Day 1-Return from St. Louis Road Trip

7:11 am, July 6, 2016, Sam A. Baker State Park

Well, this is my report on Day 1 of my return trip to Texas on the St. Louis Road Trip. I'm sitting in the cool of the camper just waiting until I'm ready to get on the road. It is hot and EXTREMELY humid outside. In fact, that, humidity, is going to be one of the things I really remember about this park!

I woke up at Mildred's and finished up my packing. I took everything out to the truck before getting a cup of coffee and sitting for awhile with Mildred. She was not happy to see me go. Having Rachel and me visit her was a really good thing for her. I know she is lonely and loves the company.

I set off for David's to get the Colby T. He and I had gone ahead and pulled it from the grass where it was parked the day before, just in case there were any problems. It rained a lot while we were in St. Louis, and there was a possibility that it might have been a problem. It wasn't.

I got on the road and traveled to Sam A. Baker with only one stop just before I got to the park for some gas. I had studied a gas station on Google maps, and knew it was a good one for filling up with the trailer in tow. I texted Rachel and Dave to tell them I was almost at the park, because I wasn't sure how much phone service I would have when I got there. It was a good thing, because the service was spotty at best. My texts from the park took about an hour to go through. One from Rachel didn't get to me for three hours.

The service was better at a table across the road from me, but not enough to do anything more than send texts. I did get one photo to post to FaceBook, but I had to keep trying all day. A teenager saw me going over there and asked me if I was getting service. I told him I got some. He went to the table and sat for about an hour. I guess he had more patience than I did.

I was in site 9. It is a beautiful level site nestled under some tall pine trees. It was well shaded, but even during the night, the AC never went below 70*, which is highly unusual. I went outside at about 10:00 pm and it was still sweltering.

Once the camper was set up, I started to change my clothes for hiking. There was a knock on the door. The park host was there to check me in. There was no gate or guard shack here. I just went straight to my site. I asked him where I could get a trail map, and about ten minutes later, he came back with one.

I took a nice long hike. I followed a bike trail for a mile and a half then took the Shut In trail. Before I hit that trail, I visited the very ice visitor's center. They had some science and historical exhibits. Then, I hiked to the camp store and bought one of those little plates you nail on your walking stick. They don't come with nails here, so I will have to wait until I get home to nail it on my stick.

The Shut In trail was pretty. It followed a dry creek bed with nice rock walls and cliffs on one side. It was so humid I could barely breath. I got to the swimming hole and looked around. Then I started the climb to the top of a small mountain. I don't know how close I got to the end, because my knees started complaining. I knew I had about three miles to get back to the camper, so I aborted the mission and climbed back down.

I stopped at the store and got a cold drink before heading back to the Colby T. I was absolutely soaked, and my right knee gave me grief the entire way there. I have a Baker's cyst in the back of it, which as far as I have understood, is a leak of knee fluids. When it is aggravated, it hurts like the dickens. I could barely climb up into the camper.

I stripped out of my clothes and hung them up to dry. They are still soaked this morning. I guess the humidity is too high for drying them. I'll hang them up again at my next stop.

I decided that hiking was done for the day. I used my electric massager on the knee, and eventually it stopped hurting. Today, it is fine.

I spent the rest of the day lounging around and reading. I also played a game on my iPad for awhile before going to bed fairly early for me. That's why I was up and about by 6:00 am.

Before I went to bed, I went to the table and got my directions for the drive to Jackson Port. They were gone this morning, so I went back over and did it again. It took forever, so I was mentally preparing to go back to the gas station and do it there. Just as I was ready to give up, they were there. I went back to the trailer and copied them down on my clipboard, just in case.

I'm going to go outside now and try to get a text to Rachel telling her I am leaving here in about 30 minutes. I only have a few more prep things to do. I need to unplug the shore line and plug the camper back into the truck. Then I need to lift the stabilizers, stow the pads and chucks, and I will be on the road.

I was going to dump the tanks on the way out, but I decided that I will wait until I get to my first Texas park on Thursday. I have full hookups there, which makes the process a whole lot easier. I don't have water at this park, so I was afraid I might not have enough to do the job right. I have been implementing extreme conservation methods. I am pretty sure I can flush the toilet about 6 more times before my black tank is full. If I have to, I will use the bathroom at the park at my next stop. I will have gone without dumping 4 days, but on my two trips to McKinney Falls SP, I went for five days with no problems.

When I get to Jackson Port SP in Arkansas, I expect to have better phone service. I will spend some time getting caught up with the rest of the world and post this.

I forgot to mention that I carried my camera on the hike yesterday. It did fine until I saw a beautiful deer on the way back. When I tried to take a photo, the LED screen wasn't working. I am afraid that my sweating to the point that my shirt and shorts were dripping might have caused too much moisture and messed something up. We'll see.