Monday, April 23, 2007

Blasting Back


Blasting Back
Lord, this is a great country, but it sure is wide. I am writing this in the car, and will upload it as soon as we land back in the Carolinas. This is our fourth, and hopefully final day driving the interstates. The last three days have started around sunrise and ended after dark. From groves, to desert, to peaks, to hills, how fortunate we have been to stumble upon three wonderful, different places to sleep.
In Arizona we pulled into Homolovi Ruins State Park. I don’t remember much about it, and I never saw any ruins, but we slept on a wide plateau in our modified car, safe and sound under a million stars.
Night two we had decided to take our chances with a nondescript motel when we saw a sign indicating camping at the town park in Sayre, Oklahoma. What the heck; we drove into a scene from the 1950s. The sun was setting on a lovely, small lake, playground, miniature golf range, and tiny, dilapidated campground. It was just what we needed. Two RVs were there, so we felt safe and pulled in under the trees for another good night’s rest. The next morning I proved to the town of Sayre that I am a tough cookie by taking a cold shower in the buff in the men’s restroom which also served as a condo colony for beetles and moths.
Last evening was the weirdest of all. After dark we followed twisting, dark and empty roads ten miles to Natchez Trace State Park east of Memphis. We pulled in to the Wrangler Campground. What do we know? We’re not wranglers and didn’t even guess that we were entering the horse world. Doug describes it as a midnight scene in the Middle Ages –people on horseback emerging from the trees, along the road, others hunkered down around smoky campfires, ragamuffin kids running wild through the woods. We moved on; we just didn’t fit in; we didn’t bring our horse. The RV campground was almost as strange; not a site was empty and the big rigs were decked out in Christmas lights and other colorful paraphernalia. Feeling a bit discouraged, we drove further on to the park’s lodge. Ahhh, civilization! We were rewarded with a lovely, quiet, clean room and a good night’s sleep. Waking up today, we found we were on the shore of beautiful, serene Pin Oak Lake.
What lucky people we are! And don’t think for a minute that we don’t know it and thank God for our blessings. Especially that baby whom we are hurrying to meet!

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