March 17 – 29 Karnack, Texas
Caddo Lake State Park
Nestled in the woods next to the 8500-acre Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge, a small but beautiful place to enjoy nature. It rests on the banks of the Big Cypress Bayou. Little did we know that Karnack was the childhood home of Lady Bird Johnson!! Her father, T.J. Taylor, was one of several wealthy donors who gave private land for the park.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933 to provide jobs and job skills for young men to work on conservation projects. During the hot, humid summer of 1934, CCC Company 889 builds the first structures, trails and firebreaks in the new park. Company 857 continued working from October 1934 to March 1937, building the park’s permanent structures. They converted 16 U.S. Army barracks and an Army mess hall in the nine rustic log cabins and group recreation hall used today. On one of our hikes through the park, we came across one of the pavilions built in the 1930’s!! SO cool to see….
The flowers are starting to pop here…..so darn pretty!!!
The HUGE bald Cypress Trees draped with Spanish Moss create a ghostly scene – calming and beautiful….with kayakers intertwined moseying along the calm river banks. The “knees” of the trees are above ground extensions of their root systems.
Another Airstream pulled in just a couple of sites down from us. We met up and went kayaking on the Caddo Lake water trail. Oh my gosh!! It was THE most peaceful and sur- real thing!!! We hadn’t been kayaking in ……. years – LOL!!! What a fun day!!!!
A short drive took us to the historical town of Jefferson. A bit eclectic in its own way – we walked up and down the several blocks of streets – popping in and out of the stores, taking in all the town had to offer. Cute little shops, lots of antique stores, and several pretty neat looking restaurants. Being the simple peeps that we are, we had lunch at the local family owned Port Jefferson Outpost, followed up by Texas Blue Bell Ice Cream cones……OH SO GOOD!!!!! We always try to support the local economy in some way when we’re out and about…..
Texas is an interesting state. When you get out of the big cities, it is rural – I MEAN RURAL and Bayou country!!! Some areas have big, beautiful homes like you see on TV, and then other areas, well; we weren’t sure if the home was abandoned or if someone was actually living there….
On a whim, we decided to drive to Shreveport Louisiana since it was only about 30 minutes from the state park. We were a bit shocked and speechless as we drove around. The city has tried very hard to rebuild the small area down by their Riverwalk with a Convention Center, Visitors Center, an Aquarium, and some hotels. Other than that, the city was shuttered and abandoned – metal bars on the doors of the closed businesses and graffiti smeared everywhere….it was a short trip!!!!
Donna being the sucker she is for homeless animals discovered 3 dogs that lived in the woods near the campground. One was obviously a new Mama…..and had 2 friends with her most of the time. Our next trip to the store included some dog food. We know we probably shouldn’t have fed them, but………………………………..we did. At least they had some good nourishment while we were there!!
Rural Texas…………is a very interesting part of the country.
