Autumn in the Midwest

Autumn has always been my favorite time of year. The crisp cool air…the colorful foliage…the crunching of the fallen leaves beneath your feet…there’s nothing like it. Unfortunately the last several places we lived didn’t really have an autumn like that. So what a treat it was to arrive Mon. at the Pine Island RV Resort in Jay, OK, a small town in the northeast corner of the state. Autumn had been in full swing for some time and the leaves were at their peak color with many already on the ground. Once we got everything set up, I took the dogs for a walk, and the crunch and smell of those fallen leaves took me back to my childhood.

This campground is divided into two sections with one having sites situated on a bluff overlooking the Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees and across the lake from Grove, OK. By boat it’s only 2 miles but by car it’s 17 miles! Though this section is further away from most of the camp amenities, i.e. office, rec center, indoor pool, etc., it is by far the more picturesque. We were given our choice of the 172 sites at Pine Island, and we think we found the best two. The sites are supposed to be back-ins, but we decided to situate ours facing the lake and what a view! As you can see in the photo at left, I even have a beautiful view out the side window as I sit at our dining table working on the computer. We haven’t driven to Grove yet, but Scott did the other day and took this photo of our side of the lake from over there. To the right of the two white fifth-wheel campers you can actually see the front window of our rig! He called once he got over there, told us where he was standing, and after eventually finding him with our binoculars, we took this photo of him and his truck at the marina. If you open the photo, you can make out his pickup truck just a little left of center and that’s Scott standing in front of it! Zoom lenses are wonderful, aren’t they?

Weather for the most part has been crisp and cool with highs generally in the 50s, and evenings getting progressively colder. In fact last night it got down to 30! We turned off the water to the rig last night, then back on this morning, and we’re running our propane heat at night so it’s nice and toasty warm inside. The forecast is not calling for it to warm up much though the nights will be in the low 40s. It is so beautiful and peaceful here that in spite of the chilly weather, we made the decision to stay an extra week and push back our reservations in Branson.

During the spring, summer, and early fall they have many planned activities here, but come Nov. things slow down considerably. Since this Sat. was to be the last meeting of the year for the Board of Directors and members, the Activities Director decided to hold a Thanksgiving dinner potluck. The resort provided the turkey and ham while the approx. 60 people in attendance provided all the side dishes and desserts. What a feast! Scott and I arrived early with our contributions and Russ joined us a short time later. Since we were early, I offered to help and was assigned directing arrivals where to place their goodies. As dinner time approached I also was given the task of distributing numbers to each table that would determine the order of going through the line by random draw. Another lady drew the numbers and as luck would have it, our table got to go first! At potlucks, first is always good!

Not much on the agenda for next week except to enjoy Mother Nature’s splendor as evidenced in the picture of this sunrise. So until then stay warm and stay safe.