We are the Texoma Travelers LTV Club, and we traveled through hours of drenching rain and hordes of traffic to make it to a small town of 2,800+ in eastern Oklahoma. The destination was Xtreme RV Resort, a new resort in Eufala (pronounced YOO-FOLLA), Oklahoma, halfway from Muskogee to McAlester on the shores of Lake Eufala, the largest lake in Oklahoma.
While a scheduled evening meet-and-greet on Thursday is our normal fare, an early Wednesday arrival by about half the attendees led to an impromptu gathering to launch the celebration. The monsoon we were in lasted through the night, and into the late morning hours until, at 1:00pm on Thursday, the clouds first parted, then vaporized completely, and welcomed us out into the glorious sun.
We had a great turnout at the meet-and-greet, with badges for new members and gift bags toting designer LTV masks and assorted Halloween treats, including witches shoes and COVID-fighting accessories. From the beginning, it was clear that members were well-prepared to adhere to safe distancing and deliberate sanitizing, and the gift bags helped reassure and welcome new folks and reinforce important guidelines.
The flurry of activities started with a Friday morning post-coffee Q&A session, especially well-suited for new members, who comprised about half of the attendees. Originally scheduled for about an hour, no one was surprised when the session lasted more than twice the time allotted, and discussions called on the experiences and input from many of our charter members.
The balance of the day was perhaps what so many of us Texoma Travelers so look forward to, especially in this current global condition. Lunch on our own or with a group followed by a mass migration of folks roaming the resort from site to site, renewing old friendships and making new ones, sharing a solution, showing a nice cabin curtain design, satellite radio implementation, automatic leveler demonstrations, or playing jokes on old friends’ rig decorations. After two gloomy days on the road, we were all ready to take that deep, deep breath, and share the best we have with other fine folks.
This lasted into the evening until dinner, games, and canine ice breakers stole the night. A round of Farkle was started in the rally hall by the ladies, who eagerly welcomed and coached new players. Pit fires were started in various sites, and war stories could be heard along with predictions of the coming year – all the stuff we do with best friends at home, but in a new place on an adventure with new and old friends alike.
Friday night was spent in the rally hall for fun and games. A member couple brought tons (not literally) of rocks suitable for painting all the way from home in Johnson City, Texas, along with a Texas-sized supply of acrylic paints, brushes, and accoutrements.
The weather gave us some chilly breezes until late Saturday morning, when the 2020 TT E-Bike Outing ensued. Undaunted by the cool temps, the e-riders took to the rural roads and began a ‘round trip’ through town. These e-bikes are all the rage with our Club, following a wonderful training session we had in Branson in 2019.
Those of us who had not yet taken the e-bike plunge had the opportunity to hitch rides in an Xtreme extended golf cart ‘limo” into Eufala for a host of reasons. Overheard were trips to True Value hardware for a cooking pot that was forgotten, Brahms for ice cream, ice cream, ice cream, and a strawberry salad (with an ice cream dessert).
The fine folks of Eufala, in keeping with the spirit of Halloween, hosted a 3:00-6:00pm Halloween Trick Or Treat Parade. It was so well attended and so chock full of kids having fun that many of us marveled at their inventive costumes and the sheer popularity of the event in this tiny town.
Saturday afternoon culminated in our biannual group picture, an event that is very important to us and is stressed as an “RFA” – that is, Required Family Attendance! It is normally the event that spurs on a follow-up gathering for more sharing and helping each other, especially those new to the LTV family! Almost half our Eufala attendees were new members, and we all went out of our way to help them feel especially welcomed.
Others spent the night out on their patios under the full moon of Halloween, getting their words of wisdom, well wishes, secrets, confidences, and concerns for the world shared and duly noted. What a wonderful way to end a critically needed and sorely missed group festival.
Many say it’s a dangerous world, and it’s a time of necessary caution; certainly true and heeded by the wise. But October 29 – November 1, 2020, under the moonlit sky of Eufala, Oklahoma, the season was friendship and good will, and memories that will last long beyond the uncertain times in which we live.
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