Caddo Lake = Swamp Ass

I have written a hundred blog posts about our time at Caddo Lake State Park...  Most were funny, some were just rants against the heat & humidity...  It was too hot to write them so now I'll try to sum it up, nicely, now.  The posts following this will be about the area and have photos... this one is about the uglier side of Caddo. 

One word:  HUMID!

OK - I know what you are thinking.  "DUH!  Of course it was hot & humid - you went to a swamp."  But I'm telling you - it was STUPID hot & humid.  I mean, really - every campsite (but ours) had a fan or two (yes, fans!) to stir the air.  Several brought their kids' kiddie pool for them to sit in.  We've really never experienced anything like it - who takes fans to use OUTDOORS?  Smart people, that's who!

You would gaze up into the tops of the trees and see them whipping around but 40' lower on the ground - NOTHING.  Miserable!  We would sit there, in our lounge-y chairs, and sweat like pigs - we looked like we had taken a dip in the lake (which was the color of tea & looked gator-y but that's another story).  I think I was worse than Bryan...  Pathetic.  He kept saying "maybe if we lost weight it wouldn't be so bad" and I'm thinking - uh, it would still be bad!!  Pretty sure.  Honestly it would have been bearable if there had been a breeze - next time we know to bring a fan... or go in January.

You can barely see it, but here's a photo of our neighbor's camp fan.  Unguarded.  They were old (the people, not the fan). If it hadn't been so hot, we could have taken 'em down and stole the fan... but it was too hot to do anything but take a photo.  :-)  The woman sat in the chair reading while the fan blew hot breezes.  Her husband did shoulder exercises.


On a better note - the bugs weren't quite as bad as we thought.  Bryan found three ticks on him, I found one on me and several on the dogs.  Three roaches in the camper, & numerous unidentified flying stuff at night (word to the wise - don't wear a head-band light to walk the dogs once the sun goes down, it ain't pretty).  I kept myself sprayed with OFF so I don't have as many mosquito bites as Bryan who looks like he has the pox...  But it could have been worse!  Really.  I really did expect more bugs, especially the mosquitoes - you never really saw them although, looking at Bryan, they must have been around! HAHA

OK - now we sound a bit like elitist campers that whole up in our RV - which isn't true.  Yes, we have  slide-in truck camper (with no AC I might add) but we spend the majority of our time out of doors - hiking, driving off road, etc.  It was TOO HOT to do anything but drive around which we did on Sunday - more on that trip later.  So, while the area was beautiful, we were sorely disappointed in not having the gumption or stamina to do do more than sit and complain about the heat.  The poor dogs - miserable, although we found a few places for them to swim in Caddo Lake to cool off.  If the lake looked like something other than tepid tea we might have been tempted too but after spending so long in the Pacific NW with its crystal clear water - we've gotten a little elitist in our water activities.  We'll get over it - but we would like to see the 'gators as they come up to us.

Check back for more photos and descriptions of the area.  Despite the heat it was beautiful and haunting.

Squirrel Hunting

There is a squirrel that takes nothing but great pleasure in teasing Hannah & Maggie.  S/he bounds from tree to tree and then gets on the other side of fence, just out of reach and twitters and twitches. 

They will spend hours staring up into the trees watching for him.

My Quickie Patio

I wish I had taken before and after photos as there is such a difference between the before and the after...  but I didn't.  Our rental house has a weird little entry way for the front door. There's a bit of a covered walkway leading to the door, then about a 6" gap between that roofline and the other eave, making a U-shaped area.  Between the walkway and the outside kitchen wall was a 'flower-bed' that was all sand and due to the close proximity of the roof lines - not much sun (despite 2 skylights cut into the porch. 

Anywhooo, when it rained it turned into a muddy mess so I decided to make a patio.  I think it turned out OK for a quick, no frills patio. I just smoothed out the sand and laid down the pavers.  Not too bad and its holding up well. I also planted some giant elephant ears and caladiums (for color) to make it more inviting. 

The wind here blows so hard from the south and west that this is a great place to sit (or was during the late-winter, early spring) and drink a cup of coffee in the morning.  However, it can get stifling during the heat of the day since it is really protected from the wind.

 

Front door - Sign reads:

"Friends Welcome, Family By Appointment Only!"

Giant Elephant Ears

Caladiums, lilies (in pot) and not so giant elephant ears

 Before the caladiums grew

View to the patio from the living room window