Saturday 4-17 Laid Back Day

 

Laid back day

We didn't have anything on the agenda today so we hung around the house. The weather was cool with a high of 53 degrees. In the afternoon we had a little rain.

Larry finished a paper crafting project.

We have a cast iron griddle in the Minnie that we have used for many years. I asked Larry if he could clean it up for me. Today he cleaned it up and re-seasoned it via directions from Lodge Cast Iron. To further season it Larry suggested I use it to cook bacon for dinner. The bacon came out delicious.

I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Spider Mini of 5 games. It took me 14 minutes and 54 seconds, which put me in 19th place in my group.

We spent the afternoon reading.

In the evening we watched the movie Fiddler on the Roof. We own the DVD and over the years we have watched it many times. It is about 3 hours long but we really enjoy it. Then I watched three episodes of Star Trek: Voyager. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 5th place in my group.       

Friday 4-16 Making Nectar

 

Wet dreary day

The heavy rain is gone be it was misting all day. It got to 65 degrees. It was cool but not cold.

 

Look at all the rain we had yesterday

Water draining off the neighbor's roof

I started the day out by finishing reading Bluegate Fields by Anne Perry. In the afternoon I started another book by Anne Perry called Cardington Crescent. The books I have been reading are Historic Fiction from the a series about Charlotte and Thomas Pitt. Thomas Pitt is a inspector in the series, Charlotte is his wife who is from high society. She has to adapt to Thomas's way of life, which is looked down on by the high society. She is an outspoken woman and reads newspapers in the 1800s. Thomas talks about his cases with Charlotte and listens to her input if he likes it or not. They are very well written.

        

Reading is fun

Larry did a paper project using the Cameo. It has been over a month since he has done a project because we have been camping.

I did Daily Challenges and the Event: Two Games Tango of 10 games (5 Free Cell and 5 Pyramid). It took me 1 hour, 18 minutes and 13 seconds, which put me in 17th place in my group. 

Larry saw a hummingbird flying around outside our living room window. I hadn't made any nectar for them this year so off to the kitchen I went. Larry went on the internet to get the recipe for making nectar ( 1 cup of water and 1/4 cup of sugar). I boiled 4 cups of water and added 1 cup of sugar. After the sugar was dissolved I let the mixture cool. While the nectar was cooling Larry put some Command strips on the back railing to hold our homemade hummingbird feeders. Once the nectar was cooled off I filled the bowls. I am ready for the hummingbirds to return.

 

Ready for the Hummingbirds

In the evening we continued watching the fourth season of Downton Abbey. Then I watched a couple episodes of the third season of Star Trek: Voyager. While I was watching television I did 27,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group. Then I read.    

Thursday 4-15 Minnie Project and Second Dose

 

Enjoying the rain

A front came in at midnight with rain. When we woke up the rain had stopped but it came back around 4:00 in the afternoon. It rained hard but stopped about a half hour later. A little while later it started to rain again and it stayed around all night. The front kept the temperature at 61 degrees

The construction workers next door have been plugged into our power and when it started raining really hard the breaker tripped, Larry noticed it because a couple of our security cameras are on the same circuit and they went offline. Larry tried to reset the breaker and it kept tripping so he unplugged the construction workers extension cord and he was then able to reset the breaker. When it stopped raining he plugged the extension cord back in and I told the workers they were back in business.

Larry started the day out by replacing the drain valve for the fresh water tank in the Minnie. He also installed new tank level sensors. This took him all morning. 

I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Pyramid Mini of 5 games. It took me 12 minutes and 34 seconds, which put me in 11th place in my group. 

After lunch we went to Baylor Scott and White to get Larry the second dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. They gave him a nice sticker that says he's vaccinated. I'll get mine next week. On the way home we stopped by Walmart and did a little grocery shopping.

When we got home I put the groceries away. 

Larry moved the Minnie to the side of the house and filled the water tank, the new sensors worked perfectly along with the drain valve and there were no leaks. Everything works great. Way to go, Larry!!! While Larry finished up his project I read.

 

 We're so excited

 

We watched more YouTube videos. Then we started to watch the fourth season of Downton Abbey. When Larry went to bed I continued reading. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 5th place in my group.  

 

Wednesday 4-14 Doing This and That

 

What should we do day?

We had another cool overcast day with wind out of the north. It was perfect weather for doing things outside.

Larry started the day out by going to the dentist. While we were on our camping trip Larry cracked a tooth so he called and made an appointment for this morning at 9:00. He left a little early to swing by the UPS Store to pick up our mail, we hadn't done this in over three weeks. The dentist put a temporary crown on the tooth and now has to go back in three weeks for the permanent. While there the dentist put the crown back on another tooth.

 

Dentist visit

While he was gone I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Solitaire World Tour of 30 games. I got stuck on a couple of expert games. It took me 5 hours, 50 minutes and 11 seconds, which put me in 12th place in my group. When I wasn't working on solving the Solitaire games I read.

