Oklahoma in Spring

Sunset RV Park
Fairview, OK

We knew when we took this job

it would put us in the heart of tornado country

during the peak season for storms.

George and I finished the gate we were assigned

on Monday at 10 am.

It's nice to have a few days off (or more, not sure!).

I caught some nice sunsets, which unfortunately were

behind everyone's vehicles!

The local weather and Weather Channel

had been predicting some storms on Tuesday.

There is no tornado shelter here at this park,

so our options are to hop in the truck

and find something in town if need be.

We kept our TV on the local news,

which I have to say is excellent coverage.

They had multiple storm chasers out

and about, we actually saw one on the road

next to the campground.

George had all the slides pulled in,

and we were ready to go in a moment's notice.

As it turns out we were very lucky.

There were a few wind gusts of about

55-60 mph,

but we never got any hail,

just a lot of rain.

We knew we were going to be okay

when we saw this..

Yesterday we drove to Enid

where the closest Walmart is

to get major grocery shopping done.

I got a pedicure,

and we ate at a Buffalo Wild Wings

to update our phones on their free wifi :-)

We hear that there is a gate opening in this same area soon.

Keeping our fingers crossed,

only a couple weeks left here!

Life with a gate

Sunset RV Park
Fairview, OK

Yikes, 10 days since last post!

Thursday we moved northwest about 60 miles

from Okarche to Fairview.

We're finding all these small Oklahoma towns

are quite nice, with few amenities.

Fuel prices are low, which is nice,

and there are usually small grocery stores that meet our needs.

RV parks are typically set up for the oil workers,

so they're not easy to find.

We called the local chamber of commerce to find 

the two in the area.

We chose this one because it had gravel pads

with grass in between.

George and I have a gate all to ourselves this time,

so the money is a lot better.

We started on Saturday morning at 5 am.

George works the midnight to noon shift,

and I come in to relieve him at noon to midnight.

Not much togetherness!

Our off time is spent catching enough sleep,

packing lunch & dinner (or breakfast!),

and catching up on recorded TV shows.

There was not much going on the first few days,

as they bring equipment in and get set up.

Unfortunately we had severe storms

on Saturday night and Sunday,

which makes for a muddy mess!

Even one of the semi trucks got stuck!

Thankfully a local came and towed him out.

No flip flops on!

The well pad sits in the middle of farmer's fields,

so the scenery is nice.

We'll be working this well for a couple weeks I'm sure,

it's slow going at the moment.

Time to get ready to go relieve George!

Down Time

Stonegate RV Park
Okarche, OK

After our last gate ended over a week ago, 

we've been just hanging out here in Okarche.

Occasionally we'll take a ride to see the prairie,

or into Oklahoma City to see some sights.

Last weekend we decided to check out the

Oklahoma City National Memorial.

On April 19, 1995 at 9:02 am

a truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah building.

A memorial has been erected honoring those 168 souls 

who lost their lives that horrible day.

There is a beautiful reflecting pool,

and on either end a simple symbol,

'The Gates of Time',

with one representing the innocence

of the city before the attack...

 and the other the time 'when healing began'..9:03..

Within the footprint of the building 'chairs' have been

erected symbolizing the lives that were lost that day.

One on side of the reflecting pool stands a lone

American Elm tree,

which withstood the full force of the attack.

It stands 'The Survivor Tree'

as a symbol of the resilience of the people.

 This was written on the outside of an adjoining building

by the workers who were searching for survivors.

It is still there today as a tribute to those workers.

The inside of the museum has stories of those who

lost their lives,

as well as the history of that day and those that followed.

It is a very moving place, we highly recommend it.

In other days,

George got busy restringing one of our shades

that finally broke.

He said it was easy :-)

Yesterday we got a call that we have a gate upcoming,

most likely south of here,

so we'll be moving again soon.

Hurray!

We need to get working again!