much they missed Carolyn's (a member of our SKP Chapter 17 group) deviled eggs.  I've never made "loaded deviled eggs" before but decided I'd give it a try and while they were not as good as Carolyn's they were not too bad.  We missed you Carolyn!  It was another great meal!  We will never go hungry at these campouts!

The campground has really been filling up as many young camping families are moving in due to the fall school break here in Oklahoma.  It's nice to see the kids having a good time but the noise level has definitely increased!  

After our dinner, we enjoyed another campfire, but this time Alvin fired up his pellet fire pit.  Dean and I really liked the idea of this as the wood burns down entirely, and then the two parts stack together for easy storing that takes up little space.  You can take a closer look at the pellet fire pit on Amazon here.  

Thursday, October 19, 2017
After our morning walk, we showered and were ready to head to Tahlequah with our group to have lunch at Restaurant of the Cherokees.  I have to admit I wasn't really excited about going here - mainly because I wasn't sure if there would be anything on their buffet for me to eat and stay within my low carb diet, but I managed to do pretty well and the food was really good.  I started with a decent side salad to help fill me up so I wouldn't eat much of the other items, and then I had one piece of fried chicken - a leg, some pork loin with a small amount of cornbread dressing and lots of green beans.  While I didn't stick entirely to my diet, I tried to limit the carbs and I didn't eat breakfast this morning to try and balance out my total carbs for the day.

After thinking about the offer we received on our house yesterday, as you can imagine it was constantly on our minds yesterday afternoon, evening and we woke up thinking about it this morning.  We decided to submit a counteroffer and I sent a text before we headed to lunch.

Afterwards we enjoyed visiting the gift shop next door before heading back to our campsite.  This is our last day here and we enjoyed visiting with our SKP friends one last time before we pack up and head home tomorrow.  

About mid-afternoon I received another text and the couple wanting to purchase our house  accepted our counter offer.  We will meet with them tomorrow evening at the house to discuss the details and get a contract signed so we can begin the process of closing on the sale.  It's one of those things you want to happen so bad and then it does and it's like wow - now what?  Fortunately we have little left in the house to either pack, give away, sell or dispose of so it can be finished in a week or so pretty easily.  However going through everything in the two garages we have, finding somewhere to store it for a few months until we return from South Texas in April, making a decision on where we will domicile (an address that will determine where we vote, obtain our driver's license, etc.) and most of all handling the address changes and banking changes we will need to make are what I believe will be the most time consuming.  But we are up to the challenge or we wouldn't have moved forward with this plan of full-time living.  Divide and conquer will get it done.

We enjoyed our last evening together with our friends around one last campfire, before heading back to Bentley.  Earlier today I worked on getting some things put away in preparation for leaving tomorrow so it shouldn't take too long to finish packing in the morning and we hope to be back in Oswego before 1pm.

Friday, October 20, 2017

We were up and out for our last morning walk here in Sequoyah State Park this morning before we had our breakfast and finished getting things packed up.  We were ready to pull out around 9:30.  We walked up to say goodbye to everyone and while I was still visiting Dean walked back down to get Bentley, then he stopped to pick me up on his way out.  We made a stop at the "dump station" to dump our waste before we made the trip home.  Our drive home was pretty uneventful and we pulled in shortly before 1pm as we planned.

My plan at this point is to try and write something everyday as we compete the process of becoming full-time RVer's.  I'd like to have this as a diary of sorts of all that goes on in the next 40 days or so as we complete the sale, rid ourselves of what is left, how we deal with it, etc.  I think it will be interesting to review once this phase of our lives moves into the full-time lifestyle.

Stay tuned!