Cave Dwellings

A PERFECT 6-POINT LANDING…

2012-01-31T14:25:00.001-06:00

No, I do NOT mean the Hiker.. I mean myself falling off the last step of the Hiker…Here is the short version:

--We got set up at Goose Island in an unlevel site. Needed to pull it up on blocks on RV door side.

--McGyver puts 2 wood pieces after the last step to help me, (since I have really short legs)…but it’s still quite a step at to the ground. (bad omen)

-- I go to dump out some yukky dishwater last night after dark….forgetting the big step off…

--I do a great half gainer followed by a perfect 6 point landing..feet being the first to hit (painful, especially my bad foot), knees next(more pain) , and finally hands(no pain, just mud)…

--My “ensemble” was dripping dishwater and mud, and after looking to see if anyone witnessed this maneuver, I pulled myself together and sat on said steps wondering if I had broken both feet (it sure felt like it).

--Enter McGyver at the door, looking to see why I was taking so long outside. “What the Hell happened?”

Well, Dennis helped me inside. I could walk , and McGyver held on. I figured if I HAD broken anything, walking wouldn’t have been possible. I assessed the pain in both feet, took 3 Ibuprofen, and went to my recliner. I’m really good at hobbling around after my foot surgery last Spring, so I fell right back to it very easily. This morning,after doing my “old lady” walk out of the bedroom, I put my good “walking shoes” on (yeah, right….)..and when McGyver went for his 2 mile walk, I ~~jumped on~~ hobbled over to my bike , knowing darn well from past experience, the walking will have to wait a while.

OUR LITTLE PIECE OF HEAVEN AMONGST THE LIVE OAKS….

I got some really neat photos on my bike ride this AM….

Deer…(see, that wasn’t hard)… ….Great Egret???? ( I am thinking)…

….Great Blue Heron?? Snowy Egret???? (now, I am faking it)

Northern Pintail???….. (I cheated, McGyver told me) Got this one…two….ducks??

A Mystery bird…Looks like Father Time to me..(having a bad hair day!)

He was far away on some wooded snarl…..just watching me.

This bird was very big..and there were lots of them early this AM…After diving back into the Bird Book, I’m saying this is a Black Crowned Night Heron..and if he isn’t, he is probably wishing he was…Hey, I just NOW got my Jr.Bird Nerd badge!!!

According to this sign on the above boardwalk, the Goose Island marsh restoration has now attracted one pair of the rare Whooping Cranes..They weren’t here 3 years ago when we were last here, but did hang out South of here at Aransass Pass.. Since they have really been enlarging the wetlands and marshes here at the park they have a pair now …and…..Now that I know there are a couple of Whoopers that just moved into the area, I will make it my mission to meet them, and take them over some dead fish brownies.

I want to welcome old/new followers, Barb and Jim Otto. Barb has been following our blog since the beginning , 3 years ago..but she didn’t know how to actually “FOLLOW” officially until now…Barb and Jim are some of our best friends back in Sandwich, and Barb is the one who takes care of our mail…OK…those of you already “in the GMC”, don’t go saying we are playing favorites if we let Barb and Jim sit by the window next time..and Kenny and Angela, ya gotta move your beer over..Jim wants to bring his beer along too!!

WOW, that was lots of photos for my first blog here…Sorry to those who are not into birds…GET OVER IT!!

I HAVE NOW DECIDED THAT I AM A PIRATE……

“Pirates do not cry, except in the case of the loss of a shipload of rum.” ~ a Pirate

RECALLING AN ILLINOIS BLIZZARD.

2012-01-29T09:29:00.001-06:00

In 1967, Northern IL had one of the worst blizzards on record…Good friends of ours, Kathie and Jim Potter of Sheridan, IL., recall their ordeal the day of the “Blizzard of ‘67”…as recounted by the local news.. Jim graduated HS with Dennis…This is how local family and farmers pulled together to get Kathie to the hospital that day!! I thought I would share it with you…

“The worst blizzard to hit the La Salle County area occurred Jan. 26 and 27, 1967, when the region was blanketed with a record-setting 23 inches of snow.
Rural Sheridan resident Kathie Potter has a different reason for remembering that snowstorm — she gave birth in the middle of it.
"It was quite exciting. We always laugh over it," Potter recalled Tuesday as another blizzard whipped the Midwest.
At the time of the 1967 snowstorm, Potter and her husband, Jim, were living on a farm, with the nearest hospital in Sandwich. The blizzard was apparently too much for the township plow, which broke down, leaving five miles of snow-choked road between the farm and the hospital when the expectant mother went into labor early Friday, Jan. 27.
To get to the delivery room, a convoy was formed, with Kathie's brother-in-law Norm Potter in one tractor, Wayne Knight in another and Albert Stallings in a third, followed by Kathie and her husband in their car. The five-mile journey took five hours.
"It was strange too. It was in the 60s the day before, and beautiful," Kathie remembered. Records show the temperature reached 67 degrees two days before the blizzard.
During the trek to the hospital, Kathie said she and her husband kept wondering, "We don't want to deliver in the car. Should we stop at this house or keep going?"
They continued going, eventually pulling into the hospital's parking lot. However, there was no doctor present, so Norm Potter took his tractor to fetch Dr. William Kenshol. But nature did not wait and within five minutes a 7-pound, 7-ounce girl was born. The Potters named her Dawn. Nurse Irene Wasson handled the birth in lieu of the doctor. Dawn is now Dawn Lambert and lives next door to her parents.
Kathie recalled with a chuckle that if the baby had been a boy, the name would have been far different in honor of the men who helped get her to the hospital: Norman Wayne Albert.”

