March 9-15 Spring Break 2024

Kyle brought the boys to us on Saturday for the week. It was a cold day and the wind was blowing pretty hard. It didn"t bother the boys as they played outside in their dirt pile and rode bikes.  Sammi was playing volleyball at the George R. Brown Convention Center. There is so much walking we didn"t go. We did watch the games on Baller TV.  Sunday was a much nicer day. Peyton, Luke and Cooper played hard all day. We loaded a few things in the trailer as we are headed camping tomorrow.  I never unloaded my truck from the Canton trip except for a few things we will not be taking on this trip. Now we just have to get adjusted to the time change.  Monday morning Luke was awake when I got up, he said he was to excited about camping to sleep. Susan, Peyton and Cooper slept in till about 7;30. We finished hooking up and headed out. We made one stop in Woodville to eat lunch at a little mexican food place. We pulled into Sandy Creek Coe at Dam B at about 1:30 pm. We have a nice big site. Its close to the playground, in fact I can sit in my chair and see the boys there. The loops are big and good for them to ride their bikes.  They played out all evening. The one thing I wasn"t prepared for were gnats, didn't bother the boys but did me. We had hot dogs for supper but ate inside.  Tuesday morning we all slept in pretty late for us. I got up about 6:30 and the boys got up about 7.  It was a nice morning outside with no gnats. By 10:00 am the gnats were back in full force. We drove to Jasper and got cintronella candles and coils and two types of spray.  Nothing fazed the gnats. The boys played out and they were not bothered too much. If it was just Susan and I we would hook up and leave. There is not a swimming area here so we went next door to Martin Dies State Park and let the boys swim for a couple of hours. We had hamburgers for supper but had to eat inside again. Wednesday morning was a repeat of yesterday. Thursday we loaded up and went home. Susan and I were ready because the gnats were just too bad for us.  The boys had a good time though.

Feb 27-March 3 Canton Trade Days

 We headed to Canton on Tuesday. There were 3 trailers going and we met there around 12:30. Going that early you have no problems getting a spot together.  The trade days dont open tilll Thursday but we always have plans on Wednesday.  We got everyone set up and then chilled, The weather was nice with a little wind. Around 5 we all went to the Dairy Palace for supper. When we got back we had happy hour for awhile.  When I got up Wednesday morning around 5 a cold front had blown in.  The wind stayed at 25-30 mph all day. Everyone decided to stay in for the day. That evening Belinda made bbq sandwiches for everyone and we ate in there trailer.  Thursday morning it wasnt as cold and the wind was down to about 10 mph. We had two other couples join us but they were staying in  a motel.  Susan and I stayed out about 4 hrs and came back to the trailer.  That evening we all went to eat Mexican food. While we were eating it really stormed outside. Friday morning was a repeat for shopping. That evening Jeff made gumbo for supper and then we had two fires going for happy hour.  Saturday was a repeat except I made taco soup for supper. It was another nice night.  The evenings are the best thing about Canton. Sunday morning we got up and left by 8 am completing another nice little trip.

Feb 17 18, 2024 Mckinney Falls State Park

 It was pretty cold Friday night.  I woke up about 3 and it was nippy in the trailer. I figured we ran out of propane. We use a small electric heater in the living room but it can"t keep the whole trailer warm when it gets really cold outside. About 4:45 I had to get up so I went outside and switched tanks, sure wish i had a remote switch.  Cooper was snuggled in bed and he didn't get up till 6 which is unusual for him. It made about 28 right at daylight. We were in the evening wave so Susan slept in.  We played at 3,5 and 8:00 pm. Even though we were not playing great we won the first two games easily. I figured the third game would be the same so we headed back to the trailer and streamed it on Baller TV. Sunday morning  we played at 8,11,and then 1.  We lost in the semifinals to the team that won the finals. It was disappointng as we expected to win the tournament. In years past we would have been happy to finish this high but we expect a lot from this team. This was a big tournament and was played at different venues. We were at the Round Rock Sports center, it was a very nice facility. Several friends from this area came and watched the games with us. Im sure glad we don"t have to drive back home today. We will head back home tomorrow and then get ready to go to Canton next week.

Sammi is the libero (pink jersey)

Feb 16,2024 Mckinney Falls State Park

 I slept till about 5:30 the Friday morning. I was so tired last night. Cooper and I took a short walk so he could pee and poop. Glad it was warm as the wind was blowing.  About 8:00 I cooked breakfast outside. Then Cooper and I took a pretty good walk. When we got back I showered and we loaded up and headed to a quilt shop Susan wanted to go to. She had a friend that was teaching a class there. right before we got there we had police cars passing us and then turning right in front of us. Thats when we really noticed lots of cops running around and blocking entry to an area on the right. There was also two ambulances arriving. I just kept driving thru figuring there must be a shooting of some kind.  Anyway it was quiet when we got to the quilt shop. We got back to camp about 1:00. We had a light lunch and then Cooper and I took a small hike down to the Falls. It was a a pretty overcast day and a little cool but there was a few folks swimming. Cooper was wore out when we got back so we took a nap. We just chilled the rest of the evening . Tomorrow the first day of the volleyball tournament starts. We are in the evening wave, not my favorite, our first game is at 3.

