6/21-6/23 SoonerCon Norman, OK
SoonerCon is my kind of convention! Lots of attendees. Lots of things to do (panels, workshops, cosplay contests, and even some after-dark more “adult” entertainment [a geeky burlesque and a drag show and more]). I managed to stay up long enough one night to catch the drag show… fabulous!
The show had LOTS of attendees and many were interested in books. I had many wonderful conversations. And many of those were attendees who came back year after year after year.
Sales were ok, but the staff told me that many of the vendors were complaining that this was a down year by as much as a third! OK, the financials of the show were only a very small profit, but if this was a down year, I can’t wait to see a good one. I can also see that returning here will increase sales significantly as people begin to notice that I’m going to be there bringing new stuff every year. Barring any major issues, this will be a regular venue for me.
If there was any negative associated with this con, it was the heat/poor air conditioning in the venue. I know… one show I’m freezing and the other I’m charbroiled. The aircon at SoonerCon varied. It never truly baked us but there were times we were sweating for hours. We loaded out in over 100 degrees outside. I felt like I was stoking the boiler in hell itself. My PacNW living has made me a wimp when it comes to heat. I spent the rest of the evening in a restaurant waiting for the sun to go down, but the temp didn’t drop below 90 until after 10PM on Sunday.
If the convention itself wasn’t good enough, serendipity sang its siren song at Soonercon. I got to talking to a young gentleman who was also a writer. It just so happens he was also stumping for a convention in Louisville, KY–Imaginarium. And it is one of the weekends I have free on this trip (July 19-21). That’s less than a month away so I expected no love in getting into an eleventh-year show. However, I tried anyway… and lo and behold, there was a vendor spot open. I grabbed with both hands.
Call it serendipity (just chatting with another author and getting a show that helped my trip), karma (for all of the less than awesome stuff happening to me on this trip), or whatever… I’m tickled and not looking that gift horse in the mouth (to mix even more metaphors).
6/23 Norman, OK to Bartlesville, OK 168 miles
Ok, Remember that I said I found one part to fix my truck about 200 miles away? I made an appointment with them for Tues morning to get my truck repaired, so I had an easy day of it.
Drove through a town that had been all but obliterated by a tornado some time ago. Wish I could remember the name of the town. You could see the path where it travelled by the missing houses (most of them), the gouges out of their foundations, the piles of rubble, and the snapped off trees. Heartbreaking! I feel for the families that used to live there. I’ve lived in Tornado Alley in my youth. Your emergency plan was no joke.
Came into the moderate but still quaint town of Bartlesville and got groceries and scoped out the parking near the dealership. There was a perfect place to park right on the ring road around their shop.
First, dinner. I went into a place called the RibCrib BBQ. I had high expectations and they were totally dashed. I got a three-meat combo. The catfish tasted bland like something you would get out of the freezer section. The ribs were OK, but you only got two. The worst of the three was the brisket. I mean how do you mess up a brisket? Long, slow roast and you end up with this tender, juicy feast meant for gods and goddesses. Oh, no. This had all the taste and consistency of one of those pieces of retread tire you see on the freeway—DRY, flavorless, and chewy. The service was spotty as well. YES, I’m a restaurant snob. Having worked for a decade in the business, you get to know things and expect things. When the best thing about the meal is the ice water, you know you are in trouble. RibCrib gets at best two stars, maybe only one.
I went back to the dealership, set up in that spot, and went to sleep.
6/24-6/28 Bartlesville, OK The Truck Repair from Hades
So, I pulled in so I was first in line Tues morning.
Made sure I had my computer, phone, and munchies as I knew this would be an all-day marathon. My service advisor, a nice older gent named David, kept checking on me. When he had the full measure of my pain he came and sat next to me in the very comfy waiting room.
Not only was my diesel particulate filter cracked, but that also damaged the catalytic converter. They had the DPF, but not the CC. They could get it there in 3-5 days normal shipment, or I could pay expedited shipping for $70. I chose to pay.
