During my last night at Caddo Lake State Park, there was a severe
thunderstorm. Not much wind but huge thunder that rattled my rib cage
and sent Callie into a panic. I let her up into my bed for awhile, but
she jumped down. Near as I can tell, she spent the night on top of the
dinette table leaning into the window because the table was wet and her
back was wet. My windows don’t leak unless something presses against
them during rain, and Callie apparently was leaning hard.
On a short night’s sleep, and continued rain, I decided to drive all
day to from Texas across Arkansas and to Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
During the drive, I was listening to tunes via Spotify and feeling
good. Just about that the time that my mood was definitely taking a
turn for the better, a Wal-mart truck kicked up a pebble that deeply
divoted my windshield with a horizontal crack from the divot.
I was ticked, but what can you do? About five minutes later, I came
across a really bad recent two-car wreck on my side of the highway.
Things can always be worse. Much worse.
In Cape Girardeau, I did my internet research and called around to
find a campsite for the weekend. Apparently, camping in Missouri is
very popular in early May; everything was booked up. There were some
possible boondocking spots along the Mississippi River, but they were
complicated by flash flooding with more expected rain on Friday night.
Some main roads were closed, and that means more minor roads to
boondocking spots were suspect.
On Friday morning, I called a couple of state parks during my drive
to see about openings. Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial Park was one of
the possibilities. The woman answering the phone was super nice but
they were full for the weekend. She could try to radio the campground
and see if there were any cancellations. She didn’t call back for a
long time, and by then I had crossed the Mississippi River into
Illinois. Then she called with possibly good news. There was one
electric site and one primitive site available, but they were first
come, first serve. She asked if I was feeling lucky. I thanked her for
her efforts, but I was about an hour away, so I didn’t think I was
going to risk it. Plus, I hated the thought of backtracking. On the
other hand, Babler had great reviews online, and I didn’t have a clue
where I was going to stay in my least favorite state–Illinois.
After I hung up, I decided to turn around and run for the Babler. I
turned the hour drive into a 40 minute drive. As I got off the highway,
I called to see if the sites were still available. She said that as
far as she knew, the electric one was, but I should skip the park office
and drive directly to the campground and tell the host that I was there
for the cancellation site. When I arrived, the host wasn’t at the
campground check-in and didn’t seem to be anywhere near the host
trailer. Breaking with campground etiquette, I knocked hard on the
trailer door. “Is anybody there?”
“No one’s here”, was the answer. I don’t know if the hosts were
saving the spot for friends or what, but they sheepishly emerged and
said that the spot was mine since I was the first to arrive and that I
could have it for up to four days. I took three days, set up camp and
began some serious relaxation time.
It’s
been too wet to hike the trails, but Callie and I have hiked the 3.5
mile semi-paved trail at least a couple of times each day.
The
park is named after a surgeon who lived from 1874 to 1930 and
reportedly spent much of his time devoted to charity cases and the
unfortunate. He died of pneumonia at 55.
On Saturday morning, the sun broke through. And the weather looks
good for Sunday as well. Monday morning, I’ll continue north.
