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Sunday, May 3, 2026

Rayburn Park; Peaceful COE Campground

 Rayburn Park; on the shores of Lake Sam Rayburn which is about an hour or so north of Beaumont, Texas or for my Yankee friends, about 2 hours northeast of Houston, Texas.

I stayed at this campground two years ago when I ran from cold weather and went to Galveston until it passed. I stopped here on my way back to my homebase. I told myself I would return due to the good vibes I had of the campground. That is why I'm here now on day 3 of 3. Moving day is tomorrow. 

I planned to get here on Friday but due to rain in Manfield (homebase) and also here, I delayed arriving until yesterday after the rain front had moved on. I think it was a wise choice and only cost me the price of one day's stay here which is $14.00. 

I conquered some memory demons two years ago while staying here and I guess their relatives got pissed because they started coming out to play a few weeks before I left on this trip. I'm guessing they smelled the rotted corpses of their kinfolk when I pulled into Rayburn Park since they immediately "hauled ass", probably fearful the same thing would happen to them. It is a great, peaceful, good vibe campground with a nice walking area and an excellent view of the lake from Liberty's back window. If you come, bring what supplies you will need for your stay since the nearest big store is at least an hour away. There is a small store/cafe about 10 minutes away though, for emergencies, including cheeseburger emergencies. It is mainly a "kick-back, relax and let things evaporate from you" type of campground. The hosts are nice and keeps the park looking clean and fresh. 

Lake Sam Rayburn was named after Congressman Sam Rayburn who holds the record as the longest serving Speaker of the House with 17 years. He was in Congress for 48 years between 1913 and 1961. He did a lot for Texas and is deserving of the lake being named after him. The lake is the largest man-made lake located totally inside of Texas. The hydroelectric dam is on the other side of the lake and too far from me to travel to see it. There is another COE campground nearer the dam that I may stay at in the future. 

I guess pictures will finish out this post. It's a nice place to start the trip.

My obligatory road picture for "she knows who".

Campsite #41 with Lake Sam Rayburn in the background. There are a couple campsites that would be better suit for hot summer days, but this time of year, this one is good for me.

 

The view out my back window as I'm sitting at my computer desk. 

I liked the reflection in the door. That door has confused a few birds over the years.



Although I don't use picnic tables very often, This is one of the better ones I've seen. You can also see the pride in the concrete work with 45* chamfered edges. Nice and noticeable. 



A decent sunset. I'm standing on the parking lot of the boat. The campground is behind me about 50 yards or so. 

Nice afterglow from the sunset.

This is the graveyard of the previously vanquished memory demons. I had to stop while on my walk to laugh at them. Good vibes everywhere.

This was a unique set-up in the Tent area of the campground. To me, it looked like a truck mounted tree house. The couple who own it were nice people and we visited for a little while. Happy travels to ya'll. I would call ya'll out by name, but I'm terrible at remembering them. Sorry.



This wasn't from this trip. It was taken after my granddaughter's school play a couple of weeks before I left. She did a great job and since it was a musical, she sang a few songs. She has a sweet voice, that she didn't get from me.  That is her in the middle, not on the left. The woman on the left is my X-wife, current friend. 


Moving day is tomorrow and I'll be heading to a National Forest Campground near Livingston, Texas. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.