Back to Texas

We said goodbye to Great Plains State Park on a glorious Saturday morning and headed south.  Our friends Steve and Gail pulled out at daybreak bound for Memphis; Rocky and Sheri left shortly after we did.  Our “rally recovery” camp site was beautiful, and the companionship was even better. 

At mid-afternoon, we pulled into Lake Arrowhead State Park outside of Wichita Falls, Texas.  The campground has large sites with nice, big grassy “yards.”  The park is known for its prairie dog town, which has expanded to include most of the park.  Fortunately, we were able to find an area where there are few of the little critters.  Otherwise, the dogs would have driven us crazy trying to catch one of them!  We’re lucky that we only hear their sharp little warning cries in the distance but don’t see them.

We took a nice walk through the mesquite thickets, then John spent most of Sunday repairing a blown fitting on one of the water hoses in the basement.  Thank goodness it didn’t fail until we were in camp and having a chilled beverage so we heard it and could shut off the water before it completely soaked everything stored below.

A short drive on Monday, brought us to Fort Richardson State Park in Jacksboro, TX.  The park is spacious, with good walking trails and a thriving population of whitetail deer.  The dogs are having a great time.  

On the way in, we were famished for good Texas BBQ, so we stopped at Dairy Land Drive-in.  It’s a trueTexas small-town cafe, and the BBQ was excellent!  Strengthened by our sumptious lunch, we were able to set up in camp in time for Happy Hour.  

Before leaving, we toured the restored Fort Richardson.  Built in 1867, it was a federal fort established after the Civil War for the occupying U.S. Army troops that enforced federal reconstruction laws and protected settlers from raiding Indians.  Seven of the original structures can be visited.  We especially enjoyed seeing the authentically restored military hospital.  

It contains the original medical equipment used by the army's physician, as well as the original bottles that held medications used at the time.  The devices on the table in the foreground are splints that were used to treat broken arms and legs.

Tuesday was glorious, sunny, and crisp.  We had a good walk and John took one of our RV tires into town for a new valve stem.  Early Wednesday, we pulled out bound for East Texas.  By happy hour, we were parked outside of Jefferson in Brushy Creek Corps of Engineers Park on Lake O' The Pines, one of our favorite campgrounds.  The dogs have had a great time splashing in the lake and carrying their packs on our daily four-mile walks.

On one of our day trips into nearby Marshall, we were reminded why it's always good to know where you're going when traveling in the RV.  This overhead obstruction with only a 10' 8" clearance appeared with no warning at all.  Judging by the scars on the structure, a lot of trucks didn't stop in time!  Fortunately we were in the Tracker, so it wasn't a problem for us.....this time. 

Before we left Austin this year, we invested in some "insurance" to prevent just this sort of calamity.  We bought "Co-pilot Truck" software.  This allows us not only to have a reliable GPS system on board, but to program in our RV's height and width.  The program (We call the voice "Mr. Rogers" after that long-ago children's TV host.) patiently instructs us which way to travel to avoid low clearances and other hazards.  We'll use it tomorrow when we leave on the last leg of our homeward journey back to Austin by way of Hamilton for a quick visit to the farm.