 

Reading is fun

After lunch Larry went outside and replaced the sprinkler heads on the septic system. There are four of them and while they all still worked the years of sun and weather had deteriorated them. Rather than waiting for one to fail he decided to replace them. He was able to order them from a company out of Houston. 

 

Larry was busy doing this and that

In the evening we continued watching YouTube videos that we follow. We're almost caught up on them. Afterwards I started to watch the third season of Star Trek: Voyager. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 6th place in my group.

 

Relaxing in front of the television

 

 

 

Tuesday 4-13 Still Busy - Cool Overcast Day

 

Super day

We had an overcast cool day with the high at 81 degrees. Super day to do what you want outside.

The neighbor's house is going up very nicely, the crew started around 7:00 and didn't stop until 7:00. They had a long day. At noon a two man team for Encore came and installed the power pole. It was very interesting to watch. They dig a deep hole with a truck mounted auger drill bit. Getting through all the rock slowed it down just a bit but it only took about 15 minutes to dig the hole. Once the hole was deep enough they used the same truck and put a chain on the pole, they lifted the pole and set it in the hole. When the pole was in the hole they removed the chain and clamped it steady with a jaw mounted on the truck boom. Then they mixed a two part expanding solvent and poured the solvent in the hole where the pole was standing. This was amazing because it only took about five minutes to setup. Then they put the dirt in the hole to finish up the job. When the crew left Larry texted the new neighbor and told him he now has a power pole. 

 

  Neighbor's home sides going up

 

Drilling the power pole hole

 

Drilling deeper

Going deeper

 

Look at the dirt that was dug out

 

Lifting the power pole

 

Putting the pole in the hole

 

Mixing the two part solvent together

 

Waiting for the compound to setup

I started the day out by doing the Daily Challenges and the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Klondike and 3 Tri Peaks). It took me 17 minutes and 4 seconds, which put me in 20th place in my group. I finished up doing laundry.

 

Doing laundry

While I was was doing my games Larry worked on the Minnie. The drain valve on the water tank has been leaking, he applied a temporary fix before we went on our trip. He took the valve apart and found that it was worn out. He ordered a new drain valve from Amazon, it should be here Thursday. The water tank level sensors quit while we were on our trip so he ordered new ones, they'll be here tomorrow. 

Since we are going to be keeping the Minnie at the house for a bit we took the motorcycle carrier off of it, we put it on the truck and took it back to storage.

A couple of weeks before leaving on our trip we replaced the mattress in the Minnie and stored the old one on top of the boat. Today Larry took pictures of it and placed an add in the for free section of Craigslist. In a short while he got a text from a lady, she and her husband came by and picked it up. They were very happy about getting the mattress.

 

Old mattress

We read for about an hour.

For dinner I barbecued burgers. 

One of the first things we did when we moved into our first house about 35 years ago was buy Larry a Lazy Boy recliner. He still has that same recliner and loves it. Tonight he was sitting in it and it broke. He thought he might have to breakdown and buy a new one. We carried it to his workroom and he found out he could fix it. A couple of screws he had put in the chair decades ago had broke. He replaced the screws and now he's back in business. 

In the evening we watched YouTube videos.

When Larry went to bed I finished watching the seventh season of The Brokenwood Mysteries. I finished reading Rutland Place and started reading Bluegate Fields by Anne Perry. I ended doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.

         

 

Monday 4-12 Back Home - Busy Day

 

Wildflowers in Texas

We left Lake O' the Pines Corp of Engineers Alley Creek Campground this morning at 8:15 and got home at 2:30. The journey was 249 miles mainly two lane highways through small towns and countryside. When we got to Corsicana we stopped at a nice park to have lunch. Leaving Corsicana we got in a traffic slowdown because there was an accident. 

The drive was beautiful, we saw a lot of wildflowers. When we were near Waco we saw a lot of bluebonnets. We knew this was suppose to be a great year for bluebonnets but they bloom for such a short period of time we thought we might not get to see many of them, fortunately that was not the case.

 

Corsicana Park

When we got home Larry couldn't open the garage doors so we went through the front door. We have been letting the construction workers next door use our power for their tools. They had tripped the breaker in the garage. Larry reset the breaker and the power went on and we could open the garage doors. Meanwhile, our new neighbor, Jason had gone and bought a generator. He was just delivering it when Larry told him the power was on. He was very happy that he could return the generator. Larry also told him we were home for a bit and there were other electrical outlets available and told him where they were.

While Larry was talking to Jason I unloaded the Minnie. When Larry finished talking to the neighbor he helped me where he could. It took us an hour and a half.

