Tag: campground

Lake Thunderbird Brought the Thunder

~ Wandering Cindi ~ Leave a comment

Traveling in spring is beautiful. There are wildflowers on the side of the road, everything is fresh, and the earth is vibrant. Also, there are rains, thunderstorms, and tornados. These types of weather are very prominent, especially, in northern Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Of course, our next home for the week was just outside of Oklahoma City at Lake Thunderbird State Park. Also, my Uncle lives about two hours north of the campground, so we got some bonus Uncle Steve time!

The park had nice hiking trails, cool trees, and wildlife. Murphy had a great time running through the woods exploring all the new scents.

As beautiful as everything was, we found out that it was tick season! Aaron and I followed Murphy off the trail to see what he had found; it was a turtle! Little did we know that ticks, big and small, were as excited to climb on us as we were to see the turtle. Between Aaron, myself, and the dog, we picked over 15 ticks off of us. Luckily, they had not latched on to either of us, and we found out that the dog’s flea, tick, and heartworm medicine really worked at killing those dang things.

We had originally planned on meeting up with Uncle Steve on the upcoming Saturday, but he decided to make the drive down to see us during the week as well. It was great to hear about his life on the ranch, my cousins’ families, and just spending time together. The sun was shining, the temp was perfect, and we had a great visit. We also made plans to se Uncle Steve and my cousin Seth and his family for Saturday.

We enjoyed the weather the rest of the week and were looking forward to Saturday. We did not wander down the trails any more, but took Murphy on lots of walks on the paved roads and enjoyed the views of the lake.

As Saturday rolled around, the weather decided to turn ominous. The forecast was for severe weather with a high chance of tornadic activity. Seth and his wife, April, decided it was better to stay home with the kids in case the weather turned bad earlier than expected. It is always better to be cautious and safe and reckless and sorry. Uncle Steve and Aaron and I decided to go ahead with our plans, with an eye on the weather. We met up at a fantastic BBQ place and had a wonderful lunch. We hadn’t planned on bringing Murphy, but we also did not want to leave him in his kennel with the weather threat. Luckily, it was just windy while we REALLY enjoyed the BBQ and the company. I tried to take a cool picture of Uncle Steve’s ribs and the antique truck, but the wind had other ideas, and blew the paper towels right in the way.

After another heartwarming and belly-filling visit with my uncle, it was time for all of us to head home and get ready for the incoming storms.

Aaron and I had a plan of where to run for shelter, we watched the news all night and monitored the radar on our phones. We were ready to run if need be. Two tornado sirens sounded for us that night, and one tornado was less than 12 miles away. There were towns destroyed, lives lost, and so much damage due to this one system. Our hearts ache for the people and businesses of Oklahoma. Everyone we have met in OK is kind and giving people. They will have a long and difficult recovery. Please remember, the news moves on after a few days. The places that were devastated by a disaster are still struggling and fighting to survive and rebuild their lives. And this fight will last months and years.

After a short night of little sleep, it was time to load up and get ready for our next home. This time, we planned a two-week stay at Longmire Lake, a bit further west but still close to Dallas, TX, and Oklahoma City.

An Oasis Outside of Dallas, Texas

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We left Fontainebleau, jumped onto Interstate 10, and kept moving west. We spent one night back at Chicot State Park and then drove on into Texas.

Our destination was a campground northwest of Dallas on Lewisville Lake called Hickory Creek. It was a great oasis in the midst of a highly urbanized area. The lake is big, with lots of homes, boating, swimming, and fishing. Our little corner of the lake was quiet and peaceful. There were multiple areas for camping on or off of the lake. We chose to camp of of the lake because waterfront sites usually fill up, they tend to be closer together, and there is a lot more noise and action. We prefer peace and quiet and less crowding.

We really enjoyed the paved walking trails that wound through the woods, around the lake, and connected the campgrounds together.

Spring was just getting started, and the wildflowers were beginning to appear.

Aaron had to spend a couple of days driving back and forth to Dallas for work, and while he was gone, Murphy and I kept busy in a little cove of the lake. It was like we had our own private nook. The geese kept an eye on us and were not super happy that the dog was swimming in their water. Murphy, on the other hand thought they wanted to play and swim with him.

