Natchez, MS to Zavalla, TX

As part of my fall 2025 solo journey to Big Bend and beyond, and immediately following the stretch to Natchez MS via the Trace (see that post here), I stayed the night at the Natchez Grand Hotel on the River to get ready for drive the following day. The hotel receptionist recommended the little bar nearby, Bowie's Rabit Hole - as I got in late and was looking for any place still open for dinner. The bar was just across the side street from the hotel to the south. Both are on the Mississippi River. Threw back a darn good Manhattan and enjoyed their turkey po-boy. Yeah - I know, and yes, they've had shrimp, but I've had my fair share of shrimp po-boys when living on the gulf coast and the bartenders said the turkey was the fave there - and it was awesome.

The next morning I hit road en route to Lufkin, crossing Louisiana into Texas at the Sabine River. Zavalla is a little town just east of Lufkin. Just east of that is a remote campground, Boykin Springs, located in the Angelina National Forest. This general area worked out well in terms of timing, leaving ample time to set up camp, mount the Starlink receiver and hike a bit before sundown. The pics below include some highlights of this stretch.

When you envision this idea of traveling across the country and just randomly finding some idealistic spot to set up camp - this is it.

This stop also gave me some ideas for some tweaks to make to the camp set-up prior to reaching Big Bend. The low temp for the night hit 45 deg F right around 5 am, which wasn't bad, but I opted to run the space heater a few times after midnight. While I have other more efficent gear (electric blanker, sleep bag) to handle cold, I wanted to test out battery drainage the Jackery (Explorer 1000) when using the Vornado mini heater. The low 375 watt setting is actually perfect for my camper top cabin, and returned the cabin temp from ambient to roughly 65 F with 10 minute run time equating to a 5% power reduction. Not horrible.

Some opt for gas heat, but my philosophy is to close the cabin when heating. While some gas systems are considered CO safe (with precautions), I simply prefer to avoid the complexity. People using such often run CO monitors in their cabin. To make a long story short, my own little risk assessment says no to that set-up - especially in such an enclosed space. Besides, I see the electric heat thing as more of emergency / low usage solution. For this trip, I expect to only use cabin heat in very limited circumstances. Otherwise, I can be warm when sleeping with my other gear.

For my next stop, the plan was to make it out to San Angelo. While Austin, San Antonio, San Marcos and even Dallas/Ft. Worth were viable intermediate options, my goal with this trip was stay off interstates as much as possible and explore more of the back-country and farm roads. I've spent my fair share in the above list of cities and I know what their traffic and parking can be like. While I do look forward to getting back out to Austin, I'd pass on it this time. Tires were rolling again early morning. So, as Willie Nelson put it best - "On the Road Again".

Next Stop: San Angelo, TX

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