 

Unloading the Minnie

 About 35 years ago when we moved into our first house Larry's mother gave us a floor lamp. It was a lamp she had had for about 10 years. Over the years that lamp has moved with us multiple times and probably been used every day we have been home. We have never replaced the lamp shade, as you can probably imagine it is not in the best shape. Off and on over the years Larry has shopped for a shade and had not found a suitable replacement. Back in January he finally found one on Amazon, they showed it as out of stock but he could order it and they would ship it when it became available. Over the next few months he received a couple of emails saying they did not know when it would be available. Not long before we left on our trip they notified him it would be available in May. Well last week they said it shipped and a couple of days later it was sitting on our front porch. Larry texted our neighbor, Thomas and asked if he would be able to help, when we got home it was in our living room waiting for us. The new shade look great and fits perfectly.

 

Old lamp shade

 

New lamp shade

While we were gone the oak trees were shedding their leaves and pollen stuff, it was a mess. When we finished unloading the Minnie Larry blew off the front porch, the walkway, driveway and the rocks. Then he got the lawn mower out to mow the frontyard. Thomas came over and started talking with him. I saw him and the lawn mower so I decided to mow the frontyard. Afterwards I moved to the backyard. I ended up doing the whole backyard. While I was mowing the backyard Larry blew off the back porch, stairs and the rocks. It took us an hour and half to do the yards.

Afterwards it was time for dinner. I made leftovers. In the evening we watched YouTube videos. I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Pyramid and 5 Tri Peaks). It took me 1 hour, 9 minutes and 37 seconds, which put me in 19th place in my group. I did 25,300 steps, which was me daily goal. This put me in 4th place in me group. When Larry went to bed I started to watch the seventh season of The Brokenwood Mysteries, which is a detective series. 

We had a very busy day.  

      

   

Sunday 4-11 Back in Texas - Lake O' The Pines

 

Texas welcome sign

 After 18 outstanding days of camping it was time to head back home. We would have stayed out longer but we have a couple of commitments to attend to, one on Wednesday and another one Thursday. 

We spent two days at Tompkins Bend Campground. We left at 8:30, we weren't in any hurry because we only had 185 miles to go. We could have driven all the way home but we decided to stay one night at Lake O' The Pines Alley Creek Campground.

We mainly traveled on two lanes highways through small towns. The scenery was very pretty. We stopped right before we got to the Texas State Line to have lunch. It was by a railroad track, where we saw a train go by. As I was preparing lunch Larry saw a crop duster spraying the fields. He told me about it so I stopped making lunch to look at it. We watched it for a bit. Everytime it flew over the fields it scared the cattle so they ran away from it. I enjoyed watching the plane but felt sorry for the cattle. 

 

Crop-duster dusting the field

 

Cows grazing in the field the crop-duster was dusting

 After lunch we continued on to Lake O' The Pines. As we were driving the last 70 miles we saw lots of wildflowers along side of the highway. It was a very pretty drive. We arrived at about 1:00. Our site was still occupied but the two gentlemen were getting ready to leave so we parked the Minnie in the site right next to our site. While we waited we walked around, the group area had a big pavilion with tables and a grill and RV sites. It was very nice. Then we walked to one of the two boat ramps. It was busy. When we got back the gentlemen were ready to go and pulled out.

We moved the Minnie to our site for the night. As soon as we moved an RV pulled into the site we had just left, perfect timing. It was a warm 81 degrees so we stayed in the Minnie and read. I also did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Medium Mayhem Mini of 15 games. It took me 53 minutes and 27 seconds, which put me in 15th place in my group. The campground was busy with kids riding bicycles, people walking their dogs, people coming and going to the boat ramp and others enjoying their campsite.

After dinner I walked around the campground for about an hour Larry stayed at home relaxing under the air conditioner. As I began my walk I saw a few deer. I walked around both loops and the two tent loops and down to both the boat ramps. As I walked I said hi to people enjoying their sites. When I got back we continued reading. Then I completed doing 26,000 steps. This put me in 5th place in my group with total of 184,661 steps for the week. 

 

Camping at Lake O' The Pines

Boat ramp in Loop 1

Lake O' The Pines lake

One of the tents sites

The deer I saw while walking

Lake O' The Pines Alley Creek Campground is beautiful with lots of tall pine trees and the lake. It has two RV loops and two tent camping areas. The tent sites are separate from the RV sites and are surrounded by trees and have electric and water. Each RV site has electric, water, picnic table and fire ring. Loop 1 has trees surrounding each site and a one lane boat ramp in a protected cove. Loop 2, where we stayed each site had a concrete pad for your RV but doesn't have as many trees as Loop 1, it has a larger boat ramp with four lanes and plenty of boat trailer parking. This ramp is used most of the time by campers. The lake is beautiful. Both RV loops have sites that backup to the lake, they charge a bit more for them. There are restrooms with showers in each loop. The restrooms are individual rooms with shower, sink and toilet.