Wednesday 3-23 Beavers Bend State Park & Hiking

Camping in Cypress Campground

We were at Beavers Bend State Park 11 years ago and had a super time so we decided to return. It has eight campgrounds and another one being built and a group campground. The section of the park we stayed in has two campgrounds, Acorn and Cypress. Acorn sites overlook Mountain Fork River and cost more. Cypress sites are above Acorn. We stayed in Cypress. Our site has a picnic table, fire ring with a grill and a hook for your trash or lantern. All the sites have a lot of trees. They have water and power. Some sites have a concrete slab for your RV, we had a slab. 

Which way to go 

 

Camping in Cypress Campground

The park has a lot of hiking trails that vary in difficulty and length. The trail map gives you a small description of each trail. The park has a gorgeous Forest Heritage Center, restaurant, day area for fishing, restrooms and showers, nature center, cabins and Broken Bow Lake. Broken Bow Lake area has a beach and swimming area, picnic area, playground, camping, fishing, riding stables, train ride, miniature golf and  paddle boats and canoe floats rentals. 

Today we did two hikes. First was a 2.5 mile hike on the South Park trail. We hiked up the mountain, across creeks via rocks and over fallen trees. We had to watch where we were going because there were some roots and rocks on the trail. The trail weaved us through a forest of pines. We were going to hike Lookout Mountain trail but due to the rain we couldn't cross Beaver Creek. We had to turn around and go back to the trailhead. It was a beautiful hike and we saw a few deer.

Second was a 5 mile hike using Beaver Creek trail and Lookout Mountain trail. We started the hike by walking the park road to Beaver Creek. There were a lot of people enjoying Beaver Creek. We followed the trail markers to where the trail crosses over Beaver Creek but the creek was flowing too fast and there wasn't a good place to cross. There was a place using a fallen tree but Larry didn't think it was safe to use. We turned around and went back to the road. We took the road to the other side of the creek and found a way to get to the trail. It was a little challenging but we got there. There were signs along the trail explaining the history of the trail. The trail was an old CCC road. There were remains of a concrete channel that was used to wash the bugs off cattle. The trail was challenging at places because we had to walk around mud puddles. We hiked the trail until we got to the Lookout Mountain trail. It was on the opposite side of Beaver Creek where we couldn't cross in the morning. The trail was 1.5 miles up the mountain. Before hiking the trail there was a warning sign and how far the trail is. The trail was very challenging and a great cardio workout. We had to stop and rest multiple times. At times I thought we were at the top but it continued going up. Once on top the views were beautiful. The trail did flatten out on top. The trail had a lot of rocks and a few fallen trees we had to climb over. We saw a couple towards the end and we said our hellos. There were a couple of places on top where if you looked through the trees you could see Broken Bow Lake. After hiking a bit on top we had to go down the mountain and cross a creek via rocks. Once across the creek we had to climb back up the mountain. We hiked to Lookout Mountain trailhead parking area. Then we took the park road a half mile to the Forest Heritage Center. The building has a great carved figure of a Native American chief and had carvings of an eagle and bears. The picnic area had beautiful wood chairs and table and benches. After taking pictures we walked through the center and gift shop. It's a great center about the history of the park and the surrounding area. It had a cute little town called Hochatown, OK. In the town it had a great memorial about a forest fire fighter. After walking around the center we took the park road back to our campground. By the time we got home we had walked/hiked for three hours and we were tired.

Beaver Creek crossing

 

Old CCC road

 

Tree made into a bench

 

The sign to Lookout Mountain trail today

 

Same sign February of 2011

 

 

Beaver Creek

 

Native-American sculpture today

 

 Same sculpture February 2011

 

Bear sculpture at the entrance of the Forest Heritage Center

 

One of the art exhibits

 

A cute snowmen exhibit

 

Memorial for a forest fire fighter

I played my computer games. I started out playing the Event: Solitaire World Tour of 30 games. It took me 2 hours, 16 minutes and 44 seconds, which put me in 2nd place in my group. Then I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong.

For dinner we had baked ziti. After dinner I walked around for an hour to finish my steps. I ended up doing 27,185 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group. I baked some peanut butter cookies for dessert. I spent the rest of the night reading.                      

 

Tuesday 3-22 Rainy Day

Rainy Morning

It rained hard throughout the night and into the morning. It stopped around 9:00 but in the afternoon it came back.

