I was hoping for one more group workout before we left.  Scott and Kayla were game and I’m glad they were.  It was an incredibly peaceful morning with the sun just coming up as the fog drifted out of the valleys.

Our 6:15, 15 mile bike ride.

.

It was probably a good thing that Ed and Kayla had places to take the kids this morning.  We were missing them before we even left.

We left Springfield at 9:05 and headed south through Arkansas towards Louisiana.

2ish – Foraged through the food bins for something to snack/lunch on. Super fancy feast – tortillas and cookies. Our version of fast food.

We have never seen a US rest stop with the sign, “Overnight Camping Only.”  Scott was tempted to stay the night just because we could.

We have stayed overnight in our tent at an interstate rest stop only once, in British Columbia, Canada.  That was on our Alaska Adventure.  The kids were only 10 months and 3 years old at the time.  We almost didn’t stay even though the signs said we could, but some grandparents talked with us and convinced us a rest stop in Canada was much safer than one in the states.  The only thing that was scary about that rest stop campout was removing the fresh bear scat before we put our tent down.  If you have read any of our Alaska Adventure you know how afraid I was of bears back then.  Of course whenever we see a campground or camping opportunity right next to a highway Scott has to remind me of the time, long before we had children, when he wanted to find a place off the road to throw our tent for the night and I was determined to stay at a real campground.  Luckily I spotted a sign for a campground, not so luckily the campground was literally tucked underneath the Interstate.  We didn’t sleep much.  It was the beginning of the end of me requesting we always stay at a campground.  Some of our best camping memories have been in the middle of nowhere with no campground in sight.

3:45 – We hit Texas!  The city of Texarkana to be exact.  It is on the border of Texas and Arkansas. Scott brainstormed our Texas photo before we even got there.  “T” for Texas! This is the first time the kids are in Texas!

4:30 – Louisiana! Two new states in one afternoon!

Scott was flipping radio stations and came across, “We believe in gun control. We believe it is important to hit what you are aiming at.” Scott smiled wide and said, “Well, you know we are in Louisiana.”  I remember the first time we met and stayed with Duck and her family for Mardi Gras back in March of 1998.  We were driving the famous “wedge,” a 1990 Chevy Lumina van.  Duck pointed out some guns mounted on a truck and said, “Now don’t y’all start honking your horn down here like y’all do in Chicago. You will get shot.” We have memories of going muddin’ on the levy and laughing for hours.

We stopped at a park to make dinner.  We were going to cook up leftovers, but we realized we had no water.  Scott was going to leave us at the park and go get water.  I was not so comfortable being left at a park with the kids in an area I didn’t know, so I suggested we pack up and try a different plan.

We went to a gas station, didn’t find any water, but Scott did spot a Little Cesear’s across the street.  While I was waiting for our pizza to cook Scott found another park in the area with good reviews.

The park was created with a great deal of thought and care.  They had a reading trail.  The book Petit Pierre and the Floating Marsh was printed two pages at a time on displays spaced around the walking trail around the park.  The idea was that you could exercise your mind and body at the same time.  The story also shared Louisiana history and facts, like that the state bird is the brown pelican.  My favorite page was page three.  The main character of the story, Petit Pierre, was told by his mom that it was time to leave the nest and that he needed to find his own home.  The last thing he asks his mom is, “Where will I go?”  His mom responded, “Just remember, wherever you roam, friends and family are what make a home.”  That is one thing we have discovered over and over in our traveling.

Loved this park.

We drove another hour after dinner to Indian Creek Reservoir.  It was 9:30 and completely dark when we arrived at the campground.  Scott did an excellent job of maneuvering around the narrow gravel roads in the dark. We stayed in the primitive area.  Sometimes primitive in a campground just means tent sites.  In this case it really meant primitive: no tables, no defined spots, just forested land.  We set up the tent and mats in less than ten minutes, but it took us much longer to adjust to the humid air.  We were thankful it wasn’t super hot, but we had been spoiled inside the air conditioned car all day.  Eventually we all settled down and drifted off to sleep to the sound of the frogs Blurping.