The Getaway!

Brian’s mom offered to watch the kids if we wanted to have a little time to ourselves. So we took her up on the offer two weeks ago and took a three night getaway on Caddo lake.

We stayed in a converted caboose – played games, watched movies, ate good food and had wilderness adventures!

Backgammon on the dock

A friendly neighbor.

The highlight (and main activity) of the trip was canoeing through the channels and swamps that make up the huge lake on the border of Texas and Louisiana.

The first day we spent 9 hours paddling through forests of cypress trees.

We found a very cool “tree fort”/abandoned dock. It reminded us of the computer game Myst.

 

Brian brought topo maps and a compass to help us find our way around.

There were also “road signs” to guide you along different channels which could be helpful….if you knew where they were going.

We followed these license plates back to an abandoned dock and boat launch. See the canoe trail winding through the trees? This is not algae but tiny lily pads growing in the shallow water.

 

Here are some more of the plants – some bigger “lily pads” and little flowers too. It was odd, like canoeing on the ground. The water was only a foot or so deep in the “woods” and our canoe was perfect for exploring.

We found many duck blinds – this one being the biggest and best. You could pull your canoe (or boat) all the way inside and then climb up to the blind and hunt ducks….or eat a snack 🙂

   

On the second day we found a beaver lodge and on going closer to inspect it we found it occupied by three beavers! We could see them through the sticks and one by one they slipped out and swam away in perfect view from our boat. Amazing! We also spent a while in a Heron “nursery” watching the parents glide in and out of the trees. I counted at least 6 nests in that area.

It was a beautiful and amazing trip! Many thanks to our sponsors – Nana, Benj. and friends 🙂