Caddo Lake

Caddo Lake is an old state park.  A lot of the buildings and rock/stone work was done by the CCC men in the 1930's.

This is the newer entrance sign.  I like the older one better but it is getting hard to read.  The road in this park winds through tall pine and oak trees.  There is a film crew here filming a movie.  Part of the campground is off-limits to camping.  I don't know the name or if there is anyone in the movie I would know.  

 

This is the T.C. Lindsey and Company Old Country Store  It first opened its doors in 1847.  Their hours are erratic so it wasn't open when we drove by.

Uncertain is the actual name of a town.  Carol and I had a good laugh over the name of this church.  I don't know if the name "The church of Uncertain" would draw people to attend.

Usually in Texas the town name also includes the population but Uncertain doesn't.  We couldn't find a post office so I guess it is not large enough to warrant one.  It does have a volunteer fire department.  The town sits on the banks of Caddo Lake and the major business seems to be boat tours of Caddo Lake.

This advertises Johnson's Ranch, a guide service, fishing, gas, boat rentals, bait and pontoon tours.  It has been in Uncertain since 1908 and is the oldest island marina.

This is one of the remaining "getaways" built on an  island in Caddo Lake. A sign nailed to a cypress tree reads, "Dick and Charlie's Tea Room.  House rules:  There ain't none; there never was any; and there ain't gonna be any."  It is said that Dick and Charlie built it to be able to have time away from their wives.  

Some of the waterways took us through narrow channels.

The needles of the cypress tree turns yellow/gold in the fall.  They are late changing but a few are beginning to turn.

We spent over an hour on the tour.  The guide was very knowledgeable. He was a walking encyclopedia on the history of Caddo Lake.  It has changed ownership from Indian tribes, to Spanish explorers who claimed it for their country, to State of Texas and private businesses.

After our boat tour, we went to a federal wildlife refuge.  In 1942 the Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant was built here to manufacture TNT for the war effort.  Above and below pictures show remnants of that TNT plant.

I took this picture for Carol.  He liked the sign that says, "Remembering Billy Carter.  If you are gonna be dumb, you've got to be strong."  The license plate on the old truck says, "Uncertain Texas."  It is advertising Billy Carter's Lake Tours from the Johnson's Ranch.

We made it back to camp around 3 and ate a late lunch before relaxing.  I looked at the weather forecast for tomorrow and, if it is correct, it will be raining when we pack up.  We decided to load the car to at least have that part done.  This is a beautiful campground and if we ever had the time, we wouldn't mind camping here again.  This will be the last public campground we will camp in this trip.  Tomorrow we will be at Hot Springs KOA, Arkansas.  Goodbye Texas!!