Okmulgee
September

                                                                                                                                                                                                                Story by Lynn Key

    Fall Fling was such a great experience for me. I had been to other OBS camp-outs in the spring and had a wonderful time. However, I was looking forward to this one with apprehensive anticipation.  Jim Allshouse had told me that there was a mighty scary hill on this ride. For those of you who know me well, you know that I hate hills.
     The plan was to go down early on Friday and set up tents. I was going to ride with Jan Chumard and we were going to find our way down and get the sites ready. I found out earlier in the week that Jan's classes had piled so much on her that she would not be able to make this trip. I was gravely disappointed. The next disappointment came when Mike Britten had knee surgery and although he was going on the trip, he wasn't going to ride. Things just weren't working out as planned. Nevertheless, I decided to follow Jim Bean and John Hamlin down.  GW, my sweet husband, packed up the jeep for me and told me he would come down later with Mike. The day started out beautiful. The sun was shining and there was very little wind. I was following John and Jim. I had the radio cranked and the windows down. I was leaving reality behind and heading to a fun-filled weekend of what I hoped to be fun riding, good friends and great food.
     Suddenly, the sky grew extremely gray.  I had faith we were going to drive right through it. I had checked the weather channel. No rain was expected for that area. Then it happened... rain, sheets and sheets of rain. I had the windshield wipers going as fast as they could go. I could barely see John's van in front of us. I turned on my lights hoping that he would do the same. The rain was coming down so hard I thought we might have to stop. I was completely bummed out. I called GW on my cell phone to complain. (That is what wives do.) I was sure he could do something to change the weather. After all, I expect him to make me happy. Making the sun come out again would make me happy. We were cut off during that conversation. Shortly after that, the rain started to slow down. Of course I knew the campsites would be nothing but mud when we got there. We just kept on driving.
     By the time we got to Okmulgee, the sun was as bright as ever and there was no sign that it had rained. There was a sign though . . . a sign that terrified me. As I pulled into the park, I read the sign that said, "Caution, steep hills and curves next 3 miles." No! Not steep hills to the camping area. That couldn't be true. That means we would have to ride those hills after riding all day. I hate hills. HATE THEM! I was yelling and making hand gestures to Jim and John. They were completely oblivious to the psycho woman in a Jeep behind them. We kept climbing higher and higher. I kept thinking that 3 miles is a really long way to walk my bike.  I imagined Laurie on her touring bike on a slow, but steady pace riding the hills with ease. At least she makes it look as though she is doing it with ease. I imagined Jim cracking up with an evil laugh as he imagined me doing exactly what I was doing as I drove UP into that park.
    When we got to the top, several people were already there. Their tents were set up and they were sitting in a circle smiling, talking and enjoying the peaceful wilderness of the park. That is, of course, until I rolled down my window. I screamed out, "I can not do those hills!"  The voice didn't even sound like mine. I am sure my face was contorted in fear. Then I heard Moni's voice as she said, "Sure you can. I rode all the way here from Tahlequah. I just rode up those hills. They are not so bad." Oh sure, like I am going to believe her. This is the woman who just rode across America. Like that was going to comfort me. I yelled back out, "I am not an animal." With  that out of my system, I decided to set up camp.
     We scouted out a couple of nice campsites and started to pull out the gear. GW and I traded in our last tent for a new one. Our last one didn't make it through the Spring Fling winds. I knew this tent was a little bigger, but I didn't think it would be too much of a problem.   Laurie came down to help out.  I was laying out the tarps to go under the tent and she kept asking, "How big is this tent?" I wasn't sure. I had only seen it up one time for about 5 minutes. I got it out of the bag and started to unroll it. Laurie
gasped, and again asked, "How BIG is this tent?" I was sure by that time she must have been thinking, "What am I doing here? I should have stayed in my chair." We managed to get the first tent poles in. We could see into the inside. Now Laurie was saying, "This thing must sleep 12!" For the first time I realized that I was trying to set up the Taj Mahal. By the time the darn thing was completely up and all the stakes in place, it had taken the brawn and brains of 6 people to get it set up. Settled in and hungry, all of us went into town for a great buffet dinner.