That’s how the rural communities did it back in the day…

We will be out of communication while traveling tomorrow to Goose Island State Park….Talk to y’all sometime Tuesday..Pray for us..Carlton the GPS is taking us through Corpus Christi….just great.

THE STICKS AND BRICKS OF THE CAVES….

“A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.”

Walking With My Foot In My Mouth….It Ain’t Easy.

2012-01-27T16:01:00.001-06:00

This morning McGyver and I went up to the Rec Hall because we were running out of clean clothes. I put on my stunning “Lighthouse fleece jacket” as it was only 55 degrees this morning.. Den helped me carry the duffel bag and basket of our laundry in, then he took off for his walk. I put the $9 in the little box on the wall, proceeded to fill the two washers and get the laundry show on the road. Then, I struck off in another direction to walk on my own, knowing I had a full 30 minute wash cycle to get back...I guess I should never be allowed to strike out on my own.

Just zooming along, minding my own business, I noticed I was coming upon a couple walking their dog off to the side of the road. As I did my Jackie Joiner pass (huffing and puffing), the lady said, “I love your jacket”..and I turned and said “Garage Sale”..She laughed, and her hubby said “My garage sales are all tools”..to which I responded over my shoulder, “I call those Man Sales”…Keep in mind I had passed them, and this conversation was being shouted at this point…His response to me was, “That was a pretty sexist remark, are you one of those “Feminists”? Do I really need this abuse?..He didn’t leave it at that. He was shouting again, “I tried to open a door for one of you once and almost got my head taken off!”..NO..REALLY?? ONE OF US?? Thankfully, I was almost out of screaming range..almost…I couldn’t resist shouting back over my shoulder, “You could hold the door for me ANYTIME!!” and I threw my arms up in the air in exasperation and began power walking …and talking to myself…Now, I ask you..Did I provoke that exchange?? OK, maybe a Man Sale wasn’t a good choice of words…Maybe I should have said a “Man-Stuff Sale”..and maybe my last words should have been “EAT MY DUST!”

A FEW PICTURES FROM OUR DRIVE ON RT. 83 TO RIO GRANDE CITY FOR GROCERIES…

Remember my stove light that McGyver installed so I could see what kind of “mystery meat” I was cooking??

…Well, it looked like a airport runway landing light, not to mention it lit up the whole inside of our camper ..and was exactly at my eye level. This was blinding me and causing me to overcook food and make meals that were terrible.. (Hey, shut up. ..that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!) Well….McGyver..being McGyver.. made me a great invention to shield my eyes AND to direct the light DOWN upon my cooking area…You’re gonna love this!!!

…Oh, the things you can do with an empty Busch Lite 30 pack box….I was wondering what he was so intently working on at our picnic table…No, this is NOT permanent…THIS, dear friends, is what McGyver calls a “prototype”..When we get home, McGyver will put his sheet metal skills to use and make me one just like this one…only prettier…and sturdier…and painted black…Don’t worry, this one doesn’t’ “catch fire”, it’s too far away from any flame..McGuyver is WAS a Fireman, after all !! I’ll bet NONE of you have a light like this at home or in your camper..they are a “one of a kind”..I think we should patent it…LADIES, EAT YOUR HEART OUT!!

I know there are a gazillion animal lovers out there…Well, Dennis and I discovered a fabulous new TV show called Blue Collar Dogs, on the National Geographic Wild channel…It showed how they train rescue dogs, police dogs, drug sniffing dogs…fabulous, fabulous show..Click the link to find out the channel and times in your area..you won’t regret it…

Before I forget it, we have a new brave follower. I want to welcome DarnJoe to the land of the Cave Dwellers..Jump up into the GMC, DarnJoe..Don’t let all those crazy people in the back seat intimidate you…I didn’t see a blog site for ya, DarnJoe,…so come along with us…Can I just say that you and I have something in common?..Your name is DarnJoe..and very frequently mine is DammitDonna.

“One way to prevent conversation from being boring is to say the wrong thing.”

~ Frank Sheed

A “Gnatsty” Morning Walk For Treasure..

2012-01-25T16:07:00.001-06:00

Our weather finally dawned with the hope of sunshine, not fog…

I took this from our Hiker door..Yep, that looks like ‘Ol Sol just beginning to peek above the cloudbank to the East…Yea!!!

At one point in time, when we had our Cougar, Dennis was heavy into “geocaching”…A.K.A. finding useless containers of useless stuff left by other people who have caught the “geocache bug”…But, first ya gotta get on the computer and find out exactly WHERE these useless prizes are stashed according to the global co-ordinates…We headed out this AM, McGyver clutching the hand held GPS tightly..(this poor hand held GPS thought we had given it up for our Tom Tom in the GMC…(well, we kinda did forget about this little bugger.)

Our first “cache” was hidden in a big mixed nut container (did they know us?)hidden under the ramp to the bird blind…(explanation of bird blind to you home gamers..It is a place where you can stealthily hide behind camouflage netting to watch the birds and they won’t see you…yet another stupid humanoid trick that the birds have figured out..)

We still had one more“cache” to find and that took us on one of the trails around the perimeter of the campground…and that’s where we were suddenly accompanied by swarms of “Gnatsty” Gnats..in the eyes, ears,nose and stuck between our teeth…irritating little #@*#@#@!’s… The only thing to make it worse is finding out that they are fattening.

We were only yards away, according to Mr. Hand Held , who, by the way, does NOT talk…He’s very vain..you have to LOOK at him to see where the H--- you are!.. McGyver was not to be thwarted by insects the size of an a pinhead, so he dove into the underbrush to come up with….

