August 17, 2003 - Nacogdoches, TX - 3 (Family & Lake Swanzey)

It's 102 degrees out there at 1:00 PM, and if we catch on fire, I'll have to think seriously about leaving.  Both air-conditioners are working full time, so we're quite comfortable actually.  Barb is on the phone trying to make some kind of a deal with the campground to keep them from charging our family $4 per head just to come look at the motorhome--that's during the week; it's $5 per head on weekends!  It didn't work--no deals to be made.  New England has some peculiar RV camping rules, one of which is this kind of charge for visitors.  Another one was,  in asking to make a one-month reservation, they wanted a $100 non-refundable deposit.  Needless to say, we didn't make that reservation.  If it wasn't for family, you'd have trouble getting me out here. Yeah, we like the history, and the scenery is great during certain times of the year, but the weather isn't to our liking much of the time, and it really irks us that the campgrounds seem to take advantage of folks.  We have not found these types of "rules" in any other part of the country.  Enough griping, lets get on with more fun things.

Barb's second oldest sister, Connie, had a bunch of land that a developer recently bought from her.  As a result, she's having her new home built on the same site as her old home as part of the new development.  In the meantime, she's living with one of her daughters, so we got to see Connie and a niece and her husband all at the same time.  Doreen, the niece, and her husband Blake, are just finishing their new house too, and it was fun to get the grand tour; they have a beautiful home with a lake in the background.  And then they fed us too--and what a feast it was!  They improved this little drainage ditch and made it pretty with plantings, the bridge, and a small pond.

A frog has taken up residence with some of its friends in the pond, and there's Blake, Doreen, Barb and Connie.  I'm sitting on a fireplace hearth built to sit on.  This home is full of neat little personal touches like that, as you'll see.

There's the hearth I was sitting on, and then in the mostly unfinished upstairs is this little nook.  Or is it a cranny?

What a neat layout in that little nook, eh?  Stuffed rabbits and bears abound.  And the view from upstairs into the living room.

More stuffed friends on the stairs, and then the path to the lake.  

Gorgeous lake, and a family with kayaks was enjoying it along with a couple of boys fishing.  And then one of the natives came slithering by.

The snake was quite a swimmer, and I can't tell you who it was because I'm a west coast guy and this is a New England snake.  But I do know this little guy.  One of the smallest snapping turtles we've seen.  In that same pond in the drainage ditch shared by the frogs.

Back home, I got the call from John and Elaine about the sale of Moby Dick, so I figured I'd better get one more shot in his natural setting, and, of course, the Road Abode with its screen room and nose skirt.  We had both the bicycles and mini-bikes under the nose skirt, but some rain, but mostly heat and hills kept us off the bicycles.  I ran around on the mini-bike a lot when the weather allowed.  Kind of close quarters, but it was quiet for the most part.  The screen room sure was handy, as these people out here grow big bugs and lots of them.

Quite a story about this building.  The original structure was on somebody's property in a nearby town.  Maybe it was Keene, I don't remember for sure.  It was a screen room, and well built, but they didn't need it any more so they donated it to the camp.  It got moved up here, and is being converted to living quarters for campers.  When we started on it, it was sitting on blocks of wood, so we built the supports, some other volunteers had poured footings for them, and we added another 12'X12' to the back.  Our three weeks was up about this point, so the last thing I did here was help put the window in.  

Some shots of the beach, playground, picnic area, and main lodge.  Dining room and offices on the ground floor, sleeping rooms upstairs. Barb did her volunteer work in the office.

Believe it or not, this is the main road around the lake. Runs right through camp, and beyond the camp are lots of private homes.  And then John came along, asked what I was doing, and when I told him I was taking pictures for our website, he said, "Well, how about a picture of John, too."  Sweet soul, happy smile, and king of the "tubers."  Those people who hang onto inner tubes while a boat tries to swing or bounce them off.  Nobody has been able to dump him yet.  He's buddies with Turk and is always after a ride in the Model A.  Been coming to camp here long enough with his mom that all the staff know him and love him.

A view of the condo-type accommodations, and then that little storage shed that Adam did such a wonderful job of building the frame for.