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. 

             

Saturday 4-10 Tompkins Bend Vista Trail

 

Having fun camping

A front came through about midnight with a lot of rain. It lasted until early morning just before Larry woke up. We heard the steady and sometimes hard rain. We woke up with the temperature in the mid 50s. We had wind out of the west, which made it nippy all day. It got up to 63 degrees.

I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then we went on an hour and a half hike for 4.25 miles. We really excepted to go for more than five miles, according to the reviews the Tompkins Bend Vista Trail was between 5 and 6 miles long. We returned by 10:00 am, which is the earliest we have been getting back from a hike. The hike was a very easy loop. It went through the forest and by Lake Ouachita. As we hiked we crossed over creeks via wooden bridges. We saw an old homestead root cellar. We saw three hikers with backpacks ready for a long over night hike. With all the rain I was surprised that we only had mud in a few places. The hike was very pretty and peaceful, we heard the birds chirping. 

 

Homestead Root Cellar

Larry getting ready to cross one of the wooden bridges

Lake Ouachita from the trail

 

After our hike I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Spider Mini of 10 games. It took me 58 minutes and 19 seconds, which put me in 17th place in my group. 

Last night I finished reading Resurrection Row, which was the 4th book in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series by Anne Perry. So I started to read the 5th book in the series.

In the afternoon we read. I walked around for a half hour. I walked to the boat ramp and around three of the loops. The families were out riding bicycles, walking around and hanging around their campfires. Some campers were wearing shorts and tee shirt but it was too nippy for me. Their were people boating, fishing and jet skiing. It really had to be cold on the lake.

After dinner Larry and I walked around for 45 minutes. We saw a beautiful woodpecker. We have been hearing one for the last couple of days but never saw it. I did my jazz exercise routine to help me get my steps. By the end of the day I did 26,000 steps, which put me 4th place in my group.  

 

 

  

Friday 4-9 Tompkins Bend Recreation Area and Rain

 

Lake Dardanelle State Park

We started the day out saying good-bye to Mount Nebo State Park. We left about 8:00 am. Mount Nebo State Park doesn't have a dump station but you can dump your tanks down the mountain at Lake Dardanelle State Park. It's only about 7 miles away. It took us a bit to get down the mountain because of the tight turns. Larry was grateful that he only passed one RV on the way down and it was at the beginning. He just took his time and did an excellent job. 

Once on the bottom we took a two lane road to Lake Dardanelle State Park. It has two campgrounds and Larry decided to go to the one closest to the direction we're going. The park looks very nice and had campsites on the lake. After dumping the tanks we went to Walmart to pick up a few things. Then we were ready to continue our adventure to our next destination.

 

Lake Dardanelle State Park campground

 

Larry dumping our tanks

Our next destination was Tompkins Bend Recreation Area on Lake Ouachita. Lake Ouachita is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lake. Tompkins Bend has 77 campsites with concrete tables, ground grill, pedestal grill, lantern pole and shade provided by trees. The other amenities are flush toilets, showers, boat ramp, water and power on each site, trailer dump station, fish cleaning station, playground, pavilion, amphitheater and trails. 

We arrived at Tompkins Bend about 11:00 and the booth was closed so you were on your own. We drove around and found our site but couldn't get in it because someone was there. Check out time isn't until 4:00 and check in time isn't until 6:00. You can check in early if no one is in your site. We parked the Minnie on the site next door and waited. He turned up shortly afterwards and started to put things away. While we were waiting we had lunch. 

After lunch a park ranger came by to check people in. She said we could stay in the site as long as we wished because it was available. The neighbor was waiting for another camper to leave so he could move to that site. He didn't realize we were waiting. He decided he would dump his tank and then wait in the boat ramp area until his site was available. When he left we moved into our spot.

We set the Minnie up for a couple of nights. The clouds had rolled in during lunch and we heard thunder so we hung around the Minnie and read. I did my Daily Challenges and the Event: Free Cell Mini of 5 games. It took me 13 minutes and 30 seconds, which put me in 24th place in my group. The rain came in around 2:00. It steadily came down for about a half hour.

