Joe asked if we wanted to go for a drive last evening and we ended up at Lake Darling. It’s a beautiful state park. They have done some major improvements over the past few years and cement paths are one of them. We had never walked on this one and Drew wanted to walk across the bridge so even though we weren’t really dressed for a hike, or dressed for being out in public!, we went ahead and took off. It was a beautiful evening, the heat and humidity had died down and there were very few people around on a Tuesday evening. Even though we hadn’t planned on going anywhere to begin with and we certainly hadn’t planned on going for a hike, it was just what we needed. Family time outdoors.
My dad grew up in a small town just down the road from Lake Darling. It’s a manmade lake and he remembers when it was made. He talks about going to the dedication ceremony that they had. Mom moved to town when they were in high school and she always tells the story of how when they were dating, after a long hot day of making hay, Dad would come pick her up and they’d head out to the lake to go to the beach so Dad could cool off and clean off! I don’t know that the young kids today will ever understand what it meant to make hay. It was a hot, dirty, itchy, hard job. I can remember trying to help when I was younger but I could never manage to haul those bales around.
I can remember when I was little camping here and swimming at the beach. Then when I got married, we camped here many times with our kids. We’ve met here many times over the years for picnics with family. The last time I saw my Grandpa Houseal alive was at an outing here. There are so many memories associated with this beautiful place.
Now I’m ready for another camping trip to Lake Darling. Hopefully this fall. We’ll bring our bikes and hit those trails and see what more Lake Darling has to offer!