Tickfaw State Park — Birds chirping, wind rustling in the trees, and a beautiful blue sky, what more could you want for relaxation.  That is what we experienced and more at Tickfaw State Park in Springfield, LA.  Our time spent at the park was very relaxing and that is exactly what we needed.

Before we could get to the park, we had to complete major work on CAJUNVILLE.  John replaced the four tires and four shocks.  I now get to add another section to my resume’ – Assistant RV Mechanic.  John said it should be Assistant RV Engineer.  Don’t get too carried away, it was just down and dirty mechanic work.  The work was started Tuesday evening and completed Thursday morning about 8:00 a.m. and we pulled out Thursday morning about 10:00 a.m.  Yes, we were looking for relaxation!

One of the nice things about the Park is the asphalt sites are large and each site has a grill, fire pit with grill, lantern hook and most sites have wooden decks and trees.  Since one of our favorite rving activity is cooking, and this park is perfect for us.  This trip we had a group of seven campers – 14 adults and 6 children so meals took some planning. 

Our job for the weekend was cooking breakfast for Saturday and dinner for Friday.  We planned it that way so we could have Saturday to ourselves.  Friday dawned beautiful – clear blue sky, cool fall temperatures and an excitement to get outside.  With a cup of coffee in hand we ventured out to visit the other campers and enjoy breakfast at the Babin’s.  After breakfast, while the temperature was still cool, we started our morning of cooking.  Our first project was four breakfast pies for Saturday morning.  We used our very large cast iron pot to cook the filling.  With the help of Red and Cyn, the pies were made in no time.  Now for dinner – Taco Soup!  This recipe is so easy; the hardest part is opening the cans and dumping them in the pot.  I have made this soup often yet never realized how many colors are in the soup.  The reds, greens, yellows and browns combine to make the soup very appealing to the senses.  Once the soup was simmering, we were home free to enjoy the rest of the weekend and the great fall weather.

We took off on our daily bike ride around the park.  There are many paved roads perfect for bike riding and viewing the sights – forest, waterways, birds and other campers.  Yet, most of the jewels of the park are hidden from view and can only be enjoyed by taking the various boardwalks.  After enjoying our ride and visiting with other campers, it was time to go outside the park.  The park is in a very rural area and does not offer much outside its gates.  One gem that is just outside the gate is “Lloyd’s Smokehouse”.  Mr. Lloyd has been butchering and smoking meat for many years.  He has semi retired to only smoking meat.  Walking in his small retail shop, the smells of smoking are strong and enticing.  Mr. Lloyd is a soft spoken man who quickly starts giving us samples of anything we are interested in while relating stories of his many years in the business.  Everything is so good it is hard to make a decision.  Our number one item is the Hogshead Cheese.  It is made without gelatin and to us is worth its weight in gold.  We left with Hogshead Cheese, Andouille and Cracklin.  On our way home from the park, we stopped and purchased Smoked Sausage.      

Saturday was another gorgeous morning and we decided to take a walk to the Fishing Pond.  The walk was peaceful passing through a small wooded area opening into an open field with the volleyball court.  As we approached the Fishing Pond we could see the fog lifting off the water.  It was very peaceful and serene until I noticed the sign: “Do Not Feed the Alligators”.  There is a raised boardwalk going out into the pond and although we did not see any alligators we did see fish rolling in the water.  I wanted to get our fishing gear and enjoy the morning fishing.  That could not be done since we were being called to breakfast. 

After breakfast, we started thinking about walking.  The park has about five miles of nature trails.  We walked the Bottomland Hardwood Trail on the boardwalks.  We also hiked one of the trails that follow the Tickfaw River.  While most of the trails have boardwalks, this trail does not.  We saw various varieties of trees yet not much wildlife.  That was okay since the day was beautiful and we enjoyed being in the woods on such a great Fall day!

Sunday came too quick and time to leave for home.  Sunday was another picture perfect Fall day and we dallied as long as we could.  Leaving we knew we would return again to enjoy the many facets of the park.