Camping at Navarro Mills Lake

Next we moved to a Corp of Engineers campground on Navarro Mills Lake, located between Waco and Corsicana, Texas. The lake itself is about 5000 acres and only reaches a depth of 49 feet at its deepest point. There’s good white bass, crappie, and channel catfish fishing, and this seemed to be the main attraction at the lake. In fact, a new Navarro Mills Lake catfish record was made a week before we got there, of nearly 70 pounds!

The campground is spread out along a big part of the southern shore and has a marina, store, playground, and lots of big shady campsites. Although it’d be a shorter walk to the lake from some of the other sites, we preferred one up near the woods with big oak trees all around it – and it was still well within walking distance of the lake. Our paved site was fairly level with a concrete picnic table under a large covered shelter, and was also totally shaded.

The kayaking was great, and we went a few times during our stay! We just carried them down to the closest cove to our site, although there are a couple boat ramps available. Towards the west end of the lake there are several large trees still standing in the water, which were fun to kayak around. The big peninsula that the marina sits on really blocks some of the winds and waves, and helps keep the water calm on the east side of it. Although, personally, I enjoyed kayaking in the waves!



Along the lake there were HUGE fields of blue
bonnets! They were plenty deep enough for
Tytus to sit down and be completely hidden... 



We also had fun doing a lot of bike riding around the camp. There are lots of little roads that wind through and around the campground, marina, and dam. Near the dam, there’s a really cool rock ledge along the lake that we rode to a few times. It’s probably about 10 feet tall, but one day when the wind picked up, the waves were crashing into the ledge so hard that they were splashing up over the top and getting us wet!

The playground was on the other end of the camp, but well within bike riding distance, so we also rode there several times and let the kids play.

We had a great time at the Navarro Mills Reservoir, and it’s definitely somewhere I’d recommend to anyone going to that area!

Dublin Dr. Pepper and Camping at Proctor Lake

After leaving San Angelo we headed west, on to a Corp of Engineers campground nestled in the trees along Proctor Lake, near Dublin, Texas. It seems everywhere we go is amazing and unique – but this place was especially so! From the moment we got there, we knew it was going to be perfect. The campground is spread out along the east shore of the lake, and most of the sites are near to being right on the water. Our site was asphalt and almost level, along with being wide and having a nice picnic pavilion all our own.


The kayaking was wonderful, because we could just walk down the bank and start paddling! We went out on several trips around the lake, and down to the playground, as well as just playing around in the cove. One windy evening, I decided to break out our big beach umbrella to use as a kayak sail. I’ve done it once before, at the beach in Florida – but that was with a steady wind. This wind would die down for several minutes, and then gust suddenly. At first, the wind almost pulled me over into the water! I had to practice holding it different ways, but by the time I was done I was convinced that a paddle is still the way to go.



Dad, Uncle Larry, Aunt Judy, and I sitting at our campsite
overlooking Proctor Lake.

 My aunt and uncle live near the campground, so it was great getting to see them! They came over for dinner a couple times, and we went to their house for dinner and a birthday party for my aunt. My uncle showed us his big deer racks, and told stories of the wild hogs that live around there. It was a lot of fun, and I look forward to seeing them again when we go back there!

Near Proctor Lake is a little town named Dublin – named after the capitol of Ireland. And this town doesn’t just have an Irish name - many of the stores are “Irish”, along with the road names, decorations around town, and their events during the year. We happened to be there during the big St. Patrick’s Day celebration, and this was the perfect place to celebrate it. The whole town was lined up along the roads or out on the street participating in a HUGE parade that lasted for 30+ minutes. There were lots of tractors, old trucks, horses, and ATVs in the parade, and plenty of candy for the kids to pick up!



Here are some Texan "Irishmen" competing in the Highland
Games during the Saint Patrick's Day celebration.
Here they're during rock hurling...

 There are two free museums in Dublin – a rodeo museum, and a Dublin historical museum. Both had very friendly people working in them, who took the time to walk around with us and tell us things that the little signs never would’ve. We ended up going to each of the museums twice, because we all enjoyed them so much!

Probably the most famous landmark around is the Dublin Dr. Pepper factory, right in the middle of town. They are the only company that still makes Dr. Pepper from the original formula, and there sure is a difference. I don’t even like soda, but this stuff was really good! After we paid a small fee, we were given a very interesting tour of the Dr. Pepper plant.

Here are hundreds of old Dr. Pepper bottles that have been
refilled by the factory in Dublin.

The main feature of the factory is the huge machine right in the middle that cleans the bottles, fills them with Dr. Pepper, and sends them into another room to be inspected and packaged up for sale. Once the factory part of the tour was done, we went into the little Dr. Pepper museum, which gives a history of its founder (who drank seven Dr. Peppers per day), and has lots of old advertisements and bottles from Dr. Pepper’s early days. In the museum we found out who Dr. Pepper is actually named after! His name was Dr. Pepper, and he was going to be the future father-in-law of the man who invented the soda. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out with that girl or her father, but he had already gone too far to change the name of it. So, Dr. Pepper soda is named after the man that wouldn’t let the inventor of it marry his daughter. Talk about awkward! And the real Pepper family has no rights whatsoever to the Dr. Pepper company...

Check back soon – we’re on the road heading east!

ATVing, Kayaking, and Ghost Towns In San Angelo

Located in west-central Texas, San Angelo is the next place we parked our home for a while. It had been about 18 years since any of us had been there, and we all looked forward to seeing the town where so many stories we’ve heard had taken place!

