Bali On the Badlands

 

Sheila and I spent a long weekend at Foss State Park in far Western Oklahoma.  Foss Lake is relatively unknown expect to locals and bass fishermen who travel long distances to fish there.  It is located in the flat grassy expanse of Western Oklahoma and has extraordinarily ocean like sandy beaches.  During the week, especially outside the summer rush, the place is virtually empty.  

Since I had a teaching activity Saturday, we left mid-morning Sunday.  We stopped for lunch at the BOOMARANG DINER in CHANDLER, OK.  This is a chain of 50's retro diners that serves breakfast, burgers and simple diner food. The place was spotless and cute, the young servers were friendly and helpful and the food was outstanding.  I told our statuesque young server that with her height and figure she should be a model.  I was rewarded with a charming small town blush and shy smile.  Sheila and I split a chicken tender sandwich and an order of onion rings.  It was all exceptionally fresh and well prepared.  We thought about stopping there on the way back to do it all over again. 

We stayed at the CABINS at FOSS LAKE STATE PARK.  We arrived at the tiny house cabin we had reserved almost exactly four hours after we left.  Check in  took less than five minutes.  The little cabin was spotless, well laid out and well furnished.  It even had a good queen size bed.  It is a near perfect tiny house layout.  But having said that, the people who placed the cabins (there are two) should have thought twice about the location.  They are close to a busy state highway.  We could hear oil trucks passing until almost sunset.  This was not helped by someone from the farm house up the hill who had their stereo turned up full blast and kept it that way until bed time.  Our home in Broken Arrow is much quieter and has a better view of nature than these cabins.  There was nothing the local staff could have done to make our stay more pleasant. They were friendly and helpful.  But, somebody didn't think when they located those cabins.  I would strongly recommend they plant a grove of fast growing pine trees and shrubs between the cabin the road and that inconsiderate farmers house if they want to improve the ambience of their cabins.

We had a couple of hours to kill before dinner so I set up my amateur radio field rig and worked a few contacts.  I was surprised that it worked as well as it did.  I also spent a little time serenading Sheila with my uke as we sat on the bench on the patio watching the late afternoon pass.  While my attempts at music are not always melodic she was still nice enough to endure it and give me a patient smile in the process.  

We had dinner at PREET DHABA an Indian restaurant just a few miles down the road.  The online reviews were good and the pictures of the food looked good.  Some people shade the truth on the internet.  The "restaurant" is actually the back room of a small Conoco truck stop.  The so called "menu" was written in Punjab on a dry erase marker on the wall.  One of the Indian men hanging around translated for us in a less than gracious manner.  The servings were tiny and served on a military style metal tray.  The only really good thing on the tray was the fresh cooked flatbread.  This place is apparently a hangout for Punjabi, Indian and Sikh truck drivers running I-40.  We didn't feel especially welcome and neither the food nor the service would bring us back.  The place had a bad vibe.  Once again, don't believe everything you read on the internet.

I was up long before Sheila as usual.  I made myself a cup of coffee and got out our travel radio.  I enjoy listening to distant AM stations.  So far out on the flatlands, I was receiving signals from hundreds and even thousands of miles away.  I enjoy listening to the small town stations where the local AM broadcaster is still a big part of the community giving everything from farm reports to obits.  I spent several minutes listening to local newscast from Cheyenne, Wyoming.  

We spent Monday morning exploring the park.  It is a remarkably clean and well kept little park with an abundance of RV slots, picnic tables and other recreational facilities.  There are several good docks and ramps for the serious bass fishermen.  There was none of the hustle and bustle of the state parks near more populated areas.  We settled in on one of the pretty little beaches shown in the ads.  We had it to ourselves.  We spent the rest of the morning there.  The water was too cold for swimming so we got out our rods and fished.  While we saw many large bass breaking the surface none were interested in what we had to offer.  This is a lake that attracts serious fishermen so I guess the fish knew it when a couple of rank amateur bank fishermen were on the other end of the line.

I had forgotten to pack our picnic basket for lunch so we decided to explore the small towns north of the lake.  These tiny little farming hubs are all remarkably clean and well kept up compared to places of similar size in the eastern part of the state.  It's almost as though the strong west winds out there blow all of the trash east.  

