Texas and the Grandkids! August 11-14, 2009

From Barksdale we drove to Lake Ray Roberts State Park north of Denton, Texas. We had a great tri-level site. The upper level was for the rv and the car. Mid-level was our picnic table and fire ring.The lower level was lakefront with plenty of rocks for Christopher and DeAnna to throw in the water.Bob and I set up camp and explored the area. We found three playgrounds for later use.


Wednesday morning we found directions to Cathy's parents and set off for a cookout. When we arrived, there was no one in sight so I called Cathy's cell phone and asked for a welcoming committee in the driveway. It was only a matter of seconds before Christopher and DeAnna came running through the garage with Cathy not far behind.
There were hugs all around! We enjoyed our visit and the cookout. When it was time to leave we said goodbye to Valerie, Chuck, Cathy and Zack. Christopher and DeAnna were traveling with us!

The state park was about an hour from the house. After swimming and playing hard all day it didn't take long for the kids to fall asleep. They slept until we got to Sanger where we stopped for milk and eggs. From Sanger to the park all we heard were questions about where the big car was parked and why weren't we driving it.

The first item of business when we reached the rv was to throw rocks in the lake.

Thursday we spent the day at the park and played on two of the three playgrounds.

One playground was next to the beach area. Grandpa showed Christopher and DeAnna the finer art of making sand castles.

Since it was very hot, we went back to the rv for lunch and a break until the weather cooled. Christopher and DeAnna blew bubbles, went for a short hike with me to the playground and took the long way back by the lake to throw a few rocks.

Once it cooled off, we went to check out the children's fish pond and to grab some treasures from geocaches.

We only found one geocache, but it had good treasures so we left some swag to replace what we took. We parked at the equestrian parking lot and as we were leaving, 7 horses came view. One of the riders was nice enough to let the kids pet her horse.

There is a short nature trail at the park entrance so we decided to look for animals. While we were hiking, DeAnna found a "Y" shaped flower stem and told me it was a dowsing rod! She knew what to do with it. Now where did she learn that, I wonder.

Christopher read the map for us and let us know when we were close to the end of the trail. There were 19 markers along the trail.

One of the stops on the trail was a chimney where a log cabin once stood. Rumor has it that the owners left for a walk one day in the late 1800s and never returned.

Since we were looking for animals on the trail, we weren't disappointed. About halfway around we saw a doe with her fawn close behind her. If you look closely, she is in the center of this picture.Friday was a travel day. Time to leave Texas and head for Arkansas to visit Great Grandpa Bob and Great Grandma Dot. We plan to stop at two campgrounds in Oklahoma. The first is an Army Corps of Engineer Camp on Lake Eufaula--South Dam Site. We'll let you know about it in a later post!