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Southwest Oklahoma Adventure (Post #731-733) March 2026

Southwest Oklahoma Adventure Day 1 (Post #728) 3/30/2026

Day 1.

Day 1 of our trip started with us heading down the blacktop toward Sandy Sanders WMA in Southwest Oklahoma. Our first stop was a the Dinosaur Space Rocket that Larry and Mark named Sticker Dinosaur Space Rocket due to the amount of goat heads in the yard in front of the site. You can find it on Roadside America. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the camera working for this attraction.

We took a hard right at Rush Springs, Oklahoma and took to the Wichita Overland Adventure Trail. I highly recommend this route. We drove around and looked at some neighborhoods down there in the Wichita Mountains.

We also stumbled on Mountain Park WMA. This is a wetland and famous for its hunting. It should also be famous for being a wetland in basically a desert. At some point during our chatting I mentioned Cry Baby Bridge in Blanchard, Oklahoma. 35.174555, -97.635488

A list of the “other” Cry Baby Bridges in Oklahoma.

We mapped out a path to “Devil’s Canyon” but we didn’t have a route to travel it in our vehicles. We kept going to Sandy Sanders.

We arrived and drove through the park. We were dealing with 35mph winds with gusts in the 50mph range. There were no camping areas with any kind of break from the wind.

We drove through experiencing some extremes we were quite frankly surprised our crew cab pickups could handle. We did a down angle of 22 degrees on one plunge. We had some off camber turns at 13 degrees. We also had some climbs in the 17 degree range. All in all we had fun.

With temperatures at 100°F (37°C) it was what I consider… SUMMER CAMPING.

I do not “Summer Camp”.

We decided to head to Lake Hall to try and get out of the wind. We were successful, but the temps were still too high for comfortable sleeping. It was 80°F at 11:00pm. Winds were still 20-30mph from the south.

At 0300 the wind changed direction and blew from the North at the same speed as the earlier winds that day. That cooled things off quite a bit. Down to 44°F with a windchill making it feel like 37°F. This was debated as the most extreme weather change our hapless group had ever experienced.

I took the lead for the second day and headed us toward the Antelope Hills and our final destination for Day 2, Packsaddle WMA.

Day 1 Wrap-up

I found some video on the B-roll camera I thought I’d also share. We just BS about the day’s events and take a look at our camping accommodations.

https://youtu.be/pnf9IE0GhBw

Day 2

We headed north to Antelope Hills. That was pretty great find. We did not see any antelope but deer were prevalent. Along with the wind…

Apparently the Texas Rangers had ventured there in the 1850s to battle the Comanches. Here are a couple of links to what happened.

Oklahoma Historical Society and Battle of Little Robe Creek.

We then headed straight for Packsaddle WMA. Again, the winds were silly strong. We hit all the roads we were allowed to travel. This would be quite the driving park if the roads reserved to the oil companies were open to the public. This was pretty disappointing. I get it, no one wants anyone messing with well heads. But this was a very unique site.

It also did NOT have any locations out of the wind. We finally found a site on the east side that offered a little and I mean little bit of wind break. The good news for us as the evening winded down so did the winds.

A negative for the site, all the camping areas were overrun with goat heads. Everything that touched the ground became covered in stickers. I’m not sure anything could be done about that, but wish there was.

We found an old school on 1890 Road, but I could not find anything online about the building. It could be Lone Bell school. It was an obvious school and may have served as a home in it’s later life.

We settled in to a chilly night with a moon dominating the sky and coyotes howling all night.

https://youtu.be/sSjCMUJyqEk

Day 3

We got a late start, on our third day. We are just three over 60 fellows. We are low-drag and never really in a hurry. Breakfast is our first thing each day and we take our time getting it done. Can we move faster… sure, but why? Part of the fun is not living by any agenda. Hell we barely prepare where we go, let alone keep a daily schedule.

