We broke camp at 9:30 AM. Yes dear friends, the nocturnes are up and and on the road before 10! (Time zone changes are helping us nocturnes rise when chickens are supposed to. We still have no idea WHY chickens rise early, only that is what chickens should be doing.)
Today we drove from Smokin’ Joes in Davis, Oklahoma to Great Plains State Park which is located in southwestern Oklahoma on the shore of Lake Tom Steed which is actually a reservoir formed by a rather tall dam. Great Plains State Park is lovely open park land along one side of the lake.
It was an easy drive on US 70 and along the way we stopped at a convenient Walmart this enabled us to obtain DEF fluid for Clyde. We also looked to see if this Walmart had the elusive Y-cigarette electrical connector we wanted for the back seat area. As it turned out, THIS Walmart had the Y-connector also! YEA, we can now have power to our Pep-Link router AND the rear view camera focused on the hitch.
We arrived at Great Plains State Park by 2:00 pm, and since we knew our site from our reservation confirmation, we drove straight to our site. Today our setup time was only 15 minutes, to level the trailer, hook up all utilities, get the slides extended, heat and hot water running, and get the cats settled.
After setting up camp we drove to camp office where we bought both firewood & charcoal. While we were there, the helpful park rangers told us that the park was now open year round! These great host/rangers, made us feel welcome. They are doing a fantastic job keeping the park clean, maintained, and now extending the camping to be all year!
After we got our firewood and charcoal, we took a ride around the camp ground. There were a number of camping loops. Ours was higher on the hill side, with a lovely view of the lake. The lower loop was closer to the water, so might flood if flooding happens here. We continued out past the boat launch and fishing pier to the tent camping areas.
As we were touring the tent camping area, about 50 feet out from the shore was a rock outcrop. Sitting on the rocks was a cluster of white Pelicans and a few cormorants.
Down the road further was the dam which created this reservoir.
The Dam 
Below the Dam
As we drove back we turned into the boat ramp and fishing dock area. We could see large number of Canadian geese resting in the tranquil water, while another group seemed to be determining where on lake they should stay for the night.
While at camp, Rob was able to add the DEF fluid we purchased earlier today to Clyde. We also added the Y-connector so that now both the backup camera and the PEPLink cellular router are powered in Clyde.
Tonight we made use of the state park provided cooking grill, as well as the fire ring. The cooking grill is designed for cooking with charcoal. The square grill unit is built on top of a pedestal and you can rotate the grill so that the prevailing wind keeps the charcoal hot. The cooking grate is adjustable between a number of heights so as your charcoal cools you can get your food closer to the heat.
A fire ring is as the name describes a circular object where a campground wants you to build a camp fire for fire control. Some campgrounds use old truck wheels, state and national parks seem to have purchased ~2 foot diameter iron circles with a grill that can be positioned above the fire. Since we were at an Oklahoma State park, there was the “state/national park” version complete with a 2.5 foot grill that could be used for cooking.
This is why we purchased fire wood AND charcoal. Tonight Rob cooked lamb chops (that we had found the lamb on special sale at a Sam’s club) on the charcoal grill. Deryl cleaned and wrapped a sweet potato in aluminum foil, and that went in with the charcoals. Deryl then steamed up some broccoli in the trailer on the stove.
After dinner we lit a fire in the fire ring, and sat enjoying the night sky. What a wonderful experience to be in such a peaceful place.