Feb 14,15 2024 Mckinney Falls State Park

 This will be our first trip of the year. Sammi has a volleyball tournament this weekend in Austin so we decided to go camping near there for a few days.  We both just got over Covid so I was a little behind getting things ready to roll. Wednesday morning I took the trailer to town to get it inspected so I could get new tags. So glad this is this is the last year I have to do that. i knew my right turn signal wasn't working, problem was a blown fuse which is a recurring issue and I haven"t found the problem.  I stopped at auto zone and got some 10 amp mini fuses and replaced. After getting inspection I took the trailer to a tire place due to a slow leak on a tire. Upon further inspection decided to get four new tires. I had really gone longer than I expected on the cheap tires that came with trailer. Its 4 years old so it was about time. After getting trailer back home I unhooked and headed back to town to go to tax office and the grocery store. Thursday morning we pulled out about 9:00 am.  We were in no hurry as its only about a 4 hour drive.  Lots of traffic on I-10 with one slow down due to a wreck. Finally slacked up about Katy. We stopped to eat lunch in Columbus at Mikeskas BBQ.  We usually stop here because they have a nice parking lot for trucks and trailers.  We arrived at Mckinney Falls about 1:30.  We have a nice pull thru site. We were finished setting up by 2:30.  Old age has really set in for me cause I was wore out. We used to drive all day, stop and set up and then go exploring. Nope not now as i set my butt down and rested for about an hour. After that Cooper and I did take about a mile walk. The weather is really nice right now. I had picked up some chicken salad yesterday from a little place in Liberty that I like and that is what we had for supper.  

Nov 10-15 Colorado Hunting trip

Last Christmas Kristi and Adam gave me a hunting trip. They flew me up and back and Adam guides up there so he carried me mule deer hunting on his ranch leases. I left Houston at 6:00 in the morning. I had a layover in Denver and then landed on Steamboat Springs/Hayden airport around 2:00 pm. Adam picked me up at the airport. It about a hour and 15 minute drive back to Meeker where he lives. It was rainy and warm when I left but was clear and cold when I landed around 30 degrees.  We didn"t hunt that evening but drove out to the ranch and looked around. There was mule deer already feeding in the lower pasture by the corrals.  We piddled around for awhile and headed back to town. We stopped and picked up some food for supper. While we we there the ranch owner, Todd, stopped by and we chatted for awhile, he"s a really nice guy.  The next morning we headed out. It was brisk about 8 degrees. I did pretty good hiking until the first climb. It slap dab wore me out. Adam had spotted a small herd and we moved to get in front of them. There wasn"t a really good buck with that group so we let them meander off. Luckily Todd brought us Adams ranger  and said there were mule deer across from his Moms place about two miles from us , we took the ranger and then hiked the last half mile. By this time I was really lagging. Never saw anything so headed back home for lunch. Its only about 10 miles to Adams house.  That evening we headed back out, Adams friend Katy came along also. We hiked up about halfway up the ridge and set up to glass around. It was about 30 minutes later we saw mule deer moving in the pasture below us. There was one pretty good buck in that group. as we watched planning our next move we saw another buck moving in from far off the pasture.  He was a bigger buck. As he came toward the group the first buck headed in his direction. Adam decided we needed to move back down to the corral and then take the truck and get to the other side of the pasture to set up. We did this.  We didn"t have a lot of cover to make a stalk. We were able to make it to some reeds along a irrigation ditch. The bucks did not cooperate and come down to us. They were not fighting but ciircling each other and moving away. This meant around 375-400 yard shot. I was using Adams 6.5 Creedmore.  4 shots later he went down. Katy said she thought the second shot hit him.  We took the truck and went back to the corral and then took the Ranger around a ranch road. We knew pretty close to where he fell. It only took about 5 minutes and Katy found him. We loaded it up and headed back.  It was still good daylight when we got to Adams but we decided to hang him overnight and clean him the next day.  Sunday morning we skinned and quarterd the deer. He filled a 120 qt cooler. That evening we head out again. We didn"t even get set up before we saw deer. We started stalking and got within 200-250 yards.  2 shots and Adam had him on the ground. We watched the rest of the herd move away and there was another good buck with them.  I went back to get the truck and Adam and Katy headed for the deer. it was only about a mile back to the truck. When I drove back up I did not see anyone but did see and orange vest on the ground. Adam hollered and said there was no deer to be found. The orange vest was where he shot him and there was some blood and then nothing. We divided up and circled and circled . It was just about dusk when Katy once again found the deer.  This time he had to be dragged abut 250 yards. We loaded up and went home. Once again we just hung him in the back yard. Monday morning we got up and processed the whole deer. It took us most of the day. I was slap wore out when I went to bed that night. Tuesday morning when I got up about 5 i decided to wash all my clothes. I reached down to pick them up and my back gave out. I crawled around all day hurting. I flew home Wednedsay morning and it was a day from hell. When I got home I was barely able to get out of my truck and get inside. It took almost a month to get over this back episode.

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