Saturday, May 10, 2008

For the most part we slept well last night. The traffic on highway 82 was steady all night. The only noise of it that was bothersome to me was some of the semi trucks.

Before breakfast we worked on a travel plan for the day at the computer. We finally decided to find the Corp of Engineers park in Texarkana called Clear Springs Campground to spend tomorrow night.

We did a walk around the park. Most of the birds are Robins. There were also Mockingbirds, Starlings and Woodpeckers. The Robins were raising young and building more nest. There are a lot of permanent residents (people) in the campground. Most are over 65 years old and up. I don't think I could live in a travel trailer permanently. The owners of the campground have ran the campground for 22 years. They are very nice people. They have planted lots of beautiful flowers in the campground.

We left Pecan Grove Campground at 9:00 am (GA time).

We got gas in Crossett Arkansas for $4.15 a gallon (with shopping card) at a Wal-Mart. We went in the store and bought bread and me some socks. I bought some soft anklets (Faded Glory brand) at Wal-Mart before we left home and I liked them so much that I wanted more of them :-) They are not tight on my swollen ankles at the end of the day. Frank bought a new wallet, but it didn't work out well, so next Wal-Mart stop it will get returned.

We stopped in Magnolia Arkansas at a Wal-Mart parking lot to eat our dinner. Sandwiches again of roast pork and beef with a salad.

We arrived at Clear Springs Campground near Texarkana Texas at 2:30 pm (GA time). We missed the detour turn to the campground and stopped in time at the blocked off road to turn around. There was a booth up the other road and Frank walked up there to talk to the attendant. The attendant said that a whole section of the park was closed because of flooding. The attendant called the main gate to make sure they had a site for us because earlier the campground had been full. They had a site for us. The attendant told Frank how to get over to the campground. The dirt roads going to the Land down in Baker county are much better than the path we had to take. It was paved, but not much better than a pig trail that had been rooted up by pigs... it very narrow in places. We were afraid we would meet another trailer on the way ... we did. Thankfully, it was in a wider part of the road.

The day started off overcast. Sometimes the sun peeked out. Just before we got to El Dorado Arkansas a bolt of lightning flashed and there were rumbles of thunder. It rained for bit and then it was back to overcast with the sun peeking out ever once in a while. By the time we got to the campground there was sun with a few white clouds. Then by 4:30 (GA time) it was overcast again. There is a light breeze.


There was some pretty scenery along our ride today. There were wheat fields and with the lighting they seem to glow. There were fish farms... we think catfish, but the writing on the one sign we saw was too small to read from the road. We saw new life along the way... horses and cattle.. Some beautiful breeds of both. There were donkeys and Shetland ponies dotting pastures too. We knew we were nearing Texas when we saw the oil pumps in the fields. There was lots and lots of honeysuckles growing along the roadway. Queen Annes Lace and thistles were blooming. I think there are poppies too, but I couldn't see them well enough to tell for sure. The sides of the highway today were almost litter free. I wonder how they accomplish that...


This afternoon we took a walk about the campground. It is a hilly campground nestled among pine trees. The flora looks much like our Georgia pine forests. The pines look just a little bit different. There is hardly a site empty in the campground... 101 total campsites minus the 26 or so that are shut down. There are two bath houses. The one closest to us has only one shower and two stalls per side.


The variety of birds were the same as back home.


We traveled 203 miles today.