Delayed in Muskogee…

I’m writing this from the Country Inn & Suites in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where we’re spending a second day and night, an unplanned situation made possible by the nasty winter storms currently sweeping up through eastern Texas and into parts of Oklahoma. And we have found how spoiled we are as residents of Illinois, where the streets and roads are plowed and salted as needed during storms. Not so in this part of the nation! I do not wish this to be a complaint-filled post, so I’ll leave it at that.

Why am I way out here in Oklahoma, you may ask? We started our annual February vacation early yesterday morning, pulling out of our driveway in Aurora, Illinois, right at 7 a.m. Central Time. Our planned ten-hour drive was to this spot in Muskogee, with the intention of continuing our westward drive to the Austin, Texas, area to spend a few days there with my wife’s nephew, who works for the University of Texas. 

We are keeping our fingers crossed that the brunt of the storm comes and goes today and things clear up enough at some point tomorrow so that we can get back on the road. We’re content to stay in today, and the good folks here at the motel are providing a comfortable stay. The hot breakfast was delicious, and there’s plenty of coffee to enjoy throughout the day.

After the weekend, our plan is to continue the next leg of our vacation, driving to Florida. With the current change in our plans now, things are pretty much up in the air, with everything dependent upon the weather situation.

Right now, my wife is working on her genealogy research across the lobby here from where I’m writing this, and we have the whole area to ourselves. One unfortunate thing, however, is that the desk manager came over and changed the TV from The Weather Channel to Judge Judy! Oh, well, I guess we can’t expect our luck to be flawless all the time. And I have my ear buds in, listening to a radio show from Champaign, Illinois, so I don’t really hear what “wisdom” is emanating from the TV!

Now, I think it’s time for another cup of the hot coffee and to get this posted and hope that this weather situation decides to cooperate with us and blow itself out in the next twenty-four hours, so we can get on with this vacation! Plus, it would be more encouraging if they would plow and clean the streets and road. Ugh!