In the meantime, the truck was still available and he suggested a nice RV park in town (he was politely trying to get my trailer off their lot, even if it was out of the way). So, I called and they had a spot I could get for a few days. I hooked up and went to Riverside RV Park, pretty much smack in the middle of town, but you wouldn’t know it. Surrounded by trees and with many amenities, they charged me for $140 for four nights. Not the best, but a lot less than I feared. A nice, family run park.
Now some might question why I would pay for a spot when the goal has always been to not pay for lodging. Well, two reasons: 1) I wouldn’t have my truck to move my trailer around to boondock or stealth camp. 2) Also because I wouldn’t have my truck, I wouldn’t have my generator. That means no aircon in the middle of freaking Oklahoma in the middle of summer… EEEEEEeeek! Might as well just throw me into the fire.
So, I parked and had most of the amenities of home. Somewhat refreshing after a month of don’t use too much water. Is my black water tank too full? Where am I going to find a dump station? Better not run my generator too long. Where am I going to get rid of my garbage?
I took advantage of their pool. The water was just below body temperature so warm enough to be comfortable and cool enough to refresh.
Riverside RV Park was a huge win. 4.5 stars!
Expedited shipping wins. My part showed up the very next day (Wed) before noon. Took my truck in and got a ride back to my place, expecting that I MIGHT get my RAM back on Thursday. I didn’t mention it before but they were also going to replace the fuel pump (a recall on my vehicle) and do some standard preventative maintenance.
Speaking of maintenance, I had some to do on my trailer so I spent Tues/Wed doing just that and lounged on Thursday hoping for a call from the dealer. Lo and behold, I got a call about 3:30 PM saying my truck was done and at the price $320 they quoted. My truck seems MUCH happier as I drove it back to the RV Park.
I have kvetched about my RAM truck and RAM dealerships. I’ll hold my tongue on my truck for a little longer to see if this problem returns. In general, RAM dealerships do not seem to care about customers (remember me being stuck in the middle of Montana with the deadly shutdown message) and their situations. However, Bartlesville Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram gave me wonderful service. They understood my issues AND managed to do a recall on my truck that I’ve been waiting on for over three years from my home dealer. If you have service needed and you are in the area, take the time to use Bartlesville CDJR.
I have all day Friday to goof off and enjoy myself. I intend to do that before trying to decide what to do for the next week before KantCon.
Friday started with a bang, of sorts. The city water main that supplies the RV park blew out and gave us a fountain 30’ high. This caused the city to shut off the main leaving the park without water for about half the day. Oddly, the only reason I knew of this is that the folks at the park intercepted me as I went to do my laundry. The fountain was only 70’ or so from my trailer but I didn’t hear it because of my aircon. The city sure worked fast. We had water back by the afternoon (and thus my laundry did get done).
Had a stromboli at Luigi’s and for dinner and all-you-can-eat catfish at the Boomerang Diner. Both were very worthy. Don’t miss the fried mushrooms!
I also made a decision today. I have a week to kill before KantCon. I was going to leave tomorrow morning but I had no destination in mind. I could vagabond from rest stop to truck stop to rest stop for a week. I could find a state park (OK or KS or MI) and move in there for the week. My current space was willing to put me on a “weekly” rate ($25/day) and my space was open. The evaluation of all this went something like this:
Do I want to be moving every day when I don’t have to? Do I want to be running my generator every day to keep from being broiled? Not really. I will if I have to.
Well, is there a state park I can go to? Searching for a couple of hours online found NO state park RV spots from Sat-Thur… Why? Because Thursday is 7/4. I could find one through Wed, but even then, the cost was $21/day… almost the same. So why move? Ok, the parks might have some nicer scenery, but not worth moving.
Why not stay? No reason… I went to pay and got a shock… Instead of the $175 for another week, they backdated the $25/day for the time I’ve stayed and the total cost ended up being an additional $80 or $12/day… Damned… the gas to run my generator plus driving around cost would be more than that.
Folks, I can’t give a high enough rating to the Riverside RV Park in Bartlesville. This family business is run by good people and gives GOOD VALUE for your dollar. Please look these folks up if you are in the area. It’s worth it!
This will be all for this issue. I’ll message again later to give the details of the next week (if worthy).
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