Road Trip 2009: Big Lagoon State Park, Florida

I liberated the soap and shampoo from my hotel room (I’d be camping the next few days…they don’t have those small luxuries at campgrounds), checked out of my room, and headed to Florida.

I have a morbid curiosity about New Orleans, but I didn’t satisfy it on this trip. I live close enough that I can go for a weekend. Maybe Louisiana can be a future road trip.

I drove straight through to Mississippi, stopping only briefly to eat and stretch my legs a few times. I somehow forgot to pack a cooler. I have three at home and not one ended up in my car. I saw an Outdoor World / Bass Pro Shop along the interstate and remedied that situation.

Dark clouds were approaching when I got to Bay St. Louis, so I decided instead of driving through the storm I would follow the signs and spend a few hours doing more of that activity I can’t blog about. (No it’s not that – get your minds out of the gutter!) On the way in the wind picked up and took hold of my umbrella. I provided some amusement for bystanders as I tried to hold onto it while it dragged me a few steps before the umbrella turned inside out. About that time the lightning started crashing close enough that I decided I really didn’t want to be holding a metal object in the air, anyway and deposited it into a nearby trash can. I made it inside just as the heaviest part of the downpour started. I was a little wet, but safe inside, where I stayed until the storm passed.

I made reservations at Big Lagoon State Park in Florida. They close the gates at dusk, but you can call ahead to get the code if you are arriving late. I arrived around 2 am. My tent is quick and easy to set up even in the dark, but the previous tenants left a mess. Not wanting woodland creatures visiting me in the night, I had to clean up their mess before I could go to sleep. Unlike some states (Wyoming), Florida has showers available in their state parks. I had them all to myself at that hour. They also have electricity, so I got to try out my new ceiling fan for my tent. I never claimed I was roughing it…

This was also the first time I camped with a self-inflating camp pad instead of an air mattress. It was much easier and quicker to set up and worked just as well or better. My air mattress is annoying to inflate and if I’m not quick enough putting the cap back on, the air leaks out. It also tends to lose air as I’m sleeping and if I sit up my butt hits the floor while both ends pop up in the air. The pad did not lose air and all I had to do was take the cap off, let it inflate as I unrolled my sleeping bag and set up my fan, then put the cap back on. I used it on a bed of pebbles one night and was quite comfortable.

The photo was taken with a cell phone. I still didn't have a new camera at this point in my trip.