Monday 10-23 Doing This and That

Busy Day

After being gone for 61 days there was a lot to do. We spent the day getting things back in order. First off was the cars, Larry charged the battery on the car overnight and it started but it is not running as smooth as it should. The truck battery was totally dead, Larry removed it from the truck,  charged it all day and when he went to bed it still was not completely charged, hopefully we won't have to replace it.  We went to town where we stopped by the UPS Store and picked up the majority of our mail. Then we swung by the post office and restarted mail service to the house and picked up more mail, actually only one piece of mail, every once in awhile something gets sent to our house instead of our mailing address at the UPS Store. Afterwards we went to HEB and did some grocery shopping considering our refrigerator and pantry were bare.

On the way home we stopped by the Valvoline Oil Change store to get the car inspected, the tags are due this month. When this was finished we went home.

After lunch Larry was busy doing stuff around the house. The first thing he did was go through the mail. Even though all of our normal bills are electronic over two months we still end up with a lot of mail. While we were on our trip one of our security cameras stopped working so Larry did some trouble shooting. He couldn't get the camera to work so he called the company. The support person had him do a bunch of stuff and when that didn't work they told him to send the old camera back and they would replace it. While Larry was doing this I read.

In the evening we went to Sun City and danced to Brad Caldwell. It was a small group of dancers, the dance started out with six squares but ended up with only three squares. The last tip there were only six couples left so Brad called a six couple plus level tip, it was a lot of fun. After the tip we had enough people for an A tip. We had a fun time dancing with friends after being gone for two months. The dancers were happy to see us back in town. 

We had a busy day. 

Sunday 10-22 Home Sweet Home

After being on the road for 61 days and driving over 5800 miles we're home. We had a super trip but it's always a pleasure to be home. When we got home we emptied the Minnie and got things going in the house. We spent the evening catching up on some of the YouTube Videos we follow. Then we watched Wonder Woman. We had a relaxing evening.

We're home

Saturday 10-21 End of a Wonderful Weekend

We had a fabulous three days of dancing, now it's time to go home and rest up for the next event. 

We started the day off walking a few blocks to a local donut shop for a couple of donuts. We had not had a donut since we left Canada where they always seemed to have a Tim Horton's close by.

Today was the last day of TEXPACC. The schedule was the same as yesterday except the last half hour where everyone was to gather in one hall and dance to all the callers. There was also an after party with entertainment and refreshments. We didn't attend considering we were exhausted. We had a super time. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!

Having fun dancing with friends during the day sessions

Our friends having fun dancing during the day sessions

Having fun dancing to Bronc Wise

Bronc Wise calling part of the night dance

Friends waiting for the next call

Friday 10-20 A Day of Square Dancing

Today we had a full day of A2 square dancing. The first session was a two hour workshop with Bronc Wise and Tim Ploch from 10:00 to 12:00.  There were four squares at the workshops.

There was a two hour break for lunch, Larry and Patrica invited us to ride with them to downtown Paris to a café that Larry had read about. The downtown was a quaint little area with shops but we could not find the café so we ended up having lunch at Subway.

After lunch Larry dropped us off at the Minnie where we rested for 45 minutes before going to the afternoon session from 2:00 to 5:00. Vic Ceder, Darryl Lipscomb and Ross Howell were the callers. Our friends from Austin, Renee and Robert showed up and we got a chance to dance with them a few times. There were four squares and a few people sitting out.  

Friends waiting for the next call during a workhop

The evening dance started at 8:00 so we had three hours to rest. We read a little and took a short nap. I made chicken enchiladas for dinner. Each caller was given a half hour slot and we danced for two hours. Sometimes there were five squares but most of the time there were four. Some of the callers were very challenging. We had a super day of dancing and we still have another day to go.  

Thursday 10-19 Paris, Tx. - Our Final Destination

Awesome Day!!!

Our final destination of this trip is Paris Texas. Every year there is a big A2 thru C3 square dance weekend in Paris and it happens to be this weekend. This year there is even more dancing, the dance started today with a Trails End Dance and then there are full days of dancing on Friday and Saturday.

It is only 15 miles from Pat Hayse Lake to Paris. As we were leaving the campground we went to the observation point by the dam and took a few pictures.

The event takes place at the fairgrounds which has RV sites with full hookups. We arrived at 11:00 and the dance wasn't until 8:00. We hadn't danced A for almost two months and by getting there early it gave me a chance to review the moves. 

After lunch I walked over to the registration building and paid for the dancing and three nights of RV parking. When I got there they had a package waiting with the dance schedule and lots of other information. We dance A2 and we just have to walk over to the building right across the street from the RV sites.

In evening we danced for over two hours to five different callers: Vic Cedar, Darryl Lipscomb, Bronc Wise, Tim Ploch and Ross Howell. The dance was run by computer and we ended up sitting out one tip. Our friends Patricia and Larry were there along with a bunch of other friends and folks we know. We did really well considering we haven't danced for about two months. I did get a bit confused a few times. We had a super time.

Larry enjoying the dance

Tim Ploch calling the dance

     

Friends having fun dancing

Friends enjoying themselves

     

Wednesday 10-18 Hiking and Relaxing

Lets go hiking

We spent the last two nights camped at Pat Hayse Lake. It is located in east Texas about 15 miles from Paris. It is a nice fishing lake with a lot of trees. We always enjoy camping in east Texas because of the trees.

This morning we woke up to sunshine and the temperature in the mid 40's. We had breakfast and then went on a hike. At the trailhead there is a sign that shows all the trails and where they go, it also tells the distance of each trail. You could walk the trail in either direction and there are arrows along the trail to help. We planed to only hike a couple miles but ended up hiking five miles. We started on Deer Run and moved to the Bottom Bracket, somehow we ended up getting off the Bottom Bracket Trail and got on the Inner Loop Trail. We hiked through a beautiful forest of pine trees, elm trees and other types of trees. At times the trails were challenging with quite a few gullies to go up and down. There were also a few dry creeks with small bridges. The bridges were made of different materials; metal grates, logs, mixed wood and metal planks. It was a great hike.

The hiking trails

Pat Mayse Lake

Some beautiful purple berries we saw during our hike

Having fun at Pat Mayse Lake

Larry having fun barbecuing

One of the bicycle obstacles

By the time we got back to the Minnie we had hiked five miles, it took about two and a half hours. We spent the rest of the day relaxing. Larry barbecued hamburgers for lunch and dinner. We had two wonderful days at Pat Hayse Lake Park.   

 

Tuesday 10-17 Back in Texas

Today we started out in Oklahoma and ended up in Texas. Unfortunately the road continued to be terrible. We knew that we were going to have to drive a toll road and hoped that it would be smoother but the toll road was very old and the right lane was very rough so Larry had to use the left lane a lot. We had to go through two toll booths and pay $2.00 each time. By the time we got to Texas we were happy to get on smoother roads.

We arrived at Pat Mayse Lake around 1:30. Pat Mayse Lake is a Corps of Engineer lake and has four campgrounds: Lamar Point, Pat Mayse East, Pat Mayse West and Sanders Cove. We decided to stay in Sanders Cove campground. There are seven miles of hike and bike trails, a boat ramp, dump station and restrooms with running water. The sites have a lot of trees. Some of the sites are right on the lake, our site has a view of the lake. 

We ended up doing a bit of reading and after dinner we walked around the campground. Later I walked around for another 45 minutes to get my steps in. We had a super day of sunshine.