So, in our last blog we talked about our inability to move the travel trailer since last fall due to the incessant rain. Well, we finally got on the road but sometimes there is just no escaping the weather.
For about ten days before we left for Daingerfield State Park, I was keeping an eye on the weather reports. At Ten days out it looked like we would have two days of rain in Daingerfield but those chances began dropping the closer we came to actually going on the trip.
By the time we were approaching our departure date, the chances had dropped to about 50% and that was only for Sunday night. I felt we could live with that. Little did the forecasters know how ugly that storm would really be (not so much for us in Daingerfield, but another bad episode for cities like Plano, Allen, and McKinney). Meanwhile closer to Daingerfield, Sulphur Springs would also take a hit, literally.
When we arrived at Daingerfield State Park, the weather was beautiful. In fact, it seemed to me that maybe the 50% rain prediction would not even happen.
The check in process at the state parks in Texas has changed over the last year and it is much easier now. Anyone who wants to book a site now can easily choose it on line and fill out all the park required information. This really speeds up the check in process.
Daingerfield had some rain the day before we arrived but only enough to make the ground a little soft. We quickly set up the trailer and got everything organized. I had a conversation with an RV’er across from us about the weather and he said “can’t rule out hail”. Of course, lately in North Texas, it seems every storm brings hail. If it’s small hail, that’s of little concern. If it’s big hail, then that is a big concern.
A few hours later while watching TV we started to see the storms taking shape back home. From what the weather forecasters were reporting, this was getting ugly fast.
Tammy looked at her “Future Radar” map, and showed me that we were only going to get a light rain at some point early in the morning. Later, things on her app changed and it the rain was replaced with an uglier strong storm front. We watched the reports come in from Plano and McKinney and knew this storm was similar to the one that totaled the roof on our house in 2015.
Over the course of the next few hours the storms came our way. As they approached Daingerfield they actually split down the middle and went around us. At this point I was pretty sure we would be spared any bad weather that evening. That all changed at 1:00 AM Monday morning.
I had heard the thunder in the distance for quite a while before Hannah started pacing. So I got out of bed and went into the living area and sat down and started watching my radar map. This time, we would not be able to avoid the storm that was heading our way.
So now the question wasn’t “will it hit us”? The question became “What is going to hit us”?
I have to admit that given the way the radar looked I would have expected more lightening and thunder. What followed was a very hard rain and then hail. I’ve never been in a trailer during a hail storm before. It’s really loud! I turned on our outside light and looked at the steps. The larges hail I could see was slightly larger than a pea. So now it was just a matter of hoping the roof on the trailer, and the body of my truck, could take what mother nature had to offer.
By 2: 30 AM it was all over. It was completely quiet with the exception of the occasional pine cone landing on the roof of the Travel Trailer; and the heavy drops falling off the branches some 80 feet overhead.
The next morning came and I knew that taking the dogs outside would be a challenge give the amount of rain that we had received. It was swampy but the area just in front of the trailer proved to be manageable for walking the dogs. The thing that you better be prepared for at Daingerfield is how dark it is. There is no real lighting in the camping area.
Later in the morning I checked the truck and the trailer for hail damage and couldn’t find a thing wrong, we were lucky.
The next two days, things began to dry out and we had a great time. We were even able to take the trail along the lake, which the girls enjoyed. In addition, I got a chance to try out my new LP connection for my Blackstone griddle, and that was a huge success.
One thing that was really strange was how much pollen was in the campground. Everything that was outside, was covered with a fine green film. It was pretty disgusting. As a result, when I got home it took over four hours to clean the travel trailer. I took a good look at the roof again as I washed it and everything looked great; but cleaning all the green film off the vents and sky lights was a pain.
One thing I think Daingerfield needs to address is the large dead trees that seem to be leaning over onto other trees near the campsites. It probably would not take much of a wind to cause a tragedy here. Hopefully they have a plan for dealing with some of these issues, because it is a beautiful place.
We are back on the pad now, and have a trip schedule about 8 weeks from now for Tyler State Park. This will be the first camping trip that we take with our Grandson Trent who is five years old. This should bring back some memories of camping with my son Jeff at that age.
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