When last you heard from the 2 P's we were only about 80 miles along. We wanted to go through the Texas Hill Country to try out the HOW's new suspension modifications. I'm happy to report that they work well! Anyway our fancy-schmancy GPS guided us right through downtown Bourne (pronounced bernie) during rush hour, AND the road was under construction! It took like an hour and a half to get back to the highway.
But arrive we did at the Potter's Creek COE Campground on Canyon Lake. This is a lovely little campground on a smallish (for a COE impound anyway) lake. We'll stay here again for sure!
The next day we headed out in a northeasterly direction. We went to another COE Campground called Westcliff on Belton Lake. We got a pull-through site so we wouldn't have to unhook the toad for a one-night stay. That's always a welcome option.
Our place was just off of a nice sand, gravel and bedrock beach. The folks who had the site before us left a nice pile of firewood, so of course we thought about having a fire in the evening. We never did, but that's another story.
I (Paul) took my camera and went for a walk on the beach and had a look around. The campground bordered some private property and I had to get a picture of the house on that space. I guess if you're gonna have a house on a hill overlooking a lake, you may as well have one like this.
The next day we headed northeast again until we got to Lavonia Lake in Northeast Texas. This too was a COE impound. We drove through one campground which was looking pretty neglected for a COE facility. We left that one and went to another, this one called Lavonia Park. It was in a little better shape, but not by much. We've gotten pretty spoiled by the cleanliness, and quality facilities at all the other Army Corp of Engineers campgrounds we've stayed at in the past, so these were a real disappointment.
We did however, find a site we liked and after a lot of screwin' around, were able to get the HOW leveled. This site had quite a beautiful 360-degree vista.
There was some funky weather passin' by which made for some really awesome cloud formations.
The sunset wasn't bad either.
When we left, we headed back towards Texarkana. Our route would take us to Beards Bluff Campground on Millwood Lake in southwest Arkansas. The road from the freeway was a nightmare. Twisty-turny, up-and-down and crowded with log trucks. Log truck drivers are paid by the load, so they want to go fast, fast, fast. If you're in the way, as we were, they just go around you. Curves, hills, it doesn't matter; double yellow center-lines have no meaning. We were happy to arrive in one piece. We got another pull-through coz we only planned to stay one night. When we got to our site, however, we found this!
This site was REALLY NICE! We opted for another night here. So far the weather along our route had been nice. We'd been able to sleep with the windows open and this place was no different. That is...
... until the smell hit
I shoulda known. The name of the lake is Mill Wood. All those log trucks... We ran into this at Wright Pattman Lake last fall. Ever smell a paper mill? Take some sauerkraut juice and soak some old cardboard boxes in it. Then let it sit a while a dark dank place and let your dog have diarrhea on it. Gettin' the picture? We were otta there early that morning.
We arrived in Little Rock that evening. It was clear and the moon was full, so I tried a couple 'speriments. Here are some of the results:
 |
| Sirus (way on the left) and Orion You can see the Orion Nebula in his sword (fuzzy blob in the center) |
And now, you're caught up.
