Shady Lake and Bard Springs

Yesterday was such a beautiful spring day that we decided to go to Shady Lake.  We had just purchased a new Garmin GPS, so we were trying it out. The closest way to Shady Lake is over mountainous unmaintained dirt Forest Service roads.  When our GPS directed us to turn off of the road that we normally travel, we decided to see where it would take us.  It took us on roads that we had never been on before, and many many miles out of our way.  It took us an extra hour to reach Shady Lake, but the drive through the mountains was beautiful.

Shady Lake, is a 25 acre lake with a grassy beach, surrounded by a forest of large pines and hardwoods. The beautiful lake is stocked with largemouth bass, catfish and sunfish and row boats or boats with electric motors are allowed. There is a fishing pier, swim area, and a one half mile interpretive trail.  The recreational area was developed in the late 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The CCC men built the dam across the Saline River, the picnic pavilion complete with benches, ping pong table, and two beautiful stone bridges.  The Shady Lake Recreation Area has a beautiful campground with 66 campsites.

On our way back home, by our normal route not following our GPS, we stopped by Bard Springs.  Bard Springs is a small primitive campground with Adirondack-type shelters in a remote mountain setting on a small scenic stream. The small dam and the buildings were built by the CCC around the same time as Shady Lake.  Because it is so far off of the beaten track and the camping is primitive, there are not many visitors to Bard Springs.

   

On our drive and walks during the day we saw lots of wildflowers.  The redbud and dogwood trees were blooming.  It was an absolutely beautiful spring day.

Spring is my favorite time of the year.  We had a lovely day drinking in the beauty of nature in the Ouachita Mountains.

Mexico Revival

In the fall of 2007 I traveled to the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico with my friends Mike Easton and Tony Murrell.  From October 15 through 20, we held nightly revival meetings in three locations. Mike held meetings in Rio Bravo, mine were in Valle Hermoso, and Tony’s series was in Reynosa. The meetings were coordinated by Nic Garza with help from Pastor Trevino and Pastor Martinez of the East Gulf Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists in Mexico.

I had a wonderful time and met so many great people.  I was truly humbled by the people I met.  In Valle Hermoso the people treated me like royalty and everyone wanted to feed me.  Every night the church was packed even though the temperatures were in the 90's and there was no air conditioning.  I have wanted to return to the area, but there are safety issues.  Someday I hope to return.

Here are some photos that we took on our trip.


LOOKING OVER THE REYNOSA MEETING SITE




TONY VISITING IN NUEVO PROGRESSO




REYNOSA MEETINGS




TONY MIKE AND NIC




RICHIE DELIVERING A FOOD BASKET




VALLE HERMOSO SABBATH SCHOOL




TONY SPEAKING




BAPTISM AT VALLE HERMOSO




NIC AND RICHIE HELP PREPARE FOOD BASKETS




RIO BRAVO MEETINGS




MIKE GIVING OUT FOOD BASKETS




MEETING CONFERENCE PRESIDENT PEREZ




PASTOR MARTINEZ




CHILDRENS MEETINGS IN RIO BRAVO




ISABELL WITH HER NEW BIBLE




TONY VISITING WITH KIDS




MIKE MAKING NEW FRIENDS




BAPTISM AT VALLE HERMOSO




RICHIE AND A FELLOW BODYMAN




YOUTH AT THE VALLE HERMOSO SDA CHURCH




RICHIE PRESENTING YAHAIRA A NEW BIBLE




RICHIE AND NIC PRAYING WITH BAPTISMAL CANDIDATES



RICHIE MIKE AND TONY AT THE VALLE HERMOSO SDA CHURCH




RICHIE FINDS A CAR JUST HIS SIZE




TONY INSPECTS THE FACILITIES




MIKE AND FRIENDS




NUEVO PROGRESSO SABBATH SCHOOL




NUEVO PROGRESSO SDA CHURCH




NIC AND RICHIE EATING BREAKFAST




VALLE HERMOSO MEETINGS




TONY SPEAKING




POWER BREAKFAST




PASTOR TREVINO




RICHIE GIVING AWAY A CD

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