     That evening more and more of our OBS members arrived. Someone started a campfire. We sat around it and talked and laughed. For some reason I was walking back to my campsite when a little black Mercedes pulled up. It was Liz Groom. She rolled down her window and proclaimed that she had been misled. She said she was told that this was the address of the Hilton. She parked her car and I walked over to help her set up her tent. As she stepped out of the car, she said she hadn't had time to change and she might be a tad bit over dressed. The lady was dressed to the hilt. I called Cat (Wilton's daughter) over to take our picture. There Liz stood next to her Mercedes in high heals and a very sharp business suit. She definitely needed to change but not before I got through teasing her. Liz's husband, Thad , had packed all the comforts of home for her; a pop up  tent, an oversized air mattress and her camping chair. 
    What he failed to supply was an air pump adapter for the mattress. We ran down the batteries on 2 air pumps before we got her air mattress set up. Mike and GW still weren't there so we figured as long as we were setting up tents we could set up Mike’s tent as well. Mike had a little dome tent that was very easy to set up. The part I couldn't understand was how Mike was going to sleep in it.  Mike is over 6 foot tall but Mike’s tent is simply 6 foot all the way around.  This was going to be an interesting night.
   Once settled in, Liz asked if anyone wanted a cocktail. She then proceeded to pull the following out of her bag; vodka, tonic, limes, cheese and crackers. Then she pulled out her camping chair. It was a recliner. However, it was when she pulled out the monogrammed Styrofoam cups (That is the God's honest truth. They are truly monogrammed!) is when she earned her new nickname of Camping Barbie!
     When we had come in to the park earlier that day, one couldn't help but  notice there was another type of club camping at the base of the park. There were cowboys and cowgirls and hundreds of horses. It was a sight! When it got dark, they had a band going and you could hear the fun. Trudy was dancing in her chair.  I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to keep her with us or not.  If she would have made the move to go down there and join them, I would have been right behind her. I just didn't want to walk back up those hills.
     Before going to bed, we picked up everything the raccoons might like and then crawled into our tents. GW and I talked for a while and discussed the events of the day. We could hear a bunch of tent zippers opening and closing.  I was commenting on the tent zippers. GW was cracking up. He figured out it was not tent zippers, but one of our site mates had consumed a few more BEANS than usual.
     It was a cool evening and I slept well.  I was awakened by the sound of tent zippers.  Real zippers this time.   The smell of brewing coffee promised an awesome breakfast. GW made eggs, sausage and bacon and Jim Bean made his famous brown sugar oatmeal.  We were not going to leave until 9:00 AM. Most of us were up before 7:00.  Most of us, except "Camping Barbie."  Jim woke her up with a booming loud voice at her tent door.  "Excuse me, ma'am," he said, "Breakfast is served." He barely got it out of his mouth and she screamed a very startled scream. He got her good.  She threatened him with a payback but it never came to pass.
     GW went to get something out of the back of the Jeep. It was then that he discovered that his wonderful wife had left the spigot open on the bottom of the cooler. Our Jeep was drenched. He was pretty upset. Okay, he was mad. . .  Okay, he was damn mad. I couldn't understand it. I mean why let a little water ruin the day? Surely he would snap out of this one. Right? I wasn't sure if he would or not, so I made sure not to go by him as he was cleaning up the water. I just got ready for the ride.
     Everyone gathered in the road ready to ride. Another happy surprise happened when Beverly and John drove in about 40 minutes before we were going to leave. Now there were 33 of us all ready to go. Mike and Cat were each going to take a vehicle, take pictures and drive sag. Maps were passed out. Pictures were taken. Everyone was gathered and then we took off. Our first re-group was going to be at 5 miles out. Since it was downhill most of the way, the first re-group came up really fast. It was at that point I checked my computer and saw that my fastest speed was 37 miles per hour. I cringed knowing I was going to have to ride back up that hill.
