Memorial Day Weekend at Lake Murray State Park, Oklahoma

I haven't posted a whole lot this week but thought I would give a few updates today. The park doesn't have Internet but Deb was kind enough to loan me her Mifi to get online. This is the spot I have been in all week. I have pretty decent shade most of the time.

There is no one on my "door" side. I was initially petrified when a very large school bus pulled in on my other side on Tuesday as I pictured about 8 kids piling out of it and weiner dog woofing galore but I assumed too much too quickly. A very nice older gentleman and his girlfriend were the only two occupants....I know, shouldn't make quick assumptions but it is a big school bus which he has completely renovated. We have had a nice time visiting back and forth.

I had a choice of several sites when I arrived; however, many sites were occupied by tiny tents or a truck or car. Park management allows sites to be held by a car, truck, tent, etc., as long as the site is paid for and some of these people claimed sites on Tuesday and never showed up to camp in them until Friday. The park gets it's money but there were a lot of disappointed campers that drove around Thursday and Friday looking for a site as they do not take reservations here. Something else that was different from when we camped here 25 years ago is that while you can only stay 14 days in a spot (except during the off season) but you can move to another campground. So some of the local campers make arrangements with another camper and swap sites with them between Elephant Rock and Cedar Cove every two weeks. It was pretty quiet around here even with sites being held for the first part of the week.

Memorial Day weekend wasn't too bad. There are always a few campers that just can't have a good time unless they stay up until all hours drinking beer and making noise. After one night of not sleeping until 2:30AM, I turned my A/C down cooler with the fan running all the time and put a blanket on the bed. Didn't really need the cold but it blocks out the noise pretty well. Got that advice from my schoolbus neighbors after the first noisy night.

Dawn fixed spaghetti and Deb fixed a salad and dessert my first night here. I fixed sloppy joes one night for Deb and I when Dawn and Paul were busy, Deb fixed a great meatloaf for all of us. Another night when Deb had to work, Dawn fixed Steak au Poivre which was fantastic. She was flaming the liquor here before making the cream sauce. Definitely a treat. Deb was working the gatehouse but she didn't get left out because Dawn took a plate up to her. I fixed beef fajitas with the works the night before last. We've eaten well as you can see.

It's been a quiet week with the other three doing their camphosting jobs so we haven't done anything real exciting but it's been nice. I haven't been in swimming at all. The lake is very low so the beaches are rather muddy but it's still always nice to look out at the blue water. The dachsies have gotten in their share of walks.

Speaking of the little devils, I mean dachsies, it seems that a couple of days ago, I put away everything after breakfast except for the margarine. I left the half full tub on the table and......came back to find the lid off and the tub licked clean. Harley barfed that afternoon. Willy got me up three times during the night when he was whining pitifully after barfing all over his crate. I changed the blankets in it each time and took him outside.  Gretchen suffered no ill effects so I don't think she shared in the bad behavior. She is always telling me the boys are troublemakers. I did laundry the next day and I still have a couple of spots that I am working on. The boys felt fine after they got sick.

I was a little bored last night while the others were meeting with regular campers so I took a little drive to check out a few final sites. Every RV site with the exception of the handicapped sites were taken on Thursday except for one or two that pulled out and were quickly filled. Overflow sites were filled two and tenters were sent to one of the day use sites for overflow. Someone else can claim a handicapped site if it isn't occupied by 8PM but they have to leave at noon the next day. Cedar Coves handicapped site sat empty all weekend as no one wanted to take a chance on a site for only one night. 

Tipps Point Campground

One of the building built by the CCC in the 30s. I think it was a springhouse.

Lake Murray Lodge has rooms for rent and a restaurant.

There is a pool but there was only one lady sitting on the far side so I don't know if they were closed or not.

The park also has about three different kinds of cabins near the lodge. These are the small ones.

This is a water tower from the CCC days. In the background, you can see one of the large cabins.

Plans are to leave tomorrow. Today I packed up the patio mat, dog pen, and chairs as rain was scheduled to move in. Just after I got the grill cleaned and packed away, it started sprinkling so I was glad I wouldn't have to put any wet stuff into the bins. Then it cleared up and the sun even peaked out. I heard it was pouring in central Texas and we are due to get it tonight and tomorrow. Hope I won't be hooking up in the rain. Guess I better see what is going on for dinner.