Atoka, Oklahoma
McGee Creek State Park
Weather Condition; High 106 Low 72, Sunny
It’s still HOT outside. We are being held hostage by this heat. We feed
the dogs first thing in the morning and walk them before 8 A.M. Even at that
time of the morning it’s in the 80’s already. We go for a short walk and the
dogs tongues are dragging by the time we are finished.
The weather man mentioned that the temperatures may cool down to the
high 90’s. That sounds like a real down to me at this point!
We haven’t done much of anything since we arrived here. The heat is
part of the reason and the other part is the fact that this park is in a remote
location. The nearest town is Atoka and it’s about 16 miles away.
We did go into Atoka yesterday morning to do some laundry and get a few
groceries. While we were there we bought diesel too. We filled up our tank at
$3.72 per gallon. That was as cheap as we could find it. As we were pulling out
of the gas station the attendant was changing the fuel prices on the sign. New price
$3.89. How on earth can diesel prices change so drastically in a matter of
minutes? I will never understand how these big oil companies can get by with
over charging us for fuel. I always love seeing the postings of the fuel
companies quarterly profit reports. You already knew their reports would show
their making huge profits!
Since I’m ranting, can I mention that some of the people that stay in
campgrounds need some etiquette training. We love staying in state parks but we
know if we stay in a park that has a lake then you can almost bet that the
weekends are going to be loud!
During the week it’s been pretty quiet here until this week. They
started pulling in yesterday afternoon. They pull in with trailers, boats and
radios blaring. They unhook their boats and back in their trailers all the
while their radios can be heard throughout the park. Once they have their boats
in the water they turn on the radios in their boats. I like music but I try to
keep it low enough not to bother others. I’m turning into a GROUCH!
Last night Dawn was preparing dinner about 6 P.M when the weatherman
mentioned that there was a thunderstorm warning for the area. He went on to say
that we could expect winds up to 70 mile an hour, hail and flash flooding.
I took a look at the radar on my phone and noticed this storm was
heading right for us and was moving fairly quickly. I told Dawn she needed to
wrap up what she was doing and prepare to go to the park shelter (restroom).
While she finished up, I harnessed the dogs and loaded some items into the
truck. Dawn then threw together a bag with bottled water, medications,
flashlight and a few other items. The sky was getting darker by the minute. We
grabbed the dogs and our bag and jumped into the truck just as the wind started
to pick up.
The park ranger was making rounds notifying everyone about the weather.
We drove to the top of the hill and backed the truck up to the side of
the restroom building and sat in the truck until the wind started blowing so
hard that we decided to make a run for it. We weren’t in the restroom very long
when the wind started bending the trees and the rain was coming down so hard
you couldn’t see across the road.
The restroom is NOT air conditioned. There are a few vents located along
the lower area of the wall. It was HOT in the building. I was able to use my
phone to keep an eye on the radar. We spent an hour in the HOT restroom before
we decided to make a run for the truck in the pouring rain. We were soaked by
the time we got back in the truck. The wind had stopped but the rain was still
coming down like crazy. The A/C in truck felt good. We remained in the truck
for another 20 minutes before we decided to drive by the trailer and see how
things looked.
The lightening was striking all around us so we decided not to get out
of the truck. We drove around the park for another 20 minutes periodically
checking the radar. Finally we could see light in the sky off in the distance
and the radar showed the rough stuff was moving passed us. The rain slowed and
we returned to the fiver. No damage was done but the ditches were running with water and there were a few limbs down.
Thank goodness the power was still on. We heated up
our dinner and watch TV until bed time.
These storms do scare me. Not the rain as much as the HIGH winds and
Lightening.