We started out our day noting that our local squirrel has figured out a way to foil the steel hook and bird feeder roof such that he was able to get at the bird seed although he had to do it upside-down. He is the first squirrel to achieve this feat although skunks and raccoons have been able to tip the steel hook over and break into the yummy contents.
After making sure the birds would have some dining opportunities, we jumped into the truck and decided to take a spin into Oklahoma, just across Lake Texoma from our RV spot in Texas. We were initially going to Lake Murray State Park but that got sort of sidetracked and we went to a place called the Country Kitchen in Kingston, OK.
My quest to find the best chicken fried steak was shortened today when I got my breakfast here. Jake’s in Bend, Oregon, and Dean’s in Clackamas, Oregon, were my favorites for this pedestrian treat until meeting their match in this little backwater town. Peggy had a western omelette and said it was tasty. $24 out the door- it was great.
From Kingston we wandered north for about 25 miles until turning off on some secondary highways around Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge, a 16,000 acre parcel of mostly wetlands south of the town of Tishomingo. The refuge is accessed by driving down dirt roads into little slices of the refuge shoreline where it surrounds Cumberland Pool. The Pool is a Army Corps of Engineers creation to trap sediment before the Red River reaches Lake Texoma to the south.
As we were circumnavigating the Pool, we found a sign pointing to a road to the Chickasaw White House. We had no idea what that might be so we turned off and followed a dirt road for a couple miles until we spotted a magnificent confection of residential design and construction. Back here in the boondocks, some character named Douglas Hancock Johnston built a beautiful white house with separate guest bedroom. He must have told the carpenters doing the fancy woodwork that money was not important but a gorgeous house was. The results were very nice.
We also made a stop by Fort Washita which, of course, was closed today so we took a few pix through the gate and skedaddled. We continued on, trying to find a loop road through Tishomingo but we were repeatedly foiled. Instead, we continued down the dirt roads into the little glimpses of the refuge before turning around and backtracking and continuing on our way. We finally made it to refuge headquarters where there were pieces of equipment and ranger-looking guys but no visitor center.
However, on one of our little dusty forays in through the swamp to the edge of the Pool, we ran into a retired biologist who lives and fishes in the area. He was a font of local wildlife info although he kept creeping up on Peggy until she bent over sideways to escape. He may have just been a little deaf because he was certainly too old to get frisky, especially with a gorilla sitting in the adjacent seat.
We exited the refuge into the town of Tishomingo. There is a Chickasaw National Capitol Building, something we know nothing about. There is a bronze statue of Tishomingo, a truly great Chickasaw leader, out front. Tishomingo died taking a U.S. Army sponsored stroll on the Trail of Tears.
There are some pix we took along the way and you can see ’em by clicking here

Today we had a clear schedule other than a short trip to the post office. After stopping in the nearby tiny burg of Sadler for postal purposes, we jumped on the back roads and headed toward Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge about 20 miles away. We had no idea what was there since we have never been in this part of the world before.
We suspected we were approaching the Refuge when the paving changed from crummy asphalt to dirt and gravel. Fortunately, some government employee has properly graded the gravel roads and washboard sections and potholes are rare. It is fortunate the roads are well-tended because the scenery is spectacular and paying attention to the road surface is difficult.
We spotted many aquatic birds like ducks, geese and coots. We observed turtles lurking in the ponds. We spotted a new species for us – a greater yellowlegs which is a wading bird who gave us an impressive demonstration of “Beat it! Go away!” while posturing from a roadside puddle. There are many wading birds here. We spotted a bunch of great blue herons and white egrets.
Eagle-eyed Peggy directed me to a pull-out where she suspected bird activity and we found a very miserable-looking group of black vultures and one blue heron watching a bald eagle dining on something they could not have.The eagle was a monster, dwarfing the usually largest vultures and forcing them to wait while she dined and made periodic trips to the nearby water to drink.
Hagerman NWR is a great place to spend the day and I wouldn’t mind going back in the early morning during the feeding frenzy. We found our way back home without having to get on any roads with lines down the center but no sooner got close to the Barbarian Invader when Peggy suggested we continue on into nearby Oklahoma so we did. Not surprisingly, the other side of the Red River looks pretty similar to the Texas side but we will go there tomorrow to make sure.
The sunsets are terrific here.
There are some shots we took along the way you can see if you click here

Today was a travel day. We unhooked the connections to sewer, electricity and stinky water in the Shady Pines RV Park near Texarkana and hooked the Barbarian Invader to Charlotte. After just a few miles, we turned onto US-82 headed west. 82 is a pretty good road that passes through low hills and pastures. There are many nice spreads near the highway but we were blasting along at about 60 and did not stop to gaze at any of them. There seemed to be less roadside litter, too.
A couple hundred miles later, we turned north on US-377 for about 15 miles and then into a Thousand Trails facility called Lake Texoma. It is near Gordonville, TX, just across the Red River from Oklahoma. The campground is huge with lots of camping spots but, fortunately for us, few of them are occupied. There are lots of seasonals (folks who put their RV in a camping space for the year) here but their expensive vehicles are empty now. Peggy took a stroll and thought there were about 6 other parties here. It is very quiet. We will explore tomorrow.