Larry read a Facebook post from our friend Dan Clairemont, that there were tornadoes in our area of Texas. He went on the local news and found out that Round Rock had been hit by a tornado. He e-mailed Louise to see if she was ok. She texted him back saying she was fine except she doesn't have power and her phone was almost dead. He texted her back and told her she could charge the phone via her car.

I woke up at 8:00 and made cinnamon french toast sticks for breakfast. The rain stopped at 9:00 but it was too muddy to hike the trails.

I did my Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. Then I did the Event: Pyramid Mini of 5 games. It took me 7 minutes and 44 seconds, which put me in 9th place in my group.

According to the weather reports the rain was suppose to be gone at noon and the sun was going to come out. After lunch we walked the paved roads for 40 minutes. We walked by the Nature Center, cabins, Beaver Creek and the restaurant called Foggy Bottom Kitchen. We walked by a log cabin, that was built by the CCC. It was furnished with a table, nice chairs, lights and bed with pillows. We walked by Beaver Creek to check out the creek. It was flowing fast because we had a lot of rain last night. Beaver Creek has a trail but due to mud we chose not to walk it. We took a bridge over Beaver Creek that went to a parking lot next to the restaurant. There was a very nice CCC building that overlooked the Mountain Fork River. Behind the building there was a picnic area and a covered pavilion. We took a bridge over the creek that took us to Buckeye Campground. We walked around the campground and headed back to the Minnie. When we got on the park road it started to sprinkle. By the time we got to Cypress Campground it started to rain harder. We put the hood up on our jackets and went home. We were glad to be back and we changed into dry clothes. We stayed around the Minnie the rest of the afternoon.     

 

CCC Cabin # 47

 

The cabin's picnic table and grill

 

Beaver Creek Flowing under the road bridge

 

The CCC building by the restaurant

 

The staircase

While relaxing in the Minnie we heard a warning siren. We figured it was letting people know they were opening the gate of Broken Bow Lake, which is above us.  

After dinner I went on an hour walk to do some of my steps. During my walk I said hi to a few people and their dogs. I took pictures of the rock formation by the day use parking lot where the gate is for the river trail. I couldn't cross the road to get to parking lot because water was flowing over it.  By the end of the night I did 27,500 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group.

The rock formation yesterday before the rain

 

The rock formation after the rain

Monday 3-21 Hiking the Mountain Fork River Trail

 

Overcast and rain

It was overcast all day. It sprinkled on and off in the morning. and about 2:00 the rain came in. It rained hard for an hour or so. In the evening the rain came back and is suppose to be around through out the night and into the morning.

I slept until 8:30 so we had a quick breakfast. Larry had oatmeal and I had cereal. After breakfast we went on a 4.5 mile hike. We didn't want to go too far because it was suppose to rain. We hiked the Mountain Fork River trail. We walked to the gate and continued on the trail for another mile. We were going to continue but it started to thunder. We hiked by the river and through the trees. There were a couple of swampy areas so we had to figure out the easy way through them without getting our shoes wet. There were some grassy places that were dry we could step on. The terrain was mostly easy, there was one spot where we followed a creek that was challenging because it had loose rocks. Once we had hiked about an hour we turned around.  We were the only ones on the trail. We saw the remains of a couple of old homesteads, all that was left was parts of the foundations, stone walls, steps, old appliances and an old well. Near the campground we said hi to a few people and their dogs. We had a very pleasant hike.

Mountain Fork River

 

Old homestead steps and foundation

Well

 

Rock formation by the river

For lunch Larry had a salad and I had a sandwich. After I rested I went on a hike/walk. I wanted to get my steps in before the rain came. I started by walking around the campground but I didn't get too far when I stopped and visited with our neighbors and a gentleman and his dog. I only made it around the campground once. I went home and dropped off my jacket and told Larry I didn't get far because I got carried away visiting. I told him I was going to walk the river trail and then around the campground. When I got to the gate and turned around and was heading back I heard thunder. I had a mile to go when the rain came. I was hoping it would just sprinkle for another 20 minutes and I would be finished. Nope, it started to come down hard and I was soaked. I saw the dam and I knew I was almost done. I walked through the gate of the parking lot and Larry was walking towards me with an umbrella. I was glad to see him. Thank you honey. When we got back to the Minnie I got out of my wet clothes and changed into sweats.

