April 20-24: Oklahoma

After the rain comes beautiful sunshine.

April 20:

It was Easter Sunday. We woke up in Rolla, Missouri, and our only remaining issue was our broken slide-out. Luckily, we found a mobile technician who was generous enough to come check it out. I won’t bore you with all the technical jargon, but his diagnosis was that our slide-out was FUBAR! We decided to delay our travels to Tulsa until tomorrow, because the technician said he might have the part in his workshop, and the winds and rain were starting to pick up.

After the technician left, we needed to dump our black and grey tanks. The black tank contains all of our bodily waste (ew, sorrrryy!!) and the grey tank holds all of the used sink and shower water. They have to be connected to the sewer line with a hose. The inlet for the hose is on the left side of our trailer, and as we went around the side to connect it, we realized we didn’t line it up properly! At this point, we had re-hitched and moved the trailer about 3 times to level it, the process was taking 15 or so minutes every time, and the ground outside was a thick layer of mud. Needless to say, we didn’t want to move the trailer and re-level again. We decided to go to Walmart and get another sewer hose to use as an extension.

With the hose secured, we left Walmart and returned to camp. We successfully connected the hoses and went to put them in the sewer line, but they didn’t fit. Turns out you need an adapter! So we returned to Walmart for the adapter.

We arrived back at camp, put the adapter on the hoses, and connected them to the sewer line. Well, the hoses were just too unruly. We have a hose support that makes sure all the shit rolls downhill and doesn’t back up into your trailer, and the hoses were just too long for the support. After all of that back-and-forth, we ended up re-hitching the trailer anyway to correctly line everything up. We successfully dumped the tanks and learned a great lesson for the future: line up our electricity, water, and tanks correctly the first time!

The hose and its support.

The rain had subsided at this point, and in its place was some beautiful sunshine. The wind persisted, but there was nothing to worry about. I wondered if more rain was coming, so I checked the weather, and there it was: TORNADO WATCH. No, no, no, no, NOOO!

Just as I was calming down, the aforementioned “anxiety ouroboros" returned. My mind had been racing for the past 48 hours. “We’re going to get washed away in the rain and die,” “The battery is going to get rained on and explode and we’ll die,” or “We’re going to break something on the trailer and surely that will lead to us dying' were all thoughts echoing in my mind, and I was getting so sick of it! But a tornado. Shit, we could actually die! I sat and watched the mass of nearly black clouds wash over the sky, checking the trailer’s stability with every gust of wind. I decided this was probably not a healthy activity, so I distracted myself by starting dinner. Suddenly, my anxiety was transferred to the raw chicken I was cutting up. I was light as a feather! Then came the rain.

Though I tend to be hyperbolic, I’m not joking when I say the rain was terrifying! It was an absolute downpour, and the sky was an odd shade of green. I sat and frantically Googled shelter locations, and poor Henry had to listen to my crazy ramblings about a safety plan. An hour passed, and the sky began to lighten. The sun peeked through the clouds, and I began to calm down.

A large part of this expedition is learning to face our fears and anxieties. Though I may have more, probably to a clinical level, I know Henry has had some moments of fear and anxiety as well. He doesn’t show it as much, thank God, because if he weren’t more level-headed, I’d be a total basket case.

After the storm came a beautiful sunset. A wonderful omen for our travels to come.

April 21 & 22:

Finally, the time came to leave Missouri! After the anxieties of yesterday, I was ready to leave Rolla behind and begin exploring new territories. There was still some light rain, but the sun had come out and the wind had dwindled, which was perfect timing because I was driving for the first time.

To be frank, I was terrified. Just command+F “anxiety” on these posts and you’ll see I have a problem. The thought of maneuvering a 5,000-pound travel trailer with a huge truck was paralyzing to me. But, as they say, the only way out is through!

So I did it. The highways were dreadful. I had to stay in the right lane because going above 70 is sketchy, and drivers getting onto the highway don’t understand that you can’t accelerate that quickly when they’re merging. Besides that, I did pretty well, even if I was white-knuckling it.

Driving through Oklahoma was surprisingly lovely. When I pictured Oklahoma, I pictured the Dust Bowl, but the scenery was so verdant! Magnificent green trees and rolling hills lined the highway, and driving became peaceful.

Henry took over for the last hour. We were 30 minutes outside of downtown Tulsa on country roads. They were narrow, windy and bumpy, and drivers in lifted trucks were passing us. They probably know those roads like the back of their hand, so I can imagine the annoyance of two yuppies hauling a trailer at 50 miles per hour on a one-lane road.

We reached the road that led to our campsite. The drive down the large hill was bumpy, but as we reached the campsite, we felt a surge of excitement. Our spot was right on Skiatook Lake! The sun was about to set, and we could hear all of the bugs and birds chirping. Finally, some PEACE! We set up camp, poured ourselves some wine, and explored the campsite. We walked along the path and came upon this beautiful clearing. White flowers dotted along the field of green grass, and some streaks of purple peeked through from an unknown plant. Across the lake, the foothills were silhouetted by an orange-streaked sky. We took a moment to appreciate the beauty and stillness we earned after our struggles in Rolla.

As night fell, we sat under the stars enjoying the reflection of the moon on the lake. Our tranquility was disturbed by a loud cough. Our neighbor was outside hacking up a lung like an alley cat. It was then that we decided to turn in.