We were fortunate that we had lovely weather for the week. This was a wonderful, peaceful campground and a great place to call home for the week. Once the week came to an end, it was time to pack and head north a bit into Oklahoma. We had a reservation at Lake Thunderbird outside of Oklahoma City and it was time to wander that direction.

Palmetto Island State Park

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Palmetto Island State Park has my favorite entrance to a park/campground (so far). It says you are indeed entering a swamp, there is wildlife here, be cautious. They even provide literature about wildlife safety.

Even after living in Louisiana for 20+ years, I never thought about bear safety in Louisiana. We were warned about active black bears in the campground.

The only wildlife we encountered up close and personal was a pair of birds trying to make a nest in the grill of our truck and a cardinal stopping briefly at our site. I felt bad about taking their nesting materials out of the truck, but I wanted them to be able to have a nest that wouldn’t drive away.

The state park earned its name. Palmettos are everywhere and it is a beautiful setting to camp and relax. The dogs have enjoyed romping through the swampy land, chasing squirrels, and looking for possums and armadillos. Even at the end of winter, a lot of the foliage is quite green. I can only imagine how beautiful and lush it will be come spring and summer.

We also had quite a few rainy days, which meant cuddle time with the pups and lots of nap time for them as well.

Staying at this campground is a little bittersweet. This will most likely be the last campground we stay in with our current Airstream, Yurtle. We will probably have a few Harvest Host stays on our way back to Florida, and a few more nights spent in the camper once we get back to our homebase to await the delivery of our new house on wheels. Yurtle has been a great starter home on wheels, has helped us create many wonderful memories and experiences, and has taught us so much about the wandering life.

Plan B and Lake Lincoln Revisited

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We left Chicot State Park in Louisiana with the intention of staying in the Homochitto National Forest in Mississippi. Aaron had fond memories of mountain biking the trails there in his younger years. When we arrived at our destination, we realized that there was no cell service at all. The tree cover was so great that we could not get a clear signal with our Starlink either. Well, Aaron has to work remotely, so that was just not going to work. Luckily, since Homochitto was a first come first served campground, we did have a “plan B” just in case we could not find a spot. This plan was to revisit Lake Lincoln State Park, about an hour away. The dogs got a potty break, we stretched our legs, jumped back in the truck and hit the road again.

Our previous visit to Lake Lincoln was only a few days, the weather was freezing, and we stayed warm in the camper unless we had to walk the dogs or do laundry. This visit gave us two weeks to explore the park and enjoy it more throughly.

The two week stay also gave us the opportunity to find a veternarian for Lola to update her shots and clip her nails. This picture shows what she thought of that. Poor thing had to go back a second time for a dental procedure under anesthesia. She was very unhappy about that! Murphy was unhappy as well because Lola got to go for a ride twice without him. To him, it was not fair that he got left out. If he knew where Lola was going I am sure he would have been OK with staying at the camper with Aaron.

There were some spots available right next to the lake, but we chose to camp in a different section up on a hill. The lakeside spots were more crowded and we were able to have our whole section to ourselves! That gave us more privacy, the dogs room to roam, and some peace and quiet.

These opportunities will be few and further between as camping season will start ramping up come spring, and more and more people will be getting out into the woods, deserts, and beaches for vacation and escape.

We are 95% sure that Murphy is a lab/husky mix. His papers from the pound say Lab-Retriever mix, but he has a partial blue eye, sheds like a husky, talks to us like a husky, and many other traits that belong to a husky. The mass amounts of white dog hair was driving me crazy! He may not look hairy in pictures, but his coat is a double coat and very thick. No matter how much I vacuumed and swept, there was always hair on our socks, stuck in the rugs, all over our clothes, and all over the furniture. We took the area rugs out of the camper to see if that would help with hair cleanup and if we would be alright not having them in the camper. Clean up became easier, and Murphy let us know that he likes them on the picnic table for a comfy spot to bask in the sunshine. Poor guy doesn’t realize that they will be donated and won’t be gracing every picnic table in our future.

We have been keeping our travels near to Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida for the first few months of the year for a few reasons. One reason is coming up in April, and I will let the cat out of the bag about that when it comes closer to April. Another reason, Gage (our oldest son) will be moving to Phoenix in a few weeks, and Lola will be going there with him. So, we will be meeting up with him somewhere along his route on his way out west to give Gage his dog. I am pretty sure Lola has been having a great time on this adventure, and we sure will miss her!

