I suppose we can tell we’re getting better at this nomadic life because we can start out with little more than a compass direction and no real plan or destination and not get stressed about it. In fact, one of our recent lessons is “Sometimes the best plan is no plan at all.”

Case in point, we pulled out of Holly Bluff camping area in the Davy Crockett National Forest with nothing but a “Let’s go east.” I (JoDana) was following Calvin in Moose, our van, per usual, and nearly rear-ended him when he took a sudden left. Apparently he got hungry and wanted to check out a smoke house that was not on our route.

First, let me way that we have had the best meals at little hole-in-the-wall smoked meat joints. We ordered to-go boxes of brisket, sausage, and ribs from Billy’s BBQ in the town of Jasper and went looking for a park.

You can tell a lot about a community from their parks and, Wow, Jasper, you are impressive. Sandy Creek Park goes on for blocks with paths on both sides of the large creek, playgrounds, benches, gazebos, the whole works. They apparently have a big Christmas event each year, and I am definitely putting that on my list. We explored Jasper for a couple of hours and decided we should probably find someplace nearby to park.

A quick search of Angelina National Forest MVUM (Multi Vehicle Use Maps) and we found a couple of dispersed sites within a half hour. Oh, my goodness, did we hit the Mother Lode of boondocking locations. Off Hwy 63, opposite Sam Rayburn Reservoir is an area called Boykin Springs Recreation Area, which is a very nice, well-maintained campground. Except we weren’t at Boykin Springs, we were just outside of it, and we had a beautiful small lake in the pines practically to ourselves for two weeks.

The thick mat of pine needles made my dog-mama’s heart happy after a couple months of little feet tracking in all manner of sand and dust. The critters walked with us around the lake several times each day, the dogs got to swim, heck we even went swimming (March – Cold water!), and the frogs, crickets, and birds were delightful to listen to each night.

Our friend Al from the Davy Crockett NF caught up with us for a few nights, that was fun.

This spot was so beautiful we are sure to keep it in mind the next time we venture into the Piney Woods of East Texas.