Caddo Lake 2010

I recently wrote a post about our trip to Caddo Lake State Park in the fall (you can see that post here), but well before that trip we went in the summer - when vegetation is thick and green and the air is hot and muggy!  In this post I'll share what we saw in August of 2010.

These lures caught in the tree near the fishing pier were the first things that caught my eye, probably because that's where mine would have wound up!!!

After shooting a few pictures from the pier we walked down along the bank of the river.  It was still early enough to catch the light shining through the trees.

Then we decided to go on a hike. This is how the trail started...

then it became "steep and rugged" (according to the map, that is).  We actually completed the trail when we came back in the fall - that is where we found the beautiful pavilion...wish we had done it this time too! It was pretty warm to walk around in though!

As we were returning to our campsite Rick stopped so we could shoot some pictures of this honeysuckle vine climbing a pine tree.

I walked around the lake a little and this is what I saw along the edges...

and closer to the boat house/canoe rental area.

We stood on the pier to take sunset pictures.  Strangely enough the sky didn't look very pretty, but when I looked at the sunset reflected in the water.... 

We got up early for some sunrise pictures too.  This time the sky cooperated and I was able to get a shot of the sky growing pink through the trees.

Some early morning fishermen out on the water before the sun came over the horizon.

And the first kiss of sunlight!

 And finally the morning light filtering through the Spanish Moss...lovely!

 We had such a great time, and this is such a nice campground we knew we had to come back again!

Sunflowers in Allen!

Last summer we were driving down the highway between McKinney and Allen and Rick noticed the field that was usually colored toast brown with grasses was bright yellow instead.  We decided to investigate, so we turned off to the access road, drove around the side streets and ended up next to this beautiful field that had been planted with sunflowers.  We decided we would come back the next morning and take some pictures.  

Greeting the Sun

Pink skies abound

Don't think I ever looked closely at the back of a sunflower before.

Or ever noticed the different stages of a blossom opening.

I enjoyed the sunflowers and clouds,

row after row of sunflowers,

 and the sun flitering though the petals.

Some fun with Black and White :)

Center and petals,

backs and stems, they were all a feast for the eyes!

The field was absolutely beautiful.

We really enjoyed our time there.  Unfortunately, there were some people that felt they could just walk anywhere, smash the flowers, we even saw some people PICKING BUNCHES TO TAKE HOME!  I couldn't believe it!  They ended up putting up caution tape to try and keep people out, and the police came by several times.  Needless to say - this year the field was back to grasses again.  It was beautiful while it lasted though.

Tuesday at Palo Duro

Tuesday morning we got up before sunrise again - I was excited because we were returning to the spot we'd found the night before to watch the sun come up.  We got there pretty early and got set up and started waiting.  I don't do "waiting" very well, so we started playing with the cameras and I was able to get these shots of Pepaw all ready to shoot pictures for the day!

Not very often I get a shot of him - he's usually right beside me behind his camera!

The sun finally started coming up - it wasn't an amazing sunrise - don't get me wrong, they are all beautiful, but there weren't the really pretty clouds that make some of them really amazing!  I tried some shots that were a little different, but still showed the beautiful morning light.

After watching the morning light we headed back to the campsite.  We wanted to take a look at the map and try to decide where we wanted to go from there.  I took a quick picture of our "home away from home".

We determined that we wanted to take a look on the other side of the park - go to the "old park rd. 5" and see what was around that section of the loop.  We drove over and parked in a turn-out.  We saw this really cool looking cave and decided, once again, to go exploring. Here are some shots from the cave.

 From inside looking back toward the road.

 Trying to get the top of the cave entrance!

 It always makes me sad when I see things like this...I just don't "get it".  Why do people think they need to leave their mark?

 THIS is what the walls should look like!

 My friend was posing for me as we made our way down.

 The climb to the entrance.

What caught our eye from the road and made us curious enough to climb up and take a peek!

We drove a bit farther and noticed some more awesome formations.  We walked over and noticed the moon rising over the formation.  So tickled I was able to get these shots!

We also got a chance to see this amazing formation as well.

A couple of pictures I saw along the trail.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, this crooked tree!

Then we walked a little further and caught the beginning of the evening light.

I did love how the evening sun lit up the yellow leaves in the valley though! We were going to move to another spot, but ended up going into town instead because our car informed us we had low tire pressure on one of the tires...didn't want to be stuck in the morning with a flat tire!!!

Only one more day of camping left!