Teacher Carl 5/29/22 Teacher Carl 5/29/22

Wright Patman Lake, Texas, summer vacation 2022

So this year for summer vacation, we went to Clear Springs campground on Wright Patman Lake in Texas. It was an easy two hours drive. Because this was early summer, and in Texas, there was the possibility of it being a little on the hot side, so I got a campsite with electricity to have a fan in the tent.

It turned out to be wonderful weather, even though it did rain the second day, the temperatures weren't much above 90F/30C during the day, and about half that at night.

We only explored the campground a little before and after the rain, but we went hiking at Atlanta State Park across the lake on the third day.

On the forth day, after returning to camp from taking a shower, we discovered that the wind had some fun with our gazebo. There were several tears in it, so I have already ordered a replacement.

We always try to have a big campfire our last night camping, and this one was perfect with the sunsetting behind the trees on the other side of the lake.

I always say that a camping trip isn't memorable without a problem to laugh about in the future, and this time, not only did the wind damage our gazebo, but we had a tire blowout on the trailer on the way home. I heard a roaring noise over the music playing in the car and the air conditioner, so as soon as I pulled off the road as soon as I had a place to do so. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was an easy fix, since we had a spare tire for the trailer. Destiny learned how to change a tire. Now I just need to buy a new tire.

Teacher Carl 8/9/21 Teacher Carl 8/9/21

Clingmans Dome, North Carolina

Another place we went to was called, 'Clingmans Dome'. This is the second highest elevation in the eastern half of the United States. Our home town, Camden, Arkansas, is at 200 feet above sea level. Our campsite in the Great Smokey Mountains, is at 2,100 feet above sea level. Clingmans Dome is at 6,900 feet above sea level. Most the elevation change can be done be car, leaving only about a half mile hike to the overlook. The hike is paved, but fairly steep. I started out, but realized quickly that I wasn't going to make it, so Destiny went to the top. Unfortunately, she deleted the pictures she took at the top.

While she was hiking to the top to take pictures, all the tourist at the parking area were treated to a visit by a black bear. Black bears are extremely common in the Great Smoky Mountains, and most tourist hope to see at least one on their visit.

The biggest problem with bears, isn't bears at all; it's the visitors. Visitors leave food or trash out, which the bears smell. That by itself still isn't much of a problem, except that when bears get used to human food, or even human trash, they continue to come around. And then when people get too close to the bears, or try to make them go away, this leads to either people getting hurt, or the bears having to be moved to a different location they aren't familiar with, which can lead to the bears dying. In the worst case, bears attack people because the bears are scared, and then the bears are destroyed.

Teacher Carl 5/31/21 Teacher Carl 5/31/21

Ha Ha Tonka

Ha Ha Tonka is an Osage Indian name for a region of rugged scenic beauty in the Missouri Ozarks and the site of a European-style mansion known as Ha Ha Tonka Castle.

In 1905, a self-made, prominent Kansas City businessman, Robert McClure Snyder, began construction of his dream home atop a 250-foot cliff overlooking Big Spring, a natural spring in the south-central Missouri Ozarks, just outside of Camdenton. This region is known as Ha Ha Tonka, or Hahatonka, and is most often translated as the “Land of the Laughing Water” because of the sound the water makes at the base of the cliff.

This is the view of the water tower as seen from the visitors parking lot at Ha Ha Tonka State Park.

Natural spring water would be pumped up to the water tower, where it was stored, and then gravity fed to the castle. A family would live in the lower half of the tower.

These two structures were either side of the stable gate house.

All of the stone used for construction came from a rock quarry at the base of the hill from where the castle.

One year after Robert McClure Snyder, Sr. started building the castle, he was killed in a car accident, but his family completed the castle, which was later destroyed by fire.

One of the hikes we took at Ha Ha Tonka, was to see the Natural Bridge.

This was the post office for Ha Ha Tonka.

This is an old millstone left from a mill that operated using the natural spring water.

A beautiful trail hike to see the origin of the natural spring water source for Ha Ha Tonka.

Do you see the water snake?

The old electric pump used to pump the natural spring water to the water tower at Ha Ha Tonka.

These steps led to a parking area at the top of the natural spring cliff. This is an alternate route to visit the spring. We choose the lower, and easier path without steps.

Teacher Carl 10/21/20 Teacher Carl 10/21/20

Ozark - St. Francis National Forest and Camp Ozone.

It was an overcast day for our drive through the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest. I don't think the weather had been cool enough to allow for the tree's leaves to change colors. We couldn't really see much anyway, because the clouds in the mountains were at ground level.

We did find a very nice, and historical place for a hike at the Ozone Recreation Area.

This area was once called Camp Halsey, also known as Camp Ozone. It was part of the Civil Conservation Corps.

The buildings are no longer present, but some of the foundations still remain, along with a path, and several storyboards to inform visitors of this place's history.