Ep. 390: Tornado! - Grand Lake O' the Cherokees, Oklahoma | RV travel camping

[@jesib7526]

The drive from Jay to the lake is so lovely in the summer!!

[@GrandAdventure]

@@jesib7526 we never made it to Jay. Next trip through.

[@RamblinRalph]

This video brought back good childhood memories for me. I was born and raised in nearby Fayetteville, AR. My Missouri relatives had a cabin on Grand Lake. I visited it many times to fish with my cousin and boat around the lake. Keep 'em up!

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you Ralph! Happy that we could bring you back.

[@dianabalto]

Thank you for sharing history in your grand adventure. Guido!

[@GrandAdventure]

You're most welcome, Diana. Thanks for watching!

[@RabbiJesus]

You stir up trouble everywhere you go.

[@GrandAdventure]

I try.

[@dougbevell7153]

Lordy...A hurricane now a tornado. You're living nine lives for sure there Marc. Wishing you and your wife a very Merry Christmas and stay safe out there. 🎄🎄🎄

[@GrandAdventure]

Same to you and yours, Doug. Yeah, the weather has been interesting this year to say the least. Great to hear from you!

[@annettemills2399]

We stayed there a couple of years ago - I think in the same site as you. Also about the same time of year and we were pretty much alone. There was a bunny hopping around in the nature center that was friends with the turtle. My husband went in the back and fed a raccoon out of his hand. Fun place. Glad you are all safe!

[@GrandAdventure]

@@annettemills2399 It definitely was a fun place, Annette. Sounds like you had as much fun as we did! And thank you.

[@laughingram7287]

Nice to see Ed and Ann and their “kids”. That was nice that you had the whole campground to yourselves, but it seemed you cut it kind of close with the tornado. I lived in Rolla, Missouri for a year as a kid and would have nightmares about tornadoes! Ram 👍🏼👍🏾

[@GrandAdventure]

I'm still having nightmares from that stop. 😄

[@geraldsouthard7092]

Pretty scary stuff this week, Marc. Glad that you survived that tornado. We were in Illinois at that time headed toward a campground just west of Saint Louis. That weather front (the same that formed your tornado) dropped 5.5 inches of rain the night and morning before arrival at our targeted campground. The campground went underwater. Obviously we needed to pivot. Merry Christmas to you, Mrs. GA, and Zoe!

[@GrandAdventure]

@@geraldsouthard7092 Glad to hear that you missed that flooding. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well from all of us!

[@e-square9976]

Great video. Nice to see Ed and Ann doing well. On the road ourselves heading south for a couple months.

[@GrandAdventure]

@@e-square9976 thanks, and fantastic to hear! Have a wonderful trip.

[@kennethhieke6623]

MARC, Long time subscriber. Rare commenter. Occasional teardrop camper. Great vid from our home state! Tornados are a fact of life here. So glad that you had preparations in place (stayed "weather aware"!). Sad to say we often travel distances to National Parks and Monuments but have friends and neighbors w cabins at Grand Lake. Thanks for the tip re: the Bernice State Park RV facilities. Thinking we will make the journey up and see the sites. ps. also watched your vid re Wichita Mountains Wildlife Reserve. We've gone down there many times but other than a tent camping adventure back in 2017, we've mostly done day hikes and organized bike rides (Tour d'meers). We've talked about staying at Camp Doris but I might prefer the camp ground at which you had stayed near/in Lawton. Keep up the good work.!

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you Kenneth! Very nice to hear from you. I've always been something of a weather nerd, so keeping up on what was happening around us was second nature to me. But I'll be the first person to admit that tornadoes scare the living crap out of me, primarily due to their lack of predictability and advance notice. Throw in dark skies or rain wrapping, and you simply can't see them coming. For those reasons alone I'll take a hurricane over a tornado any day of the week. This was a very nice State Park campground, and is well worth looking into. We loved the Wichita Mountains. One great thing about that lakefront campground near Lawton is that it's 100% FCFS. That makes it reasonable to expect to find a site with no notice required.

[@joyces3550]

Great video Marc! I'm sure the tornado was very scary! I live less than an hour up I44 from Joplin so know about tornadoes. I had a storm shelter installed inside my garage but haven't had to use it yet! Memories for your travels, glad you are safe. Kansas has it's share of tornadoes, wind and hail so hope it goes well for you all. Looking forward to Dodge City!

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you Joyce! I don't know how you folks living there go through this on a regular basis. More power to you, and I'm sure that storm shelter was a wise investment, whether used yet or not. Dodge City certainly exceeded our expectations. As you'll see next week, we enjoyed ourselves there immensely.

[@gorrdd]

Thanks Marc... always interesting to see your adventures. Seems like you were cutting it a bit close to that Tornado. Also, it seems unusual to have that level of a storm this late in the season. The best thing about going to Dodge is getting out of Dodge.😅 All kidding aside, I look forward to that next week. I'm glad you and Patricia are safe and 'Dodged' another bullet with the severe weather. 🎉 Gord

[@GrandAdventure]

@@gorrdd thank you sir! I've always been nervous about traveling through that area spring or fall, and this experience just reinforced that. This was mid-October, so it was pretty much prime time.

