Sunday 2-27 Going Camping

Hi everyone

The rain is gone and the sun is out. It's suppose to be very nice for a bit. It's going to be cold in the morning but get into the high 50s and 60s. So we decided to go camping.

Where are we? How long is the camping trip? We have been wanting to go to Huntsville State Park but we didn't want to drive 150 miles for just a day or two. Yesterday Larry made reservations for four nights at Huntsville State Park. Weekends are out because there are no sites available at most of the state parks. We also need to be back on Friday for an appointment.

This morning after breakfast we went to the storage center and picked up the Minnie. When we got home I loaded the Minnie up. It took an hour because I only had to load up food and a few items. While I loaded up the Minnie Larry did a couple of maintenance items on the Minnie and got the electronic items ready to go. 

Afterwards I vacuumed the house and made lunch. Then I did the little bit of dishes. We were on the road at 11:45. We had to stop and fill the Minnie up with gas. The drive was two lane highways and a few miles on one interstate. We saw ranches with cattle and beautiful pine trees. I slept on and off most of the way to the park.

 We arrived at Huntsville State Park at 3:00 and checked in. The lady who checked us in was very friendly and smiled all the time. Larry didn't have to ask for the hiking trails map or camping areas. She handed all the park information to him. Super customer service.

We have been here years ago, the last time was in December 2008. Huntsville State Park is close to Houston and in the Piney Woods, it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). It is a beautiful park with many miles of hiking trails, a CCC Group Hall, 210-acre Lake Raven and camping areas. We're staying in Raven Hill Camping Area. Our site has electric, water, fire ring, grill, picnic table and a hook to hang your garbage bags or lantern. It has a lot of pine trees. Across from our site is the bathroom and playground. The site isn't level so Larry had to get out the blocks.

Camping at Huntsville State Park

After setting up the Minnie we went for a half hour walk to find the trailhead. It was a pleasant walk. We walked around the tent area, by Lake Raven, around our loop and part of a trail.

When we got back I made pork sausage empanadas. After dinner I walked around to get some of my steps. I walked around for an hour and half. By the end of the night I had 20,500 steps. I didn't get my daily goal but I did 186, 378 steps for the week. This put me in 3rd place in my group. My weekly challenge is 175,000 steps.

A tent site

 

Fishing on Lake Raven

 

A tent site on the shore of Lake Raven

After my walk I baked cookies for our dessert. Then I played my computer games. Before going to bed last night I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges. This evening I did the Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 32 minutes and 24 seconds, which put me in 3rd place in my group. Then I read.    

Saturday 2-26 Dancing with Darren Gallina & Saturday Night Fever

 Overcast Day

We had an overcast day with occasional sprinkles. We stayed indoors trying to keep warm.

I started the day out by playing my Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. Then I played the Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 32 minutes and 46 seconds, which put me in 19th place in my group.

We attended two virtual square dances. First was Darren Gallina's Saturday Mainstream/Plus at 1:00. Darren called by himself so he called two mainstream tips with 18 participants and one plus tip with 19 participants. Darren and Thom had two cameras setup, one was a back camera where the dancers could follow them to get in the right place. Each tip had a pattern song and a singing call song. I attended by myself and had a great time.

Participants in the dance

 

Darren and Thom

 

Second was Don Moger's Weekly Saturday Night Fever at 6:00. Dayle Hodge shares in calling the dance. The format this week was, Dayle called the first two A2 tips, Don called two short A2 tips and three C1 class level tips. Dayle was calling in person so he could only be there for a half hour. During the A2 tips there were 39 participants and the C1 tips had 34 participants. Larry danced with me and we had a super evening of dancing with friends.

We spent most of the day reading. Larry started a project of backing up the books on our Kindle.

After the Saturday Night Fever dance we finished watching Dalgliesh. Then we watched an episode of Death In Paradise. Then I watched Sister Act on Amazon. I liked the movie even after all these years. Then I continued watching the third and final season of Rosemary and Thyme. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 1st place in my group.

