Martin J. Dies, Jr. State Park

Catching up on missing posts from this summer.

Texarkana, August 1st
Jasper, Texas  August 2nd and 3rd

After leaving the state park on Saturday morning, I continued along I-30 until I reached Texarkana, TX.  I camped at a KOA near the highway, a place to do some laundry and sleep, nothing special except for the nice swing at my site.

Sunday morning was a nice drive south along Highway 59 through some small towns. I turned into Martin Dies State Park and remembered being there before.  It was very hot and humid and there were not very many campers.  I decided to use one of the coupons for 1/2 off a 2nd night and paid for 2 nights. My site had a view of the lake through the trees. 

It was too hot to do much, I did go for short walks and short bike rides in the early mornings or right before sunset. I did a little bit of sewing in the afternoon, setting up my sewing machine on the picnic table. Mostly this was a relaxing, lazy stop along the way.

Love the large sites that are standard at most state parks.

Lake Catherine State Park

Poplar Bluff, MO - Thursday, July 30th


Lake Catherine State Park, Hot Springs, Arkansas
Friday, July 31st


After leaving Camp Lakewood on Thursday morning, I traveled down I-57 through IL and across the Mississippi River into Missouri.  I decided to take it easy with short traveling days and a lot of stops along the way.

Thursday night I stayed at Camelot RV Park in Poplar Bluff, MO - not far off the highway, but not too busy and I had a quiet, peaceful night. Everyone was very friendly.                .

My preference is state parks, but they are not always where I need them to be and sometimes they are booked well in advance.  I did not make any reservations for this trip back to Texas because I was not sure how I would be feeling or how far I would travel each day.

On Friday, I ended up at Lake Catherine State Park in Hot Springs, AR.  I did not go into the city of Hot Springs, as I had been there before.  If there were sites available, I would have stayed a second night. Weekends in state parks can be crazy, this park was full, but it was very quiet and I had a large beautiful site at the end of a row.

Friday night, I walked a short trail near the rental boats and the swimming beach. On Saturday morning, before leaving the park, I went on a short hike to the waterfall.  There was just a trickle of water running down the rocks. Oh well, it was a good morning walk anyway.

      A short swinging bridge on the trail