[@gorrdd]

@@GrandAdventure Yes, I was thinking it was November, Marc. I guess you didn't get out on the water. It looks like a very nice park. There seems to be some real gems in Oklahoma. Last year, I remember you stayed in some really nice parks in Oklahoma. Gord

[@GrandAdventure]

@gorrdd did we did, Gord. Although it didn't make this episode, much of the weather the remainder of the week was either windy or stormy. In fact, this was not the only tornado scare we had all week, but it wasn't worth dwelling on during the episode.

[@BikesBoatsBivouacs]

The "crappy" capitol of the world. Nice play on words. lol. Tornadoes are no joke. I think I would have been in the bathhouse early. Glad you didn't get caught in it. Marie and I love exploring historic churches. I haven't stayed in Oklahoma yet, but your making a strong case for a visit. Nice job.

[@GrandAdventure]

Thanks as always, BBB! That Splitlog Mission Church had such a unique history, it was worth checking out. We got lucky -- the doors were locked, but a lady arrived at the same time that we did to clean the inside, so she let us in. We would've been in the bathhouse early, too, were it not for Wunderground. You caught a glimpse of that website when you saw the individual storm cells in the video marked for radar-indicated hail, tornadoes, etc. That allowed us to see exactly what was going on in the dark outside, and realize that the one with a tornado on the ground was going to pass by just a few miles to our north.

[@bertkelly7650]

Happy Christmas to you and family, Mark! 🎄🎆

[@GrandAdventure]

Merry Christmas to you and yours as well, Bert!

[@bigjimslade6250]

Marc we were in south central Kansas near the OK state line that week ourselves. There was a touch down about 5 miles away from us but we just had some strong wind & rain. Idk about riding it out in a 5th wheel though. I think that I would have at least gone to the bath house as sometimes there’s no time to react & evacuate in a night tornado.

[@GrandAdventure]

@@bigjimslade6250 you make a good point, but we could actually see the rotational signatures in radar echoes in real time. So even though we couldn't see tornadoes in the dark, we could nevertheless "see" them.

[@sonliving]

Beautiful lake been there many times. The houses on the lake are unbelievable. Annnnd it's inline of alot of tornadoes.

[@GrandAdventure]

There's some impressive lakefront real estate, especially on Monkey Island. It seems to be a popular summer vacation area for Tulsa residents.

[@ShawnPatterson402]

No doubt that is a tad close for comfort. Definitely important to always keep a close eye on the weather when RVing.... So many weather events that can cause trouble. But one good thing with an RV is we can always hitch up and head somewhere else...if we know in time. Glad you were safe. take care,

[@GrandAdventure]

@@ShawnPatterson402 very, very true, especially in the case of something somewhat predictable like a hurricane. Thanks for the well wishes, Shawn!

[@Lake2Lake]

WOW be careful we want you around for next year 👍

[@GrandAdventure]

And we're planning on being there for it. 😁

[@Honukimo]

Northeast Oklahoma has some beautiful spots. Used to drive through that area on my way to the Cherokee Nation offices in Tahlequah, OK. Safe travels to Dodge City, it has changes a lot since I lived there in the late 60’s. I always appreciate the history lessons from your weekly adventures. Thank you.

[@GrandAdventure]

@@Honukimo thank you! We had a great time with friends on Grand Lake, tornadoes notwithstanding, but Dodge City was a real surprise. It was much more than I had expected.

[@Honukimo]

@ I look forward the the next Grand Adventure from Dodge City. PS. As I recall the explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado crossed the river at a spot near Dodge in the 1500’s. Coronado Bridge. Enjoy!

[@GrandAdventure]

@Honukimo correct! And although we filmed the Coronado monument while we were there, that clip ended up on the cutting room floor.

[@josephscheneck1540]

My wife and I were in that same storm about an hour east of you at Blowing Springs RV Park in Bella Vista, Arkansas. It was a bit concerning one night and, according to Ryan Hall Y'all, there was a 60% change of a tornado touching down near our RV park. Like your friends, we decided that we would be better off in a solid building rather than riding it out in our Alliance Paradigm 5er and rented a hotel room for the night. Thankfully, Bella Vista was not hit, but a tornado did end up touching down nearby in Little Flock, AR, a few miles east of our camper. BTW, if you still mountain bike, the Bentonville, AR area is a wonderful place to visit.

[@GrandAdventure]

@@josephscheneck1540 thanks for the tip on the mountain biking! Glad to hear that you, your wife, and your fifth wheel all survived that same storm system.

[@ronaldmorse3654]

Awesome job, Marc! Thank you for another awesome history lesson. You were very fortunate that tornado 🌪 did you no harm. Recently, I mentioned Brush Lake Park, between Sallisaw and Bernice. We stayed there in 2019. We look forward to next week's video, as always. No snow here either. We did have an avalanche warning though on Togwotee Pass.