Friday 2-25 Just Another Day

 

We had another cold day. It didn't get out of the 30's. 

I did my Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong and the Event: Medium Mayhem of 27 games. It took me 1 hour, 16 minutes and 25 seconds, which put me in 9th place in my group. 

After playing my games I did some housework and laundry.

Doing chores

I started reading Death at La Fenice written by Donna Leon. It's a detective series. I've read other books in this series before and like them. While I read Larry also read.

I attended a virtual square dance. It was Ett McAtee's Weekly A2/C1 at 6:30. She called four A2 tips with 22 participants and one teach C1 tip with 19 participants. I had fun dancing to Ett and friends.

After the dance we watched a couple of episodes of Dalgliesh. Afterwards I watched The Wedding Planner starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey. It was a romantic comedy about a wedding planner who falls in love with the groom. It was a cute movie and I liked it. Then I started watching the third season of Rosemary and Thyme. While watching television I did 28,000 steps, which put me in 1st place in my group.     

Thursday 2-24 Keeping Warm

 

It's cold. It finally got up to 32 degrees at 5:00. We didn't do much but stay inside keeping warm.

Before going to bed last night I did my Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges. In the morning I did the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Free Cell and 5 Pyramid). It took me 55 minutes and 23 seconds, which put me in 22nd place in my group.

We attended one virtual square dance, it was Dayle Hodge's Weekly C1 at 11:00. He called five tips: four tips of two-couple moves with 21 participants and one tip of four-couple moves with 19 participants. Dayle did an excellent job of calling. When dancers were in the wrong place he cued you in the proper place. We had a great time dancing with friends and Dayle.

 

Larry spent most of the day reading and I worked on my annual book.

In the evening we relaxed in front of the television. We watched a movie called An Inspector Calls. It was about a detective inspector who investigates a young woman's suicide. It was very good. Then we started watching a 2021 detective series on Acorn called Dalgliesh. So far it's pretty good. Then we watched an episode of Death In Paradise. I enjoyed the two movies I watched last night. I finished watching the second season of Rosemary and Thyme. It's an ok series about two professional gardeners, who investigate mysterious crimes. This series isn't as good as other detective series I like watching. Then I watched Forrest Gump on Amazon. I've watched it before and thought it was great. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 2nd place

Relaxing in front of the television

 

Wednesday 2-23 Dancing, Crafting & Cold Front

Keeping warm

The cold front is here. Today it didn't get above freezing. It's suppose to be really cold for a few days. 

I started the day off by playing my daily Solitaire games. I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of six games (3 Klondike and 3 Spider). It took me 14 minutes and 14 seconds, which put me in 16th place in my group.  

We attended three virtual square dances. First was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly Plus at 10:00. Di and Terry took turns calling five tips to 22 participants. I attended by myself and had a great time.

Second was Dayle Hodge's Weekly A1/A2 at 11:00. Dayle called 2 two couples A1 and A2 tips with 15 participants and 1 four couples A2 tip with 14 participants. Larry attended the dance with me and we had a super time.

Third was Ett McAtee's Weekly C1 Workshop at 1:00. Ett called five tips with 26 participants. I attended by myself. It was a little difficult dancing by myself but I had fun. 

While I danced Larry finished his paper project of making Spring cards and envelopes.

After Ett's dance I worked on my annual book.

In the evening we finished watching Reacher on Amazon. I watched two movies on Peacock. The first one was Marry Me starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. Marry Me was a romantic comedy about a big music star marrying a math teacher during a concert. Second was Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous starring Sandra Bullock. It was comedy about an FBI agent, who goes undercover to find Miss U.S.A. and the head of the beauty pageant who were kidnapped in Las Vegas. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group. 

Tuesday 2-22 Home Project, Danicng & Crafting

We had a beautiful day. We started with the temperature in the 60's and it got to 78 degrees at noon. We had a lot of sunshine and wind out of the south. After lunch the temperature started to drop by 5:00 it was 58 degrees and the wind was out of the north. 

Larry started the day out by applying pre-emergent on the yards. 

