We finally left Florida! We had been waiting for our camping gear to arrive, which it finally did last Thursday/Friday. And now we’re hitting the road in our Explorer, heading to Texas to pick up our Defender. Hooray! 

I’m not sure our Explorer is feeling the same enthusiam though. Sixteen suitcases plus camping gear and four kids kind of weighs an SUV down. It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the front end suspension was stretched a bit to the max and made for a bit of terrifying driving. Everytime a semi-trailer would pass us, and yes I willingly let them pass us on the interstate, the whole car would weave in our lane. Going over 65 felt just a bit unnerving. The leg room by the kids’ feet was completely filled, the trunk area was completely filled, plus as you can see, the luggage rack on the back was filled to capacity too.. And if you’re wondering why on earth we have an air conditioner, it’s because the AC was broken in the trailer we inhabited in Florida and after 2 weeks of waiting for it to be fixed I just went out and bought one. So there’s no way I’m leaving that sucker behind. We are camping in the dead of winter, so who knows maybe it’ll come in handy down the road.

Now even with the Explorer being so loaded down, we made it to our next destination in one piece. We still have about 3 weeks until our Defender will be ready to pick up, so we’ve decided to do some camping along the way. We are at our first campground, Fort Polk Recreation Site at Toledo Bend Reservoir in Louisiana. Now, we’re only here for 5 nights because when you wait until the last minute to try and make a Memorial Day weekend camping reservation they’re going to be all booked up. So, we’re kicking it here for a week then we’ll head to Texas to see some family before doing some more camping in Coldsprings Texas.

Now don’t go thinking I’ve gone all hardcore camping right off the bat with all four kids in tow. Nope, we’re easing into it by staying in a yurt first. This campground had tent sites available, but when an air conditioned yurt is on offer also might as well try it out instead. Right? It’s got a picnic table right outside, plus a porch. I could tell you more, but I’d rather you check out my Review post here to read about all the pros and cons.​

Also, don’t think we’re super hard core by driving all the way from Florida to Louisiana in one day either. Could we have done it? Probably. But during this journey I’m learning I need to be cognizant of my kids limitations. They’re not quite the same as mine, so rather than try and force the 8 hour drive, we broke it up into 5 and 3 hours and stayed the night just outside of Baton Rouge in a hotel. 

That was a bit nerve racking though in and of itself. Taking into consideration how packed up our luggage rack was, it wasn’t feasible to unload it all and carry it into the room, so I had to leave it strapped down and hope it was still there in the morning. It was, but there was still the apprehension it might not be. Think about it would you have spent all the time unloading the thing just to have to reload it the next morning. I mean let’s be real here, things never pack up the same way twice, and it always takes longer if you try and make it.

So we’re here and having fun. The kids are enjoying the lovely sandy beach, the weather’s all right – some rain here and there, but we’re in a yurt with a microwave, fridge and AC, so it doesn’t really bother us. There’s kayaks available to rent and a great playground. Plus, we bought walkie talkies so the kids can have a bit more freedom, and I can have some quiet time when the little one naps. Our road trip/camping journey across America has begun and it’s going good.

​See you next time in Texas!