I went on a job about sixty miles east of here, not to long ago and while I was in the area, I found a State Park that I didn't know was there. There was nothing pressing going on with the company last weekend, so I decide to ride over and check it out. Friday about noon I had, had enough of the phone calls and the nit picking bullshit that really should have been handled by the people in the field.
I grabbed an ice chest, and filled it with what beer and cokes I had on hand here at the house. I tossed in fixings for sandwiches and hauled it out to my old Ramcharger. Back in the house, I threw a couple of pairs of levies, a couple of shirts, tee shirts, and socks into a small travel bag.
I slipped on a tee shirt and a pair of shorts and stuffed my feet into an old pair of worn moccasins. I rounded up my digital camera, my laptop, my shaving kit, and my old hiking shoes. With all this and a pillow and a blanket I loaded the truck.
Ten minutes tops and I was on the road with no phone and no one even aware I was gone. I stopped in town long enough to get money, gas and cigarettes and then I was headed east through the rolling hills of central east Texas.
Once out of town, I set the cruise control for the speed limit, rolled down the window and kicked back to enjoy the drive. It was a beautiful spring day, all bright sunshine, and blue skies. The Oaks and other hardwoods were just leafing out and the Dogwoods were in full bloom. All in all, the farther I went, the more relaxed I became.
Just before you get to the Park, there is a wide expanse of water called Towne Lake. It's a mile and a half wide where the highway crosses it and probably four to five miles long. The lake dam and two other lake dams up stream keep a steady water lever on a large swamp where the two rivers come together. The lake is shallow for the most part and cut through by hundreds of deeper channels and old creek beds. Right now the lake is down some four feet, I notice as I drive across it.
The Park is in two sections, one north of the highway, and one south. I turned into the one to the south, as that's where the Park headquarters is located. I stopped to get a map of the Park and to tell them I was going to drive around and look the place over.
As I drove around that section of the Park and its campgrounds, I noted that it was quite deserted for a Friday afternoon and Easter weekend. I stopped occasionally to make notes on the map of good-looking campsites and to take some pictures of the wildlife, squirrels, and deer where everywhere.
At the boat launch I figured out why there were so few people, it was dry. There was no way to launch a boat larger than a canoe or Jon boat.
After I finished my tour of this side, I headed across the highway to the north side of the Park. The Park Ranger at the main gate told me that they were working on the dam and the lake was going to be four to five feet low for the next year, at least.
When I asked him about attendance, he just laughed and replied, "It's going to be one long quiet summer if you want my opinion. Normally ninety percent of our guests are fishermen and their families, with the low level of the lake, they will go somewhere else."
I drove through this section checking the campgrounds and making my notes. This was an even prettier area than the first one had been. There were four trucks with small boat trailers at the launch ramp. It had a little more water than the first but not much. The Park here is divided into five sections by a couple of creeks cutting across the point it's built on.
The last section, out on the end of the point has two dozen screened in cabins, right on the waters edge. That is, when the water was at normal height. I only saw a dozen people in the whole park and they were mostly in the travel trailer area near the entrance.
I had only intended to visit this place and to check it out, before riding on up north to visit some of the Parks and wildlife areas on a more popular lake. After looking this area over, I decided, I might just spend a night or two here in one of the screened in cabins.
I hadn't brought my cooking and supply box, but I did have an air mattress, and the cabin had electric lights and a fire pit outside near the lake. I remembered passing a small convenience store and café at the little town on the far side of the lake. I could get breakfast there in the morning and of course my lifeblood, coffee.
As I drove back to the Park office, I decided to stay in the cabin at the small inner point, where a creek cut through. It was set off to itself and had a great view along the creek and out across the lake toward a series of islands.
I tried to remember what I'd seen of the weather on TV before I left home. I knew it was to be cool at night and moderately warm during the day but I couldn't remember if it was to rain or not. Well, it didn't really matter, I'd be in the cabin, and it should be fairly dry.
I paid for two days and they gave me the key to my weekend getaway home. One thing about it, I wouldn't have to even think about the office and work until Monday. I had noticed several signs about not gathering firewood, so I stopped by one of the Park monitors trailers to buy two big bundles of firewood.
I expected to be met by an older couple or some older retired guy getting away from it all by working in the Park all summer. I was pleasantly surprised when a tall redhead in her mid forties came out to take my money and to help me load the wood. She was pretty, with no makeup on and her hair tied back in a ponytail. With makeup and all the normal female trappings, she would have been gorgeous.
A yellow sleeveless blouse with the tails tied together just below her ribs, showed off her great tan and flat belly. The blouse had only one button, buttoned so it was obvious that she did not have a bra on. With her small breasts, I would have been very surprised if she had worn one.
A pair of dark brown short shorts just accented how long and trim her legs were. As she bent to pick up a stack of wood, I had to smile as the thin shorts she wore pulled up tightly into the crack of her shapely ass. It was obvious that she wore nothing under those shorts.
I had to shake my head sharply to break the spell my mind had spun so quickly. I chuckled as I moved to the wood stack and picked up the other bundle of wood. When I straightened and turned around, I found her standing next to the truck with a grin on her face.
I cocked my head to the side in a questioning look, which made her laugh before she said, "I figured that if you could check out my ass, I could check out yours."
I chuckled and shook my head as I headed for the back of the Ramcharger to load the wood. As I passed her, I said, "Well, yours is beautiful, and being a guy, I find it hard not to look at beautiful things. Of course I've always been an ass man, in more ways than one."
She laughed and then grinned. When I closed the rear hatch and reached for my wallet, she said, "I can't say yours is beautiful but it ain't bad for an old white boy."
"Hey, watch your mouth." I replied with a chuckle. "I'm three quarters Indian and a quarter Irish, so there's no way I'm white."
This made her laugh before she stuck out her hand and said, "Hi, I'm Paula. I'm the peace keeper, official snoop, and supposedly the one to keep everyone safe from themselves and each other."
As I shook her hand I introduced myself, "Well, hello. I'm Randy, but most of my friends call me Rad. I'm a runaway worker, who had to get away from it all, before I went Postal."
We both were grinning like idiots as we shook hands. As she slowly released my hand, she cocked her head over to one side and said, "In that case, I have two reasons to keep and eye on you."
