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Tuesday, June 7, 2022

We’ve Got Texas In Our Rear View Mirror!

Our route out of Texas, starting in Sweeny.

We got a late start leaving Caddo Lake due to rain. It was a mostly uneventful drive to our next destination, Crystal Springs Corp of Engineer Park on Lake Ouachita in Arkansas.  You just really gotta watch out for those snaky, scenic routes!  Ron does a great job navigating the rig, but it can still be challenging!

 

Beautiful sunset

Our site here is great, and we have a great view of the lake.  It was good to just sit outside, visit and enjoy the scenery.  We did venture into Hot Springs National Park. This was our second visit here. We figured the last time we were here was in 1999.  We enjoyed spending time at the only brewery in a National Park – Superior Bathhouse Brewery. Pretzels were great and enjoyed visiting with other folks.

 



Inside the men's bath area

The ceiling in the men's bath area

How can that be comfortable?








Goodness!


Nice spot with a nice lake view.

Our next stop on our road trip was Branson, Missouri.  As the navigator, I was really struggling with which route to take, as all routes there were snaky and scenic.  I use an app called RVLife for RV safe directions and went with their recommendation of heading back to I-30 to Little Rock and then take 65 into Branson.  First of all, I-30 to Little Rock is absolutely horrible, worse than I-10 from Texas to Louisiana.  Highway 65, aka Skyline Drive, is beautiful, but has steep grades and slow turns. There are still wildflowers out!  So, it was a long drive and there were no opportunities to pull over and snap a photo.

 

The RV Safe route


We did score a nice spot at the Branson KOA. Sometimes I’m glad I splurge on a premium site. (I usually will if we’re there more than a day.)  We like to be outside, and these sites are just better for that.

 



We’re taking in one show – Dolly Parton’s Stampede.  I guess it was unfortunate that on Sunday’s, there just aren’t many shows to take in. This show offered a dinner.  Well, very bland. They don’t even give you silverware (but no worries – I had heard this and packed us some plasticware). The show is excellent for little kids and younger families. We found it to be a little hokey pokey.




Very well trained lol

 

We also visited the Titanic Museum.  It was done very well, but it was still a $75 admission fee.

 




We loaded up the next day, which was rainy, and headed for Lake Wappapello State Park, located in eastern Missouri.  It’s a really pretty park and lake.  They had 50 amp, but there were not water hook ups at the site.

 



I wish it was my boat!


Next up is Kentucky!  We will be here about a week taking in several sites that we haven’t visited before.

 


Saturday, June 4, 2022

The Great CMT - Eh?

Well here we are! Finally! The trip we’ve been planning for way over a year! The Great CMT – Eh? So what does CMT stand for? How about Canadian Maritime Tour. Yep, we will be touring around Canada this summer, more specifically all of their Atlantic Provinces. But first we start this great trip back at our favorite spot which is Fentress. Having some great family time with our girls and grandkids and my cousin Billie Jean and her kids and grandkids. It was a great Memorial Day weekend on the San Marcos River. Lots of river time, talking time, swinging time, fishing time and cooking and eating, as well as a little corn hole games. I will let the pictures do the talking.
Lucy, Brance and Billie on the old gator!
Everyone loves my tree swing!
Roasting marshbellows on the bbq pit with a fishing pole!
Cass and baby!
Happy face!
My loves, minus Aiden
A little corn hole
Miller and Papaw got their fishing on!
Just a swinging!
How about playing with 2 babies attached? Lol
Photo bomber!
Lanie's first time in the river
Aunt Billie trying to get Aiden to smile!
Always sad when the swing comes down, but in this instance, it's okay because of our great adventures!
Sunset ride
Amy, Aiden, Mary and Ron
They have grown up!
The whole gang!

We left out on Tuesday morning headed for Huntsville State Park. I chose this for 2 reasons. First because my cousin JoRene lives here and her brother, my cousin, Bubba lives close by. So we scheduled a visit with them. Secondly, we really don’t like driving more than 3 or 4 hours a day. So it was a perfect trip to start our journey north east. Lake Raven in the park is looking a little parched and low. However, there were folks swimming at the swim beach.
JoRene, Bubba and Linda
Funky looking alligator!

Day 2 of our journey found us at Caddo Lake State Park. This lake and bayou is located on the border between Texas and Louisiana. There are towering bald cypress trees in the lake. It is also the largest natural lake in Texas. In the 19th century there were thriving riverboat ports on the lake. The lake was formed by log jams and gradually as the log jams were removed in the lake and on the red river, the lake changed shape and eventually fell over 10 feet. This destroyed the riverboat industry. Then there was oil. The world’s first over water oil platform was completed in 1911. The state park was established in 1934 to help preserve parts of the lake.
Jefferson is a cool, historic town.
Love the brick roads.
Cool campsites with full hookups
Beautiful cypress. Fun to paddle around.
These "knobs" that keep growing and reaching for water.
Our neighbor has 2 cypress trees and the knobs come up all over our yard.


Towering trees


Well, Texas is officially in our rear view mirror for a while!  Stay tuned!