CLEAR SPRING, CLEAR LAKE & LAKE MURRAY CAMPGROUNDS - FEB 20-MAR 13, 2025

CLEAR SPRING - TEXARKANA, TX; CLEAR LAKE - PRINCETON, TX & LAKE MURRAY CAMPGROUND - ARDMORE, OK

Between Feb. 20 and March 13 we traveled to Texarkana & Princeton Texas, and to  Ardmore, Oklahoma.  

In Texarkana we stayed at Clear Spring Campground which is at Wright Patman Lake.  The park is beautiful.  Our site has a great view of the lake.  While in Texarkana we went to  Spring Lake Park.  There is a lovely lake to walk around and there are many ducks, geese & swans roaming about.  The park has playgrounds, a fenced dog park, and acres of wooded areas with picnic tables.

We drove into downtown and saw the US Post office that sides on the border between Texas and Arkansas, walked around downtown and took pictures of multiple murals that adorn the sides of so many buildings.  Drove by the Ace of Clubs house, which is built in the shape of the Ace of Clubs. It is currently closed for renovation.  We then hit Pecan Point Gastro Pub & Brewery.  Dogs are allowed. in their Tap Room.  The people there were so friendly and the food was delicious and their beers were top notch!  The rest of our time at Clear Spring was just enjoying the warmer weather, the scenery and our time together.

Feb. 27 we left Clear Spring CG and spent the night in Cracker Barrel parking lot.  In case you don't know, Cracker Barrels allow RVs to park overnight in their parking lots and its an easy way for us to stay for a night and continue traveling the next day, they just ask that you spend some money at their store or restaurant.  We usually will get dinner, and coffee in the morning.  We arrived at Clear Lake CG in Princeton on Friday.  The CG needs major road improvements, as the asphalt is crumbling in places and is not fun to drive on, or to set up a 40ft motorhome on their pads, but we managed.  The view was outstanding.  We could watch the sun rise and set right from our site.  Just gorgeous.  

PERILS - Some of the perils of our time at Clear Lake.  We got a flat tire on our Equinox and had to drive into town to get a tire repair kit.  Luckily that did the trick.  Pretty sure the 2 nails we picked up were probably on the way into the CG and their awful roads.  By Sunday, the winds had pick up and we were experiencing wind speeds of 30-40 mph.  Not fun in a motorhome.  By evening the rains came along with thunder & lightning.  The weather continued to be awful on Monday for sight-seeing and our plans had to be cancelled.  Steve did go down the road to a bakery to get some donuts for Fat Tuesday - mind you, they did not have authentic paçzki (and had no idea what they were) we did get filled donuts to celebrate.  We decided to go into McKinney and possibly Dallas over the next couple of days..

TERROR ARRIVES - Overnight the winds kicked up to 40-50 mph with gusts around 70+.  Sir Didymus was rocking and shaking and we were very concerned.  We moved into the living room and pulled out the jackknife sofa as we weren't able to sleep in our bed due to the noise.  We were awakened by lightening and thunder and winds so loud it sounded like a freight train moving through.  We truly thought we were in the middle of a tornado.  We went down onto the floor and held each other and tried to keep the dogs calm.  We just prayed to "keep us safe."  When it was over, I was in shock, I really thought we were going to die.  One of the smaller travel trailers at the campground actually flipped over completely, on to its roof and back on to its wheels.  The owners were shocked up but not badly injured.  However, their travel trailer will probably be a total loss.  They don't know if they'll replace it.  Later we found that there were straight-line winds that came through.  Areas of Dallas/Fort Worth, McKinney & Princeton were without power with downed lines & trees.  Luckily our motorhome did not sustain any damage.  

By Wednesday the winds and slowed and we had sunshine.  We decided to drive into McKinney to see if anything was open.  We walked around their adorable downtown.  So many shops and restaurants.  Dogs can be on restaurant patios, but it was so cool and a bit windy that patios were closed.  The best part about McKinney is that we ran into two mounted policemen.  My grandpa, Thomas Ellis, served on the Cleveland Police Mounted Unit.  Anytime I see mounted police, I feel. compelled to stop.  They were so nice and kind and thanked me for stopping to tell them about Grandpa.

Thursday was our travel day and we left Clear Lake CG.  We arrived at Lake Murray State Park-Marietta Landing late afternoon.  The sites here are so nice, paved with concrete, and the CG is very clean and well cared for.

We drove into Ardmore, OK and went to Ardmore Regional Park and took ourselves and the dogs around their walking path.  On our way back to Lake Murray we stopped at a taco truck "Taqueria La Herrandura."  I really wanted some authentic Mexican food.  They did not disappoint.  We got beef & chicken tacos, beans, elote salad (Mexican Street Corn - grilled corn, Cotija cheese, spices and cilantro), and Horchata.  We drove through the park on our way back.  There are many areas in the park to camp, hike, boat, etc.  We were actually able to have a campfire as the winds had finally died down.

Another rainy day on Saturday, so it was an inside day.  While driving through the park yesterday we noticed these balls of leaves hanging off of trees.  The trees have not yet started to sprout their leaves, so seeing these green balls was interesting.  I had to look up what they could be - lo and behold - Mistletoe!  I never would have thought that mistletoe would be found in Oklahoma!  Who knew?

VACCINATIONS - The measles are breaking out all over Texas and New Mexico.  We scheduled MMR shots and got that taken care of.  We don't want to risk getting the measles and/or getting sick.

We were able to do some walking/hiking at Lake Murray - new hit the Elephant Rock trail and while getting there saw a roadrunner cross the road.  That is the first time Steve or I have seen a roadrunner.  We also walked the Buzzard's Roost trail, which was a clear cut path up and down and around rocks.  It was a good workout for all of us.  

Overall, we had some enjoyable days with some weather related situations that opened our eyes and were learning experiences.  We now close our slides anytime the winds start to kick up, look for storm shelters wherever we are staying and have several weather Apps on our phones to stay up to date on weather conditions.

Until next time, 

Tally Ho

Patty