Monday 1-12-26 Were Back!!!! New Pinball Challenges Games

 

Home Sweet Home

 

 

We are home after an eight day camping trip in Texas. We stayed five nights at Cedar Hill State Park and three nights at Cleburne State Park. We hiked five hikes for a total of 19.5 miles and walked for 25 miles around the camping areas. We had an outstanding time.

 

 

 

Cedar Hill State Park

 

 

  

Cleburne State Park

 

 

I got out of bed at 7:30 am. We got ready to go. We put everything away and secured. Then Larry unplugged the Minnie from the power. Next he moved the Minnie forward to get off the blocks. We stacked the blocks and put them away. We were on the road at 8:00. Larry was going to dump the tanks but decided not to because it was so cold. The temperature was 35 degrees.

 

Larry is still pretty sore from his fall. It has not prevented him from doing things but some movements are painful. 

 

On the way through Cleburne we stopped at Paul's Donuts for our breakfast. Larry bought a half dozen donuts and the lady through in a half dozen of donut holes for free. The donuts were very good.  

 

Larry drove 120 miles on mainly two lane highways. When we got close to Waco we got on I35 and took it to Bruceville-Eddy where we got off the interstate. We got back on a two lane highway and it took us to Belton. We were home by 10:45. Larry plugged the Minnie into power because we may use it again in the near future. Then he turned on the water to the house and got the heater going. Then we emptied the Minnie. I took everything out of the freezer and refrigerator. I turned the refrigerator off so the freezer could thaw out. We took most of the clothes out and our electronics. We also unloaded the motorcycle and removed the carrier.

 

Once we finished with unloading the Minnie Larry installed my new weekly pinball challenge. 

 

Yesterday, started the new weekly pinball challenge, which is Indiana Jones. So he downloaded the game and installed it on the big pinball cabinet. Once it was installed in both 2D and VR he played it to make sure it worked. 

 

The other day when we were playing pinball at Bishop's Cidercade in Ft. Worth they had Pirates of The Caribbean. Larry really liked playing it. Years ago Larry installed it on our arcade cabinet but for some reason never thought about seeing if there was a VR version. Sure enough he was able to find it in VR so he installed it on the mini cabinet. It is a really fun game.     

 

While Larry installed the two games I played my games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Spider and 3 Pyramid). It took me 13 minutes and 15 seconds, which put me in 5th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

 

I played four games of pinball on the big cabinet, which were Big Bang Bar, Big Buck Hunter Pro, Fish Tales and Indiana Jones. While playing Fish Tales I became high score #3. My first high score of the weekly challenge of Indiana Jones I got 168,706,560, which put me in 32nd place out of 55 participants so far.

 

 

 

Big Bang Bar

 

 

 

 

Big Buck Hunter Pro

 

 

 

 

Fish Tales

 

 

 

 

Indiana Jones

 

 

I played four games of pinball on the mini cabinet, which were Batman Forever, No Good Goffers!, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lord of the Rings. While playing Batman Forever, No Good Goffers! and The Lord of the Rings I became high score #3 in each one. When playing Pirates of the Caribbean I became high score #1 and Larry is Grand Champion.

 

 

 

 

Batman Forever

 

 

 

 

No Good Goffers!

 

 

 

 

The Pirates of the Caribbeans

 

 

 

 

The Lord of the Rings

 

In the evening we started to watch a new series on PBS called Bookish. So far It's a good series. It's about bookstore owner who works with the cops to solve murders. It takes place right after WWII. Then I watched the first movie of The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. I ended up doing 6,000 steps.

  

 

 

 

 

   

1-11-26 Coyotye Crossing, Hiking, & Larry Fell

 

Camping at Cedar Grove Camping Area

 

We had another beautiful day with a lot of sunshine and no wind. The morning temperature was a brisk 34 degrees and the high was 60 degrees.

When I woke up at 7:45 Larry was bundled up with the unicorn blanket and both heaters were running. I got dressed and then made mini waffles for breakfast.