     The roads were smooth and the scenery was beautiful. We were riding along at one point and the trees were over the road. I looked ahead and I mentioned to Liz that it looked like a big hill up ahead. She told me it wasn't a hill at all. I was extremely relieved, thinking that it was just an optical illusion. Then I heard Liz say, it looks like a drawbridge. That is when I realized that it was indeed a hill and not a figment of my imagination. The trees were surrounding us and we could not see the top of the hill. I decided to gather up some speed. I was going to have as much speed going up that hill as I could. I was pushing hard, then
suddenly I saw in the road a short little plank bridge. I debated as to whether or not I should get off my bike. I saw Rolf in front of me. He was riding strong as he took the left side of the bridge. I decided to follow his lead. Suddenly, Rolf started to wobble. I am not sure if his tire had gone between the planks or he had hit something. He veered sharply to the left. I knew if I continued to watch him, I would hit him and we would both go down.   I was screaming at myself on the inside, "Look at the plank. Don't take your eyes off the plank!"  I knew that a person will follow the gaze of her eyes and I wanted to keep my eyes on the plank and not on the gaps.
     We got to the restaurant about 11:00 AM. Cat and Mike had arrived there earlier and it was all set up and ready for us. After a very nice lunch, Jim told us that we would not be going up the hill from hell. We would instead be going up the hill that was only "almost as bad." There was no escaping it. It was do or die for me. I knew I had to face it. I didn't want to walk my bike.  I wanted to ride the beast all the way to the top.  We came upon the hill. You couldn't see the top. It was winding. It was steep. I geared down. I was going up. I looked ahead and saw some people walking their bikes. I kept going. I was breathing hard. I was in my granny gear, but I was moving. I stopped looking ahead. I felt looking at the incline was too intimidating. I just stared at the ground and kept on pedaling. Suddenly, I saw it. It was a tire about 6 inches in front of me. I slammed on the brakes. (I stopped immediately because I was only going about 4 mph). It was Beverly. She was getting back on her bike. I didn't see her because I was looking down. I yelled out BULL****. I knew I was walking up the rest of the way. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to get started again. I also knew I could have made the climb. Of course, I didn't go back down to try and ride back up.  Although some people did, like JERRY!
     There were no other hills with that intense of an incline the rest of the ride. The worst challenge we had left was the 3 miles of hills coming back into the campsite. We first went to Okmulgee where there was a wonderful Creek Indian museum. The building was built in the late 1800's.We went inside. I removed my shoes because of the hardwood floors. They had a cute little gift shop and 2 floors of artifacts, art and history. It was wonderful. I was one of the people who hung around the longest because when I came out there was only a handful of us there. I didn't have a clue which way to go. I just followed everyone else. I told Liz that when we got to the base of the hills at the campsite, I was going to stop and ask one of the cowboys to tow me up the hills. All kidding aside, I told her if I was more than a minute behind her to send Mike after me. I was serious. I am not sure she thought I was, but I meant it.
     When we got to the hills, I had remembered driving them the evening before while coming back from dinner. I remember Jim Bean telling me to notice that on some of the really bad ones we had a downhill right before that, so go like hell. Then John had pointed out that on the steepest part, there was a huge section of patched blacktop. They said, “It is steep, but it is short. Just remember that once you make it over the patch of black top you are home free!” As Liz and I rode those hills together, I was repeating what the guys had told me the night before. Before I knew it, I was all the way up. What an accomplishment! I couldn't have been happier. I had conquered my biggest fear!
     When we got to the campsite I was gathering my stuff to take a shower. Moni walked by with Diana and April. She told me they were going to jump in the lake and invited Liz and I to tag along. That was a totally refreshing thought.  We walked down to the boat launch and Moni, of course, was the first one to dive in. Then she asked me if I was a strong swimmer. I told her I was. I am strong. Not fast, but I can hold my own. She decided it would be great to swim back to the campsite. So away we went. Liz didn't want to go because she said she wasn't that strong of a swimmer. Nevertheless Moni and I were heading that way. The next thing I know, Liz flies past me looking like a steamship doing the back stroke, cutting through the water like an otter. It was quite a ways down to the site. I saw the other ladies were going to climb out down there. I knew my shoes were at the launch and I just wasn't ready to get out of the water yet, so I decided to swim back. The ladies met me on the way. I got out by some really slippery rocks and we went down to the showers.
