Camperbug

Wind Warning Today

Toledo Bend Lake is rated one of the top 5 Bass fishing lakes in the country. 65 miles in length with 1200 miles of shoreline, Toledo Bend Lake, or Reservoir as it is technically known, stretches for 65 miles along the southern border between Texas and Louisiana.  Toledo Bend Dam, which created the lake, is the result of the only public water conservation, hydroelectric power, and recreation project to be completed without permanent Federal Government financing.  The dam itself, located on RR 255  near Burkeville, TX and Anacoco, LA, is an amazing sight in its own right, especially when the water is released and power is being generated.

Fishing is not the only attraction for this beautiful area.  On both the Texas and Louisiana shores, recreation opportunities abound.  One of the newer and most attractive spots for campers is South Toledo Bend State Park.

Located in Anacoco, Louisiana, near the southeastern lower edge of the lake, South Toledo Bend State Park sits on several peninsulas that extend out into Toldeo Bend Lake.   Campsites and cabins mostly sit high atop hills, sloping down to beautiful beaches and lake views.

When the park was first opened, we took our granddaughters on an inaugural trip to the lake resort.  Our campsite was wonderful – sitting high on a bluff with a steep, grassy slope with a path that led to the edge of the lake, or at least what USED to be the edge of the lake.  For several hundred feet out, the lakebed lay exposed to the sun and park visitors.  We were surprised to learn that the water level of the reservoir had been lowered by nearly 30 feet for “maintenance.” Treasures abounded.  Bones of small animals that had long since left the earth, shells of little critters, rocks for the rockhound – all lay there for the collecting.  But most amazing was the petrified wood the area is known for. We came home with a collector specimen of petrified palm wood, the state fossil of Louisiana.

But the collection from the exposed lake bottom was not to be the most memorable event of this trip.  Late Saturday afternoon, a gentle wind started blowing off the lake up the hills to the campground area.  As the afternoon moved toward sundown, the wind increased.  We decided to pick up any loose items we had outside.  There was no rain, and there were no clouds.  Still, the wind kept getting stronger and stronger.  The wind was now blowing at a sustained 25-30 miles per hour.  It was strange and frightening, to say the least.  Our granddaughters were huddled in their bunk room, afraid that they would be the stars of the next Wizard of Oz tale.

With the wind howling around us, we decided to bring the awning of our trailer in.  Hmmm….  Should have thought to do that several hours earlier!  As we were undoing the guide ropes that held it tied to the ground, a strong gust of wind caught the awning, and ripped one of the support arms from the trailer wall.  Barely holding onto the other arm, we managed to roll the injured awning up before it flew over the trailer, and left us altogether.  We drove the four hours to our home with the damaged awning tied to the side of the trailer with bungy cords. Even though we worked at repairing it several times,  the connection was never the same.

The moral of this story:  Believe every tale any seasoned RV owner has ever told you about awnings, and err on the side of caution if you even THINK wind might be an issue.

First Time Out

Do you remember your first time with new camping equipment? Whether it was a tent, an RV, or a coach, the first time at anything can leave you with a tale to tell!

For many years, we camped with a tent.  While our tent was a Cadillac of a tent, with the children grown and us looking for more luxurious accommodations, we bought our first RV .  It was a 30 foot bumper pull, a CrossRoads by brand.  It was bought, almost on a whim.  We went to an RV/Outdoor show, thinking we would move up from a tent to a Pop-Up, then saw a really small bumper-pull, then this 30 foot trailer with a queen-size bed for MiMi and PaPa, and bunks for the grandkids.  It happened just that fast. ( Have you been there???)

It was a Friday afternoon in February, with a cold weekend forecast.  We had bought the trailer earlier in the week , and it was ready for us to pick up.  After receiving a brief instructional session from our sales person, we hooked her up and were off!

We showed up at Fountinebleau State Park near Mandeville, Louisiana near sunset, and we had no reservation.  Figuring out that we were totally green at RV camping, the park ranger assigned us to a pull-through site.  Good thing there!  We had come prepared that day with 2 pillows and sheets for the bed.  That was it.

After parking our new trailer in the pull-through site, and spending the rest of the weekend in a trailer that seriously needed leveling, we locked her up and headed into the nearest town for food and a few other supplies.  We got back to the campground well after dark, around 9:30 pm.  The temperature had dropped to around 30 degrees, with a forecast low in the 20’s. To our surprise, our new trailer keys had apparently fallen out of a pocket somewhere in a Home Depot parking lot in the nearby town.

A park ranger would be there until 10 pm, and suggested we call Pop-A-Lock.  He also suggested that, it was his understanding, that many of the keys that accessed the storage compartments for many brands of trailers were generic.  (Did you know that?) If we could find someone in the campground with a trailer similar to ours, their key might open our new palace on wheels.

After knocking on a lot of trailer doors of perfect strangers in the campground, we found someone who had a key he was willing to loan us at the late hour.  The ranger was right!  The key fit a storage compartment on our trailer, that happened to lead into the inside living area, if you lifted up the wood base for a mattress in the bunk area, and crawled up through the small space. I know you can picture it!

Lesson learned:  Keep a spare key to your trailer in your tow vehicle, and a spare key to your tow vehicle in your trailer.  You can’t really function without either.