I decided to stay at Eisenhower state park for a night, being tired of sleeping in the car and aching for a shower, as well as hoping for a Laundromat. As it turns out it was Memorial Day weekend and the park was full. I was sent to the “overflow” camping plots, which were “rugged” in nature. I bought a bundle of wood to burn as the collecting of firewood in the park was prohibited. I ended up situated next to a large and very loud herd of teenagers who did not shut up all night. I smoked them out for awhile… once I got my wet bundle of wood to burn. They gave me the saddest amount, a bundle with only five pieces of wood for $5 and it wouldn’t even burn… I waited way too long to eat and was agitated at the lack of coals. When I finally did get around to eating I devoured the whole package of turkey dogs, save for the one I dropped on the ground. But the wood was all burned now, at 6pm. SIGH.

I checked out the showering facilities and was too freaked out by them to actually take advantage of them. In the women’s room there were three stalls for the toilets, clean, and a clean sink, though there was no soap. The showers… were two infinitesimally small stalls with a half wall separating them, that didn’t even shield you from the other stall. The showers were in full view of the rest of the bathroom, there was no privacy curtain and no where to put anything like clothes or soap… I took a nice sponge bath in the tent.

I intended to stay and rest awhile but this place was blargh. Armadillo Hill didn’t even appear to have any armadillos! Though there was a nice stash of fossils lying about… not sure what they were. I think they may have been some sort of Cambrian snails. The coolest part about that was there were pill bugs EVERYWHERE, like little living fossils themselves! I was thoroughly amused picking them up by the handful and watching them drip through my fingers. In New England you really have to search for pill bugs, maybe prying apart a dead tree or something, but here they were as common as dirt! And rolling up wee insect armadillos!

The other interesting thing was the stuffed animals they had in the welcome center… they had a very fat beaver, a coyote, and something called a paddle fish that was just bizarre looking. I fell asleep to the psychotic yipping and yelping of coyotes which was actually a comforting sound, something I had gotten used to as a small child.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!