David & Hailey Visit; Cut & Shoot 3/18 - 20

We visited David and family for a few days. They're doing great. David's healthier than I've seen him in years. I think a lot has to do with a steady place to live, his own home, someone to love, medical care and no beer or cigs for 3 months.

We stayed at a nice RV Park in Cut and Shoot, TX. The little town fits the name very well. I woke to cows mooing outside my bedroom window, enjoyed the $1 movie rentals and walking the park. David now lives in New Caney. He took us to a great BBQ place for dinner.

I took Hailey on a shopping spree with her mom while "dad" worked on the truck. She started the day hiding behind mom and ended the day hugging me. (Grandma practice came in handy.) She had her first trip to the Disney Store. I felt like I was trailing a bumblebee buzzing excitedly from one flower to the next taking in every single item in the store. She didn't buy anything there, but did pick up new shoes, purse, and 2 cute outfits at other stores. Hailey entered the mall a shy little girl and left it strutting with pride in her new outfit. Oh, and of course, what's a trip to the mall without riding the merry-go-round. I was informed she enjoyed the Ferris Wheel ride with her dad better, but this was fun.

David, Hailey, Cathy, Jose and Hailey's friend all came over for dinner at her home one night. Lots of fun. The campground had a huge fishing pond with a walk-out covered pier. David brought a fishing pole and some bait for the kids to go fishing. Hailey caught the biggest fish of the night - a big dude. David had to reel it in and Jose freed it from the line to toss it back in for the next kid to catch. I think we had more fun feeding bread to the fish while "dad" manned the pole.

Overall, a great visit with everyone. (but I missed visiting with David's new grandson)

Sam Rayburn Lake - 3/16 - 18th

We’ve spent the last few days at Sam Rayburn Lake in deep east Texas. Very different. They actually have gators here! Warning signs posted at the park entrance. I tried to see one based on the layout I saw in Florida, but no luck. According to the camp host, I was probably standing within a couple of feet of grandpa while we were admiring all the wildlife noise at 4am by the side of the boat dock. Lots of sunning turtles, beaver and a blue heron fishing. The water was so still. But it looks just like what I picture a swamp in Louisiana would look like. There are so many tall trees everywhere and its thick. Just south of us is Big Thicket Reserve. I’d like to drive through to take a look.

And the birds! Man, I now understand those cartoons where the man goes crazy from the noise in the quiet, peaceful country. We’re surrounded by multitudes of loud sounds. Some I recognize such as the mockingbirds, crows, woodpeckers and killdeer. Many I don’t.

We took a tour to San Augustine earlier while looking for a grocery store. A very quaint and comfy town. I loved our stop at the Visitors Center. The gentleman was very talkative and volunteered all sorts of history information.

The remainder is just the History of East Texas as I remembered from the guide; the pictures are for decoration and represent the wildlife around our campsite:

San Augustine is the oldest Anglo town in Texas. Nacogdoches was here first and founded by the Spaniards. With Spain and France fighting over this territory, (Spain had Texas & France had Louisiana), Spain placed as many missions as they could to establish a presence. In San Augustine, the mission “something & something de la Delores something” was created in the 1700’s. They attempted to convert the local natives, Caddo’s, but to no success. The Spanish gave up within 40 years and moved on.

Sam Rayburn Lake

The Camino Real, the historic trail of the settlers, came over the Sabine River through San Augustine. Past Nacogdoches it split off to other parts of the state. Since the Sabine flooded so many times, the French and Spanish boundary kept changing. They eventually agreed to leave a mile of no man’s land at the river which meant it was fair game for bandits. The settlers would keep banned together for protection until they got through to Nacogdoches. They found over 70 graves near the river.

Our home at the Mills Creek Campground at Sam Rayburn Lake

The Stephen F Austin College is doing heavy historical archeology in the area. They’ve been using highly sophisticated tools and techniques including space beams. The team located original trail ruts that are six feet wide and over 6 feet deep. Once the ox and wagon got on a rut, there was no turning back…they were stuck in there until they got to an opening. Oh, and the roads in east Texas are windy because they exist over the original settler trails. The oxen would take the path of least resistance to food and water which meant they meandered on their way. The paths became trails which became roads which are now highways… and they meander.

