Always Want To Go

Dodge City, Kansas, has been a great home base for exploration and discovery and definitely reinforced our belief that every mile is a memory. After three nights here of it being Too Windy to Drive, we finally have reasonable wind speeds.

We are ready to move on down the road: next stop, Oklahoma, as we meander south toward home. I have marked Kansas off the top of our “places to go” list and immediately added it back again at the bottom. There is so much more to see!

Front Street, Dodge City, Kansas

Steve and I had a fairly uneventful drive from Dodge City to Oklahoma City, but over four hours of driving. We didn’t even stop for lunch, just had sandwiches on the move. I’m becoming very skilled at making sandwiches at 60-65 miles per hour. No drops or spills so far!

One time, I did not close the latch on the freezer, and food tumbled out onto the floor. Thankfully, since it was all frozen containers, there was no mess or breakage to clean up. We don’t think that will happen again, though.

Boondocking in Oklahoma City

We, as is often the case, did not have a definite overnight plan. The sketchy plan was to visit my sister Marsha (known to family as Tweety) the following day and thought we’d stop at a Wal-mart near her condo and stay in its parking lot.

Overnight Parking at Wal-Mart

It is widely known that Wal-Mart allows RVs to park overnight in their parking lots. I telephoned our chosen Wal-mart and got permission to park overnight. Soon after we parked, a very friendly, polite, and respectful security guard came by and told us we could not park overnight.

Apparently, overnight parking was no longer allowed. We located another Wal-Mart not too far away and tried again. This time we planned to go inside to ask permission in person. Before we even parked, though, an extremely rude and obnoxious security guard pulled up alongside us and ordered us to vacate the parking lot! We decided that, at least in Oklahoma City, Wal-mart overnight parking is no longer allowed. 

We were becoming very frustrated, but finally, we found our overnight home at the giant parking lot of a Bass Pro Shops store and received permission and parking instructions over the phone. The lot was huge, level, and patrolled by Jason, the personable young security guard. There were four or five other RVs also parked there as well as several movie crew trucks. That was a little bit exciting to see.

The following night we stayed at a beautiful Boondockers Welcome location in a small suburb of Oklahoma City. This was another first for us – parking overnight in the driveway of someone’s home! These friendly folks are Boondockers Welcome hosts because they are active RVers and enjoy sharing their home with RV travelers. They even provided an electric hook-up for us! We had a great overnight stay here.

Oklahoma City

Centennial Land Run Monument

Bricktown Riverwalk Park
200 Centennial Ave
Oklahoma City, okay 73102

Thanks to my sister Tweety for taking us to this incredible Monument, only a few steps from the Bass Pro Shops parking lot. The Centennial Land Run Monument was built in remembrance of the 1889 Oklahoma Territory Land Run. You may remember this unique piece of Oklahoma history depicted in the 1955 movie “Oklahoma,” and again in the 1992 film, “Far and Away.”

Paul Moore is the artist who created each of these 45 life-sized bronze sculptures of men, children, horses, and animals, all portrayed in action poses. It took Mr. Moore twenty years to complete this project. These sculptures are very life-like and tell a great story from Oklahoma’s history.

Bricktown

Canal that runs through the Bricktown district in Oklahoma City

Bricktown, located east of downtown Oklahoma City, was formerly a warehouse district and is made up of brick buildings. The area was revitalized and opened in 1999 as an entertainment destination. Bricktown is home to hotels, dining venues, a canal water taxi ride, museums, art galleries, the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, specialty stores, and a vibrant nightlife.

This is a great family-friendly destination similar to the San Antonio Riverwalk, a happy and fun place to be and makes a great weekend getaway destination. Tweety and I had a quick outdoor lunch here at one of the restaurants before we had to be on our way.

Bricktown

The Oil Patch Warrior

We said goodbye to Tweety and began our journey south with a stop a few hours south of Oklahoma City in Ardmore, Oklahoma, for a visit with another sister, Charlotte, and her husband, Donnie. I have three sisters! Charlotte told us about an unusual historical monument in Ardmore she thought we would enjoy seeing, so we all four grabbed Whataburger picnic lunches and headed to the park.

She was absolutely right; it was an unusual and interesting monument to see. Every mile IS a memory.

Train murals near the park

This Monument was dedicated in 2001 as a memorial to American oil drilling roughnecks, who worked in Britain’s oilfield during World War II. A large seven-foot bronze sculpture, The Oil Patch Warrior, was erected at Ardmore’s Memorial Square to honor war veterans and the energy industry. It is a replica of Great Britain’s statue erected in 1991. This fascinating story was a military secret for years. During World War II, Britain’s oil imports were being impacted by Germany.

Unfortunately, Britain did not have men or drilling equipment available to extract desperately needed oil. With its 44 volunteers, Noble Drilling Corporation performed a secret oil drilling mission in Britain’s Sherwood Forest to provide the British with a source of energy. I had never thought about or ever had a clue about the oilfield industry’s services to assist in wartime. This was a thought-provoking memorial.

The Secret of Sherwood Forest: Oil Production in England During World War II

This book tells how England in 1942, with the help of 44 United States roughnecks, developed desperately needed oil in Britain’s Sherwood Forest.

Beautiful Texas courthouses

We left Charlotte and Donnie and continued south. Steve did not particularly want to drive through the Dallas – Fort Worth area, so we took a very roundabout way home, heading west. We drove through some great small towns we will have to go back and visit. We saw one remarkable thing in many of these small towns: the beautiful courthouses centered on courthouse squares in the middle of town. I’m getting quite a collection of photos from these Texas courthouses.

Pair of Dice RV Park

7019 S, FM 51
Paradise, TX 76073

This highly recommended RV park was our last overnight stay for this 24-day trip. Pair of Dice, just outside of Paradise, Texas, is not a casino, as the name may suggest, but instead, it is a tranquil RV park in the trees. It is less than an hour’s drive to Fort Worth, just a great location. The owners were friendly, professional, and helped us get situated in our assigned spot just as the sun went down.

I believe there may be many full-time residents here in this well-maintained full hook-up park. We had a great night’s sleep but were off early the next morning, anxious to get home after being gone for 24 days.

A few weeks later, we begin our next adventure to the beautiful city of Savannah, Georgia. Check back next week to read about our experience, and please leave a comment giving me travel destination suggestions! It’s a big world out there with lots to see that I know nothing about.