WHITE CLIFF PARK

We arrived safe and sound at White Cliffs Park, Arkansas. All I can say is "Wow", it is so beautiful. Our campsite is #1 and it sits right at the edge of the Little River. There are huge trees for shade. We can walk down to the bank and fish when ever the mood strikes. Here is a piture of  the campsite...

We had to travel on a old fashion dirt road to get here and so everything is covered in a layer of fine red dirt.  I started cleaning the inside as soon as started unpacking but the boat and bike are covered. The boat brought up the rear, meaning it got the dust from the truck and the trailer. Yuck.

The telephone and computer service is horrible here.  I am not sure that I can even upload this blog to the internet. It took two hours just to get the one picture uploaded so I am forced to limit the pictures and the length of the blog. If I cannot get service the blog will come back on line June 7th when we make our next move to Little Axe Park at Lake Thunderbird, Oklahoma. The Park here sits in a small valley and I think that is the reason for such poor computer service.

I will sign off now and try to get this uploaded... if possible. May you keep dancing to the tune of life and May Angel Wings Surround You

PACKING UP

I just took my last sunset photo from this campsite...

Phil made his honey wagon run to dump station...

He has put the bike into the boat and strapped everything down... oh by the way, he isn't superman the bike is on a hoist and he is doing maintance on it.

The park was packed for the Memorial Day weekend. I have to say it was an interesting weekend. It started with pot sprouting up all over the patio on the campsite next to us. It was interesting to watch the goings and comings. The Park Rangers pulled it all and turned it in to the county sheriff ...

Both Phil and I had a shadow all weekend so I didn't get much done. But we made one little boy happy and that was worth the time spent visiting rather then working on web design. Brayden spent most of his time with us. He is a talker and full of questions. He talked Phil into helping him with his fishing pole so he would be able to fish.He even talked Phil into adjusting the brakes and oiling his bicycle. I ask the Angels to keep a special watch over little Brayden Fort, to help him grow his wings and fly...

              

I found out the name of the beautiful shrub that grows wild all over the area. It is Elderberry.  Marshall (the Park Host) asked me if I had ever heard of Elderberry Wine and that the blooms which will turn into tiny berries.  Locals hate them but I find them beautiful...

One of the campers caught a 72 pound catfish on a trotline. The host took a picture of it for their bulletin board and I took a picture of their picture. I met the man that caught it and can verify that he stood over 6ft 2. That will give you an idea of just how big that catfish is...

Here are the Park Host and Hostess... Marshall and Shirley Lewis. We enjoyed meeting them...

May Angel Wings Surround You 

 May The Dance Of Life Be One Of Joy

KEEP ON DANCING

AT MILLWOOD LAKE ARKANSAS

To those of you that have checked for the latest posting I owe you an apology. I am very sorry that I have not posted before now. I really don't have a good excuse except that I have been sightseeing, meeting people, and enjoying the views. Feel free to post a comment about any subject including getting me back on duty lol.

This is another beautiful lake that we are visiting. There are fifteen parks around the lake. The Cottonshed Park is where we are staying and it has been totally remodeled. It is ran by the Army Corps of Engineers which by the way honors the Senior Pass so with that discount the site cost only $6.50 a day rather then $20.00.  Each waterfront site has a deck with wooden rails, very nice.

The sunsets over the lake are simply breath taking. Altho the cypress trees here look more like something you would see in the Rocky Mountains compared to those at Lake Caddo they have their own beauty. Does not matter when you take a sunset picture it is beautiful but here is one of my favorites and one of Phil's favorites...

When we first arrived here the sky was very overcast and the sunset looked like this photo on the bottom...

Since Phil is sharing his photography with me we have decided to label our photos so that you will know who took the picture... helps us keep it straight also lol. So we now have Phil B's Views and Mick's Clicks. Phil is very happy with his new Nikon camera. I think the results are every bit as good as my top of the line Kodak, if not, in someways better.

I met a neat lady yesterday here at the campgrounds. Her name is Theresa and she has a cute little dog that she rescued names Orphan Annie...

Not too long ago I received a prayer request  email for a little girl named Addison. Turns out that Addison is her granddaughter and those prayers are still needed as she has more surgery required. So please say a prayer for this little two year girl and her family.

Today I put the girls in the basket on the bike and took them for a spin around the park. Both girls love to go riding they beg everytime I go. On the other side of the campgrounds I met the cutest little boy. He had a smile that just melts hearts and the personality to go with it. He was shy and followed me around until I challenged him to a race. He was up for that lol. Don't tell him but I let him win. Afterwards, he showed me the boo boo on his thumb caused when he fell off his bike. His mom forgot to bring bandaids so he followed me home to get some and Phil rode back with him to make sure he got to the other side of the park okay. His name is Braydon and I would keep him if I could lol... he is just a delight...

