Departure day came around so quick and we could not delay as we had a planned family reunion in Colorado Springs, CO. We had reduced our possessions dramatically but still ended up throwing stuff in the dumpster at the last minute. Our plan for the first day was just to pack and depart Panama City so we set Open Pond Campground in Alabama as the first stop... about 100 miles away.
Open Pond Recreational Area is a great little park in the
Conecuh National Forest and it only cost us $4 for the night which included hot showers! A perfect night after a hectic few weeks of packing up the office and getting ready. Camping in the back of our truck was also good and more comfortable than expected.
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| Our comfy camper |
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| Open Pond Recreational Area |
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| Early morning tea and breakfast |
Day two we visited a natural bog nearby which had the most amazing assortment of insectivorous plants, several types of pitcher plants.
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| Sundew |
Then things went a bit pear shaped. The vehicle started running very rough. We limped on to the next town which was in Mississippi and started troubleshooting the problem. We bought some spares and after a bummed out night in a hotel we carried out the repairs in the
AutoZone parking lot. AutoZone is wonderful. they'll test anything you want tested and loan whatever tools you need. Now it runs really good, getting 30 mpg! (12.8 km/liter). With new vigor we carried on to the next campground.
The Mississippi River is in flood and was quite an awesome site as we crossed into Louisiana. Louisiana is a kind of poor looking state but really quite beautiful. We chose Gum Springs Campground in the
Kisatchie National Forest for the next night. It was deserted but very well kept and so we had the place to ourselves. Another beautiful night for just $5!
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| Empty campground in the Kisatchie National Forest |
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| Dinner |
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| Home |
The next day we set off for Texas and the
Eisenhower State Park. A beautiful drive with huge areas of wildflowers all the way.
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| A Texas picnic area |
This park was a bit pricier at $27 but well worth it. The camp site was on a high bluff overlooking Lake Texoma and only 2 other couples in the whole place. We did a night walk and saw many scorpions including a couple making more scorpions. Lots of interesting spiders including some fairly large tarantulas and also a couple of owls.
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| Brown tarantula |
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| Scorpions mating |
The following morning we got going early as it was a good distance to our next stop at
Lake Meredith just north of Amarillo. We had a strong crosswind for most of the day with some mean looking storms forming just to the south and coming our way. A large dust devil formed, grew into a giant dust cloud and spiraled into the clouds and we figured it must have been a tornado. It crossed the road just behind us as the radio began bleating warnings about a severe thunderstorm! Yikes! We already have PTSD from the hurricane, didn't need any more weather scares!
We arrived at the campground, which was a long way from civilization, to find it deserted as well. This one was more primitive than the others with only toilets, no shower but the price was right... free!. The view was great but it did feel a little spooky with nobody around at all. A ranger did show up just before sunset and was quite friendly.
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| Glad to see the sunset after a hot day and into a peaceful night in the bush. . |
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| Sunrise over our camp, we had the lake to ourselves. |
We didn't see much wildlife but there were so many spiders! This might explain why nobody was around. Suits us fine! When we woke up in the morning we had spider webs all over our vehicle, even in the gaps of the steering wheel! Anyway, it was peaceful and we had a good night's sleep.
Friday morning and heading for civilization. An uneventful day through the rest of Texas, Oklahoma, and into Colorado.
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| Leaving the hot flat roads of Texas and Oklahoma for the hills of Colorado |
It was nice to be heading higher and out of the 100 degree (37C) heat of Texas. It was even cooler than we expected with snow on the higher peaks and 58 degrees (14C) in Colorado Springs. After 1700 miles (2700 km), we are now more than a third of the way to Fairbanks.
Next; A weekend in Colorado Springs and on to Cheyenne, Wyoming...
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