Thursday 18 June - Monday, 22 June 2020
You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They
catch the fish and then let it go. They don't want to eat the
fish, they just want to make it late for something.
-Mitch Hedberg
Temp Rel Hum Wind
81/69 76/41 3-14
81.5/69 87/38 3-16
90/74 82/46 0-14
91/74 91/50 0-17
89/72 91/57 0-16
The usual route--US 380 to Greenville, I-30 to Mt. Pleasant, TX-49 E and US-259 S to FM-729.
1. Planned distance: 135 miles
2. Map time estimate: 1:36
3. Adjusted estimate: didn't calculate
4. Actual distance: forgot to check
5. Actual time: didn't check, but the return trip was about 2:25 with no stops
6. Stops: none?
7. Average mph trip: unknown, of course. Why do I bother?
Finally finally finally finally finally. My day has been a rollercoaster ride, between "at the height of ecstacy" and "in the depths of despair". No--that's exaggerating. Try instead, between "yes! this is good!" and "I'm tired and it's hot and why did I leave so much preparation until the last minute?"
On that latter point, I'll take excuse. This will be the last--I hope--of my camping trips where I have to get ready during a work week. On Wednesday I worked a little later than I oughten to have; then we went to Petsmart and Walmart, and by the time we were home, it was time to walk the dogs and wind down my day. But I still needed to pick the garden, set up the sprinkler, and bake cookies. It wasn't like some of those pre-travel nights of old, where I got to bed at one a.m., but it was still painful.
On travel day I got in a short (46 minute) jog, and then it was prep, prep, prep for two long hours. Later in the day when I wondered why I was so tired, it came back to me: I'd been on my feet for over three hours, only to sit down and drive the truck for another three hours, then help unhitch and get the dogs a bit of a walk. And yeah, it was hot but not killer hot. Just 92 or so.
The campground was freakishly weird in that it wasn't at all how I remembered. True, the last visit was in October and now it was June; and true, I'd not been able to walk onto this site and take a picture of it until the last day of the previous trip. But I remembered it with a lot more big trees, a lot more shade, and (of course) a lot fewer campers. Previously only the sites along the water were occupied--all the ones in the middle were empty. But this time, every one was full. That wouldn't matter--we have a waterfront site with plenty of space--except I have an untrained dog--or shall I say, dog-in-training?--to deal with. I need all the distance I can get.
There's a chain-link fence between the campsites and the day use area where the closest boat ramp is. Last fall the water was high enough you couldn't squeeze around the lake-side end of the fence and cross into the the day use area. But now you could, and we did.
Mollydog wanted to try to catching the waves that were splashing the shore. What fun! I can't wait to get her out to the ocean.
The lake was still as beautiful and blue as I remembered it, but so many people! We took a lunch break, then at around five o'clock went walking up toward the other camping loops and then on a wooded park road. Guess what? As usual, when you get off the "beaten path", there was not a person anywhere. We were walking through a tall forest and it was a little hot but so dang beautiful. I love this place.
Lake O' The Pines was impounded in August, 1957, and finished in June, 1958, about three months before I was born. So you could say they created the lake just for me. Surface acres: 19,780 at summer pool level; 18,700 at winter pool. Maximum depth: 49.5 feet (Lake Lavon, by our house, is 38'). It comes from the Big Cypress Creek (Bayou if you're Cajun), which then flows into Caddo Lake, the only natural lake in Texas. Most of the water ends up in the Red River on its way to Louisiana. The Red River was once a tributary of the Mississippi River, but now it's been captured by the Atchafalaya.
And having said all that, I will retire to the Mammoth Mobile and go to sleep.
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