I got up pretty early (Ed the early bird was up at first light) and found that the campground was at least one-third empty. What the heck? The reservations website said there were only two spots free! Lacking wifi, I didn't double-check the reservations page to see if they'd all cancelled, but it's something to consider another time. I didn't even think about asking at the gate if we could change.
Here Mammoth finds itself caught in an evil snarl
By the time I'd gotten a yawn and stretch Ed had discovered that the MicroSD card was too high capacity for the Garmin--it needed to be 32GB or less. Back to Walmart we went. There we endured a painful situation at the electronics counter. There was a lady attempting to purchase a laptop that was supposed to be in stock, but the clerk behind the counter couldn't find it. After examining every laptop box in the case twice and making two trips to the stockroom, she was about to go back a third time when the customer finally gave up and left with nothing. Why would a person ever shop there instead of buying online or at a real electronics store? We were only an hour from the Houston suburbs. Poor lady.
We weren't so smart, either--after our first ten minutes waiting we should have insisted the clerk call for a manager to help out. A manager could at least have assisted the other customers waiting--we weren't the only ones. But, like sheep--or at least people who didn't want to drive to Houston that morning--we waited.
And then rewarded our patience with a McD breakfast and a flock of pelicans on the way back!
While Ed installed the SD card (it worked after he adjusted some settings), I went for a jog but got distracted by a small bird calling in the buses. I never saw it, so I added five minutes to my jog for stoppage time. Then I took Zack for a walk. In the small trees behind our campsite, I saw the crest of a ruby-crowned kinglet! How cool is that?
When Zack and I finally got to the waterfront I spent a while watching a bird that was almost certainly an American Pipit. At first it was just one bird, and I took note of the streakiness, the size and shape, the walking, and especially the tail wagging. Later I saw there was a whole flock of them...but were they all the same or just a coincidence that they were flocking together? The book says they're found in flocks.
I left them and went on back, assuming I'd see them again and maybe get a picture.
The park had been well maintained and developed with lots of trails, level campsites, and clean restrooms. But I didn't like it was much as I have other spots we've visited--not enough birds!
By the time Zack and I returned, the boat was ready and off we went. Zack got to go too, in his cage. It wasn't too hot for him, nor too cold, and the water was very calm. A bass boats like ours is nearly unflippable at the speed (idle) we were moving. Taking Zack was as safe as it was ever going to be.
The lake was beautiful but awfully built up with houses around most sides. Lake o' the pines is prettier. There appeared to be an island in the middle. There wasn't a lot of elevation around the lakeside, maybe four feet at places, but there were some spots where the water was fifty feet deep, close to shore. At one point I noticed a 60 foot depth.
HERE
So now I know where it goes when I toss a spitball into the creek behind my house. From my creek (the East Fork of the Trinity River) it flows into Lake Lavon, through the dam and into and Lake Ray Hubbard. After that dam it floats along while the creek joins up with the other forks, then it meanders through East Texas going mostly southward and ends up in Lake Livingston. And there I saw it floating along.
It goes on south to Trinity Bay and Galveston Bay, then swirls out into the ocean and away. But I didn't get to see that part.
After a long time exploring around and learning how the Garmin fish finder worked, Ed chose a likely spot for fishing. Unfortunately, the new trolling motor wouldn't work. It had worked at home. Ed fooled with it for a long time while I tried to fish but couldn't--we kept drifting away from the good spots.
After a long while, mysteriously the trolling motor started working. We then tootled along the lake for a while experimenting with the live-scope display on the Garmin. It's highly cool, but highly complicated. We did hit a few trees under the water--scary! But at trolling motor speeds it was not dangerous. We fished but didn't get any bites at all.
I saw gulls and terns and a few cormorants. Some terns were large, almost as large as a gull, with the black spot on the eye. Dare I put down a Forster's Tern? Whenever the terns got a fish, gulls attacked and tried to steal it away.
Then for a while we watched a really big, chunky water bird. Huge beak, longer than its head. Long, spindly legs. We never got close enough to know for sure, but on retrospect, I decided it was simply a Great Blue with his neck tucked in. Not impossible; just unusual. Maybe he wasn't feeling good.
There were also a bunch on those shorebirds that totter--spotted Sandpiper. I didn't get a good enough look to be sure.
We made steak, skewers and potatoes for supper. Which is a heck of a lot better than Taco Bell at its best. Ahhhh!
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