Ackerman, Mississippi to Valparaiso, Florida

 We got up at sunrise and talked to the couple next to us in the Little Guy Tag trailer that was headed from Orlando to New Mexico. We were the only two RVs in the entire campground. It was one of the most beautiful parks and looked like the standard campground built by the Corp of Engineers.  A great place to return. We took our cups of coffee and headed around the 2.5-mile lakeshore trail. It was mostly a shady walk and they had an 18 hole disk golf course laid out. We then packed up and hunted for a breakfast spot and ended up with a biscuit from a coffee shop. We are headed on the back roads to Florida.

Black-eyed Susans along the shady lakeshore trail

Cattails along the bridge over the dam

Bat house and disk golf

Mirror calm waters

Beautiful boardwalks and more trails to explore

Fort Smith, Arkansas to Ackerman, Mississippi

 We made another early start for a long drive through the green hills of Arkansas to Mississippi. We followed the scenic back roads and found a local diner for breakfast. We even saw some longhorn cattle in a pasture. For lunch, we stopped for a picnic at the Arkansas Welcome Center that had a shady picnic table on a covered dock on the water. With the humidity, even 90 degrees felt like 100. We crossed over the mighty Mississippi River ad headed to Ackerman close to the Tombigbee National Forest where we are stayed at Cherokee Lake National Recreation Area.

Water view from Arkansas Welcome Center

Pleasant picnic spot on the water

Impressive bridge over mighty Mississippi River

The muddy river level was up with barges in view

Huge campsite overlooking Cherokee Lake

Peaceful lake

Gone fishin!

Martins swooping along lakeshore

Canyon, Texas to Fort Smith, Arkansas

 We packed up the night before so we could get an early start up the canyon and out of the park and through the town of Canyon. We took the interstate again passing all flat plains with the beginning of some planted fields and a greener landscape. We found The Grill Diner open for breakfast in a small town off the interstate that had been there since 1950's.  We had a long drive past Oklahoma City headed to Springhill Park at Thimble Lock and Dam near Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Not the expected sunrise as it rose out of the misty morning

Our campsite at Springhill Park at Thimble Lock and Dam

Fort Smith Commissary and Jail

Fort Smith trail along Arkansas River

Canada geese have found their summer home

Fort walls no longer remain but a few cannons

  

Officer's Garden next to quarters

One of the few remaining buildings

Train depot next door

Storefront after the recent tornado

Brickstone Brewery inside historic 1850's meeting place

Santa Rosa, New Mexico to Canyon, Texas

 We got an early start leaving the small desolate town on old Route 66 behind that had seen better days. We found a local Mexican Cafe in another small town with the best green chilies omelet. Our interstate drive took us along stretches of parched, flat land for miles. We encountered long trains with over 100 cars and then huge corrals of cattle. We passed through Canyon south of Amarillo, Texas into Palo Duro Canyon State Park.   The canyon is second in size to Grand Canyon and a spectacular drive winding down into the bottom of the canyon to our Sagebrush campground. We set up in our huge campsite with our own pergola hidden back in the brush with a stunning view of the canyon.   We took the Kiowa Trail with great views of Triassic Peak and an original Civilian Conservation Corp bridge over the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River.

Our campsite in Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Our own pergola with picnic table

Glamping luxurious campsites down from us

Amazing wildflower collection along the Kiowa Trail

Fields of sunflowers

Surrounded by canyon walls

Red dusty trails

Unusual wildflowers galore

Gorgeous red rock cliffs

Red cliffs with gypsum layers of white stripes

Huge boulders

Park outdoor amphitheater

Amazing peaks

The next morning was cool as we got up at daybreak to head to the popular Lighthouse Trail that takes you up to the iconic rock formation. We were the second car in the parking lot and had one walker and one runner pass us. On our return trip, the trail was crowded with folks making the 6-mile hike and the parking lot was filled. Even though it was only in the 80's we felt parched and stopped at the Trading Post and gift shop for a cold drink. We drove the canyon loop road and stopped at The Rock Garden Trail to view the avalanche and display of boulders. We then stopped at the Rojo Grande Trail which was supposed to be a shady walk but turned back in the noontime heat. We drove back up the canyon to the Visitor Center and Overlook. After a picnic lunch and a nap back at the campsite, it cooled down to enjoy grilling out steaks for dinner.

Precautions about hiking in the heat

Across the flat canyon floor

Meadows of wildflowers

Unusual rock formations

Impressive peaks

A great hike to the Lighthouse Rocks

Red rock stacks

Huge flat-topped rocks

The iconic Lighthouse Rocks

Great horned toad

The Rock Garden Trail

Remains of avalanche

Visitor Center Overlook

A stone wall built by Civilian Conservation Corp at Overlook

Immense panoramic canyon

The huge tarantula spiders roaming the campsite and trails