We kicked off 2020 in the most spectacular fashion:
In fact, it’s become somewhat of a tradition, having New Year’d into 2018 and since, first at an otherwise vacant winery in Oklahoma, then under the stars in Big Bend Ranch State Park, and into this cluster of a year at the magnificent San Lorenzo Canyon. We knew we wanted to do something to ring in 2021, though perhaps more gingerly and with greater caution, given how 2020 turned out.
Between avoiding covid hotspots, not wanting to encroach upon the memory of previous destinations, and needing to be as self-sufficient as possible to minimize exposure to public, we’ve changed our recipe. Rather than a circuit of one-night stays on a longer route, we’re going to hub-and-spoke some sightseeing from a pair of cabins. We’ll meet in the Ozark National Forest near Hot Springs, Arkansas for three days, then migrate to Mark Twain National Forest in south-central Missouri.
We’ve each found December to be intensely hectic so we have also done far less planning than usual. Truth be told, we were sold pretty quickly on an AirBnB listing called “Escape the City.”
Evan found some scenic points of interest and pushed our cabin search toward dark sky areas for betters stars. I mapped a few hikes, and George set about locating potential fire towers and interesting looking unpaved map-squiggles. And if we end up spending a few days in the stillness, looking out over a fire at our cabin in the woods, that also sounds perfect.
