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.
Wandering Cindi 