I attended two virtual square dances. First was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly A2 at 10:00. This week Di and Terry called four tips with 21 participants. They took turns calling. They worked on Peel & Trail and Trail Off. Barbara from Germany showed up, she went back to work and had a day off so she decided to dance with us. This was a pleasant surprise. The dance was fun and very enjoyable dancing to Di and Terry and with friends.

Second was Dayle Hodge's Weekly Plus/DBD at 11:00. Dayle called five tips: three tips of two couples Plus with 16 participants, one tip of DBD with 16 participants and one tip of four couples Plus with 14 participants. Dayle did a fantastic job of calling and I had a great time dancing to him and with friends.

I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges before I went to bed. After the dances I did the Event: Solitaire World Tour of 30 games. It took me 3 hours, 51 minutes and 55 seconds, which put me in 12th place in my group.

After playing games I continued working on my annual book.

In the evening we started to watch the first season of Reacher on Amazon. I continued watching the second season of Rosemary and Thyme. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.         

Monday 2-21 Fog, Dance & Crafting

Foggy Morning

When I got up this morning it was foggy. We had a lot of moisture on the porch, sidewalk, driveway and everywhere else. A couple hours later the fog was gone and the clouds were gone. The sun came out and the wind came up. As the day went on the wind got stronger.

Hang on 

This didn't stop me from putting up the bird feeder and out the bowls for the squirrels. The squirrels came and some birds. 

Since I stopped feeding the deer we don't see the deer too much. A couple days last week we saw a big herd of deer between 10 and 12 walk through the backyard. They were doing their rounds. They walk from across the street, through our neighbor's, Jason yard, around the side of the house, through our backyard and through the lots on the other side. We were surprised there was so many deer together. As they walk through they occasionally stop and eat the grass.

At 9:00 we attended Di Green's Weekly C1 Workshop. This week she workshopped Tandem Concept using various calls. She also did Tally Ho, Linear Action and other calls, that were requested by dancers. She had 27 participants. She and Terry dance with their backs to us. This helps me out when I make mistakes and I knew where to go. Di called five tips, Larry danced with me except for the last tip. We had a great time dancing with friends.

I don't say it too often but I really appreciate it when Larry dances with me because he can help me get in the proper place, formation and do the moves correctly.

Get a partner and dance

After the dance I played my games. Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and Event: Tri Peaks Mini of 5 games. It took me 11 minutes and 52 seconds, which put me in 29th place in my group. Then I played Sudoku.

Larry continued working on his card paper project on the Cameo. I worked on my book.

We did a little grocery shopping at Walmart.

In the evening we finished watching Around the World in 80 Days on PBS. Afterwards I finished watching the first season of Rosemary and Thyme and started the second season. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put in 3rd place in my group. We had a great day.

       

Sunday 2-20 Relaxing Sunday

We had a relaxing day.

I started the day out by doing the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and Event: Klondike Adventure of 20 games. It took me 55 minutes and 25 seconds, which put me in 6th place in my group.

Afterwards I worked on my annual book.

While I played games and worked on my book Larry did a paper project.

We watched YouTube videos and an episode of GizWiz.

In the evening we attended Loren Smith's Weekly A2/C1 dance at 7:30. Loren called three tips of A2 with 25 participants, two tips of C1 teach with 24 participants and two tips of C1 with 16 participants. During the C1 teach tips Loren worked on Tally Ho from right handed waves. We had a pleasant evening of dancing with friends.

 

Afterwards we watched an episode of the first season of Death In Paradise. Then I finished watching the 9th season of Father Brown. While watching television I did 27,100 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group for the week with 193,021 steps.  

Relaxing in front of the television

Saturday 2-19 Tee Shirt Painting & Saturday Night Fever

Have fun with friends

We started the day out at 26 degrees and it got up to 55 degrees. It was warmer then yesterday and very little wind.

I started the day out by playing my games. I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: Hard Road Mini of 10 games. It took me 1 hour, 13 minutes and 51 seconds, which put me in 16th in my group.

