A Change Of Plans

Well, just like our blog name implies, plans are made to be changed.  Sometimes we make those changes to start something new, sometimes they are made for us, and sometimes they are slight adjustments that don’t change much in our daily lives.

Today was one of those days.  I learned long ago to make sure you check long term what weather events may impact your planned activities.  Whether it is for flying, boating, or even travelling in the RV, paying attention to what the weather is and is forecast to be in front of you can make the difference between a fun day and a bad day.

When we were on the boat in Florida we were operating in a new-to-us weather environment, and so began to use tools that could give us some level of comfort further out than what you typically see in a public weather forecast.  I have come to believe in those products enough that I continue to use them today.

Back in Cincinnati I was watching the storm that ultimately dumped all that snow on Colorado and New Mexico.  Our route was to take us through the northern part of NM and I was watching to see what happened.  The Interstate was closed due to a jackknifed tractor trailer and that resulted in long lines of vehicles stuck in the mountain passes until it was cleared.  These things can happen even when the weather is not bad, but you don’t want to be stuck there in a snowstorm.  That storm passed and in fact we went through the southern part of it last week on our way to St. Louis so I knew that would not be a factor.

However, another system has the potential for similar weather at the same time as we were planning to stay a few days at a state park in northern New Mexico.  The biggest concern with this system is the wind, and for me, a first time trip through the mountains with winds forecast to be gusting to 70 kph is not my idea of a fun first time.

So, we changed our plan to route south once we hit Oklahoma City and travel down to the Dallas/Fort Worth area before turning West again to go through the mountains at the south end of New Mexico and Arizona.

It ended up being a long day at 400 miles but we managed to get a stop in at the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma.  It was a very worthwhile stop and to learn the history of the man was very interesting.  You can check out more at the link Will Rogers Memorial Museum, but here are a few pictures I thought interesting.

After this stop we had a choice to continue on to either a rest stop 90 minutes further or one three hours further.  The traffic was so good by the time we got to the first, we decided to go to the second.  Our estimated arrival for that was 1715 so just around sunset.  A few traffic delays around Oklahoma City put us a few minutes later, but by the time we arrived at the appointed rest area we were surprised to see it was closed for construction.  That is the second rest area we have come across that is closed.

I can see the software I use perhaps not being up to date, but I always double check my destinations on Google maps and Apple Maps and there was no indication in either case the rest area was closed.  Weird.  Thankfully, just before we arrived at the closed rest area there was a sign for a Chickasaw Welcome Centre.  It was so close after the rest area we thought at first it was a direct replacement, but is not.  In any event, we arrived just after sunset and called it a night.

This welcome centre is top notch and although it too was closed when we arrived and would be closed when we departed the grounds were clean and it looked like there was a fair amount of business going on there.