Our first day at Salt Plains State Park wasn’t too bad—the wind was enough to keep the sun from being blistering, I thought, so we sat and gazed across the river as flocks of pelicans and cattle egrets drifted by. No neighbors to bother us…

until three big RVs moved in, one of them not 12 feet from our camper. So much for privacy and quiet. Russ only cared about not losing his hammock spot, just on the river bluff. It turned out the shade wasn’t as effective as I’d thought, either. Between the sun and the wind, I was so burnt I was practically incandescent.

The next day I wanted to see Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, one of the few nesting habits for snowy plovers and good chances to see other waterfowl. There was a driving loop, so I figured I’d be OK. HOWEVER, you had to walk out a 1/4 mile trail (paved, thank god) to a viewing platform to see the salt flat nesting grounds. We got there with a 30-40 mph wind whipping past—I couldn’t hold steady enough to focus my binoculars, even resting my arms against the railing. I MIGHT have seen one plover scurry out of some scrub before scurrying back. Honestly, I can’t blame them for hiding. I did get to see quite a few black-necked stilts, however, so the trip was not a total loss.

Back at camp, I immediately retired to the air-conditioned camper and Moe panted in the shade.

Russ is greatly disappointed in dinner choices, as I’m too hot and miserable to even imagine cooking. Peanut butter and jelly is just fine with me. That night, the winds topped 40 mph and I could feel the camper rocking and creaking. Even Russ finally gave up on being bounced around in his hammock (I can’t imagine) and retired to the camper.

The next day, the wind and the heat were even worse, so I remained inside most of the day. We did take a short walk through a wooded trail and I got pictures of some of Oklahoma’s native wildflowers:

As I was drifting off to sleep, I heard Russ calling me to “Come quick!” The owner of a large RV was trying to back into a campsite, apparently with no driving experience. Backing up and turning was apparently too much multi-tasking, so instead of going around the loop to come at it from the other direction, she (yes, it was a she) elected to pull forward over the lawn, across a ditch and up a small rise—where she promptly bottomed out the rear of her camper and couldn’t move. I knew it wouldn’t end well, so went back inside. Russ stayed to watch several nearby campers castigate her for being a idiot, then one of them pulled her out with his diesel truck and finally got her into her site.

I did get to see her leave. She stopped beside a dumpster to throw out her trash, then proceeded to take a tight corner without steering wide AT ALL. She scraped the dumpster with the side of her camper so hard she pushed it into a tree, all the while smiling and blithely waving to Russ, who was walking toward her.

Camping—never a dull moment!

Tomorrow it’s off to Alabaster Caverns for a short (two day) stay.