(Oh, I saw my first bayou. It just looked like a large still creek. It seems this is where the local Caddo tribe hung out and hence the mission went up.)

The interpreter relayed other stories such as the two families (B & M’s) who were constantly at battle with each other…even linking arms to go from side to side of the road preventing others from passing. The town got so upset they hired a group of men to settle the peace. This group did well, but got as bad as the feuding families so the town called in another group of men to help regain order. Those two hired groups fought each other worse than the feuding families. Fortunately, Sam Houston called upon their services to fight for Texas Independence, including at the Alamo, and the two groups became good friends.

In the 1920’s, the town had so many outlaws causing havoc that the mayor requested assistance of the governor. He sent a Texas Ranger. The Ranger carried around 2 guns and had the motto of “Jail first, Questions later”. He cleaned the town up and had such a repetition that if he came across a local boy and told him to go to jail, the lad would walk himself into the jailhouse and stay there…. No questions asked.

Cranes mating dance in a cove of Sam Rayburn Lake. This was near the boat dock.

The Caddo Indians were farmers who lived in thatch houses. They buried their dead in mounds with a jar of their possessions (a funerary) that would assist the dead in their journey in the afterlife. The federal government required the archeologists and museums to replace all the artifacts to the mounds they could. Kinda cool. I’m amazed at the difference of the Texas historical approach in the last 40 years. Much more respect is being given to the locals and settlers and active research is being done.

Big Thicket - 3/18

I was able to sneak through the Big Thicket National Preserve on our way to Houston. (Hey, an advantage being the navigator. ) It was cool!

I'm amazed at how many different plants and animals one area can contain. Seems as if different ecosystems collided into this one place during the Ice Age and life stayed here. There are plants and trees found only in this small section of Texas that can only be found elsewhere in the far northeast, west, southeast and Mexico.

Four of the five insect-eating plants reside in the Big Thicket - all but the African Violet. We were a little too early in the season to see the Pitcher Plant in bloom. But I was still just freaked at the idea of walking around meat eating plants - even if they are smaller than me. (photo courtesy of another visitor)

Clint took some great photos of the animals and plants. I've included just a few of the more unique animals here for view. Hey, maybe the grandkids will take a look at them.

(Green Tiger Beetle; this doesn't do the iridescent green justice. Clint was fascinated with these.)

Besides the beauty and uniqueness of the area, I also enjoyed the history of the Dog People. They were people during the Civil War and battles for the Republic of Texas who didn't want to participate in the fighting. They retreated to the Big Thicket woods to live. There's so much diversity and life here that all their needs were met and they never had to come out. Their dogs were essential in keeping them alive from the wildlife (such as gators). Descendants still live in the thicket today such as a woman who has lived over 90 years in the woods.


(Blue - tailed skink; we have these in Folsom State Park)





(Schaus swallowtail butterfly - this guys followed us all over the trails)

Lake Lewisville - 2nd week; Dallas Art Museum - King Tut

Ah, what do I recall about this week of our Dallas stay? Thank goodness for photos to jog memories.

We visited Reba every day. I started recording stories of her childhood for a Granma Memory book our kids gave her to complete years ago. They're very fascinating. You've heard the joke of having to walk 2 miles to school in the snow uphill? Well, she seriously had to walk a mile just to get to the bus stop. The "bus" was a wagon that had been equipped with seats. By the time she arrived at school, icicles would be hanging off of them. The parents would get upset because the kids would stick their shoes by the potbelly stove to warm up which would melt the strings holding the soles on.

A number of the ladies would chime in stories of their own as memories came listening to Reba. We were sitting in a common area and I noticed that many of their descriptions of their home matched the photos on the wall. The houses in the pictures look much bigger than the descriptions. The house had two rooms. The front room had a room divider between the parents' room and the kids' room. The 6 kids had 2-3 beds to share amongst them. The back room had a separate divider for grandpa's room and the rest was the kitchen. Most people's barns had a separate room for the grandparent(s). As GG remembers her grandpa she's fascinated that he never got angry with all the kids climbing all over him, stepping on his toes.

