Well, even though migrating birds are starting to show up, it is time to think about our return home. We’ve had a couple of objectives: celebrating Easter with our Mississippi friends and seeing Rich, Lydda, and grandson Bronson in Ohio. I want to take our time and check out the birds that are migrating with us.
So we will say goodbye to Goose Island this weekend. I like to go through Houston on a weekend so we’ll do that Sunday stopping at Viilage Creek SP north of Beaumont. It’s a small park with some nice trails and a river where we may be able to kayak. ( It was too high on the way through in January.)
Then to another park we’ve enjoyed, Natchez, for a few days. We stay at Clarko in Quitman, MS while visiting our friends in Laurel.
Two years ago, we stumbled on a coffee/donut shop outside Alexandria, LA while heading home. It was a beautiful morning and we ate outside in the springtime air just enjoying the moment. It was one of those “remember that place we had donuts?” that we mentioned when recalling our first trip.
Then last year, on a different route home, things suddenly looked familiar and I said to Mary, “I think our donut place is up ahead.” Well, we drove and drove and I was starting to think I was wrong ( for the first time all trip) when sure enough, up ahead was the place. The tables were gone and a new building next door but the people were friendly and the coffee and goodies as we remembered. And it was another nice day to sit outside a while.
Well, in planning this trip, I realized that the shop, if still in business, is right on the route from Natchez to Clarko.
We’ll head north the Monday after Easter, probably stopping in Alabama and Kentucky for a few days, arriving in Xenia on Thursday. We’ll park beside the house for a few days and then, Monday the 16th head east toward Vermont, arriving Tuesday night if all goes well.
So, I roughed out the segments and made the mistake of adding up the mileage, saying to Mary, “Do you know that it’s 2216 miles home the way we’ve planned?” it’s a good thing we want to see friends and family -otherwise she’d be tempted to fly to Dayton, then Albany.
But then, she’d miss the donut stop.
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Tag Archives: Clarko State Park
Southern Comfort
After a nice stay at Harrison Bay State Park in Tennessee, where we had the park nearly to ourselves, we drove down to ClarkCo State Park in Mississippi where we have stayed before. Since we were moving on Martin Luther King Day, the traffic was relatively light through Chattanooga, Birmingham, and Tuscaloosa. We settled into ClarkCo and I had a chance to take the dog on several long runs (she can roam on the back trails since no one is there.)
Staying with in ClarkCo for a few days gave us a chance to see Kevin and Jason, our Mississippi friends. They took us out to eat at a local favorite — Charlie’s Catfish House — and we enjoyed a wonderful meal and had a great time. Of course, the food is fried and tasty — one of those places where you don’t worry about calories. We topped it off with a King Cake back at Kevin & Jason’s Laurel home and I got the baby, which means good luck and I have to buy next year’s King Cake.
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| Catfish, Steak Fries, & Hush Puppies |
It’s a pretty easy four-hour drive down to Fountainebleau State Park, on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain. The park is great — even while nearly filled with locals here for the weekend. It’s neat to have kids framming around on bikes and enjoying 70’s weather. The birding here is superb as well and all Louisiana parks have decent wifi. So, after a week of 3G, we could get caught up on some of our laptop projects.
I’ve had the bike out and got Penny running alongside. It’s a good way for both of us to get exercise when we can’t let her run. We are off to Lake Fausse Pointe state park tomorrow — a place we’ve not visited, then start heading west toward Texas. Enjoying shorts and T-shirt weather and many birds.
Photo by Sam Is Hungry