Lake Tawakoni

We arrived at Lake Tawakoni (pronounced ta-WA-kaa-nee) in Point, TX on February 3, just before the heavens opened to drench everything with cold rain and ice. We were originally scheduled to arrive on the 4th but changed the reservation to arrive a day early because of the ice storm coming in. Jim got the trailer leveled and the electric, water, and sewer connected just in time to retreat inside. It rained all night, turning to icy snow by morning. The next day was in the 20s and windy. We had several cold days and nights before temperatures returned to the sunny 60s.

View out my door just after we arrived

Lake Tawakoni is known as "The Catfish Capital of Texas". This beautiful lake functions as a reservoir and it's 20 minutes southeast of Greenville and about 48 miles east of Dallas. It covers a massive 37,879 surface acres in 3 counties, Hunt, Rains and Van Zandt. Fishing is very popular and you can find an abundance of catfish, largemouth bass, crappie, white bass, striped and hybrid bass. Jim looked into a fishing charter but when he found out it the price he said "There's no way I'm spending $400 to go fishing!" I told him he could but he still decided it wasn't worth it to him.

The hiking trails were wonderful and everyday Dora and I explored through the woods and fields. She flushed buzzards, rabbits, and whitetail deer. Fortunately she didn't chase them very far, although I had visions of her disappearing in the woods forever.

Dora, letting me know there's something fluttering in the bushes.

We met a wonderful family with 2 kids. Amy and Diego, Sebastion age 9, and Adelaide age 6. The kids were constantly entertaining us with things they'd caught at the lake. 

Diamond Back Water Snake, not poisonous. It's still shedding.

Seb is quite the artist! His parents are wonderful artists as well, his mom was an art teacher. Both kids seem to have inherited their parents' talents but Seb's artwork was very impressive. Since they are home schooled, part of the "homework" is making a journal and researching wildlife he sees.

Seb's art journal of critters he encounters

More of Seb's artwork

Amy, Diego and kids. Just look at Seb's silly face!

And speaking of artistic talent, Diego painted this picture of Dora and gave it to us just before we left. I'm in awe of people who are so accomplished. The have a YouTube channel where they teach kids to draw. Check it out

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBVyzFFdV2WDE5LE_2vmy9g

Of course, you know that if there's a BBQ place in the area I have to check it out. Soulman's BBQ has quite a few locations throughout TX. We went to the one in Greenville. The ribs were very tender and smoked without sauce so you could add your own. The only complaint was that they were too lean. I know, most people don't like fat, but I think that's the best part of ribs. So if you like lean, Soulman's is the place to go. Check out the warning sign on their storefront.

Check out the warning sign! Cute!

Remember I said we traveled a day earlier than originally scheduled because of a predicted ice storm? Well, that's how we're leaving as well. Another ice storm is predicted for tomorrow so we rescheduled our departure date for today. We'll be traveling to Lake Texoma in Gordonville, TX, where we'll be for the next 3 weeks.

Beautiful blue skies today, another ice storm predicted for tomorrow

Do You Believe in Angels?

Being retired, and being snowbirds seems like THE life! Most days it is, but not every day is filled with sunshine and rainbows. We are subject to the same challenging days as everyone else in life. Some days are a piece of cake, and some days are the ones your mother warned you about.

This morning started like every other morning, with a sleepy trip to the bathroom. But, unlike other mornings, when I entered the bathroom I stepped in a puddle of pee. No, Jim didn't miss the toilet. One of the dogs obviously couldn't wait. My guess is that it was Dora. Sammy will bark to wake us up, but Dora doesn't bark, she whimpers, which doesn't always rouse us from a sound sleep.

Jim took both Sammy and Dora out to do their business, but when Dora came in she apparently had a dingle berry stuck to her fur and she proceeded to wipe her butt across the floor, leaving a brown trail. I washed her butt and then washed the floor. Washing floors isn't my idea of a start to a good day.

Then I went to do the laundry and found I was short 3 quarters to finish the drying. Most parks have upgraded to credit/debit card machines, but this one still has the old coin op ones. Back to the trailer to hang jeans and sweatshirts that weren't quite dry. The weather was beginning to slightly mist so I put the awning out and hung them on lawn chairs underneath. Then the wind came up. RV awnings don't do wind. A gust can easily destroy them. So I pulled in the awning and hung everything around inside. Fortunately, there was a nice breeze coming through the windows so they dried fairly fast.

Then I twisted the wrong way and got a sharp pain in my back, which persisted for most of the day. Clearly I wasn't having a good day.