Last month Ett McAtee setup a Zoom session for dancers to paint the front of our square dance t-shirts. Today she setup another Zoom session to paint the back of the shirt. We logged in at 11:00 to meetup with everyone, there were 18 of us who showed up. It took two hours, not as long as last month because the formations were larger and not as many. We had a fun time.

Ett McAtee

 

The painting party participants

 

 

The back of the shirt before paint applied

The finished product

After the party I worked on my annual book from last year. Larry crafted. He finished making the truck and started a new project. Then we watched YouTube videos and an episode of the GizWiz.

 

Two paper trucks

The new truck

In the evening we attended a virtual square dance. Don Moger decided to start up his Saturday Night Fever dance once again. Don and Dayle Hodge called the dance. They called 3 tips of A2 with 36 participants and 3 tips of C1 Teach Level with 33 participants. Don and Dayle called two tips of each by themselves and the last tip of A2 and C1 together. We had a super time dancing with Don and Dayle calling together and with friends.

After the dance we watched the Olympics. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.

We had a great day.

Friday 2-18 Doctor Appointment

Going to the doctor

I woke up at 6:45 a.m. to get ready for an 8:20 appointment at Salado Baylor Scott & White. We left the house at 7:30. Because it was my first time at the clinic and a new Medicare patient I didn't get my Wellness check-up. They just did a very cursory checkup and asked questions to update my records. Next I had to make another appointment so they can go through Medicare and how it works. After that I can setup a Wellness appointment. A wellness check would have been free but since they are requiring me to go through these other things I had a co-payment of $196.00. What a surprise. I was disappointed because when we made the appointment it was for a wellness visit, they didn't say anything about having to do this other stuff. In preparation for blood work I hadn't eaten since 9:00 last night and they didn't even take my blood. The problem with scheduling and rescheduling appointments is you have to wait two to three months to get in. Good thing I'm not sick.  

When you become a patent at Baylor Scott & White, they set you up with a online chart called My Chart. You can make appointments and track everything they do.

On the way home we stopped by the UPS Store to pickup our mail. Then we swung by Walmart to get a few things. Afterward we went home.

Grocery shopping

After lunch I played my computer games. I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and Event: Pyramid Mini of 5 games. It took me 10 minutes and 18 seconds, which put me in 15th in my group.

While I played games Larry continued working on the truck paper project.

In the evening we attended Ett McAtee's Weekly A2 dance at 6:30. Ett called 4 tips of A2 with 26 participants and 1 tip of C1 teach with 25 participants. During the teach tip Ett went over Scatter Scoot and Scatter Scoot Chain Thru. We had fun dancing with friends and to Ett.

After the dance we watched the Olympics. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 5th place in my group. 

 

 

 

Thursday 2-17 Dancing, Crafting and Olympics

Just having fun

Today started out at the temperature of 64 degrees. In the afternoon it started to drop and by 10:00 pm it was 33 degrees. Besides the temperature dropping we had wind out of north. 

Trying to keep warm

Larry keeps an eye on the weather and the forecast now indicates that over the next week we are going to have some mornings down into the 20's. So we went to the storage center to plug in the Minnie and setup our small heaters. Now, the Minnie is ready for the cold front.

While we were camping our friends James and Jeanne from Sun City called Larry to keep in touch on how we are and what's happening. James mentioned that they bought a new ranch. When we got home Larry made them a congratulations card. It came out cute.

   Jeanne and James card

We attended one virtual square dance. Dayle Hodge's Weekly C1 at 11:00. He called five tips, 4 tips of two couples with 20 participants and 1 tip of four couples with 18 participants. We had a super time dancing to Dayle and with friends.

After the dance Larry started another paper project, he is making the truck he made a couple of weeks ago but in different colors.

I played the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and Event: Spider Adventure of 20 games. It took me 2 hours, 8 minutes and 42 seconds, which put me in 19th place in my group.

In the evening we watched the Olympics. I did 27,500 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group. I have a Wellness appointment at 8:00 in the morning so I ended up going to bed at 11:00 pm instead of 1:30 am. We had a great day. 

