5 – Wright Patman Dam, Rocky Point Camp Ground, Texarkana, TX March 20-27, 2013

This campground is one of several developed and owned by the US Army Corps of Engineers around the lake. It is a large campground – more than 120 sites, but unlike the newer campgrounds, the sites are close together and very uneven. One site was so bad, the folks used two four-foot pieces of pine trunk to stabilize the back. The campground was only about one-third capacity during our stay, and it looked as though many of the campers were locals who spend a good amount of time here. I was told that this is the lowest money-maker for the Corps of Engineers of all their Texas parks because it is rarely very full. Unlike many parks, here you are allowed to stay for 40 days at a time between March and September or 120 days from October through February. The extended stays are probably a result of the lack of usage. Most public campgrounds we have stayed at have a maximum stay of two weeks at a time.

Nice view

There’s not much around here to do, and for the three days we’ve been here it has been cold and rainy, so we’ve spent the time tweaking some of the storage in the closets. Rich is headed to the store to get a loaf of bread to use for stuffing  we’ll have tonight with the sage and garlic tenderloin we’re fixing. Maybe tomorrow will be sunny and we can get outside and do some hiking. The nights have been in the 40’s and yesterday the temp didn’t get above 56! This is one of the blessings of having an RV instead of our pop-up or tent – much more comfortable during bad weather! 

Rich is always teasing me about the never ending list of “stuff” I want to bring, which I admit to, but we have a list of “Stuff I’d never Dream of Taking Camping” and are adding to it all the time. We have made another addition to the list here – a full-size chiminea. Other items on our list include a projection TV to use outdoors, cats, birds, hydroponic tomato plants, full-size, free-standing gas grills, a 5-gallon water bottle & water dispenser, and an apartment-sized refrigerator.  To each to his own!

Interesting technique a neighbor had for stabilizing their RV

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Hundreds of white pelicans showed up one day and were gone the next

We’ve had an interesting night and it promises to be the same all day long. A cold front has passed through and the result of that has brought high winds that have been blowing off-and-on since 1 AM and are supposed to increase during the day before decreasing by 8 PM tonight.  As a result, a lake wind advisory that predicts winds of 15-25 mph with gusts 35 to 40 mph. Our site, being right on the lake, has been buffeted by those same winds. 

We’ve had the same thing happen before, but we were in our old pop-up. Neither is particularly fun! This will be a good day to finish up on the blackout curtains I’m making for the bedroom, as long as we don’t get blown into the lake!

The lake was full of white caps for a couple of days

As it turned out, we didn’t do much but hunker down. The winds blew for three days, with gusts up over 45 mph.  We had to pull the slides in because the wind was threatening to tear the slide covers.  Note to self: don’t get sites on a river or lake unless the long range forecast is pleasant! 

Nice sunset

Moonset one morning around 7

We ended up staying an extra day at Rocky Point, but went on to Hickory Creek in Lewisville, TX which is near Dallas, to spend time with our friend, Ryan.