HOLY JAIL TIME, BATMAN! IT’S A TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE AMMO BOX!! ARE WE IN TROUBLE??

McGyver opened it up and it contained your typical geocache treasure… a zip lock bag with the usual pen, paper, and little dumb prizes like you get from those gumball machines at the Laundromat…Dennis signed our names, (cause that’s what ya do when finding a geocache), and returned it to it’s hiding place. All the while , I watched from the trail, expecting to hear Border Patrol helicopters hovering over us at any minute…

So much for our geocaching adventure….But, rest assured we will do this again at Goose Island..(bet you can hardly wait..) I may consider calling our son-in-law, Detective Heiser Glenview IL PD to get a bail bondsman card..hmmm

Apparently we hadn’t eaten enough gnats for the day, so we took a bike ride that same afternoon. I let McGyver lead, and he led us down a very bumpy, sandy road to the edge of Falcon Lake..Guess who has the dirt bike?? It ain’t me!!

Hey!!! WAIT UP!!! Sheesh, you would think he’s trying to ditch me or something….I have no idea why..After all, I am my usual stunning vision of loveliness while riding my bike…

Ahhhhhhh, the wonderful wind…Suddenly my hair was all on one side of my head..making me look like Don King in drag…

(and I wonder why McGyver always wants to lead, and does it waaaay out front!)

The flowers are beginning to pop out, here at Falcon Lake…I know that they won’t be in full “Hay Fever” mode until the middle of February, and we will be gone..So, I will post some photos we took February of ‘09 . This is what it will look like ..Don’t get too close to the computer screen if you have allergies..

Hard to believe all this beauty from some prickly brush along the road. (It really is beautiful in person)..AAAAACHOOOOO!!

OK, I’ve succeeded in blabbering my way to the bottom of this blog , which has turned out to be about pretty much nothing…Oh…I forgot…I did get a very pretty sunset photo last night..

TOOK THIS OUTSIDE OF THE HIKER , DRINK IN HAND, ENSEMBLE ON..GETTING LOTS OF “LOOKS”..

“Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.” ~ Maxine

In A Fog…Not Unusual For Me

2012-01-23T15:33:00.001-06:00

This morning we awoke to a gray, damp and dreary day with fog turning into light “facial spa” mist. McGyver got the spa benefits while taking visits to “the dump”, when it really should have been ME getting the facial! We have had a few foggy mornings here at Falcon lately. The other day, while “feeling our way” on our walk, we suddenly heard the howl of one lone Coyote somewhere ahead of us near the roadside…oooooh boy. It is unusual to hear just one of these soulful cries. If one begins the serenade, others usually join in..but no one was singing with this dude..and I wasn’t about to try my skills at Coyote calling…We kept hearing him in the fog, and we were getting closer. Now, as McGyver was forging ahead, I was falling purposefully behind, and really getting nervous. I thought maybe he was injured…or rabid…or a serial killer…The Stephen King movie Cujo was doing flashbacks in my brain.

Suddenly, barely discernable in the fog, we spotted him loping across the road ahead of us, stopping right in the middle to look leeringly at these two tasty looking humanoids coming at him…QUICK!..CAMERA…ON…ZOOM…FOCUS…..WAIT! WHERE’D HE GO?? CRAP!!! He was totally onto me ,trying to catch a close up, and my camera lens couldn’t keep up with his ghostlike figure slinking off into the underbrush…I’m a little slow on the trigger finger, thus…no Coyote photos..I repeat, CRAP!

The birds here, (get ready to take a nap, bird- weary followers), are still very entertaining..but then, Dennis and I are easily entertained..

This is a Yellow Rumped Warbler (no,I did NOT make that up)..Right is an American Goldfinch..(at least I THINK that’s what they are. Of course, we still have the cast of “usual suspects”….easily identifiable to a “Jr. Bird Nerd”..(love that title!..Thanks, Judy!).

…And while we are on the topic of birds, I must confess my ignorance in the fine art of Bird Feeding. After getting the feeling that Judy was disapproving of my marshmallow frenzy, I Googled it to see if I was amiss in my choice of bird treats…DARN RIGHT I WAS!!..Correcto Mundo, my bird blogger friend…and here is the Wikipedia PROOF AND TRUTH..AND I CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH!! I can also hear my mother saying “Just because everyone else is doing it, does NOT make it right!”…no truer words..So, now I’m trying to find a troop of Cub Scouts and add my bag of marshmallows to their ingredients for S’mores…

I will now quickly segue into the ever blossoming shrubs and brush around us…More and more every day!!

Don’t ask me to identify the flowers, I already flunked “birds”..

……I think this is NOT a butterfly, but a moth of some kind…Think I’ll just call him “Orange Eater”..see how I roll? It’s no wonder my Biology teacher wanted me out of his class…He passed me just for his own mental health.

We really don’t like to make definite plans, but when in Texas during February and March, it is wise to have some firm reservations set up..and by that, I DON’T mean Wal Mart parking lots. So, we got online to the Texas State Park reservation system (which can be a challenge in itself) and made reservations for 2 weeks at Goose Island State Park, in Fulton…and then 2 weeks at Goliad State Park, in Goliad. From there we will jump back into the Army Corps parks so we can actually get a perk for being old and crabby..HALF PRICE CAMPING!….This means 2 weeks at Lake Georgetown, in Georgetown (duh), and then 2 weeks at Lake O’ The Pines at Jefferson, TX….OH YEAH…LOVE THIS ITINERARY. We have stayed at all of these parks and they are definitely on our list of Texas Favorites.

Well, McGyver and I are enjoying our last full week here…We do our daily exercise, …..