Mom and Dad decided to stay at the Spring Creek Marina campground, which ended up being a great place to camp for a month. The sites were nice and level – a relief for Dad and I, who have to level the camper ourselves if our site is not. We were within a couple hundred feet of the lake’s edge – and could just grab the kayaks, walk over, and go. Where the campground is, the lake narrows down into about the width of a river and boats are restricted to idling only, so this was great for kayaking.

My Great Great Aunt Fran, Great Great Uncle Jack, and Great Grandmother Martha were all there during our stay – so obviously we were around a lot of “great” people! It’d been 9 years since we’d seen my aunt or uncle, and 2 years since we’d seen my grandma at her house in Florida…

While we were there I found out about the Twin Buttes Off-Road Area. Of course, it didn’t take Mom, Dad, and I long to get a day planned to go out there, and the next Saturday that’s exactly where we went! We all had a blast out there, and it turned out to be a great riding area. You can read ALL about our day there on ATV Magazine’s blog by clicking HERE. I also compiled some of the video and pictures we took into a 5 ½ minute short-film that’s on ATV Magazine’s website. There’s some awesome footage in it from the ground, and from our new GoPro Hero helmet camera – so check it out by clicking HERE! (I’ve been writing for ATVMagBlog for over a year, so check out some of my articles while you’re there, along with all the awesome articles posted by ATV Magazine’s other bloggers.)

One day we decided to drive out to the old towns where my grandparents grew up – Texon and Santa Rita. They’ve been deserted for a long time, and it’s amazing to see that where thousands of people once lived with their stores, houses, and roads it’s now almost completely grown over. Surprisingly, though, there is still a lot of small debris left out there for the exploring types like us to go find. I personally found an old toy gun, a model airplane, a Coco-Cola bottle, a Pepsi Bottle, and some pieces of porcelain. My grandma came with us and showed us where their house used to be, and took us up to the foundation of their old swimming pool. Then we drove over to the only building still standing in either ghost town – the Boy Scout’s cabin. My grandpa actually helped build it when he was in Scouts as a boy, which made it all the more amazing to see!

We went kayaking several times during out stay, and had a blast every time! The river doesn’t really seem like it has any current (because we were right where it dumps into the lake), so it’s definitely not the place for an extreme whitewater rafter or anything. (ha ha) But for us, it was perfect – the little kids could fish off the shore while some of us kayaked around the bay.

We had lots more fun and adventures in San Angelo, but once again, time and space has limited me. Check back again soon – more fun is waiting just down the road!


I highly recommend the GoPro HD Hero for anyone who enjoys hiking, camping, biking, off-roading, boating, or almost any other outdoor activity! It takes great quality video and pictures, while being simple and easy to use out in the wild. And there are plenty of different mounts to choose from for your helmet, handlebars, car dashboard, etc.! This camera makes it easy to capture and share those awesome moments with friends and family, or to review the adventure yourself later - whether scuba diving, rally racing, ATVing, skateboarding, skiing, flying, skating, or whatever you love to do!

Uncle Max's Hospitality

Grandma's house. That statement probably makes you think of apple pie, right? Sure, apple pies are good, but that's not all my grandma makes! We stayed at my Grami and Grandpa Tom's for seven weeks this summer at their house south of Springfield, MO. I joked that she probably made me gain 5 pounds while we were there. She made us all kinds of big breakfasts, lunches, and dinners all the time. One of my favorite breakfasts that is a classic at her house now, is homemade monkey bread.

I almost forgot to mention my Uncle Max. He still lives with my grandma and grandpa, and doesn't like to do anything but eat and sleep. He's kind of plump, and has a little bald spot. Oh, did I mention he's a dog! Yeah, maybe I should've mentioned that first. Well, anyways, we decided that Max was our uncle a few years ago when we noticed that my grandma was treating him like a son. (ha ha) He was sleeping on the end of their bed, eating left-over pancakes and sausage, and going to Wal-Mart with her. So, my Mom said he was being treated like a son, thus her brother, and our uncle.

I had a few knife orders that I needed to complete while we were there, and I had all the tools that I'd gotten in Arizona at Christmas. Tom was nice enough to let me use one of his three work benches to set my tools up on and make the knives. He does stone work, and makes fire places, fountains, benches, arches, entrances, etc. out of marble or limestone. After getting the blades softened by my knifemaking teacher, Tom McGinnis, I was able to get all the orders completed in time.

We went kayaking on Flat Creek a few times with Tom and his fishing buddies, while we were there, too. We cooked out and stopped at some awesome swimming holes. It was a lot of fun every time and we saw a lot of really cool stuff and had a great time. We also went kayaking and swimming on Table Rock Lake a few times with my cousins Cole and Ella. It was so hot while we were there that it was nice having the lake and river close by.

My other cousins Juli and Sean came down a couple times while we were there. Sean, my uncle, Cole, Dad, and me threw tomahawks for a few hours one day. Sean ended up being pretty good, even though he'd never done it before. He tried throwing under handed, then double, then under handed double, and he got them all.

My grandma has a golf cart that she got for hauling stuff around the garden and house. It's got flame stickers painted on it and a little bed on the back of it for carrying bags, boxes, or plants. She lets us ride it all around their property. We even made some trails back in the woods for it, so she could get to the big blackberry bushes. My cousin, Cole, and I made a kind of "rally" race course that we'd ride around over and over again 'til we had it down to every bump and curve.

I really enjoyed our time at my grandma, grandpa, and Uncle Max's house. I can't wait to go back really soon!