A short while ago Larry bought us both a pair of hiking pants, we were wearing them today. The material they are made of doesn't take long to dry. We love the pants, they are very comfortable and they don't cling to you when you sweat like jeans do.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Larry read and I played my computer games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. Then I did the Event: Two Game Tango of 10 games (5 Free Cell and 5 Pyramid). It took me 38 minutes and 24 seconds, which put me in 9th place in my group.

When it was time for dinner I decided to make Tamale Pie. It is very easy to make, you just need a can of chili with beans, corn, cornbread mix, ground beef and salsa. You need an egg and milk for the cornbread mix. You bake it for 20 minutes. It came out delicious. 

  Tamale pie

The rain had stopped for a bit so after dinner we went for a walk around the campground. Larry walked with me for a half hour. We walked to a new campground that's being built and Buckeye Campground. Buckeye is closed but we walked around it. It is gorgeous, right on the river with full hookups and huge concrete slabs. Then we walked around our campground. Larry went back to the Minnie and I continued walking around for another half hour to finish my steps. I ended up doing 27,800 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing with a book. I finished reading Venetian Reckoning last night and started reading Acqua Alta.

Relaxing with a good book

 

 

Sunday 3-20 Happy Spring & Spring Trip

 

Happy Spring

Today was the first day of spring. We had a wonderful day. 

I got up early and Larry had breakfast ready. He baked cinnamon rolls and put icing one them. I had taken a couple of rolls out of the freezer before I went to bed so they could thaw and rise overnight.   

Cinnamon rolls

After breakfast we finished loading up the Minnie. We were on the road by 8:30 am. We were going to have a long day going 325 miles to Broken Bow, Oklahoma. We drove through Waco and Dallas using I35. Then we got on four and two lanes highway. We drove by ranches with horses and cattle. I kept awake for the first 90 miles and the rest of the way I dozed off. 

We stopped in Royse City, Texas at Buc-ee's to fill up the Minnie and to have lunch. It was very busy. All of their pumps were being used and people were having to wait to get to a pump. Buc-ee's are huge, they have between 80 and 120 gas pumps so you can imagine just how busy this place was. There was also a steady flow of people going in and out of the store. After Larry finished filling the Minnie he pulled it to an empty parking spot. Then I made ham sandwiches for lunch. We thought about going inside of Buc-ee's to buy something to eat but it was way too busy.

After having lunch we were back on the road for another 150 miles. We arrived at Beavers Bend State Park Campground at 3:30. Larry parked in the Visitor Center parking lot to check in. The lady told him that he didn't have to check in he could just go to the spot we had reserved. While in the office he picked up a trail map. The parking lot was very steep so when we were leaving Larry had to be careful not to drag the step of the Minnie. 

Welcome sign

We are staying in Cypress Campground. Larry had no problem finding our site. The sites are heavily treed and have a concrete slab to put your RV on. Each site had a picnic table, fire ring and a grill. Our site is very nice, it has power and water.

Once we setup the Minnie for our stay. We relaxed, until it was time for dinner. We had baked ziti and then we went on an hour hike via the Mountain Fork River trail. The trail wasn't on the trail map. We hiked three miles along the river and past a small dam. The trail was easy and went through trees. We met a couple who had two dogs and we all said hi. We hiked the trail until it ran out, which was a mile and a half. It was a peaceful hike.

Mountain Fork River

After the hike I walked around for another half hour to get some of my steps in. I ended up doing 23,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group for the week with 186,355 steps. I didn't get my daily goal of 25,809 but I went over the weekly 175,000 steps challenge.

I did the Daily Challenge of Solitaire and Mahjong before I went to bed. I did the Event: Medium Mayhem of 27 games after doing my steps. It took me 1 hour, 19 minutes and 9 seconds, which put me in 10th place in my group. Then I read a little bit.

 

 

 

Saturday 3-19 Saturday Night Fever Dance & Ready To Go

 

Happy Saturday

We had a very nice day. It started at 37 degrees and got up to 77 degrees with a lot of sunshine.

We started the day out by taking the truck for a ride. Larry keeps the battery charged up using a charger but he likes to take it for a spin once in awhile. We drove to Walmart because I forgot to buy a couple of items. Then we drove by the storage center to pick up a charger. We'll be gone for about six weeks and Larry wanted to keep the car's battery charged up.

I played my computer games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong and the Event: Spider Mini of 5 games. It took me 13 minutes and 21 seconds, which put me in 6th place in my group.