By the time I got done with all this I was pretty drained. It was time to check in on FB to see what my friends were up to. That's when I found this gem that a friend had posted, which was just what I needed to remind me how much my Heavenly Father loves me.

"The whole world paused this morning. Do you know why? Because an 8 year old's tank was empty.

The boys had already started their school day at their desks and I was preparing to leave for work when I noticed my littlest standing in the bathroom wiping his face. I paused at the door and asked if he was okay. He looked up with tears silently dripping and shook his head. When I questioned if something happened, again he shook his head.

So I sat on the side of the tub and pulled him in my lap. I told him sometimes our heart tanks feel empty and need to be refilled.

He cried into my chest and I held tight. I asked if he could feel my love filling him up. A nod, and tears stopped.... I waited a minute...

"Has it reached your toes yet?" He shook his head no. "Okay man. We will take as long as you need. Work doesn't matter right now. School isn't important either. This right here, is the most important thing today, okay? Filling you back to the top. Is that good?"

*nods*

One more minute...

"Is your heart full of mama's love now?"

"Yeah."

*looks in his eyes* "I see it shining in there, you're full to the top, and you're smiling!"

You may not be 8 - you may be 28, 38, 48 or whatever - but ALL of us run on empty just like he did. His week was so busy and so full and his little soul was just dry! We all have to pause, and take a moment to refill with the good things - prayer, sunshine, laughter, friends, hugs. Refill your empty, or you'll find those emotions (tears, anger, snappy words) overflowing with no reason why."

I needed that reminder today, maybe you do too. So I read my scriptures, talked with my Heavenly Father, got a big hug from my hubby, relaxed and took the rest of the day in stride, even taking a short nap in the afternoon. In the evening some friends invited us to dinner at their campsite. After dinner we sat around the campfire and just chatted about whatever. Although the day started out challenging which left me totally empty by mid morning, it ended up filling my tank and renewing my spirits. 

Another friend's post on FB was the question "Do you believe in angels?" Absolutely! My friend that posted the story about the little boy was my 1st angel of the day, followed by many more that helped refill the reserves.

Again? Seriously?

We had to go to go to the Dallas area to pick up the new tongue jack. If you remember, Jim used the last one as a plow and bent it. $300 later we had the part and were now hungry for some BBQ from a place in Burleson that we'd heard great things about. 

Hard Eight BBQ did not disappoint. The entrance brought us through the smoke room with lots of stainless cutting tables and huge smokers. Walking past them we followed the path to a huge warming table where seemingly endless food choices beckoned us to fill our plates with way more than we should. The ribs were cut to order right there by a server whose deft hands cut our meat like he was born with knives in his hands. Then we went into another area where side dishes were self serve, and finally, loaded with our plates of gluttony, we settled in the dining area to enter our food coma.

BBQ serving area

Jim's spicy sausage

Hard Eight BBQ has 5 locations in TX. I can definitely recommend them for a unique BBQ experience.

After we rolled our overstuffed stomachs out of there, we went back to our campsite to begin repairs to the tongue jack. Jim was definitely capable and had it replaced before we were scheduled to leave for our next destination in Point, TX.

Jim replacing the tongue jack

While at Lake Whitney we had occasion to visit a local branch of our church in Hillsboro, TX, and had an extremely positive experience. The friendly faces reminded us of our home branch and we felt like we'd known these people forever. Our 2nd week there the branch president asked if he could now send for our records and officially make us members of that branch.

As we traveled through Hillsboro I commented that it seemed like a peaceful town. Jim pointed out there seemed to be a disproportionate number of bail bondsmen. Hmmm.... maybe I should reconsider my assessment.

We were scheduled to leave Lake Whitney on Thursday, 2/3. But the weather report predicted snow, sleet and temperatures in the 20s. So we called Thousand Trails, who owns all the parks we go to in the winter, to ask if we could schedule our move to Wednesday. They were very accommodating and not only moved this date up a day, but also moved all our other reservations as well.

We were in TX last year for what they refer to as "snowmagedden". This year we've apparently come for a repeat performance. In scheduling our winter travels mostly in TX, we had hoped for some warmer weather. But this makes 2 years in a row with snow, ice and cold temperatures. Granted, it's not as cold as NH, but this is not what I imagined by being a snowbird. I really don't think TX will be on the destination list for next year!

The view from my door. Again? Seriously?

Pear cactus is usually green, but turns red when stressed by cold temperatures.