Lake O' The Pines, Johnson Creek Recreation Area COE
US 380 to Greenville; TX-49 to TX-271 S, then FM 729 to the park.
1. Planned distance: 136 miles
2. Map time estimate: 2:24
3. Adjusted estimate: didn't calculate
4. Actual distance: 118 miles which makes no sense--are our tires mis-sized?
5. Actual time: about the same, maybe five minutes more
6. No stops
7. Average mph trip: unknown
I'm not sure when we left but we arrived at 3:08. It was an unpleasant drive--not due to the weather, which was hot but bearable, nor due to the route. The problem was big trucks on the interstate plus the stupid walls Texas chose to put up right next to the left lanes of I-30 east of Dallas. I don't understand it--every other interstate highway in the whole United States of the Americas is wide open, with broad shoulders on either side of each pair of lanes. But Interstate 30 in Texas has walls, alternating eastbound and westbound, placed right up against the left lane. I've never measured how close they are, but my wild-eyed guestimate is about two feet away. You have about two feet of safe space to swerve into if you're passing a big truck and he starts to cross the line into your lane. Walls--especially those walls--absolutely scare me to death.
So, there I was, stupid me, driving that big old Ford F250 on I-30 eastbound. It was very windy and the F250 drives like, at best, a boat. I cowardly missed a chance to pass a pair of trucks; waited behind them as a long line of cars streamed by; got an opening--and then the second of the trucks started to pass the first.
It took him a long, long time. After that I despaired of ever seeing the RV until we arrived at the park gate, so I kicked it. You wouldn't think a ten-year-old Ford pickup could go ninety miles per hour with a strong wind out of the south blowing crosswise. And a scaredy cat driver at the wheel. But it did.
I finally decided to slow down to seventy-five so I wouldn't get a ticket. (I knew the motorhome was going about seventy.) And eventually, about ten miles before our turnoff, I caught up.
Never again will I do such a thing. If I have a working phone and I know the route we are taking, I'll just go at my own speed and get there when I get there.
All complaining aside, once we got off I-30 it was an easy drive along two- or four-lane east Texas highways. There were more hills than I expected, but the road was mostly straight and even the smaller roads had a bit of a shoulder.
Beautiful park; gorgeous lake. The fishing report called the water "stained" but it looked pretty clear to me. Here we are, all set up:
The water's edge is rocky and drops off fast--I've seen several fishing boats and bass boats with big motors pulled up by the edge. And just beside our site is a little inlet with a surprising floor:
Knowing there was a line of thunderstorms coming through in the morning, we chose to keep the boat out of the water. There was just enough room to park it on the pad next to Mammoth. With a little extra maneuvering, we could have gotten all four wheels on the pavement. But three out of four seemed good enough.
Dogs and I went for a walk and were entertained by deer hanging out near a campground host's site. It was hot (about ninety) but not unbearable with all the lovely tall trees.
After Zack got tired out, I took Izzy down to have a look at the second boat ramp and found that a four-foot chain link fence separated us from the day-use area. It wasn't worth the looooong walk around; and besides, I soon found a tree full of little yellow birds to amuse me. Plus one bluebird and a woodpecker I didn't get a good look at. He flew into an occupied campsite so I couldn't run him down.
NOTE: after several studies and a long perusal of the bird book and All About Birds, I have concluded the yellow birds were Pine Warblers. The book says: ...sometimes joins bluebirds and Chipping Sparrows to forage on the ground in suburban settings.
When we returned to camp, the waves were picking up. These was still a strong wind from the south [waves] . We watched a scissortail try to make headway against the strong south wind and fail. He stopped at the top of a tall, leafless tree and soon was joined by a whole flock of them. I took a picture but you have to know what you're looking at to recognize them.
Scissortails at suppertime.
Even though we could see flashes of lightning far off to the north, the moon kept us company until bedtime.
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