Betty

A Rocky Start

Blue bird with ruffled feathers looking straight at the camera.
Photo by Tina Nord on Pexels.com

Dallas, here we come! We had decided to make one last trip for our 2022 camping season to visit Michael and Allie. We found a beautiful campground located about 30 minutes from their home and booked ten nights there. Since it would take us two days to get to Dallas (and two days home), we made our reservations for those travel days as well. We were all set!

We made good time on travel day one. That is . . . until we didn’t.

Our reservation for our first night was at Blue Bill Point. The reviews sounded absolutely wonderful. “Spacious sites, lovely view, friendly people, great location.” Sounds like the blue bird of happiness, don’t you think? Blue Bill Point is an Army Corps of Engineers campground, so we got the regular “we hope you’re getting excited” email one week before our scheduled arrival.

Of course, we were excited. I always am before a trip. And as always, I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to the email, other than to check the dates. I wasn’t worried about check-in times or directions. We were good. Or so we thought.

Our first bump in the road on this trip was finding our campground. We put “Blue Bill Point Campground” in our GPS. There was also something called “Blue Bill Point Public Use Area.” However, since we were going camping, we stuck with the “Blue Bill Point Campground” option.

We followed the GPS instructions to our location, and it told us we had arrived. There was no sign for the campground, but we did see a small campground at the bottom of a steep hill with a couple of campers set up. Dan looked at me and said, “We are never coming back here again.” I looked at him and said, “I don’t even want to stay tonight.”

As we drove through the campground looking for our site, we realized there was no electricity nor water available at all. Most of the sites were not numbered except for a few picnic benches which had numbers spray painted on them.

To confirm, I again put in “Blue Bill Point Campground” in Google maps. I was told we were one minute away. Which in Google talk means you are there. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I have always loved COE campgrounds, and this one had gotten such great reviews. Plus, it was supposed to have 30 amp and water hook ups.

With daylight burning and two men watching us, I turned on my hot spot (like I wasn’t already in one), got out my Chrome book and looked for other, more luxurious accommodations. Like one with electricity.

We found another COE campground – with electric and water hookups. We only had to backtrack for 30 minutes, and the campground had openings. We hurried off with the hopes of arriving before dark. This new campground was aptly named, “Rocky Point” and that is exactly where we spent the night.

In the morning, when talking with the Rocky Point campground host, we discovered we should have put in “Blue Bill Point Public Use Area” in our GPS. GPS had taken us to a free campground which had been severely damaged by a flood back in 2019. It was called “Dam Site” campground. Another most appropriately named campground, in my opinion.

Bottom line. It all worked out, just not like how we had thought.

It was a new day with a fresh start. Which just so happened to include a line of severe storms with hail and possible tornadoes, basically over our exact route to Dallas.

A landscape with a tornado and lightening.
Photo by Ralph W. lambrecht on Pexels.com

We considered staying put. However, Rocky Point had the same forecast.

We considered going west and staying put in Seminole, Oklahoma. However, Seminole had the same forecast.

We sure as heck didn’t want to head back home. Especially with how hard we worked to qualify for that “Oklahoma” sticker on our camping map. We weren’t sure what to do. So, we headed straight for those storm warnings. After all, how often are those weather people right anyway?

We drove south until we got to Atoka, Oklahoma. At this point, we were thinking, maybe they do get the weather right sometimes, after all. So, using two phones, we looked at the weather radar on one and the Google maps on the other.

It looked like if we back tracked just one mile, we could travel north of the line of storms by going west on Highway 7. Then we could go south on Highway 75, and the storms would be to our east. This is exactly what we did, and other than adding more miles to our day, our plan worked out great. Lucky 7, you might say.

A close up of a faucet with a drop coming out.
Photo by Nithin PA on Pexels.com

There was one other issue which threw cold water on our plans. And that issue was the cold water in our kitchen faucet. We could not get it to come out. The kitchen hot water worked just fine. The bathroom shower and sink hot and cold waters worked fine. The outside shower worked just fine. All the water everywhere worked fine. Just not the cold. In the kitchen.

Our first thought was to call some Mobile RV Tech when we got to Dallas. After all, who needs money anyway?

But then, as someone who thinks out of the box, I asked Dan, “Do we really need cold water in the kitchen?” After all, we wash the dishes with hot water anyway. So, we decided to wait. Something just told me if we just waited, we’d get out of the hot water with the cold water issue.

Now, just for the sake of completeness, yes, we did check the little filter cap at the end of the kitchen faucet. Yes, we know it gets clogged sometimes, but it wasn’t. The plot does thicken though.

