There was also an REI nearby, so we stopped in there looking for a new hat for Joe (since we left it at home) and instead ended up with two small, light chairs. We didn't bring ours with because we never used them. Of course, on this trip, there have already been numerous times we wish we had some. We found just little triangle stools. They're super small and light.
Tonight we are staying in McKinney Falls State Park, which is in the southern part of Austin.
-Miranda
Sunset over a river in the park.
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Before heading into Sabine National Forest, we stopped at the ranger station. On a large laminated map that pointed out some of the campgrounds and rec areas, some of them mentioned free camping by the water. Which surprised us, but we wanted to check one of those places out to see what was up. The woman there gave us a print out that showed all the hunting campgrounds in the forest. We went to one and that was the first campground we stayed at. We left there after the first night and decided to check out the next spot. That was where we were when I wrote the last entry.
It was a boat ramp. An old, abandoned boat ramp. We went for a bike ride, came back and picked up some of the garbage that was lying around. We piled it in one area since we didn't have room to take it with us.
At around 6:30, a pickup came down the road, pulled up behind us and put on his lights. Yep. It was a forestry service guy. Joe went out and chatted with him. Basically, the guy said we weren't allowed to camp there because we were within 300 feet of the water... There was a sign further up the road that said "no camping", but we were just parking there and the maps we had/saw said it was some place we could stay, so we planned on staying there unless there was much traffic down there.
In the end, Joe was completely honest with him, telling him we were thinking of just sleeping there. He stressed how we weren't hurting anything and were actually doing our best to help by cleaning up the garbage, etc. The guy wrote out a ticket of $75.. . . . So, needless to say, we were both fuming and left the forest to stay at a Walmart last night.
We checked out the next forest today, Angelina National Forest, but there were just too many hunters. So, we decided to just push for Austin. A girl that worked in a Bistro we stopped at a few days before had mentioned that she really liked Austin and it was where Whole Foods was started. We figured we might as well check it out. We are now in Rockdale staying at another Walmart. There's a state park in the southern part of Austin, so our hope is to be able to stay there for a bit and explore Austin. We'll see.
-Miranda
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We left the campground and headed for the next national forest, Kisatchie. I had looked online to see what campgrounds were in the forest in case we had issues finding a spot on our own. There was one that sounded neat on the Saline Bayou and it was supposedly free. So, we headed up there. There were only two other people there and it was free. The sites were quite nice and the area was very pretty. We went for a short walk, but the bugs were a bit annoying.
Our internet wasn't very good, so we left and headed for the next forest. On the way we stopped at a stand on the side of the road where a guy was selling satsumas. We bought a bag and tried them. They are incredibly juicy. Pretty good. We've already eaten quite a few. We ended up seeing another side of the road stand selling pecans, so we stopped and bought a bag of those as well. They are a bit of a pain to break into (easier than store ones though) but they are very good.
We found another campground in Sabine National Forest in Texas that was only $5 and not too busy. We ended up meeting another guy that's traveling around the country, but in a van towing a trailer. We had dinner with him and chatted a bunch. It sounds like we're on similar paths, so we may even run into him again down the road.
We are still in Sabine National Forest today. We found a spot where there is no one else, it's free and the internet is working great. Hopefully it lasts.
-Miranda
A tree Lucy climbed up then couldn't quite figure out how to get down from.
The super nice sites at the Clear Springs campground in Homochitto National Forest.
The Saline Bayou.
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We went to check out a St. Andrews State Park and found that the surf looked amazing. Joe really wanted to surf so we left the park and found a place that rents out boards. We each got a board and went surfing. Unfortunately, the gulf bottom was too irregular. It would dip down, then there would be a shallow sandbar, then it would get pretty deep again. This makes the waves not very favorable for surfing. I ended up wiping out pretty good which resulted in me hyper-extending my knee. Joe stayed in for a while longer, then we headed out. We stopped in Pensacola and stayed at another Walmart. We then decided to head inland since Ida was coming. At the time it was still considered a hurricane and we know our RV won't hold up to winds that strong.
We drove for quite a while yesterday and made it to Columbia, MS. We checked out DeSoto National Forest on the way without much luck. The area we looked at appeared to be often used for military training exercises.
Our sleep schedule has gradually gotten earlier, so we were up and on the road by about 6:15 this morning. We got to a very nice campground in Homochitto National Forest. The internet isn't very good, but no one else is here, so we decided we would stay the night.
There were some strong gusts of wind last night where we were, but that's it. We haven't even had to deal with much rain.
-Miranda
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We left right after we woke up. We decided to try having breakfast at a little diner in the next town. It was a pretty busy place and the food was decent. Their "french fries" were hashbrowns.
I did sort of wonder why they would server french fries in the morning.We stopped at St. George Island State Park. You have to drive across a crazy long bridge to get there. We drove the four miles to the end of the park, then biked the 5 miles to the end of the island, mostly staying on the beach. There was a relatively large fish stuck on the beach that was still alive, so I helped get that back in the water. We found a couple very neat shells and there were quite a few jellyfish on the shore. At least on the bay side. Not as many on the gulf side.
We then headed for Panama City and are now sitting in a Walmart parking lot for the night. We probably could have gone to the next forest and found a spot, but it's getting late and we figured we could get more work done here.
-Miranda
Lucy got into the cupboard.
Pickles sleeping with the vacuum.
Jellyfish
A ton of pelicans and gulls on the bay side, just hanging out.
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