A Short Aside

Curious. It's not often that I do things on a whim while I'm traveling. There are too many variables, too many things that can go wrong, and I like to at least leave some sort of plan with Jared when I go off on my adventures. Every once in a while, though, I see something that looks too neat to pass up. On my way home from my birthday trip at Sea Rim State Park, that's exactly how I found myself on a dirt road winding towards the unknown in Angelina National Forest.

I had driven past the brown sign pointing to Bouton Lake and another wilderness area before I made the decision to see where the little dirt road led. I flipped around on the highway and doubled back to the road. A forest in the grips of a southern winter greeted me. The deciduous trees were bare but there was still plenty of green courtesy of the long and short leafed pine trees that make up the majority of the forests in East Texas. The day was mild, in the 60s, and I drove with the windows down as Callie and I bumped along on the dirt road. I wasn't worried about getting lost; I had a full tank of gas, and besides that, East Texas is so populated that sooner or later you hit a paved road and just follow that to the next small town, and orient yourself from there.

I drove down every road I could, more often than not ending with "Road Closed" signs and blocked with fallen trees. A couple of times the road I was on came out on a paved road parallel to the highway I had first turned off of, and I felt like a gopher popping it's head out of the ground before turning around and plunging back in. I spent a good hour and a half on those back roads, seeing except a couple of random cyclists navigating the soft dirt. I found Bouton Lake and its attached campground and made a mental note to camp there some day. I finally ran out of road and found myself back where I started. It was a short side trip, but well worth the time I spent cruising around the forest. I love Texas in the winter, and I'm sure I'll be back.

According to Plan

Contented. Sometimes on my travels things don't go exactly according to plan. Actually, more often than not things don't go the way I envisioned them in my head when I planned out my adventure, and those times are what give me my stories. Who wants to hear about a trip where everything was choreographed and rigid? They don't make for fun stories, and I find myself only sharing the times on my adventures where something didn't happen like I thought it should. Even my short weekend get-aways, with less room for error due to time constraints, sometimes don't go the way I want them to. This year's birthday trip was no exception.

I like to take trips every year to celebrate my birthday. Given that I'm a January baby you would think that my options are limited as far as celebrations can go, but I was never one to shy away from a challenge. When I was younger my birthday trips were usually limited to a single day, usually ice skating or maybe driving to a museum or something. As I got older and more independent, I started travelling (go figure, right?) Now, traveling in the winter has its own logistical difficulties, but I always seemed to manage ok. I started exploring outdoors in the chill of mid-winter, first in my home state, followed the next year with a trip to Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park with a friend, and the year after that (last year) I spent a week by myself in the deserts of southern Utah. That trip in itself was an exercise in changes to my itinerary, what with me getting sick and the blizzards I encountered. This year, however, I wanted to go somewhere warm. I envisioned sunny beaches with that sea breeze that keeps everything from getting too hot, camping out in my tent with my pup while wearing shorts and a tank top. Lucky for me, I moved to Texas almost two years ago and the gulf coast is only four hours away, plus previous adventures had led me to a tiny little state park with no crowds. A perfect get-away for the birthday girl.

The day I left home it was foggy, threatening rain. I'd checked the forecast obsessively, making sure I wouldn't have to change my planned location, though I wasn't opposed to travelling further south down the coast until I found warmer skies. The forecast promised the fog would burn off by noon, so I timed my arrival at the park for 11am to ensure I got the perfect spot on the beach. Setting up a tent, which is essentially a giant sail, by yourself on the beach takes some skill and patience, and with only one minor mishap where I had to chase down my rainfly before it blew into the alligator infested marshes I managed to get the tent set up and pitched tightly against the strong breeze, all while dense grey fog swirled around me. The sea was indistinguishable from the sand and the sky.

With the tent up, I waited. And waited. Noon came and went, and the fog only seemed to thicken. I took Callie on a walk along the water where she enjoyed chasing the waves and bringing me seagrass that washed up with the tide. If I wasn't paying attention I could have lost her in the fog that turned everything into the same monochromatic grey. Everything was diluted, even the bright red paint of my car. My grey tent with orange linings all but disappeared, and the only reason I found my way back to it was by walking along the edge of the dunes until I nearly walked into it. As 2 o'clock came and went, I crawled into my tent to try to keep my dog and I a little dry. It didn't matter; everything was damp from the fog that swirled around outside. Finally, an hour before sunset, the fog lifted and sunlight sifted in through the clouds, giving a false warmth to the drenched beach. I crawled out of my tent, but my hopes of lying on a beach while the sun warmed my bones had been dashed hours before. Instead I curled up in the last rays of the sun, wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, and read my book until the light became too dim to continue outside. The fog was moving back in from the ocean, and Callie and I crawled back into the tent for the night.