After breakfast we got ready to go on a hike. Our hike was for two and a half hours for a total of 3.75 miles. We started on the same trail as yesterday on Fossil Ridge Trail (blue) for about a mile to the road. This part of the trail was very challenging because we had to climb up a hill with rocks. Fossil Ridge goes along the park boundaries. When we got to the road we crossed it and got on White-Tail Hollow Trail (pink). White-Tail Hollow is a 1.9 mile loop. It wasn't marked very well. There were multiple places, where it Y'd off and we had to guess which way to go. The direction we took wasn't right so we had to back track because Larry had the map on his phone. Even with the map it was hard to keep track because the trail zig zagged through the trees. Don't get me wrong we had fun figuring it out but it would have been nice if it was marked. We hiked along the spillway and over rocks. At one place Larry helped me over and down a rock. When we got back to the spot he tried to help me up and over the same rock but I didn't step up I decided to sit down. He's a great helper. The trail took us along the spillway to the dam which was built by the CCC back in the 30s. We found a bench and took advantage of it and rested. It was at a great place because we had a great view of Cedar Lake. After resting we continued our hike. We hiked to the main road and walked for about .1 of a mile and got back on the trail, which took us to the fishing pier. We hiked the trail through the parking area and back to the road, which took us back to Cedar Grove Camping Area. We had an outstanding hike. 

At one point in the trail Larry caught his boot on a tree root and took a fall. He landed on the right side of his chest. He is in a bit of pain but nothing too serious. We can't remember the last time he fell, it has been a couple of years. I tend to fall more often. 

 

Spillway built by the CCC

 

Cedar Lake

 

Yesterday we hiked around Cedar Lake and today we hiked part of it. We had two super hikes.

At the beginning of the hike we saw a painted rock on a fallen tree on the site right next to our site. On the way back walking through the fishing area to our camping area was another one. Larry had to point them out because he's more observant than me. We were just talking about the painted rocks and wondering if they were still around. I guess they are at some places.   

 

Fishing bobbin

 

Little girl with a flower

 

Larry finished his book and wrote a review on Goodreads. He didn't want to start another book so he read the news groups he follows. I played my games and continue reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Medium Mayhem Mini of 15 games. It took me 52 minutes and 6 seconds, which put me in 18th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

In the evening I walked around the camping area for an hour and got 2.15 miles. Larry walked with me for a half hour of the walk. As we walked we walked by the group area, which had a dining hall with the women barracks to the right and the men barracks to the left. The barracks are identical except one has a women's bathroom and the other has a men's bathroom. We walked through the other loop of Cedar Grove. When Larry went inside I walked around our loop a few times to get my 2 miles. I ended up doing 18,000 steps at the end of the day. We had an awesome day.

 

Dining Hall

 

Men's barracks

 

Outdoor fireplace at the Cedar Lodge

  

 

 

 

Saturday 1-10-26 Camping at Cedar Grove & Hiking Trails

 

Cedar Lodge at Cleburne State Park

 

We had a beautiful cold windy day. We had plenty of sunshine and a wind out of the north. 

We woke up to a brisk 32 degrees. It didn't get out of the 50s. The high was 53 degrees. It was windy all day. Tomorrow the high is suppose to be 64 degrees, a little warmer.

I crawled out of bed at 7:45 and got dressed. Larry was wrapped up in our unicorn blanket and both heaters were running. The one on the table ran most of the day. After getting dressed I made mini waffles for breakfast. When we finished eating we got ready to go on a hike.

The trailhead was very close, less than .2 of a mile. We hiked for 3 hours and did 4.75 miles. We hiked on three trails, which were Fossil Ridge (blue 2.5 miles one way), Coyote Run (red 1.1 mile one way) and the yellow trail, which is a crossover trail. The trails were moderate to challenging. We started on Fossil Ridge, which took us up and down hills along the park boundary fence line. There was a lot of rocks and ravines. We hiked Fossil Ridge until it met up with Coyote Run. The terrain was the same. We met a group of six ladies and a dog while hiking Coyote Run. We hiked across the CCC spillway. The spillway was cool to see because there were multiple levels of rock ledges to slow down the water of the lake when it overflows. There were a couple of places we went off the trail because we didn't know which way to go. We got off the trail near the spillway and had an adventure in the trees. We met a lady, who did the same thing. She decided to back track to where it Y'd. Larry's great at figuring a way back on the trail. It wasn't too far in the trees and we met up with her on the trail. Larry has the trails on his phone so he knew where we were. Once back on the trail we continued on Coyote Run to the yellow trail. The other place was where the trail connected to Camp Creek Trail. We took the camp creek trail to the parking lot and turned around and went back to where it Y'd. It was only .1 mile. The trails weren't marked on which way to go, we had to guess. That was ok. Once back on the trail it took us by another camping area. We were almost back to the campground when we met a couple just starting their hike. When we got to the beginning of the Fossil Ridge a gentleman with his dog asked if we were hiking the trail. We said yes, he said the trail goes this way. We said we were going back to the campground. It was nice he was being helpful because he thought we were lost. Most of the hike was in the trees. We had a super hike. 

