Day 56 - Mountain Pine, AR (Day 2)

We're in a forest on a ridge above Hot Springs.  Phone service, and our related internet connection, is limited.  Pictures will be added later.  (Added October 9th)
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We got caught by arriving late last night.  Because of a conflicting reservation, we have to be out of site #19 by 3pm.  We'll move to site #24 early then go explore Hot Springs.

We got moved, set-up again and on the road by 11am.

Leaving #19

Setting up in #24
(Travel distance approximately 150 ft.)

Bath House Row ...
We walked along Central Avenue and viewed the bath houses.  All of the national park buildings were closed.  Central Avenue was lined with touristy shops.  A number of the shops were selling 1 gallon plastic jugs for $1 each ... people use them to draw free hot spring water from public spigots.

National Park office

There are 8 bathhouses on the row ... Lamar, Buckstaff, Fordyce, Maurice, Hale, Superior,
Quapaw and Ozark.

Lamar

Fordyce

Maurice

Hale

Superior

Quapaw

Ozark

Central Avenue ...

Seriously?  I thought we were in Arkansas.

The Arlington Resort Hotel and Spa

Shops along Central Avenue

The city offers a number of reminders

Duck Tour ...
Do we spend 20 minutes in a Hot Springs bath or spend an hour and 15 minutes touring Hot Springs National Park and Lake Hamilton in a WWII amphibious landing craft?  The "Duck" won.  The captain's constant narrative and humor was a real kick!

This is our Duck?

We're easing down a ramp into
Lake Hamilton

Whee!  The truck becomes a boat.

The captain went by many names ...
he liked "Captain America" best.
(He really reminded us of Dave Witchey)

Jerry Jones owns this home ...
he also owns the Dallas Cowboys!

Hamilton House is quite a mansion on the lake

We used this little ramp to enter
and leave the lake

Sunset ...
Lake Quachita (WAH-shi-tah) is the largest lake completely in Arkansas.  The lake features one of the largest crystal veins in the world.  It also has rare jellyfish (non-stinging) and sponges found in only very few of the cleanest freshwater lakes.  It's beautiful, peaceful and just a short walk from our campsite.

Lake Quachita

At sunset

Day 55 - Mountain Pine, AR (Day 1)

We're in a forest on a ridge above Hot Springs.  Phone service, and our related internet connection, is limited.  Pictures will be added later.  (Added October 9th)
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A cold front moved in last night and delivered some welcome relief.  Daily temperatures have dropped 20° and humidity has followed the trend.

Our hook-up procedure took longer than normal this morning.  Dick was operating in slow motion for some reason and a few neighbors stopped by to visit.  A couple camped next to us wanted to discuss living in Ohio ... they live in Austin and are considering a move to Oberlin. Then, a 6th grade teacher from Longview drove by and asked if she could have a tour of the Airstream.  We got on the road at 11am.

The Route:
We drove 246 miles today and left Texas for the first time in 13 days.  It was a great day for a drive ... clear and sunny with a light breeze.

The route followed I-20 east from Longview to US-59 at Marshall, US-59 north to I-30 at Texarkana, I-30 east to Arkadelphia, then AR-7 northeast to Hot Springs.

Arkansas welcomed us with a sunny
day and beautiful scenery

Lake Hamilton from AR-7

AR-7 approaching Hot Springs

Lake Hamilton

The Campground:
We're camped in Quachita Lake State Park 13 miles northwest of Hot Springs.  We were here for the first time in 2008 and loved it.  Camping area A is our favorite location.  The sites are large, quiet and fully accessorized with electric, water, sewer, a picnic table, a grill, a fire ring, a tent platform and a great view.

Lake Quachita

Camping Area A - Site #19

We arrived at 6pm, were set-up and were having dinner by 7:15.

Day 54 - Longview, TX (Day 2)

It was cool and humid overnight and overcast this morning.  It looked like there was a light shower overnight.  We're planning to explore Caddo Lake anyway.

Geography update ... we've been in the Texas Hill Country, now we're in the Texas Lake Country.

The drive to Caddo Lake took us through Marshall and Karnack to Uncertain.  We went to Uncertain specifically to find a lake/river/bayou/swamp tour ... and became certain that Uncertain is no place to be at night, and maybe even during the day.  The area looked really run down with closed and derelict  buildings.

Graceful Ghost Steamboat Tour ...
We found a tour that took us down part of Big Cypress Bayou.  It was on a replica of an 1800's era paddle-wheel steamboat that departed from Big Pines Lodge.

Big Pines Lodge

Our ride

Captain Ron
steers and narrates

The bayou handled riverboat traffic from
New Orleans to Jefferson, TX in the late 1800s

A sampling of Bald Cypress trees

Caddo Lake is infested with giant salvinia weed.  It has affected lake access and we were led to believe boat tours were severely limited.  The bayou tour was nice, but not what we had hoped to see.  We drove around looking for more.

The Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge was closed due to the federal budget impasse.

Next, we went to the Caddo Lake State Park and struck pay-dirt   A ranger described the many tour options available in spite of the salvinia and let us drive through the park to see Saw Mill Pond (similar in appearance to the lake itself) and the campgrounds.

We went by this state park boat ramp
on our steamboat tour

Saw Mill Pond

This is salvinia
It "chokes" the surface

This 1st grader is going fishing
with his uncle

Dinner ...
RiverBend Restaurant sits along a quiet back road on Caddo Lake.  It's a fooler ... how could a nice place like this make it in such a remote area?  They were quite busy.  Our dinners were very good and far more food than we could eat.  Our server was delightful and attentive.

The dining room is bright and cheery,
outside seating looks out on a river

Reflection ...
We would do things differently if we return to Caddo Lake.  

1 - Start at the State Park to learn more about the lake
2 - Call ahead to plan a lake tour

End of Day:
OSU 40 - Northwestern 30.  Whew!

Day 53 - Longview, TX (Day 1)

We headed north and drove 304 miles today.  The route was interesting (very little interstate highway travel) ... and we didn't have to drive through any squalls.

The Route:
We took TX-87 from Galveston to High Island, TX-124 from High Island to Winnie, I-10 from Winnie to Beaumont, US-96 from Beaumont to Tenaha, US-59 from Tenaha to I-20, then west on I-20 to Longview.  The TX-87 portion included a free ferry ride from Galveston to Port Bolivar and a delightful drive up Bolivar Peninsula.

The ferry ride ...

TX-87 stops at the ferry,
it starts again on the other side

Loading up

The "gull guards" see us off

USS Cavalla is berthed in Seawolf Park as
a memorial to the lost submarine USS Seawolf

SS Selma
An oil tanker constructed of concrete
was intentionally scuttled in 1922

5 or 6 ferries shuttle traffic across the bay

It's cooler on deck

A number of tankers moved in and out of the bay

Arriving at Port Bolivar landing

There are three ways to "drive" onto Galveston Island.  We used two ... from the southwest via Bluewater Highway and from the northeast via ferry.

Bolivar Peninsula ...
TX-87 runs the length of this narrow peninsula.  We saw grazing cattle, oil wells, shrimp boats, lots of elevated resort homes and sad remnants of Hurricane Ike.

Point Bolivar lighthouse
(built in 1872, served for 61 years)

Shrimp boats were working the coast

TX-87 follows the Gulf closely

Many homes on the peninsula are
raised 2 or 3 levels

Oil wells were hard at work

TX-124 crosses the Intracoastal Waterway

Hmm ... could this be the highway to heaven?

The Waterway flows through a huge,
coastal plain

The Campground:
We want to see the largest cypress forest in the world at Caddo Lake.  There weren't many RV camping options near the lake, so we selected Fernbrook RV Park in Longview as a jumping off point.  The park is highly rated in every way and is one of the least expensive we've stayed in for weeks.

Site #32

Day 52 - Galveston, TX (Day 2)

The ants had the run of the place last night.  Fortunately, they remained on the floor and in the cabinets.  They stayed out of the beds.

Dick went to the hardware for more ant spray in the morning and found an exterminator to fix the problem correctly.  Sugar Ants were the early diagnosis of our "ant problem".  Max, our on-site technician, said the culprits were probably Crazy Ants because they didn't make a trail of any kind.  The name is pretty appropriate because they've been driving us crazy.  He sprayed a gel along the floor edges and in an overhead cabinet.  Conditions started improving almost immediately.  The gel dries and remains effective for about three weeks.

FYI:  Crazy Ants were originally found near Houston.  They aren't attracted to ordinary ant baits and aren't controlled by over-the-counter pesticides.  In 2008, the EPA approved fipronil to control these nasty little buggers ... and, we didn't have any until the exterminator showed up.

Lunch ...
We drove to a nearby marina and had lunch at the West End Restaurant n Sand Bar.  We ate in the Sand Bar ... a rough, open air setting surrounded by boat docks.  There was one bartender/server.  One other table was occupied ... we considered leaving.  Carol ordered a BLT and Dick ordered a hamburger.  Both sandwiches were outstanding!

A squall moved in from the Gulf in the early afternoon.  It rained hard for about 30 minutes.

We got back to normal and did some of our household tasks.  Carol did laundry.  Dick cleaned fan screens, emptied tanks and checked oil in the TrailBlazer.

A Walmart trip wrapped up the day and got us ready to leave for northeastern Texas tomorrow.

Evening ...
We walked to the beach at sunset.  The water was warm and the breeze was cool.

Sunset from the RV park

The beach was long and pretty deserted

Except for this Ohio mermaid