We head east to close the distance to home. We headed to Burns Flat to check out the Oklahoma Spaceport. First and foremost, I bet your state doesn’t have a spaceport! So shut it. We have a spaceport, but it wasn’t without its controversies. Cost overruns, lack of any “real” progress, visitors from outerspace showing up without invitations, no cool yard art like rockets, or piles of debris from failed attempts to reach the stars. In the video I called it a “boondoggle“.

We then hit the blacktop to make some time to our final campsite. We stopped in Bessie (my adopted maternal grandmother’s moniker), Corn, Colony, and Sickles. Corn had a cool museum on the main drag. I got some video of that. It also had an old Jeep pickup like fellow former YouTuber and Okierover subscriber Tumbleweed Garage.

We pulled into Red Rock Canyon for our overnight camping. If you haven’t visited this gem, you should. First and foremost it is family friendly. It also has bathrooms and showers, perfect after a few days on the road. Campsites are everything from primitive to powered to rentable Yurts! What?!?

We were able to have a fire so I harvested some downed wood and we enjoyed a fire. Fires were IMPOSSIBLE at our other campsites due to the winds we experienced. We ended our trip here and headed back home to loved ones and civilizations and schedules.

Thanks for reading and Happy F150ing?…. Happy Rovering too…

Video coming.

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Auxiliary Lights for the Range Rover Classic Overland Rig Part 2 (Post #724) 2/15/2026

I finished up the soldering on the lights. I didn’t finish one last weekend. I should have filmed it because it was the best connection of the three. Its sad how you lose skills when you don’t use them. Add soldering to the list of perishable skills…

  • Dancing
  • Running
  • Bending over at the waist
  • Patience
  • Firearms accuracy
  • Drinking all day and waking up the next day like nothing happened
  • (New) Soldering

That’s most of my list… I’m sure “cognitive skills” and “remembering why I walked into a room” will be added soon but for now let’s go with these.

I got the wires routed along the roof rack. I bought some ridiculously over designed zip ties. I used those along the rack. I’m not worried about the wires moving.

I was able to run the wires around the rain gutter and into one of the holes in the D pillar that would have been used to hold the beauty panel on. I’m not worried about it going anywhere because the wires are right up against it.

I got the D pillar beauty panel secured and installed the interior trim piece as well. I now have to get connectors and wire and make jumpers for the relays and plan my wiring panel. At this point I’m thinking a piece of wood mounted to the interior back. It would be covered by the box that will be the location of the light switches and the sub woofer.

There will be additional power needs back there. I have a ridiculous list of needs for the rear.

Interior lights, charging batteries for a drone and cameras and flash lights…. Its a ridiculous list and I should probably print it and stick up somewhere so I am always thinking about it when I’m planning.

That’s all for this week. Like and subscribe if you watch the video. Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/3JimmzlH69Y
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Auxiliary Lights for the Range Rover Classic Overland Rig (Post #723) 2/8/2026

In this post I put the lights on the roof rack. The weather played along and it was the only day this week I could get out there. Last weekend was spent getting Erica and Brian’s house moved. Erica remembered I drove M54 5 ton trucks in the Marine Corps Reserve.

So I got to drive the Uhaul home. The first two hours was driving with the wind on the front right corner with a wicked wind blowing me all over the road with the incredibly vague steering. I also enjoyed a cross with that vibrated the left mirror and creating the a loud noise. It was brutal.

We got them all load and unloaded in two days. That took a toll on this old man but I was happy we got it all done.

So on to the lights…

I started with a template so I could get the holes drilled correctly that needed a slight adjustment for the power wire. Once I got them on the roof rack I realized the power wires were going to need to be secured and out of the way.

I found some metal clips that were designed to hold a table cloth on to a picnic table. After I broke 4 drill bits trying to drill hole in them, I gave up and went to the hardware store to buy some. On the way I realized the steel was probably spring steel. So drilling a hole was probably a folly in itself.

The bracket got installed and then I went on to wiring. Nothing special here. I watched a Simon Fordman YouTube video where he soldered his wiring. I decided that would be how I did it. What I learned is I need a wider variety of heat shrink. I had several of the right diameters but not in the length I needed.