I did get to visit a big city museum - the Dallas Art Museum with the King Tut exhibit. The mummy itself is no longer allowed to leave Egypt, but we did see many of the artifacts such as games he played and ceremonial masks. I enjoyed learning about the royal lineage the most. It helped put pieces together for me of other rulers I've studied. The shop had full size Egyptian coffins you could purchase.

We toured the rest of the museum. Very interesting. I enjoy the Fort Worth art museum better, but this was different. The Dallas Art Museum seems to aim toward more contemporary & modern art. They did have some exhibits that were educational. We enjoyed the full-size Japanese warrior, the Meso-American art, and I liked the Indonesian artwork because of the cultural knowledge it carried. The oddest artwork was the light exhibit which included an oscillating fan connected to a wire swinging from the roof. Giant empty rooms with just a light and moving mirrors were the majority of the exhibit. I have to admit the yellow room where our skin looked alien with black blotches was unique and the rainmist with light creating moving rainbows was pretty.

We went on a Thursday afternoon which luckily was a late night with a live jazz band playing in a cafe. We had a great dinner while listening to live music. Very metropolitan. Very different from our days in the woods.

Overall we've greatly enjoyed our visit to Dallas.

Lewisville Lake - Visiting Clint's Relatives 3/1-14

Can you tell we're in Dallas? Yep, the home of the Cowboys. He had matching shirt, bike, backpack, hat, etc. Hey, Kevin, where's your get-up for the Raiders?

We’ve been a week in Dallas and enjoying the visits with Clint’s family. I didn’t get to attend the Whataburger Games, but I did get to trek out to a very nice camping area near Tyler State Park with John's family. Gracie and Caleb (great-niece and nephew) taught me how to play a new game – I lost both times. Lots of fun and the area is beautiful. As long as I lived in Texas, I’ve never been to that part of the state---hilly and large pine trees. We’ve enjoyed dinner twice and a lunch with John & Suzie – lots of fun. And met their new puppy – Pepper. She's very cute and playful. Of course, she's black... and she's a miniature schnauzer.

Except one day that I was ill, we visited GG (Clint’s mom) every day. She has more visitors and activities in a week than I do in a month! Bingo 3 times a week, movie day, an outing to Wal-Mart, professional performers two different days, high schoolers’ game day, trivia games, beading, and more. Then visitors from family, friends and church plus those she knows in the home. Fortunately she’s one of the most mentally active and loves to visit. Health-wise, she’s more stable than a year ago yet at the same time weaker. I think the diabetes and meds have improved whereas the heart and lungs are still taking their slow toll.

(Just one of the many birds hanging around our campsite.)

This week has reminded me of some of the peculiarities of Texas:

WEATHER – If you don’t like it, wait a day and it will change. In the week we’ve been here, we’ve gone from 93 down to 23 degrees; shorts to heavy coats; no wind to over 35 mph; and we’re expecting rain today. I remember making jokes to cover up my frustration that during the spring, Texas weather would be beautiful during the week teasing me to go out to play and the weekend would bring rain, cold, or miserable weather. I’m amazed that we’ve experienced the same thing 20 years later this week. I feel sorry for the poor folks who love to go boating and fishing and golfing being tempted by nice weather just to have cold and wet on the weekend.

(Just a photo of a cool looking knight we thought Nolan would enjoy. It guards the entrance to a housing area in Hickory Creek.)

SHOPPING – Even though I haven’t done much shopping, I’ve been reminded of one of the best things I enjoyed moving to California…. I could go through a department store without having to listen to twangy country music and smoking. We have discovered that many of the larger towns have city ordinances against public smoking and the smaller towns have better music. Unfortunately we're in a small town that promotes smoking for the fishermen and Texas western pride for the good ole boys. But I do miss the LARGE shops from a metropolitan area. I cannot believe the shopping choices I have. It's great!

We’re currently camped off of Lake Lewisville at Hickory Creek. Very beautiful site. Very large campground - over 130 sites. The lake is in view, we’re surrounded by leaf-less oaks, cardinals, robins, ducks, blackbirds, and tons of leaves to crunch. Unfortunately between the weather and visiting Clint’s family, I haven’t had much opportunity to enjoy the outdoors--- but I have been on a few hikes through the area.