After we got my Dad’s truck out of the mud we headed off
through the Reservation, wondering if we could get from Navarre to Fort
Walton Beach without having to come out of the woods.
According to the map, Road 666 looked like the road we’d
need to take and the first thing the Island King said was “I don’t like that
number and something tells me that’s not going to be a good road.”
I tell him that it’s just a number and that everything will
be fine.
We get to Road 666 and it does look a little sketchy. Smaller
and less traveled, but the roads less traveled usually lead to the most fun, so
I convinced him that was the way we needed to go.
The first thing he mentioned was the scorched ground all
around the road.
At some point not long ago, Eglin did a controlled burn so
everything around us is burnt.
Next came the actual quality of road - which got worse by
the yard.
Deep mud hole after deep mud hole.
Some of these holes are so deep they must never dry out and
the local good ole boys have just cut “go around” trails on the high ground
around the hole.
The farther we drive the more the Island King is saying “I
don’t like this road” – a lot.
And then the road ended.
Well, we could see where the road continued on but between
us and that was a deep hole with a drainage pipe running through it.
No go around trail here.
So we get out and are wandering around checking things out
when I hear the Island King scream.
I look over and he’s laying on the ground, swearing that
some vines wrapped themselves around his feet, causing him to fall down.
Once he was upright again he said “This whole place is like
being in the middle of a Stephen King movie. The earth is burnt, giant holes in
the road, the road dead ends in a small ravine and now the vines are grabbing
me!”
He was so ready to leave that he had the truck in gear and
rolling before I even got my door closed.
And he swears he’s not taking Road 666 ever again.