…take our daily bike rides….. ..and have our daily “Happy Hour”…

Oops…I don’t wanta forget to welcome a new rider to the GMC. Michael Kane has decided to give up his extensive movie career and come with all of us to take a break from fame..…OH OH…OOPS AGAIN!.. I guess that was Michael “C”-aine…Sorry, Michael with a “K”, and NO “I” …Just jump into the back seat, kick the candy wrappers aside, and explain to the crew already there why you are NOT signing autographs…

“Early each day to the steps of St. Paul's, the little old bird woman comes... In her own special way to the people she calls, come buy my bags full of crumbs. Come feed the little birds, show them you care, and you'll be glad if you do. Their young ones are hungry, their nests are so bare; all it takes is tuppence from you. Feed the birds, tuppence a bag. Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag...” ~Mary Poppins

Donna Being Compliant …Hard To Imagine..

2012-01-21T17:30:00.001-06:00

This AM was very foggy when we walked. The fisherman apparently don’t mind the fog, there were a gazzillion of trucks and empty boat trailers down by the launch. They must do something like “combat fishing”. With all those boats zooming around in the fog, and almost no visibility to see where you are, how do you keep from ramming another boat?..My luck, I would get lost and end up in Mexican waters..not advisable….

This fog did give me an idea…an idea about cleaning our truck, which hadn’t been washed since we left..YUCK!

Well, after doing my research about what you can and cannot WASH here at Falcon State Park, I was still totally confused. The rules say you can wash your body, wash your dishes and wash off your picnic tablecloth..oh, yes, you AND the birds may drink the water. I asked up at the Rec Hall about washing our truck, and the powers that be who are “in charge” told me , and I quote, “Oh, you can wash your truck, just don’t make a lot of mud around your camper”. AAAAAAAllrighty then…that could be hard to do if you do a thorough and nit picky job, which I like to do..So, …what to do?? Should I take a chance and get out the hose, throwing caution to the wind and my ass on the line?

THERE’S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO ~~SKIN A CAT~~ WASH A TRUCK!!!!

I ask you,…Do you see a hose anywhere in these photos?..Nope. I just used the foggy moisture running down the GMC and added to it..I know..ingenious!. I could now write a book on how to wash a piggy dirty truck using a bowl of hot water, a chamois, 2 rags, a towel, and lots of sweat equity. (I know, I know, this is yet another of my fabulous ensembles from my collection…Socks and Crocks, now there’s a special look.)

Before…and After….and it only took me 2 hours, 2 wet feet, and one bump on the head from walking into the bedroom slide…(That’s when I put on my Official Steve Erwin Crocodile Hunter cap..A woman cannot accessorize enough!

GOTCHA!! DONNA SCORES 4 BIRD PHOTOS WITH NO WARNING TO THE READERS WHO ARE SICK OF THEM!!

That last one was taken 1/15/09 when we were here and it was flooded..OK,"Birdlady of Blogland"..What the Heck is this????

Tonight I am making a homemade pizza for dinner (with the help of Chef Boyardee)…The dilemma with this plan is that I like to prepare dinner by 4PM, so that I am in my “Happy Hour” apparel and can relax to enjoy a cocktail without donning an apron and slaving over a stove at the last minute..My problem?? If I assemble my 12” pizza ahead of time, it will be a challenge to find room in my refrig to stash it until oven time. Not to worry, I resolved it .. after moving all unnecessary items like butter, milk, eggs, and being careful NOT to disturb my Wine decanter (Sterilite plastic pitcher), I found room for said pizza…

Had to tape a sign on the refrig door saying “OPEN CAREFULLY, SLOWLY!”..If this thing rolls out,we will be having Pizza Casserole! The fact that I had to put a sign on the door with only McGyver and me in the Hiker is self explanatory.

I don’t wanta forget to welcome our new found friends and lurkers/followers, Sharon and Bill, and also another brave new soul who jumped into the truck, Jackie. Sharon is new at blogging and you might want to check her out, she is doing great. Also, for those who have dogs and cats, ya gotta go to Jackie’s blog from today and check out the Dog’s Diary,and the Cat’s Diary..I laughed my butt off at the Cat’s…

OK, now… when all of you get in the truck to leave here on Jan.30th, please save all beer and pop cans for recycling, and try not to embarrass us again by giving obscene hand signals to the truckers as we pass!..10-4.

“Why is it when you want a nice souvenir, you find a great shell in a gift shop, but some yo-yo has affixed a ten-cent thermometer to it?” ~Erma Bombeck

The Los Ebanos Ferry..I HATE Progress!

2012-01-19T15:39:00.000-06:00

This blog is really going to cast me as a backward, crabby, stuck in her ways old lady!..(A.K.A Maxine, as I have shown.) Today was grocery day, so Den and I decided to drive into Los Ebanos, TX, about 20 miles further past Rio Grande City…We remembered the hand pulled ferry there that we visited in 2009.

“The Los Ebanos ferry is a part of the border that time forgot. Tucked away in the southwestern corner of Hidalgo County this crossing has existed as a popular place to ford the Rio Grande since the days of Spanish colonization. The hand pulled ferry went into operation in the 1850’s and has seen few improvements since then. The ferry is still tethered by a thick rope tied around the base of a large Texas Ebony tree. And it’s still muscle power that propels the flat bottom barge from Texas to Mexico and back again.”

Above is how the ferry looked in January of 2009. It can carry 3 cars and 12 people. You gotta help pull the rope if you ride along..And yes, that road on the other shore is Mexico.

