Deer Lake Cabins

Date: 12/28-12/30/2018

Place: Deer Lake Cabins – Mt Vernon, TX

Site: The one and ONLY RV site & Wild West Cabin

Met Mimi and Earl in the Costco parking lot to pass off Nolan and Cameron for the drive there, so Megan and Chewy would have more room in the back of our truck. Ashley had an interview in Marshall (which she ended up getting the job!) and was meeting us there later that day.

We vacationed here last year right before Christmas (rented a cute little cabin for the 4 of us) and fell in love! So, we decided to come back just after Christmas this year and invited Mimi, Earl, Ashley & Megan to join us. I discovered last year they had one RV spot that never gets used because they don’t advertise it.

The first turn into the entrance, towing our enormous 41 ft Shasta, was a little hairy, with it’s hair-pin turn back to the right and towering trees on either side of the road. We were just barely able to get in. This set the tone for what was ahead. After seeing our GIANT fifth wheel parked by the office, the maintenance crew asked Kevin to ride with him to navigate the route to the site because they were concerned we might be too big to get back there. Kevin said it was going to be tight, but he thought we’d make it. So, the maintenance crew pulled out their “chain saw on a stick” and lead the way, chopping low hanging limbs from the back of the truck. At times, we literally had INCHES to spare on either side, but finally made it to the entrance of our site. Here laid the next challenge . . . getting it backed into the actual spot. There was a cluster of 3 very unfortunately placed trees right in the WRONG spot, but between chopping down more limbs, 4 people guiding us on either side and Kevin maneuvering this rig like a boss, we got it in there. The irony of the situation was that this was one of the largest, wide open spots we’ve camped in, but was like threading a needle to get to it. I call it the “birth canal”.

Phew, that stress was over and we set up camp (which included a NOT-SO ‘”quick set up” volleyball net that the kids never used one time). Mimi and Earl rented the little cabin right next to our spot called “Wild West” where we made a little path through the trees between the two. The cabin was a 2 bedroom (1 King & 2 double beds), 1 bath, huge front porch, a back porch with beautiful views of the lake – Cute as a button! Nolan and Cameron stayed in the cabin with Mimi and Earl, and Ashley and Megan stayed in the RV with us. Perfect!

We cooked and ate all of our meals at Mimi’s cabin and played Racko, Catch Phrase, 9 square, bracelet making and worked on a puzzle. All of the fun indoor things to do.

They have tons of activities to chose from – Some free and some you pay for. Nolan and Megan did a mountain bike tour (this ended up being free due to 2 broken chains) while Mimi and Earl took a guided hike.

Kevin, Ashley, Cameron and I did the morning “Feed the Animals Tour” – Right up our alley! We met at the barn, filled all of the buckets with each animal’s feed, then hopped in the Gator to feed them all (pigs, sheep, horses, goats and cows). Blue, the resident farm dog led the way – He is the CUTEST thing and was probably one of our favorite parts of the trip (I’ll talk more about him later).

The kids all enjoyed roping lessons and each one of them caught on so fast! Cameron and Nolan tried their hand at this last year too. The instructor is the nicest guy and challenged them to a tournament (1 against 4) and lost, awarding them each a candy bar from the gift shop. Kevin and I watched, trying to stay warm and Chewy got to see his horse pals from last year. Or as we call them “treat dispensers”. Let’s just say that the little green nuggets (AKA manure) are one of his favorite snacks. So gross!!

Another highlight was the 1/2 day ATV rental. We rented 2: a 4 person Gator (2 front facing and 2 rear facing seats) and a 4 person Razor. Soooooo cold but so fun! Chewy rode along for the first part of it and Megan stayed behind because it was too cold. The kids got to drive (which they loved!) and the trails were challenging, full of mud and hills. A couple of times, I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it through some of the rocks and creeks, but we did! The kids ended up hopping out at one point, too scared to ride with Ashley, while she navigated through a particularly challenging part

We loved playing with the goats, miniature horse (Cameron named him “Hot Cocoa Kisses”), sheep (we named him loofa) and the cows. They also had a chicken coupe where we harvested an egg. Not going to feed us all breakfast, but it was fun to get.

This place is just gorgeous and has another smaller “Dream Lake”, sporting a dock with rocking chairs, a fish cleaning station and paddle boats (which we didn’t do this year). We took some nice walks and soaked in the nature.

As mentioned before, Blue, the resident ranch dog, hung out with us a lot. There are signs up at the office and in each cabin explaining who he is, so guests don’t think he’s a stray. He roams the whole ranch and sometimes sleeps in the guest’s cabins, helps out with chores, and makes everyone feel welcome. He even ate breakfast with us on our last morning and loved Rory and Chewy. He’s a very busy boy and what a great life!

Sunday rolled around and it was time to pack up and leave. Poor Kevin had lost sleep all weekend, thinking about how he was going to get our rig out of this place. He drove with the manager on Saturday trying to plan the best route out. Mom, Earl, Ashley and Megan headed out, and we went and found the maintenance guy, that happened to be there on Sunday, to see if he could help. The initial route we had planned out was a “no go” due to an impossible turn back that couldn’t happen. So, the maintenance guy thought he had a plan to get us to the back gate and said the only problem was it might not be tall enough for us to fit through. I’m having images of us getting to that back gate, only to find out we’re too tall and trying to do a 72 point turn to turn around and head out the way we came. Here goes nothing! Nolan was holding tree limbs back as we went, so Shasta wouldn’t get all scraped up. I was running along behind (or let’s say, fast walking), all eyes were on every tree as we only had inches to spare on all sides. We made it to the exit and all crossed our fingers and held our breath as the gates opened and low and behold . . .we fit!!! It was like we won the Super Bowl, whooping and hollering, high fiving and doing happy dances. So stressful but so worth it. Hopefully they’ll get some more trees chopped down for next year, because I don’t think I can talk Kevin into doing that again.