We wound up at a charming little place called MARIA'S TAQUERIA in HAMMON, OK.  No sign out front.  Just a storefront on the sparsely populated Main Street of Harmon.  I guess all of the locals know where it's at and there's not much traffic so a sign isn't necessary. We found it using GPS.  We were amazed when we stepped in.  The place was spotless and very well equipped.  Maria was cooking and her charming teen aged daughter was working the counter.  I had tacos and Sheila had gorditas.  The food was fabulous.  Genuine home cooked Mexican.  

About halfway through our meal a large Hispanic man in work clothes walked in and sat down at the table behind us.  He is Maria's husband.  He told me the story of the place.  He works for one of the local rig service companies.  They bought the shell of this empty downtown building a few years ago and Maria refurbished it herself.  I have to say she did a great job.  It looks like it was professionally done. I remarked on the place being empty and he explained that most of their business is takeout for the guys who work the rigs and local agribusinesses who pass through.  This family is working hard and doing a good job.   I wish them well.  Western Oklahoma has killed a lot of small timer's dreams.  

After lunch, we headed back to the lake and settled in at the large, well situated pole fishing dock at one of the boat ramps.  Again, we had the place to ourselves.  Sheila managed to thoroughly tangle the line on her little Zebco Dock Demon spinning rig and I managed to lose a pretty nice lure and a bait rig to the undergrowth near the bank.  Once again, the fish eluded us but it was a nice quiet time together sharing a few laughs at ourselves and enjoying the surroundings.  

Sheila wanted to have dinner at LUCILLE'S ROAD  HOUSE in CLINTON, OK.  It is hyped as a Route 66 legend.  It may have been once upon a time when it was in the old gas station out on old Route 66.  Now, it is nothing more than another cookie cutter diner clone on a large scale.  We shared a chicken fried steak.  It was overcooked and under seasoned. The mashed potatoes were sub par.  The only thing good was the fried okra but it is really hard to mess up fried okra unless you cook it black since all you have to do is dump it out of the bag frozen into the deep fryer.  Our GPS tried three times to take us to TC's up the street where the parking lot was jammed.  We should have listened to the GPS.

Once back at the cabin, Sheila spent the evening reading and I overdosed on Gunsmoke re-runs on the satellite TV.  

Tuesday morning, I asked Sheila what she wanted to do.  I figured she might be up for a little more exploring on the way back.  She declined and said head home so that's what we did.  On the way back we stopped at Braum's in Clinton, OK to get a sausage biscuit to supplement our healthy but meager yoghurt breakfast eaten earlier.  The voice through the drive thru speaker came back with perfect, unaccented highly polished and professional English.  When I got to the window, I asked the young lady where she was from.  She replied Guatemala.  She sounded very well educated and spoke a lot better English than most Okies.  

The trip home took a little over three hours.  This was our first road trip in our new Hyundai Kona SUV.  The fuel economy was great, thirty three or so mpg at the speed limit or plus.  All of the systems worked flawlessly except for gps which tended to lie about road obstructions and route us in great circles around the flatlands when it got confused.  The drivers seat did prove to be an issue after a couple of hours of driving. We opted not to purchase the more expensive model because the base equipment package on a Hyundai has all of the features we will normally use plus many more we won't. The one thing missing on our Kona is a lumbar support on the drivers seat.  It is a power seat with a number of possible adjustments but you have to spend a couple of thousand more for a package that includes a touch screen the size of a TV that stretches across two thirds of the dash to get lumbar support.  This usually isn't a problem driving around town.  But, I spent most of trip back with a folded towel strategically positioned on the spot where my back was complaining.  

I don't know if I would do the Foss Lake Cabins again.  The cabin itself was great but between the truck noise and the farmer's stereo I really didn't get the cabin experience I was hoping for.  They apparently didn't think about the cabins as a destination in and of themselves but rather just a place for visiting fishermen to sleep.  Having said that, Foss Lake would be great place with an RV or Travel Trailer since those spots are far quieter and better located near the water and the rest of the park.

We had a good time and didn't let the annoyances bother us.  That was the most important thing.  We were together and it was pleasant.