This is the closest view we could get today…and I had to use my zoom…They are building a new customs building and changing the way you can enter and exit the ferry..IF they are still using the ferry!! Gosh, I hate to see this old crossing fall the wayside of border security like this, but I do understand that US security is of utmost importance. As I said, I am NOT going gentle into that good night.

The town of Los Ebanos hasn’t changed one iota, though. It still has dirt streets, abandoned houses and a very colorful cemetery.

The Ferry Crossing sign is still there, but the store wasn’t open and looked pretty abandoned. Here is what it looked like in ‘09..

This store was closed. This is the Ebony tree, (Ebanos), the ferry is lashed to, but we could not get near it today.

..And here is the sign telling the history of this great old Rio Grande crossing..couldn’t get near this either because it was in a “construction area”..GIVE ME A DAMN HARDHAT AND LET ME CHANNEL SOME HISTORY!!! Grrrrrrrrr!!!!!

This whole thing has me very upset…It’s a doggone shame great old traditions have to “change it up” to accommodate a changing and more dangerous world..OK ,I just gotta calm down and hope they at least keep the ferry running..You couldn’t tell by just looking …and I know darn well the workers wouldn’t understand me..(I really need to learn some conversational Spanish.) Sorry about the rant…anyone got any Valium?

So, on a lighter note, the wildlife here continues to entertain us…

Mr. Cactus Wren posed under our feeder….The deer crossed the road in front of us (at least I didn’t have to drag out my Bird Book to identify HIM!)

The ants are a never ending source of energy..You can see all the way down the 20-25’ line of ants if you look close..That bunch of trees on the left is where they are heading into the brush..They must have some kind of internal GPS. Not a great photo, but trust me, those orange dots are ants…My God, I AM becoming obsessed with these guys!

We passed some pretty impressive homes on Rt. 83 to Los Ebanos..Right photo is one of the huge homes being built..I guess no one has heard of the real estate crunch down here..PEOPLE!!…Can you say DOWNSIZE????

No, this picture on the right is not the Taj Mahal..It is the Rio Grande City Bank. Wonder how much of our money it took to get all those inlayed tile in that dome???

Sorry about the quality of some of these photos..McGyver thinks I am a photojournalist for the paparazzi, and can take any photo “on the fly” . This sometimes involves me leaning out my window or smashing my lens to the glass, as we sail down the road at 65mph!!

It is now 3PM…the groceries are unpacked and repackaged so I can jam as much as possible in our freezer. I am not taking a walk this afternoon, I am opting for a bike ride…My feet are KILLING ME!! Besides, when I am on my bike (it’s an old lady bike, with no gears and foot brakes.) I relive my childhood on this blast from the past, racing McGyver down every hill. Going UP the hill is pretty embarrassing though. McGyver has a mountain bike with actual gears and handbrakes.. With that kind of bike, I would either throw myself over the handlebars, or out in front of a Javelina… So what,…I feel like I can FLY LIKE THE WIND!!!!

We bade our “blog lurkers”, Sharon and Bill goodbye yesterday. They are heading up to Ft Worth area to see family. When we went to see them, Sharon was cooking some fabulous looking shrimp kabobs in the oven and it smelled like Red Lobster in her camper…

…Guess what Bill dropped off at our Hiker about 5PM?? ..a sample just for US! They WERE on a skewer when they arrived (and still hot), but in our frenzy to eat them we took the skewer out before I got a picture…Shrimp stuffed with jalapeno and wrapped in bacon…SCORE!!

Hey, Sharon…I want this recipe….. Thanks for making our cocktail hour like a Happy Hour at a great bar with snacks!!

And thanks to all you readers for your nice compliments…Please promise not to mention how much I paid ya…

See y’all manana!

“Progress always involves risks. You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.” ~Frederick Wilcox

No Hear 'EM, No Speak ‘EM, No See ‘EM…No Like ‘EM!

2012-01-17T17:25:00.001-06:00

The last two days we have been blessed with 85 degree days and 65 degree nights. The sun has been bright and the sky almost cloudless. Our campsite has been full of birds, and I have a few more interesting photos…(Those who are not fond of birds, talk amongst yourselves for a minute….)

Altamira Oriole……. Verdin…………. Olive Sparrow……

We also discovered a different critter living across the street from us…He isn’t very friendly, and seems to have this hard “shell” about him..

DUDE!! TAKE OF THE ARMOR SUIT, WE COME IN PEACE!!! He is giving me a look out of the corner of his eye…Think I better leave him to his stand offish ways…What a party pooper!

We have decided to take our walks earlier in the morning when it is this warm out…like before 10AM..If we wait too late, we are joined by the dreaded “No See’em”s, who are gnatty almost invisible black specs that sleep in late and stay up late, doing lots of biting in between…They joined me today while I was soaking up some sun…FYI, When the No See’ems land on a sweaty leg, they stick and bite, and ya gotta scrape ‘em off..OH JOY.

Here’s another delightful group who are making our “back yard” their permanent home, and gathering from the parade they have every day, they intend to stay a while…

If you squint ( or adjust your bifocals) you can barely see what is called a Leaf Cutting Ant, carrying , what else, A LEAF…and one that is 6 or more times his size..Let me give you a quick Wikipedia lesson about these ambitious workers..

“Next to humans, leafcutter ants form the largest and most complex animal societies on Earth. In a few years, the central mound of their underground nests can grow to more than 30 metres (98 ft) across, with smaller, radiating mounds extending out to a radius of 80 metres (260 ft), taking up 30 to 600 square metres (320 to 6,500 sq ft) and containing eight million individuals.”…and I think we have at least that many just outside our camper. WHOA!!!

