More Sunsets and Trip Wrap-up

 Location: Rocky Point Campground (COE); near Texarkana, Texas

My three day extension at this campground worked out well and was the right decision. At least so far. I won't know for sure until I pull into my home base campground in Mansfield, Louisiana tomorrow around noon or so. The predicted high temperature for Mansfield tomorrow is 77 degrees while today's is near 90. The six days here has been a great transition from constant traveling and moving campground every day to staying put for a little while. It takes a different mindset to be moving frequently. So this campground helped me get my "mind right". Wait a minute, that doesn't sound just right. I may have to re-word that so it doesn't sound like I'm completely partially crazy.

The sunsets keep coming at this campground and my new campsite is better than the first one. This site has trees on the west side of Liberty which provides really good shade from the afternoon sun. The first site was wide open and the sun hit her broadside. The first site would be nice for fall or spring when the temperatures are a little cooler but the second site is perfect for now. Both campsites are great for viewing sunsets. This stop was to de-compress from traveling and it has done a good job of that. I will definitely put this campground on my list of places to stay again.

View out Liberty's door on the last night at campsite #1

Campsite #2.
The trees help shade against the afternoon sun.

The beginning of the first sunset at the second campsite

Still the first sunset, second campsite. Those are three kayak'ers racing the sun to shore.

Final sunset of the first sunset at the second campsite.
(wow, this is getting confusing now.)

 

TRIP WRAP-UP

First the numbers:

Liberty has been towed a little over 3,600 miles. The trip lasted 66 nights and we have camped in 21 campgrounds. That works out to an average of about 3 nights per campground. 

The breakdown of campgrounds is:

11 - Corps of Engineers (COE)

 4 - State Parks

 2 - Fairgrounds

 1 - Bureau of Reclamation (BoR)

 1 - Private

 1 - Indian Casino

 1 - City Owned

The average price per night at all of the campgrounds was $16.68/night. But, the number I really like is the average price for the COE and BoR campgrounds was $10.83. In a remarkable coincidence, the $10.83 is exactly, to the penny, the amount I pay at my home base campground ($325/month = $10.83/day). I think that is an amazing coincidence but I'm not sure about it significance yet. Still thinking about it. 

Memorable/noteworthy things from the trip:

North and South Dakota had great scenery along with mostly good roads. The Missouri River Campgrounds were among the best. 

The place I wished I stayed longer and also had the most things to explore was the Davenport, Iowa area. This surprised me. 

The place I wished I had stayed less or even not stopped at all was in Bismark, North Dakota. The town and campground just had a bad vibe. 

The best little town with the best vibe was Ottawa, Illinois.

I visited my old hometown of Cape Girardeau, Missouri again on this trip. It was nice seeing the places along the Mississippi River where I sat as a teenager and planned out a few steps of my life. It was at those locations where I decided to enlist in the Navy and also to eventually become a Civil Engineer. As expected and as usual, the river talked to me about my life and future. The rest of the town, and even the Church I attended as a teenager, didn't have the same "draw on my emotions" as they have in past trips. I'm still digesting what that all means.

Sunset #3 at this campground

Sunset #3.
I have a feeling this will be the last good sunset since the clouds are all suppose to move east. A clear sky won't be as nice. 

Tomorrow is moving day and after about 125 miles, I'll pull into my home base campground. I'll try not to think about traveling until at least after Thanksgiving. After that, we will see. As I asked in the last post, maybe 50,000 miles is enough?

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.