My one last holdout for the weekend was one of the spectacular beach sunrises that I've come to love so much, but Mother Nature wasn't having it. The fog that had begun creeping back in at sunset the night before enveloped everything in just as dense and damp of a mist as the previous day, and I found myself packing my tent just after what should have been sunrise. Instead, I got to watch the grey mist develop from a dark charcoal fog that blocked out all light into an ethereal landscape that held no shape or feature. After one final walk along the water's edge (only discernable by the wetness of the water washing between our toes, because we sure couldn't see much) Callie and I loaded up into the car and left the park. It wasn't exactly what I had envisioned when I thought about a beach trip for my birthday, but I find myself still happy that I went. Fog on the ocean and beach is something I hadn't experienced before, and now I can say I have. Next time though, I want some sun!

Cabin in the Woods

Amiable. There's nothing better than a good old-fashioned girls weekend getaway, unless you get the opportunity to have said girls weekend at a private cabin along a beautiful river. That's exactly what Julia and I had planned one weekend last month at a gorgeous cabin owned by one of Julia's relatives where we got direct access to the Blue River and the nearby Tishamingo National Wildlife Refuge. Knowing me, you can bet our weekend had something to do with being outside.

Julia and I both have a thing for fine wine (I'm a wine snob, no shame) so as soon as we met at the cabin Friday night we broke out the wine and some dinner. Our night consisted of catching up, wine, movies and chocolate. Saturday, though, the exploring began. Of course, we chose the weekend that Mother Nature decided to plunge southern Oklahoma into sub-freezing temperatures... but that didn't stop us! We bundled up and headed out the back door to scale the riverbanks, hunting for shells and pretty photos. We also explored the surrounding woods, commenting that we probably wouldn't have been walking through the leaf litter during the summer because of the likelihood of venomous snakes.

It wasn't too long before it became apparent that the temperature would continue to drop, and that the fine drizzle that was showering us might possibly change into sleet or even snow. From the river banks at the cabin we decided to check out Tishamingo National Wildlife Refuge, maybe hike a few trails or at least find a place for a picnic. On our arrival to the refuge, though, the wind seemed to really kick up and we were shivering after just a minute or two outside the car, even with layers on. We mostly decided to tour by car from that point, only getting out a few times to check out overlooks or buildings. Turns out the refuge used to be a chicken farm, with the buildings and houses still standing, though either turned into storage/maintenance buildings or otherwise off-limits to the public. There were a few buildings that were open however, including one that looked drab from the outside but when we actually went inside we found the walls, ceilings and even part of the floor covered in bright, colorful paintings. It was completely unexpected and absolutely gorgeous, and I took more pictures of it than I'd like to admit. After the painted building due to the continuously dropping temperatures and the persistant drizzle we decided to call it a day and head back to the cabin for more movies and wine. We threw in breakfast for dinner as well and settled in for the night.

We woke up the next morning to brilliant sunshine, a crystal clear day, and temperatures in the teens. Brrr!!  Neither of us were in a hurry to go home, especially with the likely ice on the roads, so we popped in a few more movies and wrapped ourselves in blankets while we waited for it to warm up. Once we deemed it warm enough and late enough in the day we started to pack and load up our cars. In the bustle of getting ready to leave, the cabin door got shut behind us...and locked us out! Luckily we had our car keys on us and Julia had her phone, but my phone and most of our stuff was still inside. Oops! Eventually we ended up getting ahold of the cabin owner and got ourselves back into the cabin, but I decided right then and there I wanted to learn how to pick locks. I feel like it's a good skill to have! (Side note: Julia got me a practice lock for Christmas so I can learn! Thank you!!) After our bit of excitement, we got all loaded up and reluctantly took our leave. It was an awesome weekend, if a little cold, and I can't wait to do it again!