Dennis discovered these “leaf haulers” 2 days ago, when he followed the long line of them, one line going into the brush, (a distance of 30 ft,) and the other line of ants, right next to that line, was coming back, each with a piece of leaf or some other vegetation…

”In a mature leafcutter colony, ants are divided into castes, based mostly on size, that perform different functions.Their societies are based on an ant-fungus mutualism, and different species of ants use different species of fungus, but all of the fungi the ants use are members of the Lepiotaceae family. The ants actively cultivate their fungus, feeding it with freshly cut plant material and keeping it free from pests and molds.” (these guys AREN’T pests?) “The fungus needs the ants to stay alive, and the larvae need the fungus to stay alive ”…Short form is..they are growing fungus to eat..kinda like farmers growing crops only without tractors..Guess what else they use in their “fungus farm”???…

Hope ya don’t have a weak stomach, or an aversion to 6 legged critters..Just to let you know, they totally cleaned this orange up in no time…and “are capable of defoliating an entire citrus tree in less than 24 hours”…YIKES! Welcome to the neighborhood Atta Cephalotes..(No, that isn’t Spanish for ant, it’s their scientific name!)…You’ll pardon me if I don’t bring brownies over to your house. (There IS a fungus amongus!)

When we were in Roma the other day, I noticed how many homes had walls or fences around them down here…This is due to the heavy Spanish influence dating back many, many years ago…

Some are very ornate masonry or brick and wrought iron..and some are just chain link…

The photo on the left was taken “on the fly” turning around after going down a dead end street by accident…This is not something that is very safe OR smart around here ..but McGyver and I are not known to be either .

This last one is a home on Rt. 83, almost where we turn into the park…

OK, while I was busily blogging , we had a knock at our camper door…What the H--- did I do now?? Surprise, surprise…A couple of nice folks, Bill and Sharon, read our blog and just pulled in down from us a couple spots…How about that for a shocker…Sharon said she is a “lurker”, which is defined by her as someone who reads blogs, but never comments. She is trying to start a blog of her own and isn’t quite sure how to do it..My advice?? Just jump in and start talking..She and Bill are full timers and have a Hughesnet just like we do…

Nice to meet ya, Sharon and Bill..Please excuse my clothes, or lack thereof..(I was still in my “sunning ensemble” and probably would get arrested for it in most campgrounds.

So, this blog was a bit of a “ Biology Class” with an emphasis on bugs, ants, and armored tanks with legs….It is almost cocktail hour at the Cave Dwellings, and I am in much need of a hose down after sitting outside in the sun today. I guess Sharon and Bill are only staying a couple days here, but we will try to check in with them tomorrow…I’m hoping to change “first impressions” with an actual outfit consiting of shorts, a T-shirt and shoes…Good luck with that, right????

Historic Roma, TX

2012-01-15T13:48:00.001-06:00

“Yesterday, McGyver and I drove into Roma to re-visit the old plaza and the old abandoned buildings in those blocks around it. “Roma was founded in 1765 and incorporated in 1936. It serves as a port of entry from Mexico into the U.S. via the Roma-Ciudad Miguel Alemán International Bridge. Prior to Texas's independence from Mexico in 1836, the town was listed as under the jurisdiction of the town of Mier, Mexico and served under Spanish rule”.

“The architecture of Roma mirrors its sister city of Ciudad Mier on the Mexican side of the river, as well as Guerrero Viejo upriver. Roma is notable for its buildings of river sandstone, caliche limestone and molded brick, using rejoneado (patterned large and small stones) and sillar (stone laid in an ashlar pattern) masonry techniques. Both methods employ an outer finish of rough lime plaster detailed with bands of smooth colored plaster, characteristic of northern Mexico.”

“Roma also features innovative use of molded brick, brought to Roma by German immigrant Enrique (Heinrich) Portscheller, who used techniques of flat brick roofing from Monterrey to Mier, then developed a decorative brick used in Roma, Mier, Rio Grande City and Laredo. Portscheller designed buildings with his products and used wrought iron balconies in a manner reminiscent of both New Orleans and Monterrey. Roma preserves the bulk of his extant work.^”

If you ever get a chance to visit, make sure you get to this unique section of Roma. This is the original old town, and it sits high on the US banks of the Rio Grande, thus it is called Roma Bluffs. Dennis and I walked around, sticking our tourist noses into every nook and cranny. We remembered from the last time we visited here that there was an observation deck somewhere, looking into Mexico where the river is very narrow.

We followed the high bluff , looking for the observation deck..There was a very strong Border Patrol presence in this part of Roma, being so close to the river…I was on my best behavior, already knowing that these dudes take their job VERY seriously, and have no patience for my lame sense of humor.

We finally found the small doorway out to the overlook, where there were a few other “Gringos” there looking at the view just across the Rio Grande into Mexico..

When I zoomed my lens, I found a couple pigs, just roamin’ around…and the vast difference from the US side to the Mexican side. It really made me feel sad, to think that someone over there was looking at us over here. I wondered what THEY were thinking…Either , “That does it, tonight I swim over to seek a new life,” or ,“How can I figure a way to get these drugs across without being discovered”..Two entirely different life stories.

This ingenious little look out was operated by a Border Patrol , and a couple times we saw a Border Patrol person come out to the fence and look over the edge down the bluff…and he was “packing”…if you know what I mean…This kind of stuff is always a real eye-opener for me…

The historic church, Our Lady of Refugees and Sinners is in this area also…I believe the men behind me are part of what they called “Cavalry for Christ”, who brought religion to very remote areas, including Roma..Priests packing pistols is how I see it…

This is the church taken from the Plaza..

