Wheeler Dealers Camping Club members agree that it would be hard to find a campground that meets the needs of our group as well as the Seminole Campground at Sequoyah Bay State Park on Ft. Gibson Lake east of Wagoner, OK. June was the second time the group has camped at Sequoyah Bay and members still found new attractions to visit, restaurants for dining and paved trails for hiking and biking.

The June campout was organized by Clarence and Karla Hill, Gary and Charlotte Piersall, and Larry and Elaine Stevens, all of Bartlesville. Nine rigs arrived on Wednesday and that evening the charcoal grills were lit for members to cook hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner followed by visiting.

Thursday other club members arrived and that evening the group dined together at the Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen at the Sequoyah Bay lodge. Several members then went on an evening boat ride on Ft. Gibson Lake compliments of the Stevens who brought their boat to the lake. Others gathered at the campground pavilion for several games of Jenga.

Friday group members caravanned into Muskogee for lunch at the Harmony House Restaurant followed by a tour and wine tasting at the Pecan Creek Winery. Harmony House is a Restaurant and Bakery housed in a 100 year old house in the Heart of Downtown Muskogee. Club members enjoyed burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads and the Harmony House’s daily special.

From there members went to the Pecan Creek Winery. There the group learned Pecan Creek’s wines are all made from locally grown grapes. Created with wine enthusiasts and casual drinkers in mind, the winery provides a tasting room experience that is laidback, yet sophisticated, fun, yet educational and features more than a dozen spectacular wines produced from only the highest quality grapes and other fruits. Members tasted several different wines and visited with owner Bob Wickizer.

Friday evening was a “mystery meal”. The host couples created a boiled shrimp dinner complete with corn on the cob, new potatoes, sausage complemented by salads and desserts provided by other Wheeler Dealers members.

Saturday morning members toured other area attractions including Ft. Gibson Historic Site. Following a video presentation in the Visitors Center on Garrison Hill, members viewed exhibits followed by self-guided tours of the commissary, kitchen, lodging, and down the hill the reconstructed site of the early log fort and stockade. It is an historic site and the group heard the story of Ft. Gibson and the part it played in the early westward expansion of the United States. That evening members dined at the White Wolf Restaurant at the Cherokee Casino in Tahlequah.

In addition to these area attractions, members enjoyed mornings riding bicycles and hiking on the trails. Of special interest was the 1.6 mile paved trail that paralleled the main road through the park where members not only exercised, but enjoyed the many flowers and trees and animals along the path.

The campout concluded Sunday morning with a pot luck breakfast and business meeting to discuss future campouts.

Other campouts scheduled for the year include:

July– Sarge Creek Campground, Loop A, Kaw Lake. Kaw City OK

August – Meet and Eat, Osage Hills State Park (between Pawhuska and Bartlesville). It will be a potluck luncheon.

September– Melvern Lake, Loop B, North and South sections, Melvern, KS.

October– Canton Lake, Canadian Campground, Canton, OK

November– Big Hill Lake, Cherryvale, KS.

December – Christmas Luncheon, McCord Senior Citizens Center, McCord, OK

Wheeler Dealers monthly campouts are held weekends from March to November with only lunch or breakfast gathering in February and August and a special Christmas Party in December. Members can make their own reservations at many of the Corps lakes through recreation.gov, the Corps of Engineers reservation service or for state parks through the Oklahoma or Kansas State Park sites.

Current members are from Bartlesville, Norman, Nowata, Owasso, Ponca City, Sand Springs, and Tulsa. Anyone is invited to join.

Persons interested in knowing more should contact Lowry, president, at 580-304-5445 in Ponca City or Clarence, vice-president, at 405-612-7781 in Bartlesville.