After dinner Larry and I went for a walk. When we were driving into Tompkins Bend we saw where the hiking trailhead was and thought we would have to walk to it. Larry figured it was about a half a mile away. While walking around we found another entrance to the trail that is very near our campsite. This was a great surprise. We walked a bit to see how muddy it was and found it to be fine. As we walked we saw a bat house and a few deer. We walked to the boat ramp. The ramp was very nice and wide. We walked around for an hour. We had a nice walk. 

 

Camping at Tompkins Bend Campground

A bat house

Campers at Tompkins Bend

Sunset on Lake Ouachita

After our walk Larry and I read a bit. I baked some oatmeal raisin cookies for our dessert. I finished doing my 26,000 steps, which put me 5th place in my group.     

  

Thursday 4-8 Last Day at Mount Nebo & Bench Trail

 

Last day at Mount Nebo State Park

We woke up to a brisk cool morning with the temperature 54 degrees. There was a wind out of the west but clear skies and beautiful sunshine. The wind was very strong, at times we had to hold on to our hats.

I made pancakes for breakfast, I did better I didn't burn mine. After breakfast we got ready to go on a hike. Today we did a 4 mile hike for 2 hours. We decided to do the Bench Trail (blue). We started the hike from the campground on the Rim Trail (red). We hiked it for a half mile, where we picked up the Bench Trail. It was a strenuous section of the Rim Trail. We had to climb down a steep rock staircase that twist and turned down Mount Nebo. Below are a couple of pictures of the stairs. We were hiking down the east side of the mountain and the wind was from the west so we had no wind and it warmed up fast. We had to take off our jackets. As we hiked the rim trail we saw a lot of water coming down the rocks and it looked pretty. Once we were on the Bench Trail the trail widen and it was an easy hike. We hiked it for 3 miles. We hiked by some springs and CCC campgrounds. One of the springs was Gum Spring, we have been hiking by a signs about it. One of the signs was a trail direction rock carving by the CCC. We walked by Fern Lake. We were by Sunset Point and took the trail back up the mountain to the top. It was very steep and we had to stop half way up to rest and catch our breath. Once at Sunset Point we got on the 3 C's Trail and hiked it back to the campground, which was about a mile. We had a super hike.

 

 Larry climbing down the CCC stairs on the Rim Trail

Larry at the bottom of the steps

 

Gum Spring

 

Gum Spring trail direction by the CCC on the Rim Trail

After lunch I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 29 minutes and 35 seconds to complete, which put me in 7th place in my group. Then I hiked the 3 C's Trail to Sunrise Point and Sunset Point, which took me an hour and a half. When I got back I read. Larry spent the afternoon reading.

 

Reading is relaxing and fun

After dinner I hiked the 3 C's Trail to Sunset Point, which was 2 miles. Then I came back and finished my steps. I did 26,000 steps, which put me in 6th place in my group. Larry and I went over and took a shower. We spent the rest of the evening reading.  

 

Camping at Mount Nebo State Park

Today was our last day at Mount Nebo State Park. We had five fabulous days of hiking and camping. It was very peaceful. We watched the neighborhood kids play in the playground. We hiked 24.6 miles on four trails: Rim Trail, 3 C's Trail three times, Summit Park Trail and Bench Trail. We didn't hike as far as we did in Hot Springs but the trails were more strenuous, except for the 3 C's Trail, it was flat.

Mount Nebo State Park was established in 1933 and built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The Company V-1780 was established in July of 1933. The "V" indicated that the men were World War I veterans. Most CCC camps consisted of young men between the ages of 17 to 25 but Mount Nebo's camp enrolled veterans mostly from ages 35 to 45. They were mostly married, had children and were native Arkansans. They had the skills so they could get right to work. 

