Travels With Miranda

It was a so-so night at Walmart. Because of the lack of parking spots, a reefer parked almost on top of me (not exaggerating; he had to go out his passenger door and I couldn’t open my house door!). I couldn’t fault the driver for that. He ran the engine for a few hours in the evening, then again in the middle of the night before finally taking off around 5:00 or 6:00. So my sleep was interrupted and I gave up around 7:00.

Since I only had about an hour to my destination, I thought of just taking off, but something told me to check my email. There was a comment from Linda Sand warning me that there are two Firelake casinos in Shawnee and that she was parked at the wrong one. Since it was on route to the right one, where I had planned to spend the night, I decided to stop there first and meet her since we keep just missing each other this spring. Onsite, I could check out the RV facilities and determine the best casino to stay at.

I arrived at the first casino, Firelake Casino, around 10AM, after circling around the complex a number of times before finding the RV park. I knew Linda is a late riser, so I sent a message to let her know I was on site instead of banging on her door, then had breakfast and did some online stuff. I called the casino to ask about the RV park and after being bounced around a bit, I was told it is $15 for FHU. Good deal and a nice location, but too much for me right now.

Linda got back to me around 11:30 and I went to check out her swanky digs (WOW, the things you can do with a class B when you custom design the layout!) and we gabbed for a bit. We will be having dinner tonight.

I headed out to the Grand Casino around 2:00 and was settled into a spot and had had lunch by 2:30. Linda had warned me I would have to unhook and back in, so I was prepared. Neither event took any effort. The slots are super narrow, but there is ample room to back in and they are perfectly angled for easy entrance. The view out the back is of a muddy creek, but the view from the desk is half into a bedroom window (I’m keeping that curtain closed!), one quarter onto an RV wall, and one quarter to the big rig parking lot.

In exchange for signing up for the player’s club, I get three nights with power and water and access to a dump station (each additional night is $25). With the player’s club, you get free keno, 10 entries to a draw, and $10 in match play (so you put $10 in the slot machines and they give you 10, but not on progressive machines). I have never played keno, but for the chance to win $100, I will try it out!

Three nights with power will be much appreciated since it is super cold and overcast. I’m running out of propane, so I have to ration until I find a place to fill and am grateful I can run the electric heater.

Gas prices in OK are much cheaper than in TX, to my surprise. Thank goodness for that. My gas mileage the last two days has been the pits and I’ve had to adjust my gas budget from $600 to $900 to get back to Canada from Dallas. *sighs* I’m just glad I’m not paying Canadian prices for fuel!!! Here, fuel is about $3.20 ($0.85/litre) a gallon and average Canadian prices are $4.90 ($1.30/litre) a gallon. So to fill the motorhome here (50 gallons), it’s $160 and to fill it in Canada would be $245!

I wish I could have had just one more month in the US to avoid getting back to Canada in this frigid soupy mess. I’m afraid that that’s what I’ll remember most about my winter, the cold humid last days rather than the hot sunny days walking barefoot along the beach with palm trees rustling in the background. Those days already feel like they belonged to another life. 🙁

Two years ago, I posted a trick for buying gas at the pump in the US with a Canadian credit card when they ask for a zip code. I’m happy to report that this trick still works!

All you have to do when asked for your zip code is put in your postal code numbers, plus 00. In my case, it’s now 14800. I’ve had a 100% success rate with this trick since I left Quebec.

Saturday, I headed out to ‘the ranch’, an RV community where Ms. Cinnamon keeps her rig. Most folks there have a structure with living space plus a covered area for the RV. It is operated condo style where everyone owns their plot of land and they share the operating costs for the common areas. I got some ideas for my RV pad should I ever develop it.

I knew about this place because one of my very few nemeses bought property there some time ago and is one of her neighbours. What a small world; huh? Thankfully, I didn’t run into him!

For lunch, we stopped at the Eastern Buffet in Lindale, a good all you can eat place that even had some (pretty bad) sushi. But it was rice and seaweed, so I gladly ate it. 🙂

It was good to get out of the rig so I could separate myself from Bitha and steel myself for the inevitable that evening.

Today, Ms. Cinnamon invited me out for lunch and then to run errands. She said we could go anywhere for food. I wasn’t feeling well and had a bit of an upset tummy, so I wanted to go for something familiar and comforting. I therefore suggested we go back to Bistro B and I ordered the lemongrass chicken again. This time, I specified that I wanted lots of lemongrass and the meal ending up being doubly delicious from the last time. YUM. For dessert, Ms. Cinnamon got us the boba ice coffee, for which there are no words to express its deliciousness. It’s really strong coffee with condensed milk and tapioca pearls. Mmm!

We then went next door to an Asian market where I stocked up on staples, like rice (said casually, but check out the picture and caption of it below…), sushi vinegar, sesame oil, and rice noodles.

Next, we headed over to Sam’s club, where I had never shopped. I got a few things on my list and was irked that they do not take Visa. Ms. Cinnamon paid (thank you!) and I stopped at the ATM upstairs to get some cash to pay her back.

I picked up a few more things at Walmart and then we headed out to Costco. I am definitely going to be getting a Costco card. I’ve been debating it since last summer and I’m doing it! They also don’t take Visa, grr, but I had cash so that was fine. I didn’t need much more by then and had reached the end of the budget anyway, but I got an incredible deal on cheese (more details below). Ms. Cinnamon and I split a package of two fresh baguettes, so that’s what I’ll be having for a very light supper later.

I’m wiped from all that shopping and grateful that Ms. Cinnamon prefers to be the driving. I haven’t taken my truck out once since I got here!

My sewer hose is too short to dump, so we’ll be going to an RV place first thing in the morning to get another section and a coupler. And then it will be time to take my leave of this place and head out into the frigid plains. Oh, Texas, I will miss you.