 

The trail

 

The section of the spillway we hiked

 

After resting and having lunch Larry continued reading a book he started last night and I played games. I did the event, which was Event: Spider Adventure of 20 games. It took me 5 hours, 33 minutes and 20 seconds, which put me in 15th place in my group. 

We had tostadas for dinner. After dinner we walked around the park for 42 minutes for 1.75 miles. We walked our loop and the park road. We walked to the group area, which had a dining building, a women's barracks and men's barracks. Next to the group area were the screened cabins. Then we walked the park road to a couple of other loops, which were the full hook-ups. We didn't walk through them. We walked past the dump station and turned around. We went back to the Minnie. I did a lap around the camping area. Our loop was almost full. I walked to the restroom and they had the building rented for a party. So there were some kids playing in the playground. We had a nice walk.

 

One of the screened cabin shelters

 

For the rest of the evening Larry read. I finished playing my games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2. I continued reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. I ended up doing 18,500 steps.

We had a great day. 

         

Friday 1-9-26 New Park, Cidercade in Fort Worth & Rain

 

Camping at Cleburne State Park

 

The weather today was a little unpredictable. At 7:30 am in Cedar Hill, Tx we had a temperature of 52 degrees and a little breeze. In Cleburne TX at 1:00 pm it was raining. The rain wasn't in the forecast. It wasn't a heavy downpour but it stayed around for about an hour or so. The high was 68 degrees at noon. When the front came in the temperature dropped to 57 degrees.

We had five fabulous nights of camping at Cedar Hill State Park. We did three hikes for a total of 11 miles and walked around the camping area seven times for a total of 20 miles. I did a lot of walking/hiking 31 miles total. While walking I saw a lot of gorgeous sunsets. Being able to walk around motivated me in getting my steps of 16,000 to 18,000 steps. Larry did a lot of reading (5 books total). I finished one book and started another.

Today our plan was to move to Cleburne State Park. We had breakfast and then put everything away and secured by 9:15 am. we were on the road. 

On our way we stopped by Cidercade in Ft. Worth to play pinball. We have played at Cidercade in Dallas a couple of times. This location is a bit smaller and the lighting in the pinball area was quite dark making it difficult to see. It had 22 pinball machines but Cactus Canyon didn't work. We played all the pinball games. They were Spiderman, Pirates of the Caribbean, Venom, Heavy Metal, Avengers, Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars the Mandalorian, Aerosmith, Elvira House of Horrors, Monster Bash, Austin Powers, Metallica, Star Wars, Black Knight, Star Trek, Transformers, The Batman, Foo Fighters, X-Men, Guns and Roses and 24 hours. There was one game we had not played, which was Heavy Metal. I played an arcade game, where you danced to a song by putting your feet at where the arrows are pointed while keeping to the beat of the song. I failed drastically. We played a game of air hockey Larry beat me 5 to 3. I played another arcade game with a marble to see if I can get it through a course without blowing it up. Once again I failed. Last I played Big Buck Hunter and missed all the bucks. I guess I'll stick to playing pinball, at least I get some points. For lunch we shared an order of brisket quesadillas and it was good. The workers were very friendly and helpful. We had a super time at Cidercade Arcades.     

 

Spiderman

 

Pirates of the Caribbean

 

Heavy Metal

 

Areosmith

 

Brisket Quesadillas

 

One of the arcade areas

 

Air hockey table
 

Our drive today was 75 miles. Larry drove interstates and freeways. He drove through Fort Worth via interstate to get to Cidercade Fort Worth, which was 30 miles from Cedar Hill State Park. We had a few slow downs due to construction but we didn't completely stop. 

After playing pinball and having lunch we drove another 45 miles to get to Cleburne State Park. When we got to Cleburne Texas we stopped and filled the Minnie with gas. The park was 14 miles from there. Larry drove in the rain. We checked in and decided to extend our nights from two to three, which was no problem. The lady, who checked us in was very nice and gave us a camping area map and trail map. I felt sorry for her because she had to stand in the rain. We have been here one other time many years ago when we first started camping. Larry has a great memory so he kind of remembered the park and trails. We are staying in Cedar Grove Camping Area. 

