Monday, 12-1-97

We were awakened very early this morning by Michael getting ready to go home today. He and Cindy have early flights that required Michael to get up at 5:00AM. He had to pick Cindy up at her hotel at 5:30 so she could be at the airport by 6AM. Michael’s flight left about 30 minutes after Cindy’s flight. She will arrive in San Francisco 45 minutes ahead of Michael.

I went back to sleep after seeing Michael off. I finally got up and ready to take on the day at about 9:00, a day that is cold and gray. There was frost on the roofs of the houses and cars in the neighborhood.

I found that Steven had missed his school bus, so I drove him to school. Now it was time to turn in our rental car. Jim met me at the airport and gave me a ride back to our motorhome. The time had come to make the rounds, in the motorhome, to say "Good-bye" to everybody. We then took on supplies and gasoline, dumped the holding tanks, and headed for Oklahoma. We left Wichita at 2PM.

It took us only 45 minutes to reach Oklahoma. Kay recognized a familiar off ramp on I-35. We turned off on Exit 157 to place our order for a Dairy Queen goody. It wasn’t long after getting back on the Interstate that we encountered rough road. From north of Oklahoma City on I-35, all along the I-44 bypass, to a few miles west of Oklahoma City on I-40, the road is like a washboard. It was good to get that behind us.

I stopped in El Reno again to fill the motorhome fuel tank. This time our visit was uneventful. This was the same gas station where a young woman discovered her cat was missing. From El Reno, we headed into the night. We decided to stop early so we could watch Monday Night Football. Originally I wanted to try to get to Amarillo, but I am glad we stopped at the Elk City/Clinton KOA campground, just 50 miles from the Oklahoma-Texas border. Kay fixed our evening meal and we finished our day watching the football game.