This pink building is also in the Plaza…It was a built by the Guerra family and was a grocery store downstairs and the family residence upstairs…This plaza was all dirt streets and dust when they filmed Viva Zapata here in the early 1950’s,and the old Plaza had a part in the movie…Sure wish I could have been an extra.

We had a great time roaming through Roma…the historic part. Not that Roma isn’t a fun town (maybe for some), but I prefer this area, where I can visualize the outlaws, caballeros, and the sound of horses hooves as they rode through the plaza…I tried to conjure up Marlon Brando as Emiliano Zapata, but he was resisting my channeling efforts.

This park and fountain is part of the newer part of Roma. It is an oasis of calm in the middle of bedlam..just 2 small blocks from the International Bridge to Mexico..Again, two different worlds colliding here on the border…fascinating stuff.

After a couple hours of wandering around, we picked up our pizza I had pre-ordered on line Friday, and went back to the campgrounds…Even though we had done this “tour” of Roma before, I never tire of the “wild west” old history…I sure hope it remains in tact long enough for our grandkids to see some of it…and try to learn something from it…

Before I forget, I want to welcome Billy Bob to the truck, and have everyone slide to the right, please.. Billy Bob, I love your name…Would you believe my kids had a Cabbage Patch doll we named “Billy Jo JimBob”?? Well, if you read a few more of my blogs you WILL believe it, trust me…OK, EVERYONE IN THE TRUCK….SHIFT!!!!!

“Men of the South! It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.” ~Emiliano Zapata

A Weekly Trip To Civilization..

2012-01-13T16:56:00.001-06:00

In a comment on my last blog, Michael and Dee asked how close we are to civilization. Well, if you count Falcon Heights, population about 50 on a good day, it’s about 2 miles. I would, however, put Roma as the next big center of population at 10,000…and Roma is about 12 miles South on Rt. 83. Roma has a fabulous historic area and I will post about that soon…

Yesterday we did our weekly drive 35 miles to Rio Grande City …Going through Roma on the way we pass the HUGE Roma School complex, just North of town. It is at least 7 years old because it has been there since we have been coming here to camp…

You can’t see much because there is a huge wall around most of it with locked gates . You have to stop and check in at the gate to get anywhere NEAR this place. There is a High School, a Grade School, an outdoor stadium, a big auditorium, and even a golf course. I have to believe that the reason for so much security is the location..it isn’t far from the Rio Grande, maybe one mile…. The mascot here is the Roma Gladiator, and the kids seem really proud of their teams…Not a bad brand new school complex for a town of 10,000, eh?

Above is my very most favorite store in Texas..The H-E-B…PLUS!

The H-E-B stores were started over 100 years ago in the Hill Country of Texas by a family blessed with the last name of Butts…Fortunately, they had the good sense to avoid naming their groceries The Butts Store, Butts Are Us, or Family Butts…I would love to tell you more, but my Internet Explorer is refusing to let me “surf” the net at all right now!! If memory serves, the gentleman who started these stores was named Herbert E. Butts.. , and if I am incorrect, my apologies to all the Butts out there whom I have offended…Regardless of what your name is , sir, you have a mighty fine store!!! Why doesn’t one of the family take their “Butts” to Illinois ?? Just sayin’.

We filled the GMC up on the way back and this is what they were advertising for food..No, we didn’t get any, but we DID get some cheap diesel for $3.66 a gallon..

The left photo is overlooking the W-I-D-E open spaces we see as we turn off Rt. 83 and take the old road to Falcon Heights back to our campground.…Right photo IS Falcon Heights…US Post Office on the right, followed by a little grocery store …I went in there once when I was desperate for Coke…Let me just say it was very small, very dark, and VERY “interesting”…been there, done that.

This morning was my pre-assigned day to do our laundry at the Rec Hall. McGyver went with me this time. They have a TON of wildlife books and photos, so I tried to brush up on some of the critters one can find here in the park..

Will ya just look at all of those books spread out there to wander through?? I will try to remember some of the names of birds I have seen…Yea, yea, I KNOW I’ve seen Orioles, but there are several different kinds….and WHAT are those little green birds fighting with the Orioles for our oranges??? I will find out and report back, playing the role of a good Biology student on a field trip.

Here are a few of the “Wild Things” you could possibly encounter here at Falcon State Park….

..Love Tortoises.. Big Cats …scary! Snakes make me vomit. yep.

THIS IS ABOUT AS “WILD” AS IT GETS FOR MCGYER AND MYSELF…AND WE LIKE IT THAT WAY.

Actually, there are some warm and cuddly things that approach our campsite and have a drink with us…This brave little bunny is betting that all the nasty snakes are still fast asleep underground, so he can roam free and not be “a snake snack” for a few more weeks…Isn’t he cute?? Did I say that I HATE snakes??oh, yea, I did..WELL I STILL DO!

Tomorrow we are going back into Roma…Yes, we are making our second trip this week to “town”..Woopie!..I want to do a little wandering around the old section and refresh my memory of the history…Also, “The town is the scene identified as the burial site of artifacts from the Library at Alexandria in Clive Cussler's novel Treasure. Filming for the 1952 film Viva Zapata!, scripted by John Steinbeck and directed by Elia Kazan, starring Anthony Quinn, and Marlon Brando as Emiliano Zapata, took place in Roma. The film and the city are recurring motifs in Larry McMurtry's 1972 novel All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers, and the book's conclusion takes place in and around Roma.” I know darn well some of you won’t have a clue who Elia Kazan is, but John Steinbeck, Anthony Quinn and Marlon Brando should ring an intellectual bell!

