Mammoth Does Not Go to Vicksbug Military Monument
Monday 9/26
At about 8:45 I gave up waiting for the Good Sam rep to call me, so I called then. Oddly, I got the same dispatcher I had the day before. Is there only one? He checked, and said they'd tracked down a tire and would be calling us shortly. And, believe it or not, they called while I was on the phone. Next time I'll give them an hour after my "appointment."
The repair guy arrived at about 10 or 10:30, but he couldn't fix the tire. He replaced it with the spare he'd brought...and now we will have to pay for. Good to be rich, huh?
Incidentally, it wasn't the tire we'd asked for. But at least it was the right size.
And then we were on our way.
We didn't get any time to explore the park, but the map (that the ranger had given us on the road the night before) showed there's a good bit of interesting park down south of where we were, plus an overlook near the confluence of the St Francis and Mississippi Rivers. Also a lot of cool roads to drive. Also the Crowly's Ridge thingy. According to the web it's raised ridge heading roughly north to south in the middle of the Mississippi River floodplain. But even though we were leaving the park on the Crowly's Ridge Scenic Byway, I never saw anything that looked like it. i think it's lost.
My review of Miss R SP, Beech Point , site 11
So lovely that I want to give it bad review and keep it for myself.
Huge, old trees filled a campground out on a curvy peninsula in the middle of the lake. Gorgeous! The water was a little low but still full of fish and birds, although I didn't go fishing to be sure. But I could see them.
Well designed asphalt (or maybe concrete) sites with water, sewer and 50-amp electric. All seemed very newly built and working, however, the 50-amp had only one breaker and ended up glitching on us a couple of times when we ran both air conditioners and the water heater at the same time. We switched the water heater to LP and things were okay, but just to be safe we only ran one air conditioner during the night.
There was a bathhouse that looked brand new but I didn't try it out. Bear-resistant trash cans and recycling cans dotted the campsites, and there were even a couple of poop stations with doggy bags. The only (smallish) sort of negative I'd give was the street lights scattered here and there. They didn't shine in our windows or destroy our nighttime ambience, but they were unnecessary.
The sites were pretty much spread out, too, some more than others. Sites 14 and 12 were some of the best ones, if you don't mind back-ins. Our site 11 was pull-thru and just the right length for our 32' motorhome and toad.
One bit of advice--drive slowly as you approach the campground and DON'T miss the left turn into it. There is no place to turn around for a long way. Actually, we could have turned around at the boat ramp if we'd known it was there, but the road there was gravel and very torn up, so just as well. Also note: they only allow 10HP or less boat motors. An awesome lake for kayaking!
Very quiet at night, even on Saturday night when we arrived. On Sunday people cleared out and there were only about six out of about 25 sites occupied.
The Bear Creek Nature Loop Trail across the street is wonderful.
We ended up at our last park, DeGray Lake State Resort Park in Arkansas. My notes say,
Good place for an overnight, especially at the end of a trip. About 4-3/4 hours from home. But horrible for a camping trip--we should check out the Iron Mountain COE instead. Supposedly has water for filling tank but no water at the sites.
The state park, or at least the campground we occupied (site 90) was on a narrow peninsula with a road down the middle and campsites on either side, closely bunched together. The only place to walk the dogs was down to the turnaround loop at the end of the peninsula or along the drive--between all the campsites--back to the boat ramp.
The tent campsites were very nice, though. Too bad we're not into that now--they were completely empty.. And the boat ramp was huge, although I didn't see a dock. It would be a pretty nice lake to bring a boat to. But no place I'd want to linger.
Our site was well arranged, with water and sewer and a lovely little fenced patio with picnic table, grill and fire pit. But the trees were not ancient and lovely like the ones at the previous park. They were smallish and not really lush, which is normal for the end of the season but still a little disappointing. We could have used the shade, too--it was supposed to be cooler temperatures when we arrived, high around 82, but it sure seemed hot.