The park is packed full of people for the holiday weekend. There isn't many campsites open. Funny thing is that I was sort of dreading having the site next to use taken as that would mean that when I looked out the door I would be looking at their camp rather then the lake. Turns out no one has taken that site. So when I lean back in this chair and look outside I see nature and not a trailer.  Once again... I give thanks to the Angels for looking out for us. That outside view is to me the "pause that refreshes" and I appreciate it so much.

We rode around the lake yesterday and found the next campsite to move to. It is at White Cliffs and right on the Little River.  This river empties into Lake Millwood. Directly in front of our (now) campsite the Saline River runs through. There are large poles with reflector tape to show the river course. Such as this one...

The bird is a Black Bellied Whistling Duck. The post it is sitting on is in front of our campsite. There is a mate, as a matter of fact there are several pairs of ducks that nest in the trees out in the water. This pair nested in an old dead tree just to the right of the post shown. Here is a photo of them together in the tree...

There are American Great White Pelicans in the lake but they haven't came close enough to get a good photo of them. And by the way, I did see an alligator in a creek on our way here. We back to that creek yesterday but couldn't spot him. Phil found where he slides down and climbs up the bank. I took a picture of the gator slide for you (the slide is marked by the red arrows) ...  and a photo of the gator warning sign...

May Angel Wings Surround You

May You Keep On Dancing To The Tune Of Life!!!

LAST DAY AT CADDO LAKE

Today is our last day here at Potter's Point here on Caddo Lake.  We are ready to move on down the road.  We are moving up to Milwood Lake just up above Texarkana. Milwood is on the Arkansas side of the border. Should be an interesting area with more cypress trees and waterlilies. Lots of pines trees. There they have warning signs out about watching out for alligators. Will really have to watch the girls closely as we have a waterfront campsite. Sure glad for the fencing we have for them. SuYang tends to jump out the door when we open it. Have been trying to teach her to stay but sometimes she forgets. They have no fear so would run right up to a gator. They are only little Shih Tzus but they think they are Rottweilers lol
Phil's new 16 megapixel Nikon camera is at the Walmart in Vivian this morning. He was not happy with the other camera that I gave him. It is a great camcorder but the photo camera part of it seemed to have blurry photos when it came to the close ups. Not good if you want to take photos of people. So he is getting an early Father's Day present from me. He is going to go over and get it today. Which is cool so now both of us can take blog pictures. Are you ready for that? lol

This morning he took his camera phone and when down to the lake...

The waterlilies are starting to bloom. They are standing up out of the water. Guess the water tempature is right for them now.  Hopefully, they will be blooming at Milwood also.

There are a lot of owls here at Caddo. (By the way that is pronounced cad doe. I was calling it Caydo until a local told me the pronounciation. ) This area is famous for the Barred Owl...

Well, I have to close this and get busy. Time to wash clothes and start the inside packing so we can get an early start on the road tomorrow.

Remember.... KEEP ON DANCING....

FRIDAY AT CADDO LAKE

Not much is happening so there isn't much to talk about. We haven't gone anywhere so I haven't taken new pictures. Phil has been busy occupying himself with working on the boat motor. He is still waiting on a part that he ordered. He was unhappy with the results of the camera that he has. So, he is getting an early Father's Day present. I went online and found a 16 mega pixel Nikon camera with a 5X zoom for him. It is being shipped to him.

Our next move will be to Milwood Lake above Texarkana, TX.  Got our spot reserved for the Memorial Day weekend. Most everything gets booked up fast for holidays... goes to show we are learning lol.

There is supposed to be over one hundred boy scouts running around the camp this weekend. They booked the tent area. They have to be pretty brave to sleep in a tent at the water's edge here. Phil was told that two houses down there is a ten foot alligator and on the other side of us is another one...

Here are a couple of pictures taken on our "Uncertain" visit. This is the totem pole for the Caddo Lake.  There is the Ivory Billed Woodpecker on top, a Caddo Native American, a catfish, a frog, and an alligator on the pole. Can you spot them all?

Took a picture of a couple of cranes yesterday. The blue gray one is a Great Blue Heron. It is huge. At first I thought I was looking at a sand hill crane because of the size...

Phil said that he saw a beaver up close while he was out in the canoe. It saw him, slapped the water with his tail and was gone.  He also saw the eagle that I've been hearing. We are not far from the State Wildlife area. Yesterday, I watched something really big moving underwater not far from the pier. After hearing about the gators nearby I think that is what I saw moving underwater.

May Angel Wings Surround You and May You Keep On Dancing To The Tune of Life...

UNCERTAIN

We went sight seeing around the lake yesterday. Amazing sights. Caddo is an old natural lake and in places it become a true swamp right down to the alligators. We didn't find any gators to take pictures of tho. We stopped at the state wildlife area and took a picture of the lake there...

The top photo is from Phil's new camera and the photo of Phil using the camera was taken by me. His camera has been just sitting on the shelf for over a year.  The camera he had been using all the time didn't make it through the canoe dunking. But I am happy to report his smartphone was saved and is working fine.  But back to our sight seeing trip. We left the park area and went over to "Uncertain". Everything is uncertain in that town lol...