As we are coming up on our one year anniversary (next week) of wandering around in our Airstream, some old habits have began creeping into our lives. The most vexing one for me is over buying at the grocery store. We shop every week, and should be buying only for a week at a time. When this journey began we were really good at that. For the past few months, we have gotten away from thoughtfully buying for a week. After we got Murphy, one of us started staying in the truck with the dog while the other did the shopping. That has become problematic, as we don’t have the discussions in the store such as: we already have enough snacks, isn’t that too much, no-we don’t need a third box of cereal, we already have a jar of salsa, etc. The reason this is a problem is because we have limited storage. When we run out of space in our pantry and cabinets, the extra has to go somewhere. That usually means the overflow if food items reside on the table and counter. When that happens, the camper starts to feel crowded, messy, and unorganized. I think we are going to start making a list and try to exert more self control while shopping.

When we decided to start this journey, we agreed to take a year and see how we liked the lifestyle and then decide if we want to continue or go back to a more conventional way of life. I think it is pretty obvious that we are loving it. We plan on continuing our wandering ways for at least one to two more years, if not longer. We have seen so much, and it has become clear that as much as we have seen, we have hardly scratched the surface.

Ark-La-Tex

~ Wandering Cindi ~ 1 Comment

We said goodbye to Lake Lincoln and headed to an area of Louisiana that I was not very familiar-the northwest corner. We lived in the southeast corner of Louisiana for many, many years and loved it there. The opposite side of the state is a whole different world. It has influences from Texas and Arkansas, and has been given the nickname Ark-La-Tex. The name suits. It really felt like a blend of the three states. Think Duck Dynasty, but not quite the exaggerated level of the show. Good, hard working honest people who love the land, love to hunt, work hard and live a small town life. We had planned to stay in the Kisatchie National Forest at the Beaver Dam Campground for two weeks. Two weeks is a long stay at a campground for us; we usually move every week. Aaron and I were looking forward to a two week stay. The weather the first week was rainy and chilly every day. The second week was forecast to be sunny and warmer, and we were excited to explore what the national forest had to offer when the weather cleared up.

Aaron had to go to a job site most every day, Murphy and Lola did not get to play and run outside very often due to the weather. This was the first time I got a little stir crazy in the camper. We did go for chilly, damp walks that the dogs enjoyed. I did a lot of cleaning, reading, and no picture taking. I had to look in my SnapChat to find a couple of pictures for the blog.

It was Mardi Gras season and, of course, we had to have some king cake! Aaron picked one up at a local grocery store. The baby for the cake was larger than normal, green, not in the cake, and butt up in the box. Kind of strange, but the cake was good. He looked like a Buddha Baby. We did get a second king cake, and it was the same baby but purple.

On the first Friday we were there, the camp host came and knocked on our door. He was sorry to let us know that we would have to leave early. The National Forest Service decided that a prescribed burn was in order the next week. Our two week stay turned into a one week stay, Aaron still had to be at the job site the following week, and we needed to start finding a new home for the week. Luckily, we were able to reserve a spot at an Army Corps of Engineers campground about a half hour away.

We ended up at Tom Merrill Campground at the Bodcau Dam in Benton, Louisiana. We were just outside of Shreveport, but it felt very remote. For almost the entire week, the campground host, a car camper, and us were the only people staying there. The weather was good, and the dogs were happy. They had a great time playing in the water.

Water being released from the reservoir.

For a long time, I was a very routine oriented person. During our stay at this campground, I realized that I actually am starting to miss some routine, structure. There are some routines, walking the dogs, cooking dinner and cleaning up after, making sure the blog is ready for Tuesday, but not enough. This journey has made me realize that I need some sort of routine, or I do not get motivated to get up and move. So, over the next month, I am going to try to set myself some sort of loose routine with taking pictures, editing pictures, more exploring the area we are staying. I’m not sure if staying at our homebase for so long dulled my “get up and go”, or if I have just become complacent. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, and I really don’t want to squander it because I am lacking self motivation and self discipline.

Next week, back to Iowa to take Dad to his doctor appointments for the month and have some more quality time with Mom, brother, sis-in-law, and my nephew. Poor Aaron will be on his own dealing with two dogs, moving day, and work. I think I got the easier end of that!