Shady Lake to the Sabine

Sometimes when we pack an infinite number of activities into a finite space, I get a little lost. Like really, truly lost.

For instance, I know this is Shady Lake. I know that it is peaceful, and restful, and a great place to wake up. I just don't know what state it's in, so I'll probably never find it again.

I did figure out that this was Toledo Bend Lake, and that on the other side of it was Louisiana. I figured that out because of the 17 million pictures I took last week on our expedition, I labeled one folder. One.

I know that Louisiana is on the other side of it because when I asked where Louisiana was, I got that "you're a dumbass" look and someone pointed. Who knew? It's an imaginary line through the lake, not like I could see it!

The lake kind of has an ocean feel to it, right down to the cute boys playing frisbee on the beach. I'm pretty sure I saw these guys loitering around my campground...

It has that same ocean smell. It has sea monsters.

I think this washed up from the Louisiana side...After all the warnings about alligators, I was getting a little jumpy.

Ok, so it's not really bones, but it was pretty fun to tell people it was, especially small children. Kept the beach clear for picture taking.

And pelicans. Pelicans mean ocean, right?

And waves. Which would have made a wonderful sound to fall asleep to if we could have heard it over the insects.

yeah, insects. As dusk fell we started to hear a hum, and thought maybe it was the breeze through the spanish moss in the trees. We don't have spanish moss in my part of the country. It's kind of a romantic looking angiosperm. I thought maybe it made a different sound than wind in the cottonwoods.

But no, it was insects. The mosquitoes were so thick they were flying in formation. It spelled out 'Blood Bank'. Then there were these mayfly looking things. They flew up your nose, in your ears, surrounded the van so you couldn't open the doors, and if you had a light on in your tent, it was like being in an Oklahoma hail storm. That was not romantic at all.

But after dousing the light, the maelstrom ceased, and we drifted off to the humming in the trees, to the tune of Louisiana Saturday Night.

          Happy Trails, and may all your adventures be hum-dingers!