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Last night was very dark and the stars were out. We were able to see the Milky Way. Pretty neat! It would have been a quiet night but the wind picked up and gave us some noise. A bit further down the road was a better campsite so we moved there. It may only be for one night but we will have a more secluded site. The site is almost perfect. There is more room to park the RV and we can extend our slide out. We are parked on a higher ridge overlooking the lake so we have better cell service.  The next day, we headed to town to get fuel and check the other camping area which is near the dam on Lake Meredith. These sites are even better than the ones we are using. There are many more sites, some with power and water, and cell service is good too. We may use these next time, we pass through this way. We ended the day and our stay here with a beautiful sunset.
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Before we packed up to leave Clayton Lake I noticed that a mother Mule Deer and her two fawns were eating just across the road from our site
Boon-docking! We are camping at Lake Meredith. No hookups. We will be using the generator some of the time along with our 12 volt power, propane and onboard water tank. The campsites overlook the lake with fantastic views to the distant horizon in every direction. Very good cell signal and town is close enough for supplies if needed. Our only problem is that the only site left was a long shared pull through.
After setting up, we took a walk around the park and down to a boat ramp on the lake. It was quite an incline walking back up. I ran the generator for 30 minutes to give a boost to the batteries and charge up a few things like phones and laptops.
I was up before sunrise and the rabbits were out eating right outside our door. Later we saw a roadrunner pass through the next rv site up the hill from us. This morning we took a hike around the west end of the lake. Out and back was 2.7 miles. We got some good views of the lake and were able to see the primitive and developed campsites. There is no water or electricity on that side of the park.  After lunch, we took off for town. We needed fuel and wanted to stop off at Clayton’s museum. The cornerstone caught my attention.  Pictures were taken of the town during the Great dust bowl. Amazing and disturbing at the same time.  We love small town museums. They usually have great stories on the history of the town and include exhibits that larger museums would hide behind glass or rope off. We were not disappointed. The two wealthiest families in the town's history had donated many personal items. These include President Lincoln's paperweight, a Salvador Dalí, John Wayne's golf putter, and many pieces of furniture, delicate carvings, and other intriguing items from around the world. The blue in the paintings are actual blue butterfly wings. The two wooden boxes were used by the town operator to send a location number to the fire station. Pretty neat considering the time when it was used. We then walked through the area dedicated to Black Jack Ketchum. The museum is known for having information and photos of Black Jack Ketchum who was hung here for his crimes. He was found guilty of many murders and train robberies. I did not include the most gruesome photos. A mistake was made in the planning for the hanging. If you want to know the details, you may want to google it. The native indian carpets were amazing with bright colors. Our tour guide said they were dated to be over 200 years old. The detail stitching was incredible. Of course, they also have a buffalo skin rug and lots of cowboy items. At the museum, they had information on the Santa Fe Trail. The trail passed right by the State Park. Knowing that thousands of wagons passed right by the area where we had camped and used the creek that feeds the lake for water is thought provoking. All these people traveled west across areas so desolate having to look for water each day. We travel hundreds of miles each day in our journey crossing back and forth from Florida to New Mexico. Settlers in a wagon train did good to travel 20 to 25 miles a day. What courage they had to try to make a better life for themselves and their families. The drive to the park is a pretty one. 
We stayed two days in the State Park. It surrounds a lake formed by a dam built in 1967. The lake was low while we were there. The lake can at full capacity hold of over a billion gallons of water.
When we opened the cabinet this is what we found. If you don't get sound click the speaker in the bottom right corner to unmute the gif.
Our site had a good view of the lake.
Today we decided to walk to the trail of dinosaur tracks that had been found in the park.
Just as we started the walk, Shawna asked if the bird on a pole was eating a fish. It was and as we watched, we could see that it seemed to be a young eagle.
The park is known to have eagles along with many other birds. They also have Mule Deer, Antelope, Coyotes, Badgers, and foxes.There are signs of warning of bear activity on the bear box trash containers.
Trophy Bass! Looks interesting.
The wind was a bit fierce today. As we were crossing the dam, my hat blew off. It was a scramble down the embankment about 50 feet but I got my hat back.
On to the Dino Tracks.
The tracks are well preserved considering they have been exposed for over 37 years.
On our return as we crossed the dam, Shawna noticed two deer on the far end of the dam. Next, we noticed several more at the base of the dam. They all gathered together at the base and walked off into the woods. They did not show any sign of being concerned that we were there, just that we did not get close.
To get a guess of the size of the deer, look at the size compared to the bench in one of the photos. Mule deer are not small deer.
The wind was very strong and we were glad to be down by the lake and not up on the ridge exposed to the full force of up to 40 mph. Oh and the humidity was at 13%. Wow! It was dry.
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August 2024
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