We woke up to beautiful sunshine! The sky was blue, birds were singing, and people were launching their boats into the lake. Life was good!

We were supposed to head off to our next destination today, but decided to extend our stay. When I first made the itinerary, I was a little aggressive. There was no margin for error at all, and I greatly underestimated the set-up and take-down time for the trailer. We wanted one more day in Tulsa to rest after our perilous trip in Rolla.

In the afternoon, we headed into downtown Tulsa. The city was cute, it reminded me of the Cherokee Street area in St. Louis. We enjoyed some great appetizers and drinks at Amelia’s Woodfire Cuisine and appreciated each other’s company.

Overall, our time in Tulsa was so peaceful. We got some much-needed downtime without any complications. Our optimism was rising, and we were looking forward to our next destination: the Wichita Mountains.

April 23 & 24:

Today was a big day! We were heading to the Wichita Mountains in southwest Oklahoma. The drive was 3 hours and 32 minutes, so I wasn’t anticipating it would be so bad. However, I was still nervous and didn’t account for driving through Oklahoma City. The traffic was bumper to bumper, and navigating the truck and trailer was less than ideal. The wind picked up once we left the city and were in a more rural area. I was driving on a 2 lane highway, and I could feel every gust of wind knocking at the trailer. My palms were sweating, and I was at my wits’ end with driving. Henry finished work, so we stopped in Chickasha, Oklahoma, and switched. The town was tiny, and strangely had a statue of the leg lamp from A Christmas Story.

Henry continued to drive and we finally made it to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge! The drive up was gorgeous. Huge mountains framed the blue sky as bison munched on lush grass on the horizon. We made it to Doris campground and set up. There was some time before sunset, so we decided to hike the Quanah Parker Dam trail.

Our setup at Doris Campground.

The trail was close to our campsite, so we thought it would be a quick jaunt. It started out well. We walked over a bridge into the woods, onto a well-trodden path, and up a set of stairs made of rocks. The stairs led to two trees that formed an arch. We walked through and were greeted by a massive pile of rocks. Unsure of our path forward, we checked Google Maps, but our route was unclear. We climbed over the pile of rocks and discovered a beautiful clearing. The grass was incredibly green, flecked with brilliant red flowers, and several large boulders. The sunshine glowed off the tops of the boulders and highlighted the flowers in the grass. Looking west, a rocky, orange mountain towered over us. Of course, Henry wanted to climb it!

We began to scale the side. Naturally, I was apprehensive at first. As we climbed, I realized we could easily do it. We made it to the top and marveled at the view. Henry remarked that the landscape was alien. It was true, despite the grass, the landscape was akin to Mars. From our vantage point on the mountain, we could finally see the dam, and the trail we were supposed to be on became evident. The sun was about to set, so our plans to finish the trail would have to wait until tomorrow.

We returned and actually followed the trail this time! We made friends with some vibrant lizards, ducks, and turtles, and made it to the Quanah Parker dam. It was cool to see, though Henry wished it were bigger.

After our hike, we drove to Walmart to get groceries. Earlier in the day, Henry and I kept hearing loud booms that sounded like explosions. We thought maybe it had to do with one of the dams, but as we were driving, we saw signs. They read, “DANGER: Artillery may be fired over roads in this area”. We found out the road bordered Fort Sill, an army post where basic training is performed. I Wikipedia’d while we were driving and learned that Fort Sill has been involved in “every major American conflict since 1869”¹ The fort was built during the Indian Wars, and in 1874 Fort Sill was in the center of the Red River War between the US Army and Comanches, Kiowas, and Southern Cheyenne tribes. Five army columns charged the Texas panhandle and tributaries of the Red River, trying to round up the tribes to Fort Sill so they could be put in the reservation system. The war continued through the fall, and due to the waning buffalo herds, many Indians had to concede and go to Fort Sill. The last tribe to surrender was the Kwahadi Comanches, who were led by Quanah Parker! His tribe surrendered and arrived at Fort Sill in June of 1875, ending Indian warfare in this area.² Fort Sill also detained the Apache chief Geronimo, of whom I’m sure you’ve heard.³

This research also led us to wonder about the geology of the Wichita Mountains. They were so unlike anything we had ever seen, with large, square chunks of rock on the faces. The Wichita Mountains formed beneath the Earth’s surface 525 million years ago! They were much taller 330 to 290 million years ago, and have lowered due to weathering and erosion. The mountains were also the backdrop for one of the last American gold rushes! In 1901, about 20,000 miners came en masse to the mountains, and remnants of mining equipment can still be found in the hills.⁴

Though our time in the Wichita Mountains was too brief to discover any gold rush relics, the experience of exploring a beautiful landscape rich in American history was astounding. We’re determined to return someday to see more of what we missed. But for now, it’s time to hit the road again. Next stop: Texas!

Oklahoma Historical Society | OHS. “| Oklahoma Historical Society,” n.d. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=FO038.

1.

Wikipedia contributors. “Fort Sill.” Wikipedia, May 4, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Sill#Red_River_War.

2.

3

Oklahoma Historical Society | OHS. “| Oklahoma Historical Society,” n.d. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=WI002.

4. ibid.