Once we found our site Larry backed the Minnie in. I had to get out and help him so he wouldn't back into a tree. It was raining so he had a hard time seeing. He had to go forward once because he couldn't see me. We had to block the Minnie up one block to level it out. We had to move the Minnie up a little bit so we could get the motorcycle off the carrier if we need to. Then Larry plugged us in. We went inside to get out of the rain. We are now setup for the weekend.

There is very little cell phone service at Cleburne State Park. It is sometimes there and sometimes not. What we could get was very slow so Larry setup the Starlink. Since we have not been using Starlink we had put the service on standby, this lowers the monthly price to $5 and while it still works it is quite slow. But it works enough that I can blog and play games. 

In the evening we went for a walk around the camping area and by the bathroom. We wanted to see if we could hike the trail tomorrow. We hiked it a little bit. We ended up walking 1.5 miles. I ended up doing 6,500 steps for the day.

 

The bridge to the bathrooms

 

Cedar Lake

 

Picnic area

After our walk Larry finished another book and choose another one. I played games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Two Games Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Free Cell and 5 Pyramid). It took me 48 minutes and 9 seconds, which put me in 10th place in my group. I played Angry Birds and Friends.

After playing games I continued reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. 

 

     

   

Thursday 1-8-26 No Hiking, Too Windy

 

Another gorgeous sunset at Cedar Hill State Park

 

We had a windy day. The wind came up last night and stayed all day until evening. The wind was so strong it was rocking the Minnie. The morning temperature was 68 degrees and the high was 78 degrees.

 

Hold on tight

It was windy all day so decided not to go on a hike. We spent the day relaxing in the Minnie with a book. Larry finished the book he started yesterday and started and finished another book. He also started a third book. I continued reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. So far I/m enjoying the book. The writer is a great writer and puts humor in the story. 

 

Relax with a good book

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Two Game Tango o six games (3 Klondike and 3 Spider). It took me 17 minutes and 43 seconds, which put me in 24th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

After lunch we loaded the motorcycle back on it's carrier and covered it. While Larry tied down the cover I put the chairs and grill away. Now we won't have to do it in the morning. Afterwards Larry went and took a shower. I took a shower after my evening walk.

At 3:00 I decided to walk around the camping area for an hour, which was 3 miles to get some steps. After dinner I did another hour walk around the camping area. While walking I met a lady and her daughter. We talked while we walked to the restroom. They were very nice.  

Below are a picture from yesterday, while I was walking. 

 

Sailing on Joe Pool Lake

By the ended of the day I had gotten 16,000 steps.  

 

 

Wednesday 1-7-26 Camping, Hiking & Motorcycle Project

 

Sunset on Joe Pool Lake 

 

We had another gorgeous day with sunshine and a breeze. We woke up to a cool 48 degrees and a little moisture. The high was 78 degree. 

Our allegories have been very bad. Today I saw what I thought was dust blowing in the air, Larry looked and said it wasn't dust, it was pollen blowing off of the juniper trees. When the wind would blow clouds of pollen would explode from the nearest tree. We can't avoid the junipers because they are all over the park. We'll have to suffer with sneezing and eyes watering.

 

     Allergies acting up

 

We started the day going on a hike. Our plan was to ride the motorcycle to the DORBA trails. Before starting the motorcycle Larry wiped the moisture off the seat. When he tried to start it it would start and then die. A couple of years ago this happened on a cold morning in South Dakota. Larry let the motorcycle sit in the sun for a bit and it started right up. We decided we would go a hike and when we got back we would see if it started. 

We hiked the same trails we did yesterday, which were Talala Trail and Penn Farm Trail. We went the opposite way just to be different. Sometimes the hike looks different going the opposite way because you may miss things going the other way. By going this way we passed the overlook very early in the hike. We walked through Penn Farm the opposite way and saw more buildings on the property. After walking through Penn Farm we decided to walk to the office to check-in for two more nights. It was only .5 mile down the road. The lady, who checked us in was very friendly. She wasn't the same lady as on Sunday but just as friendly and nice. After checking in we walked back to Penn Farm and continued on our hike. By the time we finished we had hiked for 2 hours for a total of 4.25 miles. 

 

Thresher

 

Double Crib Barn where they kept their donkeys (male donkey is called Jack and female donkey is called Jenny) 

 

Water Tower, Wind Mill and Pump House

  

1876 Farm House 

 

In the afternoon Larry enjoyed the campsite by sitting in his chair and reading. 

