Day 286
Michael the Magnificent
After days of debate Tom and I decided we really didn’t have enough time to ride to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, instead we would head northwest, taking a route through small-town USA and visiting some of the smaller State and National Parks. First up would be Bonham State Park, in Fanning County Texas. To get there, 53 miles on mainly small country roads. We stopped in Commerce, one of the smallest college towns in Texas. We were more interested in food and popped into the local supermarket to replenish our supplies. At the checkout the young guy loading the shopping, Michael, greeted me by name. By now I am quite used to this, knowing he would have spotted Tom outside with the bikes and had a chat. We chatted away much to the bemusement of the checkout girl. Did I have a store discount card, she asked, ‘no’ from Michael, ‘Debs is cycling around the world…’ and so on! Later Michael sent me a wonderful message via our blog. He is such a great guy, and helped us feel we had made the right route decision.
We stopped outside Commerce in a small graveyard to have a rest. Whilst Tom dozed in the sun I wandered around. I was struck dumb by the list of names on a war memorial stone to service men killed in action. On the WW2 list were so many young men with the same surname. 3 the same, 4 the same, then 5 young men with the same surname Billy, Hal, Jack, Phillip and Robert McCullough. No way of knowing if they were brothers but I expect they must have been related. What a sacrifice, what a waste.
A few miles later we reached our campsite at Bonham State Park. The park was constructed during the great depression by the Civilian Conservation Corp. We pitched up by a small lake, and said a heartfelt thank you for all their hard work.
After a relaxing evening we headed off to another campground, Burns Run East by Lake Texoma. I managed to get yet another puncture, but as we had a short day we took our time fixing it, sheltering from the sun at a car wash, handy places! The ride was pleasant though lots of the route was being resurfaced, which meant it was slow going though we did enjoy being guided through a long sections by a pilot car! We passed through Dennison, birth place of Dwight D Eisenhower, then crossed the Dennison Dam! It was awesome, we could see our campsite but just had yet another bridge to cross before we got there. Crossing the dam also took us out of Texas and into Oklahoma! Texas, you are fantastic, and we will miss you!
Our camp spot was possibly one of the best of the whole trip. By a lake, just 3 small pitches. We spent the evening sharing a meal with a young guy called Ashton, then chatted late into the evening with him and his girlfriend Alison, warmed by our campfire. We really didn’t want to leave.
Up early we headed off to Buckhorn campsite situated in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Again we had miles on beautifully quiet back roads, even taking an old unpaved farm road at one point. Naturally we chatted to a local guy, who we sooner bumped into again in Tishomingo. We wanted a local spot to eat in, he sent us to Ole Red, a country and western bar. We were in heaven, yes, slightly underdressed as we weren’t wearing cowboy boots, hats, jeans and checked shirts, but we loved it just the same. Live music all day long, it was full and buzzing , refuelled we headed off for our two-night camp stop.
Oklahoma is flat right, err well not so much. After more hills then we expected we arrived. It was busy and a bit noisy, but we were so tired we even declined an offer of firewood from our new neighbour, DJ, and hit the sack. Our rest day was just that, no Wi-Fi, we read, wandered by the lake and finally had a campfire, by now everyone had left, it was just us, the camp host and some strange animals that screeched the night away! Then came the thunder and lightning…
