Swamp People...

Me, Ezra and Luca made a trip to Martin Dies Jr. State Park on B.A. Steinhagen Reservoir. We took the canoe and with the electric trolling motor mounted on the back I gave them some old school training on running a tiller handle motor. I feel sometimes like I was lacking as a parent because when my kids grew up I was pretty well to do, had a big boat with a steering wheel and they grew up driving boats like cars and I never trained them in small motors. They do say you are a better grandparent than parent so I'm making up for it now.     

That minn kota trolling motor pushes a canoe good. It was originally mounted on the first pontoon we owned so it's has a pretty strong thrust. 

I was hopping to see some gators. They are always out when I'm by myself but never with the kids. Ezra said, "too hot for them." 

Dam B was recently drawn down to the dry lake bed for repairs on the dam. A similar operation has begun on Sam Rayburn Reservoir located upstream. It won't be dry but a lot of water was released to fill this lake up and it is full and very pretty with a swampy/Big Thicket/Louisiana vibe. It took over an hour to cruise the Walnut Slough Paddling Trail with the motor and that would have been a pretty good pull with only paddles.

I think left to my own devices I could have caught some fish. Here's Ezra with a nice bass and I got my line broken with a big bass battle at the side of the boat giving the boys a good taste of the man against beast thing. Everyone was much more interested in fishing after seeing that critter.    

This photo reminds me of an old dog I once had. I took him out in a boat be he never knew he was in a boat because he was too busy eating the catfish bait to look up. 

There was one causality on the trip. I dropped the half broken camera I make all my blog photos with in the water. It was submerged less than 20 seconds and I put it to dry in the sun using the 100 degree solar power to do the work. Maybe later today I'll check the results.  

TXDOT is in the early stages of planning for interstate highway expansion that will effect this beautiful park. Infrastructure is important but not at this cost. If you are so inclined leave a comment at the link:

https://txdot.mysocialpinpoint.com/i14systems/map?fbclid=IwAR2AG6QLHyReZXYvH5i_BrnHU30oRZ-u5tx7kpTvDLPxMTKAjyXvPWEWLy4#/