What’s next? I’m glad you asked. I need to wire in the switches and relays. This means I need to determine what the box is going to look like. I also need to decide what I’m going to make the inside out of, MDF? plywood? paper mache? the choices are endless!!!

Like and subscribe. Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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Too Cold to Work on Land Rovers (Post #722) 1/25/2026

In this video I talk about how cold it has been and our recent weather event. It was a good one. We got 7 inches of snow here at Okierover Base Camp. We had a couple of days with temps in the low teens and 24 hours of single digit temps.

I never really thought about it but I have 120°F (49°C for the people who have never landed humans on the moon) of temperature variation in the course of all four seasons.

In this video I briefly talk about the Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum. They have a reenactment of a real Wild West Show each summer.

I also talk about a now defunct Chevy dealership in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Moss Chevrolet was in business from 1941 to 1966.

An advert in the Pawnee Bruin Yearbook from 1952.

Relax…it’s not a real wolf pelt.

Thanks for reading, like, subscribe, tell your friends, and Happy Rovering.

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Unboxing and Random Stuff with Mr. Fisher (Post #721) 1/11/2026

My buddy Mr. Fisher came over to bring some used tools over for my grand kids to play with. He replaced his old tools with new ones with more modern batteries and technology.

We talk about my lights and reminisce about trips and gear in this longer than normal video.

Here’s all the stuff we talked about:

Superbrightleds Part Number: VAL-CW5 9 Watts, 630 Lumens, 5700K, Rated IP67 waterproof

Bill Burke Bio

Google search Camel Trophy – Tanzania-Burundi 1991 if you want to watch more.

Glue Tread Made in the USA

Thanks for reading, like and subscribe, and Happy Rovering.

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Let There Be Light (Post #719) 12/14/2025

In this post I rough-in the wiring for the lights on the outside of the Big White Bus. My plan is to have external lighting that I can control from the comfort of the sleeping area in the back of the Range Rover Classic.

I have selected the lights I’m confident will provide the light I might need… setting up camp, entertaining guest and generally lighting up the exterior so I can see any threats that might be lurking while I relax in the the comfort of the sleeping area.

Three of these strategically placed on the roof rack should be sufficient lighting. There is a a minor concern about how the wiring will go from the lights back into the sleeping area. The wire I bought has a significant shield. I sorted out how they should run past the D pillar beauty panel.

I think it will work the way I have it, but if not, I will cut the beauty panel to accommodate the wires. I had a thought to run the wires through the tubing on the roof rack. The thickness of the shielding will likely prevent that. I also didn’t have black zip ties. So I’ll have to source those to complete the wiring.

That’s the gist of it for this week. I do explain my recent absence from posting videos. I have had a few weeks of medical issues that all culminated into a possible muscle tear or pull in my abdomen. I then had family over for Thanksgiving, then I reinjured myself helping Mrs. Okierover’s cousin with a tree that would have fell on his rent house. I then got bronchitis and it has been a battle to beat that. Better living through chemistry.

Congrats to the Midshipmen as they defeated the Cadets of Westpoint in a thrilling football game. My first Army/Navy game was on TV when I was probably 11 years old (1975, Navy won). I had just begun to enjoy college football. I was watching the game on my black and white TV in my room. My dad walked by and I asked, “Who do we route for in the Army Navy game?” Dad said, “Always Navy.” That should have been obvious but I was only eleven and didn’t have a full grasp of the universe at that age. I know, shocking.
My dad served in the Navy when, “Ships were wood, and men were iron.” That was 1947-1950. Sailors learned knots and morse code and nautical things subjects no squids today learn. My uncle also served with my dad on the USS Wiltsie. Uncle Bob lied about his age and joined when he was 16 years old. Epic. Dad was 19 years old. They fought the Chinese communists during the Chinese Civil War.

Thanks for all the emails and messages checking on me. I’m getting better every day.

Like and subscribe.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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