Mini-vacation at Lantana Lodge -- Day Three

Somehow we managed to go to bed earlier Saturday and get up later Sunday. Must of been the peace of mind from knowing we didn't have scorpions in our bed -- or we had so much fun Saturday we were really tired.

Breakfast at the restaurant was another stuff yourself affair. Sharon ordered pancakes, and they were huge. So was my omelet. Lots of running in my future.

We decided to forgo another day's sail in favor of hitting the hiking trail. Hikers, cyclists and horses share the trails, with horses always having the right of way. The trail was sanded, in spots heavily so. I took it that was for the horses' benefit, but the heavily sanded spots made for slow going.

We saw more tracks -- criss-crossing lines made by lizard tails, the occasionally thin, slithery track that probably belonged to the slender, green snakes like the one Sharon spotted, possibly a deer track and a rabbit track. Makes you feel like you're in the wilderness.

Riders and mounts take a dip in the lake.

We heard voices ahead and figured we'd have to get out of the way of some horsemen, but we came to a clearing where we could see people riding their horses in the lake. This may be why I'm not such a big fan of lake swimming. 

The morning passed by too quickly, and we had to leave. The lodge was a wonderful place, and I would be happy to come back another time. Rates are reasonable and include your daily fees for the state park units, food at the restaurant was good, and as I mentioned before, the whole atmosphere was peaceful and relaxing. And no, I'm not being paid to puff the place.

We decided to stop off at Cabela's on the way back, having never been to one, and just for fun we fired up the GPS to guide us on the trip. Really, it's a simple hop over to the interstate at Sanger and then a straight shot, with the store plainly visible and signage directing you to the sportsman's amusement park. But Ronnie, as I decided to call the GPS in Sharon's car, took us on the most amazingly tortured route to the interstate. I wonder who programs these things.

I had wondered about bringing the boats but needn't have. Boat trailers and RVs dotted the parking lot. We passed the pond that I assume they use for fishing demonstrations, crossed the bridge and saw a large, yellow, corrugated tube contraption sitting in front of the store -- a storm/survival shelter. And it was on sale! Just $69,999. Shoot, for that price I wanted to buy two, but we don't have a place to store the other one.

You can walk through the shelter. The beds seemed kind of small for adults. I suppose you could put a sleeper sofa in there.

The store is huge. We'll spend a good bit of time wandering about and not see the whole thing. We didn't find what we wanted at the price we wanted to pay, but it was interesting just to see all the stuff.

All good things must come to an end, or so someone said, and we had to return to life as usual. Laundry, grocery shopping, putting everything away, but it was all the more bearable because of the trip to the lake.

Mini-vacation at Lantana Lodge, Day 2

Despite the dire warnings about scorpions in our bed, we passed a restful night and prepared to embark on our adventures for the day.

After breakfast we grabbed cameras and headed out to explore the paths that led to the shore from the lodge. Most of the shoreline was rocky, but one section smoothed out into a kind of beach. We found lots of animal tracks in that section -- from my five minutes of Internet research, I have decided most were probably tracks of a coyote and either a squirrel or a skunk. Some obvious bird tracks appeared as well.

We were interested in the beach area because we'd brought the Hobies and thought we might beach them at lunchtime and walk up to the restaurant. We didn't need to because the lodge had a floating dock around a bend on the other side.

While we were walking back up to our room to change into our boat clothes, I felt something stab my toe. I wear closed-toe sandals, so I was a bit confused as to how a thorn managed to get in there. Back at the room, Sharon pulled what we thought was a thorn from my toe, but I noticed I had another spot just below the thorn site that looked like an ant bite, and my toe hurt a lot more that it does when stabbed by a thorn.

Kayakers cross the lake while we explore the shoreline.

Maybe a scorpion? Who knows. A scorpion sting certainly makes for a better story.

We headed for the lake and decided to sail around an island we'd spotted just east of the lodge. As we drew closer, Sharon noticed tree stumps sticking up from the water. As we passed the edge of the island we saw telephone poles as well as tree limbs. Plans for sailing all the way around were abandoned. It was late enough for lunch, so we headed back in.

We ordered hamburgers for lunch, and they brought us monsters. Big, juicy patties with what appeared to be homemade buns. The meat had to weigh in at a half pound, and the menu indicated you could order a bigger one if you wanted. We made up for it by ordering salads on the side instead of fries. But our diets were blown for the weekend.