Wednesday 2-16 Back to Dancing

Get a partner and dance

It was an overcast day with wind gust up to 30 mph. It sprinkled just enough to dampen the driveway. 

Hold on Tiger

I got up early and made pancakes for breakfast.

Last night before I went to bed I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges. Today before dancing I did the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Pyramid and 5 Tri Peaks). It took me 32 minutes and 23 seconds, which put me in 12th place in my group.

We attended three square dances. First was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly Plus at 10:00. I attended it by myself. They had 22 participants. Di and Terry took turns calling five tips. During the tips Di called she added full square material. It is fun dancing with Di and Terry because they tell you where you should be and cue when necessary. I had a great hour of dancing with friends and to Di and Terry.

Second was Dayle Hodge's Weekly A1/A2 at 11:00. He is now working and sometimes he'll have to shorten his dances because he has meetings scheduled for his job. Today he had to shorten the dance by fifteen minutes but he still called four tips. He called two tips of A1 and two tips of A2 two couples moves with 19 participants. Larry danced with me and we had an outstanding time. We hadn't danced to Dayle in close to two months because we have been going on camping trips. He's a great caller. He knows where the dancers are suppose to be and if he notices you are in the wrong place he will try to help by saying something like you should be facing the kitchen or which wall you should be looking at. 

Third was Ett McAtee's Weekly C1 Workshop at 1:00. Larry danced with me and Ett had 29 participants. This week she worked on Tally Ho in different positions. We had a fun time dancing to Ett and with friends.

In the afternoon I did some Sudoku games.

After dinner we watched the Olympics. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 5th place in my group.

Tuesday 2-15 We're Home

Hold on tight

We got up to 71 degrees with a strong wind out of the south.

We said good-bye to Willis Creek. We had two beautiful days there.

We were home by 10:00. We unloaded the Minnie and after lunch we took her back to storage, we aren't going camping for a week or more. Since our storage is an indoor unit we prefer to park the Minnie there, she is protected from the sun and weather. However she spends many months of the year outside while we are using her.

When we got back from the storage center I played my games. I did the Event: Easy Street of 30 games. It took me 55 minutes and 9 seconds, which put me in 10th place in my group. I also did some of the Mahjong Daily Challenges because while we were camping I forgot to do some of them. Before I go to bed at night I do the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges.

In the afternoon we watched YouTube videos.

We spent the evening watching the Olympics. While watching them I did my steps. I ended up doing 28,000 steps, which put me in 7th place in my group.

We had a very good day.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. Louise e-mailed us and said her dog Alice, knows how to write, she sent her a very cute Valentine. Apparently it was similar to the one below.

Valentine's card from Alice

The mail is taking longer. We use to mail something to Round Rock, Austin or Georgetown and it would arrive in one or two days. Now it might take a week to arrive. However if we send something to Tucson the timing is about the same as always, take about five days. The U.S. Post Office made changes to save money and that has slowed down delivery. 

It's not just the post office, it's also Amazon. Amazon has added more distribution centers in the area so sometimes it will take an extra day for us to receive an order. Some items get shipped south of Austin to Kyle and then it goes to Round Rock and then to us. In the past the items that went to Kyle came directly to us without stopping in Round Rock. Sometimes we still get the item in one day. Yesterday, Larry ordered new sheets for the bed and we received them today. Amazon is still great, they have everything and they deliver to your front door.    

Monday 2-14 Happy Valentine's Day

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!! I hope everyone had a great day. We had a relaxing day. It was windy.

Windy day

It is very hard for Larry to surprise me because we're always together, but he did today. I crawled out of bed and started making pancakes. While I was waiting for the batter to relax I looked on the table and there was an envelope with my name on it. It was a Valentine card that he made for me. What a great surprise. I didn't know he had done this. It was a very cute card and the salutation inside was sweet. Thank you, Larry.

