Weekend away at Cedar Hill State Park

"Take me away with you--let us hurry!" (Song of Songs 1:4)

A couple of weeks ago we took our RV to Cedar Hill State Park for a few days "away"--it is 12 minutes from home according to Google. But it was still a nice little escape. We left on Friday and came back Monday.

Canoeing on Joe Pool Lake Saturday evening was a high light. The wind was up (12 mph) so it was a little rougher than I like. And there were enough fast-moving boats out to make some significant waves for our little light-weight inflatable canoe. But John wasn't worried so I tried to quiet my fears, relax and enjoy it. I'm glad I did. I didn't think Joe Pool Lake could look so pretty. I have some stunning mental images of it. Since we didn't have our camera you'll have to take my word for it.

We put in near the swimming area a while before sunset. Following the shore line to the left to avoid some of the wind we rounded the bend and paddled toward a little cove beyond the main boat launch area. The cove felt like its own little world. Tall reeds on the left caught the glow from the setting sun. On the right side, deepening shadows sheltered the fishermen standing on the shore. Herons skimmed across the water as they headed toward the reeds to take their places near the fishermen to watch and wait for their dinner. To the left of us a large fish jumped almost all the way out of the water catching the orange glow from the sun.

We headed back toward the swimming area before sunset but paddled around in the water to watch the orange trail on the water as the sun finished setting.

One morning I sat outside before it got too hot, hoping to photograph some birds. I could hear them but they must have thought it was already too hot because they stayed hidden in the trees.

 

A dragon fly came instead. Bird photography requires patience because birds hardly ever hold still. Photographing dragon flies requires patience because they hardly ever move.

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Then when they do fly away they zip away so fast it's like they disappeared. I discovered that if i stayed focused on the same spot it would sometimes come back to nearly the same place. Landing took a fraction longer so I was able to get this photo just before it landed.

A lizard came and joined the fun

Not all the wild life kept their proper distances that weekend, however. On the first or second night, I don't remember which, I woke to discover dozens of ants in my bed. In the morning we found them streaming into the living and kitchen areas and exploring our food! We smashed them like crazy and emptied our food cupboards. John tried spraying insect repellent on them as it is less noxious in such a small space. It killed them on contact--a useful discovery.  Later he also asked the park rangers for what they recommended to use on the outside to keep them out. It was some sort of white powder. He got some from Walmart. I don't remember the name of it. It was also supposed to kill them on contact but I saw ants walk through it without any noticeable problem. Maybe John didn't sprinkle it thickly enough. But we did slow them down so we didn't have quite so many after that. We also put most of our food in the fridge or freezer. I guess I need to get some some more air tight (or should I say ant tight) containers.

Our last night I woke to hear what sounded like possums having a barn dance on our roof. After one particularly loud ker-THUMP, John went outside to investigate. They got away before he could get up on the roof to see what it was.

On our last day I also saw our first cockroach--EEK! I managed to kill it later. At least I hope it was that one!

Sigh. This isn't heaven yet.

I've never seen Joe Pool lake looking this turquoise before.