After lunch I finished getting the Minnie ready. I made a bake and browned taco meat to take with us. When I finished cooking I did some housework. I cleaned the baths, vacuumed the house wiped down the floors and did some laundry.

Doing chores

When I finished my housework I read a bit. 

Larry bought a new Easter paper project from Dreaming Tree. The designs are usually much larger than we want, it takes Larry a bit of time to get everything resized.

Larry was reading a news site on the web and came across a documentary from the Montana PBS station about the Montana Freemen. It was well done and interesting. 

After dinner we attended Don Moger's Weekly Saturday Night Fever dance. Dayle Hodge called with Don Moger. They called three tips of A2 with 28 participants and three tips of C1 class level with 27. Dayle and Don called a tip of each level by themselves and the third tips the called together. We had an outstanding evening dancing to Dayle and Don and with friends. We spent the evening laughing and dancing.

When the dance was over we watched two episodes of Death In Paradise. Then I finished watching the sixth season of New Tricks. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group.

 

Relaxing in front of the television

 

    

Friday 3-18 Ready to go!!!!

 

It's Friday let's dance

It's Friday, what are you doing for the weekend.

We started the day out by going grocery shopping for our trip. First stop was Today's Car Wash to get the Equinox a bath. It has been months and it needed a wash. We were a little surprised to find the price went up from $5.00 to $7.00 for the basic wash. It's now the same price as its competitor. Next stop was HEB, where we brought the majority of our groceries. Afterwards we went to the UPS Store to mail out some cards, pick up our mail and asked them to hold our mail. Final stop was Walmart to buy the rest of our groceries. 

Shopping at HEB

By the time we got home and I put the groceries away it was lunchtime. After lunch I loaded the Minnie with foods and the clothing we're taking on our trip. I made the bed, swept out the Minnie and washed the floor. I'll finish up tomorrow.

I played my computer games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. Then I did the Event: Experts Only of 20 games. It took me 3 hours, 12 minutes and 33 seconds, which put me in 7th place in my group.

In the evening I attended Ett McAtee's Weekly A2/C1 dance at 6:30. She called four tips of A2 with 21 participants and one tip of C1 with 20 participants. Ett did a great job of calling and walked us through sequences dancers requested to do over. I had fun dancing to Ett and with friends.

After the dance we watched a couple of episodes of Death In Paradise. I watched three episodes of the sixth season of New Tricks. Then I read for an hour. I ended up doing 26,000 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group with 136,304 steps for the week.   

Thursday 3-17 Spring Trip Planning & a Dance

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone.

 

I'm excited

I'm excited, we're leaving on our spring trip this weekend. We will be gone for around six weeks.

For years previous to Covid we had done these spring trips. We never had any real itinerary, we simply kind of had an idea where we might end up, sometimes we get there, sometimes we end up somewhere else. We have always traveled without reservations. With all of the RV sales over the last few years and changes with public campgrounds this way of travel is becoming almost impossible. We prefer state or federal parks that offer hiking, almost all of these now require a reservation, no more just showing up and getting a site. Making it even more challenging is due to all the new RV sales weekends in these parks are normally full. So, while we don't have firm plans on where we are headed we almost have to plan at least a week in advance. This week was spring break in Texas and Oklahoma, next week Arkansas has spring break. We were going to start in Arkansas but due to spring break Larry couldn't find any openings. He made reservations in two Oklahoma state parks, from there we will move to Arkansas and slowly work towards Tennessee and Kentucky. We will see where we end up.

I started loading up the Minnie. I'll finish tomorrow.

We attended one virtual dance, Dayle Hodge's Weekly C1 at 11:00. I had forgotten it was St. Patrick's Day, Larry mentioned it right before the dance. So we wore green and other dancers also wore green to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Dayle called four tips of two couples with 18 participants and one tip of four couples with 15 participants. Every week Dayle makes the dance more challenging, which makes you think. When the dancers have problems Dayle walked us through the sequence again. We had a super time dancing to Dayle and with friends.

Jane dressed up for St. Patrick's Day

I played my computer games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong and the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Pyramid and 5 Tri Peaks). It took me 39 minutes and 8 seconds, which put me in 9th place in my group.

I continued reading Venetian Reckoning/Death and Judgement.

We watched the YouTube videos we follow.

In the evening we watched a few episodes of Death In Paradise. Then I finished watching the fifth season of New Tricks and started the sixth season. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 1st place in my group.