Lake O' The Pines~Part 3

Part 3 is our second full day at Lake O' The Pines. It was not quite as active as the first day which was a good thing because it was hot, hot, hot and humid!  A couple of us heat wimps were really glad that we didn't do the Caddo Lake tour today that I mentioned in the previous post below.

The lake from our RV  

window early that morning. 

Some of the guys had 

their morning coffee out there.

George has his Cola!

He's not a coffee drinker.

A bunch of us decided to go to Walmart in Jefferson so we headed that way late in the morning.  Afterwards, we went to Riverbend Restaurant on Caddo Lake. Like the day before, we had to go down lots of backroads to get there. It was in the middle of nowhere but the food was fabulous so it was well worth the drive.

They have a great deck that overlooks the lake but unfortunately it was too hot to sit out there.  Maybe another time!

One side of the table.

The other side of the table.

After Riverbend, we went back to camp where we hung out the rest of the day and night.  The next day it was time to go home.  We really enjoyed the trip and I'm ready to go RVing again!  

My sister Jeanne is coming in from Indiana next week, and we're taking her on a quick RV trip to Galveston the following week. Woo-hoo! 

Smiles,

D~~~~

Lake O' The Pines~Part 2

When we left off the other day, we had a 4:00 appointment to tour Caddo Lake on a steamboat. I'm sure that y'all have been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for this riveting adventure to continue so here goes! Tee-hee!

The name of the steamboat was the Graceful Ghost. This haunted stuff seems to be a theme around these parts but after seeing the ambiance of the lake, Graceful Ghost is quite appropriate. I wouldn't want to take this tour at night, and especially on a hot, steamy, still, mosquito-laden evening! It would be beyond creepy! 

George and I were almost the last ones in our group to board the Graceful Ghost. Most of the seats were taken in the middle section of the boat so we would have to sit on the first row, right smack in front of the steam room! 

Oh the horror!

(I'm keeping with the haunted theme!) 

Since we didn't need any more heat, we moved to the bow* which turned out to be a great spot. 

*"Bow" is a nautical term for front of the boat. If I would have been consulted when this word was invented, it would have been spelled "bough" like "Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!"  It's much more festive!   

Since Rick & Carrie didn't go to Jefferson, 

we were glad they joined us on the boat.

They sat on the bow with 

us when we left the dock.

Heave ho, off we go!

Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in Texas!
Who knew!

A Plethora of Lily Pads.

The path ahead.

Once the steamboat was chugging along, everyone was able to move around.

Everyone gathered on the bow where it was cooler.

Corey, Joe and George

A good picture of Sandra smilin' away!

Tall and hangy!

(I like to make up my own words!)

Alisha, Cameron and Meghan
Great picture!

Can you see the blue heron in flight?

A gorgeous egret perched
ever so eloquently on a limb.

Carrie, Me, and Linda

Just hangin'

Apparently, Big Foot has made hundreds of appearances at Caddo Lake but we didn't see him. Perhaps he was vacationing in Florida. The Wikipedia article for Caddo Lake mentions Big Foot (and lots of other info) which you can read here. 

I did see some strange things though.
For instance, check out these Clydesdale feet!

And an entire party of Camel legs and feet!

And lo and behold...

Woo-hoo!

Back on the boat, Meghan does
her excellent Titanic imitation!

 

Do you hear Titanic music? Click here for My Heart Will Go On if you want to hear some.

Now Linda has me hearing, 

"When you're smilin'
When you're smilin'

The whole world smiles with you...".

I'm pretty sure I'm hearing the Louie Armstrong version too! 

You can hear it by clicking here. 

More great smiles!

Oh, the music just won't stop!
This photo prompts, "Born on the Bayou."

Click here for that Creedence Clearwater Revivial song!

Pinky up Joe!

Okay, George!  

Stop repeatedly clicking the camera button!

Last but certainly not least--

Geo and Rick just enjoyin' the ride!

The tour took more than an hour. 

It was interesting and fun!

Next up, Part 3!
It won't be nearly as long.

Many Smiles To You,
D~~~~ 

Lake O' The Pines~Part 1

We recently went RVing with friends to the Johnson Creek Camp on Lake O' The Pines in the Piney Woods of East Texas.

We met up on the parking lot of the Trail Dust Steak House on 380 outside of Denton so we could caravan.  

(Left to right)
1~Joe & Linda,
2~George & me,
3~Corey, Sandra & their three kids
Alisha, Meghan and Cameron, 

4~Rick & Carrie 

Everyone brought their canine pals.

The little Chihuahua is Harley

and Cowboy is the bigger guy.

Rick looking at our girls, Sally and Daisy. 

They're sitting in the driver's 

seat anxiously waiting for us.

Rick & Carrie have two Boston Terriers named Harley and Maggie but somehow I did not get any pics! 

About to leave.

I've been reading a lot of RV blogs and I just learned that "toad" is the proper term and spelling (not towed) for whatever you're pulling behind your RV.  

Who knew! 

Not this brand new Rver!    

Lake O' The Pines from our RV camp site.

Rick & Carrie and Joe & Linda
are to the right of Corey & Sandra.

There they are!

The first day, we all went to historic
Jefferson (except Rick and Carrie).

We walked around town, wandered in a few shops, and checked out the Jefferson Hotel. Legend has it that it's a haunted hotel. The desk clerk told us the main three ghost stories and that they'd been on HGTV because of it.   

Joe, Linda, Meghan, Corey, 

Cameron, Sandra, Alisha and George.

Same line up with Corey out and me in.

Lunch at Beje's Diner.

As we walked around Jefferson, we became increasingly happy that it was overcast because it was quite warm and humid, and we had a 4:00 appointment with this paddle boat to tour Caddo Lake.

Continued tomorrow!
(or the next day at the latest)

Smiles,
D~~~~

RVing With Our Granddudes

On Saturday, we took our granddudes, Preston and Triston, on an overnight RV trip to Jellystone Park in Burleson, Texas.

George took out the TV that came with the RV, and he's creating a contraption to mount a new one.  It's not done but we used it "as is" for this trip.

Preston checking out the Jellystone Park map.

Triston

Our RV spot was just six RVs away from the Pirates Cove Fun Zone where there is a water park and an arcade.  We hung out at the water park for a few hours in the afternoon, and then played in the arcade a little later. Triston won 500 tickets! All totaled, they had over 650 tickets which they cashed in for Slinkys, poppers and other fun stuff.  They also rode peddle cars around the RV park in the evening.  

I didn't take any pictures of those events though.  I didn't want to take my camera to the water park and I forgot it when we went to the arcade.  When they navigated the peddle cars, I stayed in the RV with the girls because I had enough of the heat!  George walked with them through the park.  I watched them peddle by the RV and still forgot to snap a shot!  Oh well!  

Jellystone Park has a variety of events for kids and we really needed more than one day.  Nevertheless, the boys had a great time!

George and Triston watching TV. 

The girls enjoyed the view outside.

The kids moved to the top end of the bed

to raise the blinds and the bed flew up!

Funny!

Sunday

Time to go home.

This was the scene not 

long after we hit the road.

Even Sally couldn't stay awake

but she tried her best!

Thankfully, George was awake!

Home again.

I took this photo of the boys 

just below the Mitzi Mae picture right 

before they went home yesterday.

We sure miss Mitzi Mae!

Of course, we will miss the boys too!

We look forward to their next visit 

and more RV trips with them.

Next week, we're RVing for several days to Lake of the Pines in the East Texas Piney Woods along with two other RV couples. We are looking forward to it!  I love, love, love this RV stuff!

Smilin'

Donna and George