Mount Nebo is a super park with a lot of history. Many of the original structures are still being used: cabins, Visitor Center, Large Pavilion in the campground and hiking trails. As we hiked we saw rock carving on trails and the directions, climbed steps and the actual trails the CCC built. When we were here in 2010 we hiked the same trails but mountain bike trails have been added, the trails signs are more modern and identified by color dots and the points of interests signs are more modern. We had a super visit.

CCC Large Pavilion

 

Mount Nebo State Park Visitor Center

       

 

Wednesday 4-7 Trip Down Memory Lane

 

Rainy Day

A weather front came in last night bringing wind and some rain, the rain went away mid afternoon but the wind persisted. 

I made pancakes for breakfast and then I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Two Game Tango of 20 games (10 Klondike and 10 Spider). It took me 2 hours, 51 minutes and 11 seconds, which put me in 21st place in my group. 

I started a book on my Kindle, Resurrection Row by Anne Perry. It's a historic detective serious featuring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt. I've already read three books from the series and liked them. So far I like this story. Larry finished a book and started another one.

After lunch we were reading and we had a knock on the door. Park rangers were going door to door letting the campers know we were under a tornado watch, currently there are only four campers in the park. If severe weather comes we should take shelter in the bathroom. Larry checked the weather and saw there was rain coming. We did get the rain about a half hour later. It came down hard and there was a little hail with it. It lasted about a half hour. 

Last night Larry found photos of our last visit here at Mount Nebo State Park. We were here in 2010 at the same time as we are now. As he was looking at the photos he noticed we had stopped at the same places and took pictures of many of the same things. We hiked the Rim Trail 11 years and two days ago. Some things we took pictures of then we didn't see this trip. So when it stopped raining for a bit we decided to hike to a couple of the places and see if those sites were still there. 

Eleven years ago we had taken a picture of a sign built into a fence by the Young Adult Conservation Corp in 1979. This organization started in 1957 when the Student Conservation Association placed its first college students in the national parks and forests. It was modeled after the CCC. The students are provided with year-round conservation-related employment and educational opportunities. We found the sign again today. 

From there we walked the rim trail to the visitor center. We stopped at Cave Spring and found a carving in the rock by the CCC. We had hiked this same trail the other day and missed the carving, not sure why we saw it 11 years ago and missed it this year. 

We continued our adventure past the visitor center to Sunset Point. We didn't find anything else. We walked around Sunset Point and took the road back to the campground. As we walked we saw beautiful homes and cabins. Some the the homes had cute statues in front of them. We ended up walking about 2 miles. We didn't want to go too far because there still was rain in the area.

 

Cave Spring rock carving by the CCC

Cute bear

A family of gnomes

 

Young Adults Conservation Corp 1979 carving

After dinner we walked around the neighborhood. We decided to walk the road because the 3 C's Trail would be too muddy. We walked to Sunrise Point and looked at the cabins and homes in the neighborhood. We saw a few deer. We wore our jackets because it was a little nippy. We saw a drainage pipe that went over some rocks and it looked like a waterfall. It was right by the parking lot to the Seasonal Waterfall so we stopped there. Larry sat at a table and waited for me because I decided to go look at the Seasonal Waterfall. I didn't have my hiking pole and wished I did because the short hike was very strenuous. The Seasonal Waterfall was flowing a lot more than yesterday. After taking a few pictures I hiked back. Then we continued on our walk. We walked by the Fire Department, it had a cute sign on the building. We saw the Superintendent cabin and other cabins. It was a very nice walk. We walked for about an hour. 

 

The Seasonal Waterfall

Original CCC Maintenance Shop

 

Fire Station

After dropping Larry off at the Minnie I did another hour walk around the neighborhood. I ended up walking three miles. I saw a lot of deer. I said hi to people who were walking. I talked to the guy who had a skeleton on his upstair porch. He said he had one in both of his vehicles. It was a pleasant walk. When I got home I finished doing my steps. I wasn't sure how many steps I would do because of the rain. I ended up doing 26,000 which put me in 5th place in my group.

 

Deer I saw during my walk

 

Skeleton in a truck