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Pauls Valley to Shawnee, OK

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. 🙁

8 thoughts on “Pauls Valley to Shawnee, OK”

  1. That is a great free parking deal! Let us know how that match play works. Can you pull once and cash out or do you have to spend the whole thing before you can cash out? I suspect the latter.

    Gas in Idaho was $1.59 – $1.89 and a little cheaper in Oregon. I saw it for $1.53 just after I filled up for $1.59

  4. The last time I got free slot machine play, the “Cash Out” button did not light up umtil I had played the full amount. I had winnings but could not get them until I had played all their money.

  5. I heard on the radio yesterday morning that Regina is still having -10’C weather and snow is still on the ground (and not melting). Here, it’s still cool but we average more around 5’C. Like you said, too bad you can stay a little longer.

  6. Gas in Idaho was $1.59 – $1.89 and a little cheaper in Oregon. I saw it for $1.53 just after I filled up for $1.59

    What year was this? I haven’t seen gas at $1.59 for many years in any state. Last year I paid $4.049 in Burns, OR on 5/1/12 and $3.539 in Arco, ID on 8/15/12 plus additional purchases at prices in between those amounts and dates.

  8. Julie, I’m tracking the weather in my village (about two hours south of Regina) and they are slightly better off. I’m seeing double digit highs being predicted in the next 10 days. No idea about snow, however.

    Croft, I am not correcting that funny mistake. 😀

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