Lake Talquin State Park (FL), Caprock Canyons State Park (TX)

Our trip to Alaska is well under way!  We spent the first night in Lake Talquin State Forest in the Florida panhandle.  It was kind of a strange place, seemingly an unlikely location for a campground.  It’s out in the country of course, but in order to get to it you drive through an area reminiscent of a ghetto in the city.  We dubbed it “Wilderness Ghetto.”  On the up side, we were the only ones there.

Our plans were to camp the next night in Mississippi but we ran into widespread torrential rain and opted for a motel instead.  It’s one thing to set up camp before the rain starts, and quite another to set up while it’s raining.  The motel perfectly fit the stereotype of a run-down place, with only the “E” on the “MOTEL” sign flashing, and recent storm damage needing repair.  The room itself wasn’t any different; there was no fan in the bathroom, no lid on the toilet, a questionable looking bathtub and only one hook to hang things on in the bathroom.  Not wanting to put anything on the floor, I hung my pajamas on the hook on the door, which when open, hides what’s hanging.  In our haste to leave this place, I forgot about my pajamas.  They were my favorite ones – very sad.  The moral of the story is don’t hang things on the back of the bathroom door… or possibly don’t stay at the Bates Motel.
We hit the road, traveling through Mississippi, Louisiana and hours of Texas highways and country roads.  We passed tons of oil drills, many of which were on ranches or farms.  After also passing through several small towns, we arrived at Caprock Canyons State Park in the Texas panhandle.  The Visitor Center welcomes not only human visitors, but also the herd of bison which roams the plains area of the park.  The bison visited this area several times a day, taking advantage of a watering hole and providing us with great photo opportunities.

Further inside the park is a small prairie dog town, very busy with the little guys eating, running, barking and digging like prairie dogs do.  We couldn’t help slowing down to a crawl every time we passed through; they are so darn cute and amusing.  We love those little doggies!

There was plentiful wildlife throughout the park, including jackrabbits, deer, insects of all kinds, and birds.  Our most unexpected encounter was with a roadrunner, which was the coolest thing!  At first glance we didn’t know what they were – we’ve never seen one before.  We saw two the first time, likely a mated pair, and saw individuals repeatedly during our stay.  They are super-fast runners, taking an almost horizontal position on the run.

These birds are vicious little creatures, too, doing what they must to survive in their harsh environment.  They eat bugs, rodents, lizards and even rattlesnakes, and will either stab their prey repeatedly in the head or bash it against a rock in order to kill it!

We also saw a tarantula one evening in the road, which I took pictures of next to my sandal for size reference.

Ken was concerned about me getting my sandal back, which was actually fine with the spider.  Mr. Spider didn’t get annoyed with me until I tried to shoo him out of the road.  He raised up onto his hind legs in a defensive posture, and when I pressed the issue he punched my sandal repeatedly with his front feet.

I then tried a different tactic, chasing him with my sandal from behind, causing him to run… toward Ken!  Ken insists it was chasing him, and maybe even wanted to eat him!  My efforts to convince him otherwise were unsuccessful.
We did do a short hike, taking in more of the beautiful scenery on foot.

While on the trail, we met a man and his daughter who were on horseback, and had a nice conversation with them.

He was very friendly and outgoing, and pointed us further down the trail to a site of an old Indian camp where there were shards of flint scattered about.  We had already started back toward the trailhead, but turned around and went a little further than we initially had gone, and did find the site.

It’s pretty neat to see something like this in person, and makes me think about how rugged and tough people were in those days, thriving in various environments and making use of whatever nature presented them with.
The next day we ran into the man and his family again, had another pleasant exchange, and found out he’s a country singer.  He said he had something for us, and gave us a CD of his music so we’d have something to listen to on our way to Alaska.  It really is a pleasure running into people like them who are just so pleasant and nice. 
The following day we were on the road again, and although it is always sad for me to leave a place behind that I liked so much, it’s also exciting to see what’s around the next corner.  We will surely revisit Caprock Canyons in the future.

Be sure to check out the full photo album for this post for pictures of lizards, dung beetles, our camp and much more scenery and wildlife!  Lake Talquin State Forest (Florida); Caprock Canyons State Park (Texas) photos