Caddo Lake State Park, Texas

November 16, 2025

We weren't really expecting to experience autumn this year, and as we have learned throughout our lives, it is always better to have low expectations and be pleasantly surprised than to have high expectations and be disappointed. We had received some pleasant yellow pops of color surprises in New Mexico, and we were surprised to experience some additional color here at Caddo Lake State Park in Texas. While Texas is no New England, the warm golden glow of the campground was anything but a disappointment.

But, before we got to the cheery autumnal colors of fall, we had to travel through some less inspiring scenery.

Julie can't think of a photo she has taken that was more featureless than this one. Even the road markings were sparse.

Soon, we had some features to look at--lots of them.

Since Texas is so big, and we were essentially going from the western to the eastern end of the state, we stopped for the night at a little city-operated RV park that had full hookups for $15. Such a deal!

Perfectly adequate for one night

As we neared the eastern region of Texas, we were treated to trees and the occasional hill!

It was so nice to have real trees again!

This was a pretty low-key destination for us. The weather was nice--upper 70s and mostly sunny, and we really enjoyed hanging outside at the campsite. We did go on a bike ride in the surrounding area, and we went into the little historic town of Jefferson. Aside from that, we walked the campground loops and just chilled.

An old resort on the bayou (we are a stone's throw from Louisiana here, otherwise it would be called a "river"). Definitely the off-season.

We discovered that the people here have a unique sense of humor.

If you are confused, this is the church for you! (Full disclosure--the town's name is actually "Uncertain, Texas")

For those who get easily seasick

Caddo Lake Fun fact: Bald cypress trees are one of the few conifers that are deciduous. These specimens are sporting their "fall color".

Yes, we are very close to Louisiana!

This was the "welcome center" for the town of Uncertain. The public restroom was a porta-potty.

Not really sure why this giant soup can was here

Johnson's Ranch is reputedly the oldest inland marina in Texas

The marina

They seem to have all the stuff covered!

This boat's name is "Redneck Raft"

On Friday night, Julie decided to take Rick out for a night on the town for his birthday. The nearest suitable town that had the required amenities was the quaint historic hamlet of Jefferson. We left a little early so that we could walk around a bit and scope things out.

The town was all ready for the Christmas season

The Midnight House was an escape-room establishment. There was nobody there.

We were really tempted by this giant armadillo--and such a deal! Alas, even if we didn't attach the tail, there would be no room in the camper. Rick had suggested we bolt it to the roof, but Julie pointed out that we probably would never be able to go under a bridge ever again. But, how awesome would our camper look!

The historic Jefferson Hotel

This place was pretty empty too

They still have phone booths here???

Not a real phone booth (although we didn't actually check to see if the phone worked). It was a cute info booth with a video narrating the history of the hotel.

"Bicycle Hill", as it is known locally

Well, it was after dark on a Friday night (after 6pm), and we figured we would move on to drinks and then dinner. We checked out a few places, but oddly, they were all DEAD. A couple of people here and there, but it was definitely not the lively scene we had in mind. We weren't looking for particularly raucous or anything, but SEDATE was not exactly our expectation. Figuring it must be the off-season, and the only people left in town were those who worked in the restaurants and bars, (or maybe we were just too early?), we decided on a different plan. We went to the local grocery store, picked up some wine and a frozen pizza, and drove back to our campsite where we had a lovely alfresco dinner on the deck. Oh, the best laid plans of mice and men!

We headed back into Jefferson the next day to go to church and to check out the fun little Museum of Measurement and Time. It was run by an ancient man who with his wife had collected over 500 clocks. They also collected surveying equipment and salt and pepper shakers and other curiosities. All the stuff had been in their house, and it was the dream of this couple to open a museum to share their collection with the public. Sadly, the wife passed away several years ago, but the old gentleman has kept the dream alive. Mr. Ingram greeted us while sitting in a chair, holding one of his treasured clocks. We chatted with him a bit before moving on to explore the museum.

There were tons of salt and pepper shakers, but these in particular caught Julie's eye.

Julie's parents had this clock a long time ago.

Upon leaving the museum, we found Mr. Ingram slumped in his chair with his head in the clock that he was holding. Visions of having to call 911 to report an unconscious upstanding member of the community and to make the case that he was absolutely was not a victim of foul play flashed through Julie's mind. After calling out his name three times (each time progressively louder), the sleeping Mr. Ingram woke up and greeted us one again. We smiled politely and said our good-bye.

This might be our last taste of fall for the year

And that's all for now. Next stop is somewhere in Mississippi or Alabama or someplace like that!

There is a google group email list which can send you an email when there is a new blog post. Instructions for signing up here: Subscribe OR directly join here: Google Group