Back on the lake the winds had kicked up over the morning but were quite manageable and made for a pleasant afternoon of scudding about the lake. For a change, Sharon fell way off from me. I'm usually chasing her wake.

The lake is large enough that even though plenty of boats were out, we never felt crowded, and by the time the wakes passed us, they weren't the toss-you-about wakes we're used to on smaller lakes. All in all, a pleasant, peaceful day on the water.

In fact, the whole weekend could be described as pleasant and peaceful. Despite the number of guests, including some children, the place seemed quiet. Even the boats didn't seem to make as much noise as at the smaller lakes we usually inhabit. The space seemed to swallow up sound. No push, no hurry. Just relax and enjoy yourself, the area seemed to whisper.

We decided to try out a Mexican food place in Pilot Point that we'd seen driving in and whose telephone book ad promised low-fat, low cholesterol fare. Either they changed their philosophy in the years after that book was published -- it was several years old -- or they lied. Either way, if our diets had been blown before, they certainly were after supper. But it was yummy.

And apparently Ernesto's is the place to come in the area. The parking lot and restaurant were jammed with people.

Back at the lodge, we popped in another movie we'd brought and crashed as soon as it was over. Another grand day.

Mini-vacation at Lantana Lodge, Day 1

Wow. Has it been that long since I've posted anything here? Has it been that long since we've been away and done anything?

Yeah, pretty much. We've visited the kids but not much else. Those trips are enjoyable. Good times visiting and eating good food. We went to Inner Space Caverns with Kevin and Michelle, but I was too lazy to write about it. Oh, and we went camping a couple of times -- also too lazy to write about.

Since then the boats came into our lives, and we've spent nearly every weekend at an area lake learning how to sail them well.

But I decided we needed to get away. Not far away, but away.

While looking for information about nearby lakes and state parks, I found out that Forever Resorts -- the same outfit that operates the Chisos Mountain Lodge in Big Bend National Park -- operates a lodge at Lake Ray Roberts, near Pilot Point, Texas.

I thought we might go the weekend after our anniversary, but Sharon told me we already had plans, so I set us up for the weekend before. The lodge's website informed me that we needed to be there by 8 p.m. or call to find out how to check in late. No problem, I thought. The trip's only about an hour; if we leave by a reasonable time, we should make 8 easily.

Sunset at Lake Ray Roberts, Aug. 10, 2012

We left in what I believed was plenty of time. There I go thinking again.

While we were eating supper somewhere north of Fort Worth, my phone rang. Because it was the general ring, I let it go to voice mail, as most such calls are misdials. I checked in a bit to see if I recognized the number, which I didn't, but I had a message.

The number seemed familiar, so I asked Sharon to give me the number from our reservation confirmation, and behold, the lodge had called. The message was from "Donna," who left me instructions about checking in after hours and suggested I call her back, so I did.

I told her we'd just passed the Texas Motor Speedway, which I guessed was at least halfway there, and as it was just a bit after 7, I thought we'd be there in plenty of time. Unfortunately we'd cranked up the GPS and were following its directions instead of the ones I'd printed off the lodge's website.

The GPS took us to the town square of Pilot Point, after we missed the initial turn it wanted us to make. But the lodge is not located on the town square. Using the printed directions, we were able to arrive just as the woman I assume is Donna was about to put out our key for us to pick up.

She explained that she would check us in, but her husband's birthday was that night, and she needed to scoot home. We could finish our registration in the morning. I teased her about having a bunch of questions but let her go on.

We found our room, unloaded our stuff and grabbed the cameras because the sun was going down, and we figured we could get some nice pics. While we were shooting and wandering the grounds, I looked over the materials we'd been given with our key.

The lodge is part of a state park, the material informed me, and as such was part of a wilderness area. We should, therefore, keep an eye out for critters, especially scorpions. Scorpions can enter your room, and you should be careful to check your bed before retiring for the night. Oh, yay.

We only encountered a cricket in our room, but I may have had an encounter with a scorpion. More on that in the next post.

When dark fell, we went back to the room. I turned on the TV to see what was happening with the Olympics. But for some reason, the one network channel that would not pop up on our TV was the NBC affiliate. So, we watched a movie we'd brought with us. Then Sharon carefully checked the bed for critters, and we called it a night.