We have been working on Janie's Caravel for almost two months, and decided at the last minute to go to the Caddo lake state park rally. We had been told the rally sites were booked up, but we checked and found one site open for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We made it to Caddo state park after about 5 hours on the road, and set up in site 41. The sites are $15 a night for water and electric. This is our first time in Caddo State park. 
So far, it is hot and sticky, and lots of mosquitos. The area is beautiful green with plenty of tall trees, and they have had flooding rains recently. The trees near the river show signs of the river being up about 6 feet higher than it is now. 
We built a fire in the evening, but everyone seemed to avoid it because it was still warm. And sticky. We kept the mosquitos at bay with Off, and enjoyed the evening.
Thursday
After breakfast, John and Susan, drove Mark Probasco, Patti, and myself down river to launch the boat, and got a tour of the swamps in lake Caddo. Strange place with the cypress trees and Spanish moss everywhere.
Every now and then, there is a bit of higher ground with other hardwoods growing. We never saw one of the alligators, but plenty of other wildlife. 
Back at camp, John and I drove to his house, and I got a tour of his place. Beautiful area, and a very creative house centered on an atrium in the middle. Of course, I was just as interested in his barns full of projects and tools. One is filled with vintage Mustangs, Thunderbirds, one model A, and several others he was planning on restoring. Another barn has their 1955 Airstream Overlander. I only thought I had too many projects in the works.
For supper, Shelly made hush puppies to go with Janie's shrimp, and a cherry dump cake to top it all off.
Friday
We woke up to a cool morning, with low humidity, and somehow the place seems much prettier. The whole day was cooler and dryer than the first two days. I hiked in the morning, enjoying the weather and the now prettier surroundings. 
As usual we stuffed ourselves, and sat by the fire visiting. We met several Airstreamers new to our group. 
Seeing the small pavilion built by the ccc in the thirties, I wonder how many people today would accept a backbreaking job for minimum wages. They did amazing work, and most is still usable 80 years later. But, I digress.
Even the mosquitos didn't seem as bad. Shelly got a boat tour of the swamps, and later went to town with Patti, Janie, and Dashelle. John fixed a huge crawfish boil for everyone, and Jim and Debbie fried mushrooms. Saturday
We hitched up the Airstream, and said our goodbyes. The morning was cool again, and great camping weather. We drove to Bossier city, and tried our luck at Diamond Jack's riverboat casino. Our luck held up as usual. The bad luck of course! I am starting to believe we are skilled in the art of donating money. We spent almost two hours in the casino, before driving to White Oak lake state park in southern Arkansas. It was about a three hour drive from Shreveport. The park is very nice and clean, but more reminiscent of an Rv park than a state park. 
The sites are almost side by side, and not our favorite kind of camping. I have seen this state park on the map for twenty years, and always wanted to try it, but it is south of where we always go, so this was a good time to camp here. Now we know. We walked Sadie in the afternoon by the lake, read magazines, and played cards.
Sunday
We headed north toward Little Rock, until we stopped in Gurdon, Ar. We finally got cell phone service, and checked the forecast for the week. It was showing 80 to 90 percent chances of rain for most of the week, and the possibility of severe weather. Neither of us wanted to be stuck in the camper for a week in the rain, so we chose to head home before the storms hit. We stopped in Mansfield on the way home and picked up Makayla to babysit for a few days.
In hindsight, the forecast was wrong, and only rained lightly for an hour or so on Monday. I have got to quit relying on weather forecasts.
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