Bouton Lake, Texas

Decaying table

When we left the Walmart in Texarkana in the morning we were initially headed for another Walmart, a day's drive south but then realized we'd be driving by several National Forests with campgrounds.  After three continuous days on the road and two nights in Walmart parking lots, we were ready for something a little less civilized.   So we headed for  Boykin Springs campground in the Angelina National Forest. We took a turn down a side road with a sign directing us to Boykin Springs.  But after driving miles further than the directions indicated,  no Boykin Springs.  The road dead-ended.  Luckily it did so at a primitive campground on a small lake, Boulton Lake.  The campground seemed essentially abandoned though there were still fire rings and decaying picnic tables. 

We pulled into one of the open areas within the campground and it was like Eden after the Walmarts of the last few days.  No other people in sight. There was a least one house right past the campground, though.  Their dogs came and briefly visited us, and we could see the lights of the closest house at night. 

It suddenly felt like we were in the South.  The body of water adjacent to the campsite had moss hanging in long strands from the trees and the air was warm and humid.  A nearby smaller bayou that I walked to had cedar trees, the ones with the big spread-out skirt bases, growing in it.   As a native Northerner I expected to see alligators everywhere.  There were numerous ant hills on the road and in some of the camp sites.  My first though:  fire ants?  Because I lack experience in the woods of the South, I had no idea what was reasonable to expect. 



Shortly after we parked, I went for a quick scout along the bayou just down the slope next to our camp site.  Since there were no people around, I let the dog off the leash, the first time in many days he'd been free.  I told him to stay close but my attention wandered for a few seconds, he wandered off about ten feet from me, and with a splash,  he was suddenly in the water over his head and couldn't climb back out.  Silly blind dog.  After that we kept him close and staked out on his long line.  


The warmer weather was a relief after the cold days and nights of the days before. We both put on sandals and shorts, and I felt positively naked after being bundled up for so long.  

Back in time to fall

 We were able to sit outside and eat our dinner, though there were some mosquitoes.  Previous campers had left some firewood so we had a fire in the fire ring.  We went to bed that night with the windows wide open. It felt like we'd traveled back in time to late summer.

Moss hanging from the trees

Back in time to fall

 The next day, I wandered around with my camera while Mike worked remotely using his phone, mobile hot spot, and computer.  It was sunny so we got out the solar panels for the first time and hooked up all the components of the system to charge our computers, phones, and camera batteries.  Everything worked the way it was supposed to and we generated energy from the sun! 

Our solar get-up at work

 I saw a few interesting things:  lots of fish skeletons and a line of leaf-cutter ants moving pieces of leaf from one place to another.  I was a bit soured by seeing old sheets of toilet paper scattered on the ground and hanging from bushes throughout the campground, and just lots of general garbage. 

Regardless, the sky was blue, the air was warm at long last, and the sound of the wind through the pines was phenomenal.  I felt like a part of me that had been too tightly clenched began to ease its grip.