Day Trips

We did get to see some of the sights around Nacogdoches. We decided to drive over to the Sam Rayburn Reservoir to see what kind of birds might be there and to check out the showers. We checked in with the gate and learned that there weren’t any trails from the campground and that there was a lot of Poison Ivy around so that left out bush whacking to look for birds. We drove around the campground and stopped to check out the showers. As this was a Sunday the showers were pretty dirty so we didn’t stop. The highlight was watching a Bald Eagle and a Immature Bald Eagle. We talked with  a guy that was getting ready to go fishing and he told us of a place not too far away that had better birding Boikin Springs Campground. There was an old sawmill pond that usually had Wood Ducks nesting this time of the year.

When we got there the trail to the mill pond was closed.

There is a small pond and this cool looking damn.

This is the beginning of a Loblolly Pine They had a fire in this area but we thought this pine still might make it.

Spring flowers  coming up in the burn area.

The stream coming from the small pond.

Crossing the dam.

When we left here we drove in the closest little town to get some lunch and found the greatest little café with the best food. Eagle’s Nest in Zavalla, TX has home cooked meals at a decent price. Dick was talking to the chef and she told us that her mother cooks for the café in Nacogdoches at the livestock auction on Thursday’s.

So the next Thursday we were off to the auction and the lunch meal was great we even forgot the cake that came with the meal because we were so full. Then went upstairs and watched some of the auction which I found fascinating not having seen one before. I told Dick to be careful not to scratch his nose we might end up with a cow. 

 

Young Brahma Bull

An older Brahma Bull

We left before the auction was over.

Nacogdoches

We have never been in this part of Texas so when I could tear Dick away from watching the work being done the coach we did go on a couple of day trips. Nacogdoches is know for its Azalea's so we went to find them at the Ruby Maze Azalea Garden. We walked trough the Mast Arboretum and entered through here.

 

There were hundreds of different varieties and colors.

Here is a Mexican Dogwood

Much different than ours and much different than the dogwoods in Texas.

On another one of our day excursions we went out to find a little lake not to far away called Caro Lake. We drove up the highway and back down and took some side roads then realized that the entrance road we were looking for looked more like a dirt driveway. We drove in and came across a locked gate. There were no signs that said private property or no trespassing so we ventured inside and found a great little lake with a house and some rental looking boats.

 

Wild flowers around Caro Lake. We still don’t know what the property is used for.

Next stop was the demonstration garden and lunch.

More to come from Nacogdoches.

Camp Foretravel

We were at Foretravel for 3 weeks and 2 days. In that time they got everything done except the the Aquahot and the roof. The only reason that the work is not done is that we are still waiting for the Aquahot unit to get here. It isn’t a bad place to be they have a very nice lounge with TV and coffee and Wi-Fi.

This is the laundry room.

One of our sites for the 3 weeks we were here. We moved around and tried various ones when they were done with our coach for the day.

They replaced the bladder around the front slide and fixed delamination on both side of the slide.

They push the slide to the inside of the coach.

After the bladder was installed they worked on the side where the delamination was.

It had to stay in the shop over night so we checked into a motel and got hot showers. The last thing they fixed before we left was replacing both the grey and black water valves.