Clinton Lake

Have arrived in Oklahoma. This is our first time camping in the Sooner State. Only a couple more states to go and we will have done all the lower 48 states.

This stop in Foss, OK (100 miles west of Oklahoma City) is just an overnight stop. And a stop is all it can be. We are between here and there. As the campground name suggests, we're between Elk City, OK and Clinton, OK, two good size towns. However, more accurately, we're really between Canute, OK and Foss. OK. Two towns of not good size. You wouldn't even have to blink to miss Canute or Foss. Someone forgot to tell the last person leaving to turn off the lights.

Canute is a small, small town of 500 residents. On the other hand, Foss is a very,very, small town of 150. Here's another size perspective. The Canute high school averages 30 per grade.

Back in the day industry consisted of a broom factory, and a wagon and buggy carriage works. The towns were up and coming. But then companies closed and the towns slowly withered away.

The land on which Canute and Foss now sit was once given to the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians after they were forced off their native lands. The land gift didn't last. The US took it back so that Oklahoma could be settled by westward moving pioneers. Once the pioneers moved in, the railroad showed up; then Route 66 came through making the towns popular stopping places; and then Interstate 40 bypassed the towns and they were no longer popular stops; and finally the death blow came when the local Air Force Base closed. Once again the towns slowly shriveled up. Unfortunately, this scenario of small town decline has played out all over the country. The folks must either leave for greener pastures or hold on to the homestead in hopes of turning things around. A few hundred people opted to stay in Canute and Foss, OK. This land had seen one life changing episode after another. Today these 2 small towns could use a break and some luck.

Despite the troubles of Canute and Foss, the KOA campground is very nice. It has a small restaurant which other KOA's have. But this one also has a bar. This is a first!Read more