I played my games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Tri Peaks Adventure of 20 games. It took me 1 hour, 30 minutes and 9 seconds, which put me in 12th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

Larry worked on the motorcycle. He wants to take it to the trailhead tomorrow morning so we can hike. Larry tried starting the motorcycle and it started right up. Then he took it for a ride. When he got back he decided to work on the fuel line. He replaced the fuel line and filter with new ones hopes this will help. After doing this he took it for another ride. It ran perfect.

 

Picture of the motorcycle from the house

 

 While Larry worked on the motorcycle I decided to do my walk around Coyote Crossing Camping Area. I ended up doing three laps for a total of 2.3 miles for 50 minutes. I did my third lap after dinner for 17 minutes for .75 mile. 

In the evening we relaxed with a book. Larry finished his book and started another one. I finished reading Rules of '48 by Jack Cady. It was a great book about rules people had to go by in 1948. It was semi-autobiographical about how the social climate was in 1948 and how it was changing. Jack Cady was a super writer. Then I started reading another book called Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. It's a fiction book about a gifted research chemist in the 1960s in California, who become a star in a popular cooking show.   

By the end of the day I had done 19,000 steps.  

Tuesday 1-6-26 Camping, Hiking Talala and Penn Farm & More

Joe Pool Lake from Talala Overview

 

We had a gorgeous day with sunshine and a little breeze to keep it cool. The morning temperature was 61 degrees and the high of 75 degrees.

I crawled out of bed at 7:45 am and got dressed. Larry had been up since 6:00 am. We shared a bagel with cream cheese on it for breakfast. After eating we got ready to go on a hike.

Today's hike was for 3.5 miles on Talala and Penn Farm trails. We picked up the trailhead by the restroom, which was .20 mile from the Minnie. Yesterday, we took the trailhead right in front of the restroom, today we took the trailhead on the other side of the road. The hike was very nice it went through some junipers, oaks and a lot of honey locust trees. The honey locust trees have big nasty thrones on them. We had to be careful not to get them on us because they will go right through your hiking boots. The trail was out in the open and had 305 feet elevation change. We hiked through the prairie and saw areas, where the prairie has gone under restoration. A fun fact, Talala is Cherokee for "woodpecker". We saw nice views of Joe Pool Lake and the hills surrounding the lake. We hiked along the rim of the prairie and over five bridges. We hiked to Hog Wallow Camping Area to Penn Farm, where we did a self-tour of the farm. Penn Farm was a working farm for about a century. When we got to the farm we walked around and looked at the old farm equipment, buildings and learned the history of the farm. After touring the farm we got back on the Talala trail and headed back to the Coyote Camping Area, where we're staying. It was a great hike. 

 

Honey Locus

 

Size of the honey locus thorns compared to Larry's hand

 

 

 

Plow

 

 

Seed Drill

 

Garage to store their Model T automobile

 

 

 

 

Penn's house built in 1859

 

Double Crib Barn 
 

Penn Farm was started back in Dec. of 1854 by Major John Penn, his wife Nancy and six children. They grew wheat, corn, oats and barley and raised horses, sheep and cattle. During the next decade Major Penn acquired 2,200 acres of land and gave his son John Wesley 800 acres to raise cattle. John Wesley's parcel expanded to 1,200, which became Penn Farm. John Wesley died at the age of 55 after a rattle snake bite. His brother Andy inherited the farm after John's wife Lucinda passed away at the age 87. Andy managed the farm through rough times of the Great Depression and WWII. When he died his wife Dee Ett inherited it in 1964. The farm was working until 1970 when Dee Ett Penn moved off the land after 110 years. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers bought the property in 1977 to make Joe Pool Lake.

While relaxing before lunch Larry went online and extended our stay here for another two nights. While he was online he made reservations for three nights at Cleburne State Park, which is about 50 miles from here. 

After lunch we took the motorcycle off the carrier because we're going to use it in the morning to get to the hiking trailhead of the DORBA trails. When this was done Larry decided to stay outside and read. He setup both our chairs and started reading another book. 

 

 

 

 Reading is very relaxing

 

I played my games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Easy Street Mini of 5 games. It took me 16 minutes and 07 seconds, which put me in 33rd place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

After playing my games I was going to join Larry outside but it was close to dinnertime. I did join him a half hour later to barbecue hamburgers for dinner because the wind was down. 

After dinner I went for an hour walk around the camping area for 3 miles. Larry walked the first lap with me and I did three more laps. When I got back I spent the rest of the evening reading Rules of '48 by Jack Cady. Larry continued reading.  I ended up doing 18,000 steps.