Our next destination after leaving Gulf Islands was Houston, Texas. But it’s a very long drive to Houston from Ocean Springs, MS. To break it up we spent a night at a wonderful state park in Louisiana, also named for Sam Houston. Or rather, named for someone who was named for Sam Houston. Sam Houston is a man with a lot of namesakes, as it turns out. Anyway, we stopped at Sam Houston Jones State Park in Lake Charles, LA.
We seem to keep finding small gems along our route when we’re only looking for a decent place to stop for the night. There wasn’t that much information available on the website, but at $20 per night, the price was right. It was also a convenient distance from I-10 and we really didn’t want to increase our driving time by adding a stop that took us out of our way. Without knowing much more than this, we decided to give it a try.
The $20 fee turned out to be a bit misleading once you added the $6 “transaction fee” and both state and parish taxes. Suddenly it was not as inexpensive as we thought. This cost was offset, however, by the ability to do laundry for FREE! Sure, it was cold water only, but we usually run cold water loads anyway. Even dryers were free. We’d been boondocking a lot and hadn’t had access to laundry for a while, so we happily did 4 loads of laundry while we were there!
Perhaps it was because our stay coincided with spring break in Texas, but there were many families camping at SHJ State Park while we were there, and our kids were thrilled. Several neighboring sites had kids and we were parked close a good playground. Great places to play and other kids to play with is a great combination!
After dinner, we gathered around a neighbor’s campfire and roasted marshmallows. What a privilege to meet new and interesting people everywhere we go. There’s something about the crackle of a campfire that makes for fast friendships and invites to deeper conversations. There is peace around a campfire, even when a whole group of giggling, sticky kids are lighting marshmallows on fire. Perhaps especially then.
To our new friends that we met there: thanks again for sharing your campfire and your stories with us! Sorry that our blog is so far behind and it’s taken us so long to write about our short stop with you in Louisiana. Thanks for your patience!
We would highly recommend Sam Houston Jones State Park, especially if you’re looking for a campground that’s just far enough away from I-10, but not too far.
Here’s to state parks, campfires, and new friends we’ve yet to meet. Onward to Texas!
Thank-you for In including us in it; that is so cool that I’m apart of it and my friends! We just went to a Texas state park near Jasper TX it was lots of fun; you and your family should check it out!
Thank you for including us; that is so cool that I’m apart of this! My friends and I just went to a state park near Jasper TX and it was so much fun; you and your family should check it out!
Of course you all were included! We were there such a short time but you guys were a big part of it! We’re always looking for new cool parks to check out! What was the name of it?
thanks for including us!