Every so often, we would get a burst of cold water. Then, we’d check the faucet filter, and lo and behold, there was some sandy goop and pebbles in there. Doesn’t that sound like the name of a band – “Sandy Goop and Pebbles?” Well, nobody was playing music for us now. Any way, we’d clean out filter, and eventually, it would happen all over again.

Burst. Clog. Clear. No cold water. Burst. Clog. Clear. No cold water. I’m thinking rap song here, aren’t you?

We were also thinking that when we recently did the “Compressed Air Winterizing” method, we likely blew some crud which had accumulated in the hot water tank (Yes, Bill, you were right.) into the cold water lines. Eventually, someone suggested we open the low point drain for the cold water and turn on the kitchen cold water faucet.

In just a matter of seconds, the cold water burst through, the clog came out, and the cold water ran clear, and it still does to this very day.

In summary, in just a few short days, we managed to survive getting lost, torrential rain, hail, a tornado and a drought. It was just like my camping shirt says, “Adventure Awaits!”

But, bottom line, we did make it to Dallas which is exactly where we found that blue bird of happiness we were looking for on our very first day. And that, my dear readers, will be the subject of my next post.

A blue bird sitting on a branch.
Photo by Skyler Ewing on Pexels.com

37 comments

  7. You’re such a great storyteller, Betty! I smiled through your entire post because you are a pro at making lemonade out of lemons. We have also had that goop and pebbles problem with our water. I think it comes from the water heater, but what do I know. So glad you made it to Dallas without seeing hail or a tornado.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • I think you are exactly right – that the goop and pebbles came from the water heater. We never flushed it out. Never until now. Since before now we always had the dealer winterize/de-winterize the travel trailer, it’s possible they did, but who knows? From here on out, we are going to flush it regularly. Thank you for your kind words and good wishes. Have a great day!

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  8. We can always count on you to turn a phrase…this time while you are turning around…and around…and around. Just like the old western Saturday matinees, you leave us hanging on the cliff with a promise to be back next week or in your case, next post. Keep ’em coming, we need all the levity we can get right now!

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    • Thanks to all our crazy adventures, it’s levity I can provide. As far as everything else going on in the world, I say my prayers. I appreciate your support, interest and always your kind words. Enjoy your day!

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  9. Yes, what an adventure! Everytime Google Maps leads us astray (quite often) I kick myself for not checking Google Earth before we leave. You have a great attitude, but I’m sure it was stressful in the moment. Safe travels!

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    • Thank you so much! I read lots of travel blogs which have given me many ideas for places I hope to visit someday. I hope you will get to travel, too! Enjoy your evening!

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  13. What an adventure! HA I laughed when you wrote how hard you worked to get Oklahoma sticker on your map. We are the same way – our 5th wheel has to spend a full night, stopped, in a state before we can put the state sticker on. HAHA Goodness, so glad you are safe and well and now you have more memories. Have a wonderful time in Dallas! Take care.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Yes, we are the same. We must sleep overnight in our travel trailer to “qualify” for the sticker. We did put the Hawaii sticker on though when we took a cruise to Hawaii. That was the one exception, and it makes for good conversation when people notice it. 🙂 Thank you for your kinds comments, and enjoy the weekend!

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  14. Ah, you had what I call a “gut check trip”. We all have them now and again. What I mean is, it was a trip that makes you silently ask yourself (and sometimes out loud) “do we really want to be doing this”? Of course for die hard travelers like us the answer is usually a resounding “yes”. It’s adventures like this that always add spice to the trip and make memories for years to come. About the wrong campground, we usually try and call where we are headed and ask them for the address to put in the GPS. Because we too in the beginning sometimes ended up at the wrong spot or the wrong entrance. Glad in the end it all worked out.

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    • Yes, I was definitely wondering if the universe was trying to tell us that we should have stayed home! But fortunately, after the first two days, things went much more smoothly. That is a good idea to call. I do think the GPS address was in the email, but since I didn’t check, I am not sure. 🙂 But you are also right about if we want to keep doing this – Absolutely! Hope you have a good weekend!

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  15. As soon as I read you were off to Texas I was going to say I was envious but then I changed my mind. Lol We want to go there as soon as my husband retires the end of next year. I’m so glad you both stayed safe and things worked out.

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    • Thank you. We have gone to Texas 4 times, but we have only seen a tiny bit. We once met a couple who were spending a whole year traveling around the state. I thought that sounded like a good idea – except in the hot summer. I hope you have a great time in Texas when you and your husband get there!

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    • You were right to wonder that, David. I thought the same thing, but with all that could have gone wrong, it wasn’t too bad. The second time we winterized, it only took us an hour. So, we are improving. Somewhat. 🙂

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  18. Glad you made it safely in spite of the setbacks! I have learned the hard way to always read the emails from the campgrounds as they frequently include specific notes to help avoid the types of shenanigans you ran into with Google maps.

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