DeGray Lake - Vacation Day 1

Well, you know me and I can't summarize our week of vacation in one post so I will give you the synopsis in parts - along with pics of course. Monday, August 6th was the official first day of vacation. We started out early - left our house at 5:30 a.m. (yes, I was awake and fairly agreeable). Kelsie and I promptly went back to sleep which was the arrangement since Wayne was the one that wanted to leave early. Once we woke up for the second time, we stopped for breakfast and gas and found ourselves making it to Degray State Park by around 11:30 a.m. We did all of the necessary things to get checked in and get our boat slip reserved at the marina. While there, we were told that the fishing was good and the thing to fish with was live crickets. So, we proceeded to get our licenses and 100 live crickets in a cylindar container. We headed out on the lake from there - the water was very clear and the lake is quite large. We did some cruising to explore, swimming, tubing and fishing. We borrowed a knee board from a friend for the week so Wayne attempted that and then Kelsie. After a while out on the boat, we decided to get checked into our room - we had a lake view which we were hoping to get. We got ready to eat at the lodge restaurant (pretty good food) and then headed back out for a walk by the water where Kelsie picked up some pretty rocks for her collection and then into the boat for a sunset cruise. The sunset was beautiful and we went into a cove where we saw what we thought was a river otter - it was dusk and we couldn't see perfectly, but we were hoping for that b/c if not, it was a very large snake. We went back to the lodge to get our flashlights and meet the Watson family who was joining us for the week. There was a 9 p.m. night hike with a park ranger. It was fun, just a little one mile trail and she explained various wildlife sounds like owls as well as pointing out several kinds of spiders and such. Of course, after a full day of activity, we were tired so we headed to bed. Ready for the next day of fun - this one went by really fast!

The view from our room window.

One of the coves - beautiful and surrounded by trees.

Kelsie the first day of tubing.

Kelsie about to fall off the tube....the look on her face was so funny.

Wayne showing Kelsie to kneeboard. She did attempt it which we were proud of her for doing that but never was able to pull herself up enough to strap in. She was a good sport and kept trying until she was just worn out and couldn't anymore.

Kelsie fishing off the dock at the marina. The water was so clear we could see the perch biting at her bait. She caught one fish that day.

Wayne getting a cricket to bait Kelsie's hook. YUK
Kelsie picking up some pretty rocks we found for her collection.
Sunset cruise.
Beautiful!