There were a few birds here and there. Some sort of migrating warbler was firmly attached to the large, extremely clean white pickup truck at the site across the drive. I think maybe a yellow-throated warbler. I got lots of good looks at it, but every time I started to walk over there and get a close picture, the white-haired lady at the site came outside. For some reason I was firmly convinced that she would take offense of me taking a picture of "her" truck. It was so big honking white and clean, it almost didn't belong outside of a dealer's showroom.
So I gave up on the bird. There were a pair of grebe on the lake, plenty of crows, and one red-tailed hawk I saw taking a drink by the water's edge next morning.
My Review of DeGray Lake $36 site 50 water/electric/sewer
Nice place for glamping but no place I'd want to linger.
The sites were very well done--asphalt, very level, with lovely patios. Full hookup. Some were spaced too closely together--for example, our patio was a stone's throw from the one next to us with no vegetation between. It didn't have the feel of a private RV park, but wasn't anything as spacious as I'd expect from a state park.
The people crowded in at night and there were many RVs with bright lights all over the place, all night long. The lake was lovely but not the sort of place you want to sit out late and enjoy the night sounds. Although I didn't hear any loud music or annoying people--they were mostly an older crowd and it was a weeknight.
There is no place to walk your dogs except up and down the road, or you can pick a tortuous path through the rocks along the water's edge. But there was a tent camping area over toward the boat ramp that was completely empty and had lots of space for dog walking.
Although our camping area was small and cramped, the other parts of the park look like they might be well worth a visit. There's golf, maybe horseback riding and I saw a disc golf course and a paddling trail. But all of those would require a short drive or bicycle ride (or a very long walk) to get to from our campsite If you're staying at one of the other camping areas, or don't mind the walk, it could be very nice.
Tue 9/27, return
Chilly in the morning; headed home. Nothing else to say. I was happy to be taking Molly back to her yard and her squirrels, and I missed the cats a little and missed the kids a lot, but I wasn't all that happy to be going home. It's not our home right now, and I feel a like a stranger in it.
As we left I saw the sign for Crater of Diamonds State Park. I guess if a person were of a mood to pick up rocks, mostly quartz I'm sure, it would be a good place to go. So maybe we'll be back here sometime. I've seen worse places, for sure. And I've camped much worse places.
During the night the campground filled up, a lot. I didn't see any kids around, after all this is a weekday and school is back in session, post pandemic. But such a lot of old, rich white-haired men and ladies. Like us.
Our next door neighbor greeted me and I should have talked to her, but I was concentrating on my next move toward getting ready and failed to respond with a conversational gambit. I just replied "good morn" and turned to pick up a load. Not to give you the impression that "getting ready is all that big a deal these days. We've gradually made our camping rig easier and easier to set up/take down and it only takes us twenty minutes or so of concentrated effort. Less if we have sewer, because we dump in place.
So it's like this: do dishes. Close dog cage and put on bed for travel. Do morning ablutions (teeth, contacts, clothes.) Put away computer, camera and any clutter I've piled on the table. Replace trash bags and set trash outside to go the dumpster. Make a cup of ice-water for travel. Pull back window curtains and remove the shades in the front windshield and front side windows. Put away dog water pan; get Molly's traveling leash and attach to the drawer handle.
If I'm concentrating (and not watching birds) all that takes 20 minutes. Ed puts away the ice maker, dumps the tank and puts up the sewer hose, water hose and electric cable. Then we pull out to a parking area, hook up the jeep (10 minutes or less), and we're off.
Some of the things we used to do, like stow the satellite dish, are not needed. And the Jeep hookup takes a third or less time than the car used to take.
The drive was uneventful, I'm afraid. And faster than expected, being mostly Interstate 30. So this concludes a trip I'll now dub, Mammoth Escapes Chaos and Children.
NOTES
1. De Gray Lake is a convenient one-nighter, and Beaver Dam at Caney Lake Rec Area a pretty nice campground, but Mississippi River State Park is a destination.
2. For once, I estimated correctly on the amount of fruit to bring. Remember: plan one fruit serving per day and include a banana or two in there.
3. Remind Ed to check the tires two days before a trip.
4. See if you can avoid driving through Shreveport on I-20. It's rough, really rough.
5. Always, ALWAYS print a detailed map to the campsite. Every campsite.
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