Karnack, TX
Sunday, January 31
Andi and I don’t know a thing about Texas. We’ve each traveled to the large cities of the state a handful of times in our lives, but never spent much time here otherwise. And, Texas is big. Like, REALLY BIG, so there’s a lot of places to see and things to do. Where to begin?
Sunday afternoon, we crossed over the Arkansas / Texas border in a city called Texarkana and then made our way south along the east border of the state to Caddo Lake State Park in Karnack, Texas. Caddo Lake is the second largest natural (not man-made) lake in Texas and is home to the world’s oldest bald cypress forest. Andi booked a last-minute reservation for a boat ride on the lake to learn about the plants and animals there.
We arrived to the town of Uncertain, TX around 3:00pm and met our boat captain, Michael, shortly thereafter. Michael grew up fishing on the lake with his grandfather, so the lake has always held a special place in his heart. He returned to Caddo Lake to live-full time after retirement and now spends his days giving pontoon rides to professional photographers and others who wish to see the lake’s unique beauty.
It felt great to be back on the water again! Similar to some of our first boat rides of the season back home — the air was chilly around 55 degrees, but it felt wonderful to hear the sounds of the water and the hum of the pontoon motor.
Michael shared information about the bald cypress trees as we cruised through the maze of channels and bayous in his pontoon. The trees were unlike anything we’d ever seen before — what a sight to see a forest inside a lake! Mature trees thought to be over 500 years old were here before the lake was formed. Spanish moss blowing in the breeze seemed to wave at our boat as we passed by.
We saw a blue pelican feeding amongst the trees, a few ducks and other birds during our hour-long boat ride. Michael said Caddo Lake is home to a wide variety of plants and animals including owls, waterfowl, beavers, eagles and alligators. The lake is popular for fishing with over 70 species of fish, including crappie, largemouth bass, yellow bass and white bass.
After our boat ride, we hopped into our RV and drove a few miles down the road to Caddo Lake State Park. When Andi called earlier in the day, the park ranger told him there were only four camping spots remaining tonight, so we thought we might find a busy park. The reality was quite the opposite. The majority of campsites were marked “reserved,” controlling the number of people camping there for COVID precautions.. Less than 20 spots in the entire state park were occupied.
Andi volunteered to take Tory and Aden with him while he went to pay for our camping spot at the office while I stayed back at the RV to exercise. The sun was setting in 30 minutes, so it was a race against daylight.
An hour passed and I’d finished my workout and showered. Andi and the kids still weren’t back to the RV yet. I was beginning to worry! Thirty minutes later, Tory and Aden burst into the RV hooting and hollering about the long walk they’d just taken in the dark. “We saw an armadillo!” Tory said, “We heard a wild hog!”
“Yeah, Dad put me in my nightmare zone,” Aden said. He was not a big fan of walking in the dark.
Andi followed the kids into the RV shortly thereafter and confirmed they’d just completed a 3-mile walk to the visitor’s center to pay for our camping. Andi said he had no idea the walk there would be so long. Tory and Aden couldn’t stop talking about their adventure. How tired their legs were! How scary the sound of the wild hog was in the forest! How cool the armadillo was to see up close! While they complained over dinner about the length of the walk they’d just been on, I suspect they both enjoyed the adventure.
Welcome to Texas!