Valentine Card

The envelope

There was no hiking so we walked around the park a few times. Each time it was between an hour and an hour and a half. When we weren't walking we read. I finished reading American by Day written by Derek B. Miller. It was an excellent book. 

Reading is fun

I did my Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: Klondike Mini of 10 games. it took me 19 minutes and 46 seconds, which put me in 15th place in my group. After finishing my book I played some Sudoku games. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group. This is a good start for a new week.

 

Sunday 2-13 Willis Creek Campground

We had a beautiful day. 

I got up earlier than usual, about 7:15. Larry was surprised. He hadn't finished doing his morning routine. On the weekends Larry usually has breakfast ready for me when I get up. I got up too early so I made breakfast. It was easy I heated up the oven and cooked cinnamon french toast sticks. It only takes four minutes on each side to bake them. They taste great.

After breakfast I finished getting the Minnie ready for our two day camping trip. It took only about fifteen minutes. We didn't leave until after lunch because we were only going about 40 miles away. 

After getting the Minnie ready I played my games. I did Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 49 minutes and 12 seconds to complete, which put me in 23rd place in my group. Then I played some Sudoku games.

We were going to go to Huntsville State Park in Texas but we decided to go some place closer because the weather is suppose to be rainy Wednesday and Thursday. Due to the rain we are only going out for two nights. We thought about going to Lake Georgetown but we decided to try someplace we have not been to before. Since we have never camped at Willis Creek we decided to give it a try. 

Granger Lake is a U.S. Corps of Engineer lake with four parks, one is only tent camping. We have stayed at Wilson H. Fox so we decided to stay at Willis Creek. We like to stay at parks that have hiking trails and Willis Creek has equestrian trails. The campground is small and some of the sites overlook the lake. Each site has power and water. There are five equestrian sites with only water and one group site. The restrooms have running water and showers. Granger Lake is known for fishing.

We got to Willis Creek Park about 12:30 and our site was still occupied, checkout time isn't until 2:00 and check-in time is 3:00. The park host told us we could park at the boat ramp until the site become available. Our site was very level so we didn't have to put blocks out. After the Minnie was setup we went for an hour walk. The equestrian trails were located across the street. The equestrian camping area was very nice and had a nice size corral for your horses. There was no shade. The area is gated because there were cattle roaming the area. You had to open the gate and make sure it was closed. Then there was another gate to get to the trails. Before entering there a sign with the trails on it. The sign said you should take a picture because there were no trail map. We walked part of a trail to get a feel for the hiking. The trail wasn't in great shape because cattle had torn it up during the recent rains, they left deep hoof prints and there was a lot of droppings. The trails are manageable but we decided we won't hike them because of the cattle. We weren't sure how friendly they were. After walking about a mile of the trail we went back to the camping area. We have been to a lot of campgrounds with equestrian trails but this is the first one we have encountered that allowed cattle to be grazed on them.

After dinner we walked around the camping area for an hour. We walked to the end of the camping area to a meadow that had a few short trails made by people to get to the lake to fish. We walked a couple of them. We were a little disappointed because people had left their trash. I was going to pick some of it up but there was way too much. While walking by the lake we saw a flashlight hanging from a tree. We checked it out and then put it back in the tree. Then we walked to the boat ramp and the the day area. We thought it was going to have picnic tables and grills but it was actually a group area. It had a picnic shelter, horseshoe pit, volleyball net and restroom. After walking around we went back to the Minnie. 

 

The cove where people fish

Larry went inside and I walked back to the boat ramp to take pictures. While there I talked a gentleman, who had been fishing. Granger Lake is a nice lake but it has a lot of trees and logs floating in it. It looked like it was full. After taking pictures I went home.

Granger Lake

Group picnic shelter

By the end of the day I did 22,000 steps, which put me in 6th place in my group for the week. I didn't do my daily goal of 25,750 but I went over the weekly challenge of 175,000 steps. I ended up doing 186,500 steps. We had a great day. 

Saturday 2-12 Visiting Louise

Smile and have fun

When we woke up the temperature was in the 50s and there was a strong wind out of the north. The temperature dropped throughout the day, by 5:00 it was 48 degrees.