[@GrandAdventure]

@@ronaldmorse3654 thanks Ron! Yep, it's been a rough start throughout the Intermountain West. Models are starting to show a change in the pattern around Christmas Day, so keep your fingers crossed.

[@grandlakephil]

Welcome to my town of Grove.

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you for the warm welcome, Phil.

[@terrencegarner1720]

Check out HarBer Village.

[@GrandAdventure]

@@terrencegarner1720 we wanted to, but ran out of time. Next time for sure

[@daviscrt]

Wow, what a scary adventure. Glad everyone is doing well. Don

[@GrandAdventure]

@@daviscrt Thank you Don!

[@normgibson6565]

Loved the video as OK is special to me as most of my kin live there seems I'm the non okie in the group.

[@GrandAdventure]

@@normgibson6565 glad that you enjoyed it, Norm! Your relatives are braver people than me. Those funnel clouds scare the living crap out of me.

[@cyndib3587]

Before we hit the road traveling full-time in 2012, we lived in Grove for a few years including during Joplin's EF5. Monkey island, my grandparents owned what was airport resort now called Tara Miranda. My mom used to mow the grass airstrip. The airstrip was closed down So condos could be built. My mom was Miss Grand lake, Miss grove, and Miss boating in the 1960's. Pictures on the wall inside mazzio's Pizza in Grove are my grandparents and my mother. My grandfather was on the dam building committee. My grandfather created and built the building for the monkey Island volunteer fire department. It was so far from Grove that by the time the Grove fire department could get out on the island, the building would be burned to the ground. And remember, they owned the resort with many cabins. That fire department is still there, staffed by paid firemen/women. Glad you stayed safe from the tornadoes! Did you get a waterspout? I've seen a few of those!

[@GrandAdventure]

@@cyndib3587 what a fantastic history you have in the area! Thanks for sharing that. We never saw a waterspout or anything else out there, although we have seen waterspouts in Florida. Every storm that hit us that week hit us well after dark.

[@akgobears]

Nice little area for a couple nights when passing through...Wonder if the casinos allow overnite dry camping ??? Travel safe , be well...

[@GrandAdventure]

@@akgobears I don't believe that they do. But for $30 per night for full hookups right on the lake, it's kind of hard to beat the state park.

[@akgobears]

@@GrandAdventure Oh i most likely agree but am always interested in what casinos allow overnite parking if just passing through as we have used that alot when we traveled....

[@GrandAdventure]

@akgobears I do agree that they are our favorite lot docking option.

[@stephenmarechek2753]

Glad to see you still proudly wearing the Buc-ees hat!! Also, did you get another dog?

[@GrandAdventure]

Not yet, Stephen, although we nearly did a few weeks after this episode was filmed while we were in Cottonwood, Arizona where we visited a local shelter. We met about a half dozen candidates there, but none was a good match. The two Huskies in this episode both belong to our friends Ed and Ann with whom we were camping for the week. Selena, the larger of the two, is an absolute sweetheart who sees Mrs. GA as "the beef lady" and therefore has no reservations about going into and out of our trailer. And of course that Buc-ee's hat is getting good use!

[@brucec954]

Wow, I didn't Tornadoes in OK were a December thing also??

[@GrandAdventure]

@@brucec954 filmed in mid-October. That's still prime time.

[@gregoryjordan6522]

Tornadoes can be VERY unpredictable. They can pop up anywhere and dissipate as soon as they do but with one within visual distance, you should have gone into the bathhouse.

[@GrandAdventure]

@@gregoryjordan6522 You are surely correct.

[@skpjoecoursegold366]

I'll get to OK someday, but not in Spring.

[@GrandAdventure]

Or as we proved this visit, during fall.

[@skpjoecoursegold366]

@@GrandAdventure and not Winter and Summer is a maybe.

[@GrandAdventure]

@@skpjoecoursegold366 that doesn't leave much. 😆

[@Steve-dm3gm]

To bad it is polluted by the lead from Pitcher Ok.

[@GrandAdventure]

Just about every body of water has some sort of nasty feeding into it.

[@bigjimslade6250]

@@GrandAdventure I think Pilcher ended up as a ghost town & Superfund site with all of the residents getting bought out & relocated. It’s not too far from Commerce home of Mickey Mantle.

[@davidg.johnson7208]

This is December 2024. What month was this video made? Thanks!

[@GrandAdventure]

@@davidg.johnson7208 It was the third week of October 2024. We always put the filming dates right in the video description, in case you're ever curious.

[@On-down-the-road]

I don't, and would think you don't eat CRAP. I eat ccrop's therefore, it is pronounced crop-ie

[@GrandAdventure]

Not where I come from.

[@jjustj]

Where ya from son?

[@jjustj]

Crappie in Midwest , Colorado and nm. Lol