Day 2- Return leg of the St. Louis Road Trip

8:44 PM, July 6, 2016, Jacksonport SP, Arkansas

I woke up this morning at 5:45 with plans of getting on the road early. I wanted to dump the tanks before leaving the park and didn't want to wait in line.

I got everything ready to go, but made a last minute decision to wait for dumping until I get to my first Texas park, where I will have full hookups. It is so much easier that way.

Since it was way to early to hit the road, I went ahead and wrote my Day 1 of the return trip post, even though I knew I couldn't post it from the park due to really sucky phone service.

At about 8:00 AM, I went ahead and pulled out of the park. I stopped to throw my trash in the dumpster and discovered that my passenger door wouldn't open. I thought it was something electronic, but once I arrived here, I realized that the handle was pulled loose. It will have to go into the shop when I get home. I hope you can open it from the inside. I haven't tested that.

I stopped at the same gas station I filled up at yesterday to download my directions and make sure Rachel got a departure text. I had spent 15 minutes waiting for it to download last night, but when I went to leave, the directions were gone.

The trip turned out to be very pleasant. There were about 50 miles on really tiny highways that wound through towns, but it was kind of nice.

I got to the park at about 11:30 and checked in at the office. I was also able to buy a medallion to nail on my walking stick.

I drove through the camping loop and saw that there weren't many campers here. I decided to go ahead and pull over tho the dumping station and dump my tanks before going to the site. It sounds like a gross job to non trailer folk, but actually it is pretty simple. You attach the hose, stick it in the dump hole, and pull levers. You don't touch, smell, or see the wasted as it goes down.

I arrived at site #9 and started to set up, but mosquitos started attacking. I got bit once on the leg before I noticed. I went into the Colby T and got my spray. I doused myself with it. I hate mosquitos! While I was finishing the set up, a huge one managed to get me on my palm! I sprayed again, a little more diligently and haven't had any more problems. Once the sun was up and winds were blowing, they seemed to be gone anyway. I did notice a few minutes ago, that they are back with the sunset. I will be indoor for most of the evening, so I will survive.

As soon as I was set up, I changed clothes and hiked along the road to the historical section of the park where the old Courthouse is. I spent a good hour in the courthouse looking at things and talking with a wonderful ranger. She was a wealth of information. Her official role is historical interpreter. She is also in charge of the three geocaches in the park. She asked if I was interested in them, and, of course, I am!

On the way back to the camper, I found all three of the geocaches. I took a trail by the river back, which was very nice. It was windy and a whole lot cooler than the road walk earlier. In fact, I was so hot and sweaty when I toured the courthouse that I was embarrassed. I don't know why. I didn't plan the mugginess that was around this morning until about 1:00 pm. Fortunately, the courthouse is air conditioned- nearly freezing.

Back at the camper I spent the rest of the day reading and walking around the campsite. I can't seem to stop going to look at the river. This is a beautiful site about 50 yards from it.

For the rest of the night, I plan to dodge the mosquitos by staying inside, playing a game on my iPad, reading some more, reviewing tomorrow's directions, and drinking some Merlot.

One more thing I forgot to mention. There was a sign at the park store (where you check in) that read "We are out of ice." I read it from a distance and thought it said, "We are out of office." I went to the park headquarters next door and the sign on the door said, "Campers, please register in the Park Store." I started to walk away and a really nice guy with an Arkansas drawl named Wally, came out of the headquarters and walked me to the store. He was manning both offices at the same time. He apologized about the ice. July 4th campers wiped them out, and the truck had not come with a delivery, yet. I told him about my ice maker. I have decided that, if the ice maker breaks down, I will buy a new one every year. I will never not have one working in the Colby T!