Our plan for today was going to Round Rock to visit Louise.

On the way we stopped by the UPS Store to drop off Larry's hiking pants to get returned to Amazon. What's nice about ordering from Amazon is when you return an item you just print out the return mailing slip and drop the item off at the UPS Store. They package it up and ship it back. Normally when the UPS Store scans it in you receive a instant refund, it is not always instant but most of the times it is.

Afterwards we stopped by Jack n Jill Donuts and bought donuts for breakfast.

Louise and her dog Alice met us at the door. They were surprised that we weren't there earlier. We explained I had slept in. She didn't need Larry to work on anything in the house so we just visited with her. Last night I made a rigatoni noodles bake to take along for lunch. While we were visiting I worked on her puzzle and played with Alice. Alice had got a hair cut and she looks great. In fact she looks like a new dog. I forgot my camera so no pictures. We like to visit Louise once in awhile just to see how she's doing. Monday is Valentine Day and Larry had made a couple of cupid figures for her, one for her and if she wanted to give her friend Devie one she could. She was very happy to get the cupids. We had a great visit.

Cupids for Louise

When we got home I played my Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and Event: Spider Mini of 5 games. It took me 15 minutes and 29 seconds, which put me in 11th place in my group. 

We watched some YouTube videos and an episode of GizWiz. 

The weather is suppose to be nice for a couple of days so Larry made reservations to go camping at Lake Granger. Years ago we camped there a couple of times, the last time was February 2011. This will be our first time at this campground.

In the evening we watched the Olympics. While watching television I completed 27,000 steps. This put me in 6th place in my group. 

 

  

Friday 2-11 Home, Crafting and Relaxing

Welcome sign for Mother Neff State Park

This morning we said good-bye to Mother Neff State Park. We had three great days. During our stay we hiked the trails and enjoyed the campground. The weather was perfect, the high 30s in the morning and low 70s in the afternoon.

On the way home we stopped at the donut shop in Moody for breakfast. We were home by 9:30. I unloaded the refrigerator but not the freezer. I took things in we needed but I left the clothes because we're planning to go back out camping Sunday. We came home for a couple of days because it's almost impossible to get in any state parks on the weekends.

Once at home Larry setup our computer and backed up the pictures files I added. I put things away. Afterwards I played my games. I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and Event: Free Cell Adventures of 20 games. It took me 2 hours, 48 minutes and 13 seconds, which put me in 12th place in my group. Then I read.

While I was playing games Larry did a paper project.

Larry likes to have oatmeal for breakfast and he likes to add extra brown sugar. We don't use much brown sugar, we store it in a sealed canister but it still got as hard as a rock. Larry has been chipping away at it. He searched around on the internet and found a couple of suggestions for softening it up, you can't always believe everything on the internet but he decided to give one of them a try. Multiple people suggested simply placing a piece of bread in the container and letting it sit for a couple of days, they said it would go back to being as soft as the day you bought it. Before going on our trip Larry put a piece of bread in the container. Today he checked it out. It was amazing, the entire container of brown sugar was soft and moist, the bread was hard. What a wonderful surprise.

When we hike we wear jeans, at times they can be hot and sticky, they also don't stretch so things like climbing up on ledges can be a challenge. We have talked for years about getting actual hiking pants. Larry found some that sound great so he ordered a pair for him and a pair for me. They came in this evening at the UPS Store so off to town we went.  

We got back just in time for me to attend Ett McAtee's Weekly A2/C1 dance at 6:30. This week Ett was busy so she asked Loren Smith to cover for her. Loren called 4 tips of A2 with 30 participants, 1 tip of C1 Teach with 30 participants and 1 tip of C1 with 26 participants. I had a lot of fun.

 

 

When I finished dancing we tried on our hiking pants. Larry's didn't like hows his fit so he tried mine on and they fit perfect. He will return his pants and order another pair. My pair fit me perfect.

After the dance we watched the Olympics. I did my steps, which was 27,000 steps. This put me in 7th place in my group.