Uncertain is an quaint old fishing village that has turned to tourist for survival and is doing a pretty good job of it. It is a cute little town and I enjoyed the inventive ideas they came up with there. Here are a couple of examples...

How to hide a gas tank...

Or maybe you want to hide that old tree stump in the yard. Just turn it into a hobbit house and make sure they get satellite tv to keep them happy...

Seems most everyone in the village had a decoration either in the yard are on the homes themselves. Except for a few that didn't have a yard like this fine looking swamp house out into the lake...

The above house sits across the canal from the Johnson Boat Ramp at Uncertain. It has a big screened in front porch. I can just picture my sister "Shirley" living there, she would love it. I have a few more pictures to share but will save them for tomorrow's blog. Today is wash day so I don't think that I will take pictures.

Today is work day so I will close this and get busy. I would also like to mention something that Phil brought to my attention. When you subscribe to this blog by email you don't get the full look of the website. It is very plain looking. I don't know if I can correct this or not.

May Angel Wings Surround You Always... Keep on dancing through life... PS: Happy Birthday Michel

SUNDAY

Today was a beautiful sunny day but a disappointing one. It was Mother's Day and not a word from my daughter or son. I did get a beautiful card from Phil so Mother's Day wasn't a total loss. Oh well.

Took a walk down to the pier this afternoon and shot a few pictures. Seems today was the day the female red ear slider turtles chose to go up the hill to lay their eggs...

Once again the photo doesn't do the size justice. This was a big turtle. In the photo she is leaning over looking up at me... funny to watch her. The name comes from the red patch of skin around the ear. The slider part of the name comes from their ability to quickly slide off of whatever they are on into the water. As soon as I left her I found another one that was bigger yet. Later I saw two more but didn't take their pictures...

I had a bit of excitement when two river otters came out of the brush to eat at the waters edge. But my excitement quickly faded as I realize they were not otters but were nutria instead. They were not very large as nutria go and I would guess about half grown. For those not familiar with a nutria is a member of the rodent family. It was imported into the U.S. back in the 1930 and 40's.  They were brought in for their fur and soon escaped and now they are a invasive species that can cause a lot of damage to the land. They are host to a parasite that can infect the skin of humans causing dermatitis similar to strongyloidiasis. It is called "nutria itch".  I didn't try to get closer for they can be very aggressive if threatened...

They left the area when Phil put the borrowed canoe into the water.

I chose not to take my camera and go out with him on the canoe.  So I took a couple of pictures of him fishing on the lake..

That was the last I saw of him until a couple hours later when he came home soaking wet. He tipped the canoe and went for a swim. Sure glad I didn't go with my camera. Once he got his phone cleaned and packed in rice to try to save it he went back out fishing. I stayed at home and worked on a logo for the owner of the campgrounds. This what I came up with...

I had the drawing of the bass because I had used it on the steps that Phil uses. It was just a matter of putting the look together. I knew that whatever I designed would have to work for business cards, signs, and for the webpage so the logo had to be simple. That should give them a new look.

Oh my, I just looked at my clock and it is Monday already lol. Only 12:11 Am but the blog will list this as Monday lol. That said I am out of here and off to bed.

May angel wings surround you and you keep on dancing through life with the angels too.....

                   

THE SIMPLE LIFE

Here it is Saturday already.  This little fishing camp isn't busy in the RV part but the boat ramp parking is sure full. Lots of people going fishing today. The park is humming but not buzzing with activity... it's a simple life here and very peaceful. Lots of squirrels here and even they stop and smell the flowers...

Yesterday while taking the girls outside I notice something weird going up the hill. Put the girls inside and grabbed the camera. What I found was one of the biggest turtles I've ever seen...

The pictures don't do the size of it justice. Just as I took the last photo of the turtle Phil drove up. I showed it to him and he said it was a snapping turtle. Most likely a female going to lay her eggs. He warned me to beware of it because it will take a finger off. He then showed me using a stick... it was fast and had the stick crushed in no time. I couldn't believe what I had just seen because it struck out like a snake and grabbed the stick. Had the stick been a finger the turtle would have bitten if off. Needless to say, I left her to her egg laying lol.   

Most excitement I've had here was with the turtle and the community garage sale just down the road from the campgrounds. From that the best buy was a pair of Bose speakers. Someone broke the end of the wire off into the hole and didn't know it was easy to pull the wire end out of the hole.With just a little bit of efford Phil got an excelllent set of Bose speakers for almost nothing. He is one happy camper lol.

The weather hasn't been good enough to go exploring so I don't have a huge amount to talk about. Guess in a way that is a good thing because it makes me stop and see the little things in life.  Such as the little male cardinal that lands on the old wooden post just outside my window.  I think he watches me as much as I watch him. Every time I look over at him he is peeping in at me lol.

Guess while it isn't raining I will take a walk outside. Sure getting tired of looking out windows and peeping around the door...

So I will close this until tomorrow.  I'm out the door to dance with angels.. May Angel Wings Surround You.