     That night we had our pot luck. As usual, it was awesome. We had a bittersweet time as Jim Bean’s wife, Marsha, was able to join us. It is always a pleasure to see Marsha, however, it was sad because Jim had hurt his tendon and he was leaving early.
     Mike was taking pictures and he decided that evening that he felt good enough to ride and would be going with us the next morning. Cat was still going to drive sag so if Mike’s knee got too bad he wouldn't have to try to make it back up the hills into camp.
     After dinner we had another gathering around the campfire.  Many of us were tired from the ride and all of us full from the dinner. Liz, proving again she is Camping Barbie, brought all the ingredients for S'mores. That night ended early. Only a few of us stayed up. I went back to the campsite planning on trying to catch some sleep. When I got back to the campsite Liz and Thad were enjoying some quiet time. I decided to invade. Liz made a nice cocktail for me in a monogrammed Styrofoam cup. Then Moni came by, then April, then Mike came by as well. We continued to chat and form stronger friendships. Then we all slowly tuckered out, one at a time.
     The next morning was the last ride of the weekend. We were short a couple of friends. I knew Beverly and John had left Saturday night.  Although I didn't know it at the time because I kept asking around for them and people kept telling me they went on a beer run.  All the same, they were not there now.
     We gathered to leave to ride to breakfast. We left about 8:00 AM. We went into Okmulgee to a nice little restaurant. Someone had called ahead and told them we were coming and they put all of us in the sun room. GW and I sat at a table with Rolf and Laverna. I had never sat down with them as a couple before and so this was a great opportunity for us all to talk and get to know each other better. By the time breakfast was over I realized that we had all formed a new and rewarding friendship. They are a truly special couple.  Rolf has an eternal smile and Laverna is extremely sweet and open.
     After breakfast we had our choice to go on a longer 40 mile route or a shorter 28 mile route. I opted for the shorter because we had to break down camp. We left the restaurant, all riding at our own pace. As we approached one of the intersections the light changed. I heard Trudy call out, "Lynn!" as she grabbed the back of my shirt. Her bike slammed into my calf and down she went. Of course, in the usual Trudy style, she landed as gracefully as she could and got up with a smile on her face.
     We continued our ride. We were going to go around the lake.  As we separated into little groups, I was lucky enough to be riding with Moni. What an awesome experience that was. Moni is an extraordinary person and I certainly felt blessed with good fortune being able to get to know her better. Moni calls things as she sees them and I admire that in a person. She also does not hesitate to pass out a compliment. She had me feeling like a million bucks when we were done with that ride.
     We went around the lake and approached the final set of hills. I found that I was no longer terrified of the challenge ahead of me. I saw GW and Mike riding ahead of me. I wanted to stick as close to them as I could. I figured they wouldn't be going too fast because of Mike’s knee and I knew he couldn't hammer up the hills. Then we did it. We tackled those hills. We rode up and up. I was never able to catch up with Mike and GW until the last ½ mile. Then I rode by Mike and he told me that he had broken his handlebars. He told me he would not be able to ride the last hills. What he didn't realize is that we had just ridden all of the hills. He had successfully made it to the top. I was so proud of him. He had knee surgery 6 days earlier and he conquered the beasts. He did it with broken handlebars and he was still smiling.
     Moni and I took a final swim. We showered and then got ready to go home. If you have not been on one of these outings, you are missing a magnificent experience. You form a special relationship with every person. Each person touches your heart in a different way. You each have the common bond of riding, which opens the door for awesome friendships. The hardest part about these trips is leaving your new found friends and going back to the every day reality of life.

                  

At the bottom is a link to Mike and GW's donated pictures.

Click thumbnail for larger view of photo. Captions below

 

Link  to the donated pictures from Mike,  GW and Lynn.

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Created by Jim Allshouse
last modified March 02, 2008
jim0740@cox.net