Once the sun set though, the road wasn’t nearly so scenic. We saw a road sign indicating a campground in the woods off to our left, so we headed down a dark dirt road [...]]]> After our stay at Hot Spring National Park, we headed north following the beautifully scenic highway 7 through the Ozarks.

Once the sun set though, the road wasn’t nearly so scenic. We saw a road sign indicating a campground in the woods off to our left, so we headed down a dark dirt road in search of a place to stop for the night.

The sign hadn’t made any mention of how FAR it was to the campground, and at night in the dark the five miles seemed like thirty – particularly since there were many steep sections and there was no easy places to turn the trailer around should we decide to retreat.

But in the end, we found Erbie – a beautiful remote campground located right along the Buffalo National River.

Not surprisingly considering how remote it is, Erbie has no hookups. The campground is clean and well maintained though, and the spots are fairly widely separated along a large gravel loop. Even though there were two other sites occupied, we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.

Kiki here – I loved camping at Erbie. The river was swollen and scary, but there were trails to explore, trees to climb, and even bunnies to chase. I did get wet paws though from all the morning dew – be warned!

Erbie is often used as a base camp for people venturing out via canoe or kayak to explore the pristine Buffalo National River. Recent flooding had closed the river, but there were extensive trails to explore nearby.

One of the trails leads from Erbie Campground to the nearby Parker Hickman Farmstead – a glimpse back in time at turn-of-the-century rural life. I thoroughly enjoyed an early morning hike upstream to explore this place.

Down the road from the Parker Hickman Farmstead I came across this sign. And as you can see, it wasn’t lying! I am sure glad that the campground was on the near side of the river, or our late-night arrival might have turned into a slow five mile backwards retreat!

The most significant thing lacking at Erbie was wireless network access of any sort. They did have this museum quality ancient communication device on display however…

Overall, Erbie was a wonderfully tranquil place to spend the night and get away from it all. If only there were at least some network access, I would love to return and explore the area further.

Summary Details:

View: Woods & hills!

Sites: 30+ sites, several large group areas.

Facilities: Pit toilets, boat launch.

Hookups: None.

Cell & Data Coverage:

AT&T – Nope.

Sprint - Did I mention how far down a dirt road this place is?!?

Cost: $10/night

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After weeks of no firm plans and trusting in nomadic serendipity to guide our journey through Arizona and New Mexico, after Carlsbad Caverns we were back on route to our next planned destination – Austin, Texas.

Austin is where Cherie grew up, and [...]]]>

Travelogue: Texas to St. Louis

Time period: April 24 – May 17, 2009
Miles Driven: 1593

After weeks of no firm plans and trusting in nomadic serendipity to guide our journey through Arizona and New Mexico, after Carlsbad Caverns we were back on route to our next planned destination – Austin, Texas.

Austin is where Cherie grew up, and her brother now lives – so it’s a frequent stop over point for us as we criss cross the country visiting friends and family.

Our specific timing for being in the area was to rendezvous with Cherie’s parents in nearby San Antonio for her father’s USS Robert E Lee SSBN-601 Submarine Reunion, which he organizes – and was finally stepping down as president.

Austin, Texas

Anxious to be stopped for a bit, we opted to violate our own intentions of only driving a few hours a day and made the drive from New Mexico into Austin in one day. It seemed the right thing to do after weeks of overwhelming beautiful and amazing views. The scenary in west Texas just can’t compare. So we got on I-10 and made good time getting into Austin in time for Tex-Mex food for dinner with Cherie’s brother, Ken and his wife, Kristina.

We stayed at McKinney Falls State Park in South Austin, which proved to be the perfect place to stay to be close by but on our own. It was beautiful, affordable and close to everywhere we needed to be. We spent the week catching up, meeting with other nearby Oliver Travel Trailer owners, socializing with Ken & Kristina in the evenings and Ken even took Chris rock climbing at the Barton Creek Greenbelt. Cherie’s parents arrived and came up to Austin for a family dinner, and they also got to meet Orion (our Oliver Travel Trailer) and Kiki for the first time.

New Braunsfels & San Antonio

And then we relocated down to New Braunsfels to Landa RV & Campground, where some of the NuRVer crowd was supposed to still be lingering, but they had all departed by the time we arrived. Oh well, we’ll catch up with them some time down the road. The advantage of staying here was that it was closer to San Antonio for attending and helping out at the reunion.

Cherie helped her father with organizing the troops for an Eternal Patrol Table Ceremony, as well as handing out awards. She even got to pin a ‘Submarine Angel’ on her mother – making mother and daughter the only submarine angels for the USS Robert E. Lee. Afterwards, Elvis hit on her mother during a performance.

