I think I have a general schematic of how to carry out most of my westbound leg:

• Wake up 30-45 minutes before sunrise
• Laboriously break down camp (there is no method to my car packing arrangement yet)
• Utilize the blurry first 45 minutes of driving to reach some wildlife refuge or another and bird there
• Drive another 1-2 hours and get lunch
• Reach the next state park, ideally around a body of water, around 3-4PM
• Laboriously set up camp (RV-ready rocky sediment is kicking my ass re: stakes)
• Bird the surrounding area for about an hour
• Cook dinner
  
• Do what-I-will and sleep around 9

Today that looked like departing Fort Pillow State Park (what a ridiculous name) around 7 and stopping by Village Creek State Park, where in the parking lot I immediately encountered a Red-Headed Woodpecker in peak crimson plumage.

The lake trail turned out to be full of jellycoats. Here's a recording of a group of them calling out from pines overhead along with an obligatory Carolina Wren duet.

Carrying on across I-40 and navigating through far too many oversize load tiny home vehicles, I had lunch at a trucker stop, where every patron sat solo facing strategically away from one another so as to not make eye contact, some had to compromise with a 90 degree view. 

 

 

 

I've arrived at Lake Dardanelle State Park and cooked a meal that I don't want to disclose. Lots of dainty Pied-Billed Grebes dot the water and the bathhouse is in impeccable shape. An argument between two kids is the only noise on the campground.