Catching Up

We have been enjoying a simple existence lately without cell phone service or internet connections. After we left Livingston, TX we camped at Lake Tawakoni which is east of Dallas. We had a lovely lakeside campground where we enjoyed bike rides and bird watching. While we were parked at Tawakoni Brian, the kids and I drove into Dallas where we spent a week visiting my mom and little sister, Lindsay (who is now 13). Despite the heat, we all got to spend a fantastic day out on the lake in my mom's boat. We got caught up on all of our shopping in Dallas, and then we finally made it out of Texas to camp at DeGray Lake State Park in Arkansas.

DeGray is about 20 miles south of Hot Springs (which is where Brian and I bought our $8 sterling silver Hopi Indian engagement bands back in 1992...I still wear mine as my wedding ring most of the time). It was fun to revisit the city with the kids. We also visited Diamond Crater state park where we got to play in the dirt digging for diamonds and other gems/minerals. DeGray lake is breathtaking and I highly recommend camping there when passing through Arkansas. After camping in Texas it seemed like we had jumped back in time about a century to be on such a beautiful lake with no houses or businesses surrounding the water. There was a wonderful produce stand just outside of the state park with lots of fresh, local produce. It was incredibly hot while we were in Arkansas, but we finally got a break from the heat as we headed into Tennessee. It rained most of the day as we drove into Tennessee, and the temperature stayed in the low 70's. Currently we are camping about 50 miles east of Memphis. The campground is about 300 acres and we are sharing it with 5-10 other people (depending on whether it is the weekend). We have a swimming pool, pool table, ping pong, mini-golf, tennis court, a small playground, and a pond stocked with very big large mouth bass pretty much all to ourselves. I have found a perfect spot for doing yoga, and the weather has stayed in the 70's to mid 80's during the day and around 60 degrees at night (just cool enough for a campfire and marshmallows with a couple of the other campers). We met a woman who is in a tent with her dog and she is probably between 70 and 80 years old. She camps for part of the year and she has a home in Baja where she stays the rest of the year. My dad said it made him think of what Tricia might be like when she is that age, and he suggested we invite her over for dinner.

After spending the last few years cooped up inside (trying to find relief from our allergies) it is great to be spending the majority of our time outside. We love being lulled to sleep by frogs and bugs, and to wake up with the birds each morning. When we leave here we will stay at a campground near The Farm (which you can check out at thefarm.org), and then we will be heading up to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. We will try to post some pictures while we still have internet access so stay tuned!