East Texas Driving

From New Braunsfel, we started our northeastward trek towards spending time with Chris’ family up in St. Louis. We stopped in Round Rock for lunch with Digital Nomads moderator, Bill Bivins, and then overnighted near Lexington, TX at the property of another fellow Oliver Travel Trailer owner, Doug & Geneva. Awesome folks, and we have so appreciated the little community that the Oliver Forums have provided for us in our travels.

Eastward on, we decided to use our Texas State Park pass one more time, and overnighted at Martin Creek Lake State Park.

Louisiana and Arkansas

And then dipped into the northern corner of Louisana (just so we can mark it as a state visited this year, in case we don’t get back), and then decided to aim for making it into Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas.

We found ourselves at the beautiful Gulpha Gorge campground, and in the morning indulged ourselves in traditional baths the Buckstaff Bathhouse. It’s quite surreal to have a bath, scrub down by your attendant and a massage at a national park, and definitely an experience to remember. It was a strange combination of being in a hospital setting and being processed through the various steps, and being at a spa. We both came out relaxed and refreshed.

From Hot Springs, we took scenic highway 7 through the Ouachita National Forest. As dark approached for the evening, we saw a sign for a national forest campground along the Buffalo River and made a spontaneous decision to search it out. Down a dirt path we went, and in the darkness of both light and knowledge of what was ahead, it seemed to go on forever until we reached Erbie Campground. It was a full moon night and misty out, and we were all alone – quite enchanting! Kiki and Chris went out for an early morning hike down to the river.

St. Louis

And then it was onward into St. Louis the next day, arriving at Chris’ parents house where Kiki got to meet her Aunt-Dog-Molly for the first time. We caught up on more projects, had a second rendezvous with fellow technomad Ben Willmore as he was passing through, had concretes at Ted Drewes, explored Forest Park and Grants Farm.

All before the next leg of our adventure – starting with a trip down to the Oliver Travel Trailer factory in Hohenwald, TN.

First off, it is the smallest National Park, by far. And secondly – rather than the usual focus on preserving natural features – most of the hot springs here have been thoroughly developed, and the primary [...]]]> Hot Springs National Park in Hot Springs, AR is one of the most unusual National Parks in the nation.

First off, it is the smallest National Park, by far. And secondly – rather than the usual focus on preserving natural features – most of the hot springs here have been thoroughly developed, and the primary attraction is actually the row of preserved historic bath houses lining the main street through downtown.

There is however one campground to be found in the park, and Gulpha Gorge is a beauty indeed!

Gulpha Gorge is located in a lush and shaded valley, with a creek and rapids running right alongside many of the campsites.

The Gulpha Gorge campground is located on the other side of Hot Springs Mountain from the bustle of bath house row and the rest of the city, but it is only a short drive or a few miles of hiking to get to the main attractions.

We absolutely loved camping right along the creek. The sound of the rapids was wonderful to fall asleep to.

The Gulpha Gorge campground is currently being renovated and “upgraded”, and most of the 44 sites are being converted to offer full hookups. The price for these sites is going up from $10 to $24, a very steep increase. The hookups will also mean that the beautiful creek noises will likely soon be complimented by the hum of RV air conditioners. Fortunately, the remaining non-hookup sites are the best of the bunch – right along the creek and the rapids.

All of the campsites at Gulpha Gorge are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Another of the renovations is that instead of using a typical ‘iron ranger’ honor system to pay for your spot, they have a computerized self check-in kiosk that accepts cash and credit cards. We really like this trend, and have dubbed this system the ‘Digital Ranger.’.  It gets the technomad seal of approval!

If you visit Hot Springs National Park, be sure to treat yourself to a bath. Look for our video report on our bathing experience to be posted soon!

Overall, Gulpha Gorge is a beautiful oasis – and I would love to return again for a longer visit. I only hope that the campground is not diminished too much by the new focus on larger RV’s.

Summary Details:

View: Creek and rapids!

Sites: 44 sites. Only 12 remain without hookups.

Facilities: Toilets, NO showers. Dump station.

Hookups: Most sites have water, electric, and sewer.

Cell & Data Coverage:

AT&T – Strong EDGE – no 3G.

Sprint - Two bars EVDO rev A. (D: 722Kb/s, U: 286Kb/s, 118ms)

Cost: $10/night ($24/night with hookups)  - Paid by a self check-in computerized kiosk (aka ‘Digital Ranger’) with credit card and cash only, no checks.

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