I must admit, history is not our only reason for cruisin’ into Roma..I have an ulterior motive..A large Super Supreme pizza at the Roma Pizza Hut…for $10…and “to go”… Thanks for pointing your mouse at our blog and clicking yet again!!

A strong people is the only way to freedom! ~ Emiliano Zapata

There’s Just Something About The Rio Grande Area We Love.…

2012-01-11T16:33:00.001-06:00

My new camera isn’t behaving properly, but I managed to get a slightly passable photo of the full moon Monday night from our Hiker door…

There was just a slight little film of clouds overhead, which helped make this photo better than it could have been..plus the tops of the low trees didn’t hurt either!…FYI…we are on the verge of sending our camera in for some repair work when we get back…OR…I might just “kick it to the curb” right here!!!!

Yesterday evening I heard some very loud engine noise , so I pulled up our shades (we had them down to keep the sun off the back end where we sit)….Lo and behold was a pretty long fiver trying to get into a “pull through” site from the wrong direction…WHAT THE ----??? He only had his wife for help, (OK, ladies, we’ve ALL been THERE!) and he seemed to be stuck between the trees at the back end and the bushes and wood stakes at the front of the site…After watching his wife put her hands to her head in a frustrated manner, McGyver changed into his cape and body suit (in my dreams) and went out to help..

What a dilemma! HELLO!!..you are suppose to enter a right side “pull through” FROM THE RIGHT SIDE DIRECTION!!!!

It took Dennis, and another gentleman from one of the other sites working with the driver and his wife… and finally, after about 20 minutes , they had him “in the hole”..Den told me he had scuffed the front of his truck a bit, too!! YOUCH!..I couldn’t believe it when we looked out this morning and they were GONE!…All of the for just one night..sheesh!

There is a little bit of color beginning to pop in the desert scrub brush. I took a walk by myself on one of the trails INSIDE the camping circle…Don’t worry, I wouldn’t venture outside of the campground without my trusty scout, McGyver ..and his ability to see over the tops of the brushy prickery stuff.

These twin Yuccas will be getting huge blossoms soon…Right photo is some of the “prickery stuff” I tend to walk into.

I walked up to the Rec Hall to sign up for another ‘bout with the washers and dryers this Friday. It really stinks that they only have 2 of each and we always seem to have 3 loads of laundry…Plus, they don’t open the doors until 8:45AM!..Heck, by then we’ve been awake for almost 3 hours..This makes my imitation of a laundry attendant last until 11AM…I hate being inside on a beautiful day. Ahhh, the smell of softener sheets wafting though the laundry room and how I love fighting to get the damn lint out of those “lint catchers” without leaving huge dust bunnies on the floor…Do you do what I do??…lick your finger and run it around the catcher…. then try to get the wet lint off your finger and into the wastebasket???? LOVE THAT LAUNDRY!

Let me see, which trail goes to the Rec Hall and which goes into the deep and endless brush and prickers??? The formidable “fork in the road”…Never fear, I chose the right one and blazed a trail right up to the main road into the campground…

I am standing on the road directly in front of the Rec Hall. The turn to the right goes into the Hall, and also continues on toward some day use areas and cabins you can rent. Waaaaaay in the distance , do ya see the orange roofed building????Well, that is the gatehouse where you pull though and check in before finding a spot. From the top of that hill you get a great view of Falcon Lake and the bridge to Mexico…

This morning McGuyver and I took a walk on one of the trails that goes around the camp loops and dips almost down to the lake. If you take the trails all the way around the park, it is 3.1 miles. This morning we did about 2 miles.

We noticed some tire tracks along the trail…There are no ATV’s allowed by campers in this park, but the Border Patrol has some and it looked like they occasionally use them here…

McGyver isn’t sure but he suspects the paw print on the right may be a Bobcat..But, keep in mind that he is an OLD scout and might need to brush up on his tracking skills…

While we were walking along the trail, suddenly a huge bird flew up from the ground under a tree right beside us…(I KNEW I should have bought some Depends!)…No kidding, we both jumped a foot. It was some kind of Hawk and he had apparently been having breakfast under a tree when we scared him. I tried to get a photo …GRRRR…but by the time I take the lens cover off and turn the darn thing on, the Hawk was, of course, long gone…#@%*$#@&!!

YOU KNOW I HAD TO POST SOME MORE BIRD PHOTOS…HAVE YOU EVER SEEN SO MUCH COLOR???

Well, it is almost cocktail hour and I have to put some of my world famous rub on my chicken thighs..Wait a minute..Did I really just say that???MY chicken thighs?? I’ve been accused of having Thunder Thighs, but NEVER chicken thighs..At any rate, Chef Dennis is grilling them tonight on our Smokey Joe..Tomorrow is grocery day in Rio Grande City, fighting the WalMart crowds..Thank goodness that all of those lovely Hispanic cashiers speak English, because the only Spanish I know is “much denero” and “gracias..but I suppose that’s all you really need to know when shopping for groceries…

Thanks for tolerating more bird photos…I’m still trying to hogtie the Roadrunner for a close up…AND….. Den saw an Armadillo lumber across the road last night…YES!! MORE FLORA AND FAUNA THAN I COULD EVER DREAM OF!!!

“The desert, when the sun comes up...I couldn't tell where heaven stopped and the Earth began.”
~ Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump

A walk AND a facial…AN ADDED BONUS!. Such a deal.

2012-01-09T13:43:00.001-06:00

Right off the bat, I have to say..I KNOW!!! This blog has 2 very different font sizes goin’ on…Chalk it up to Live Writer trying to sabotage my creativity…or…maybe I should change it up now and then, just to see if you notice…At any rate, I am sooooo honked off about it, I am verklempt. I just now noticed that my spacing is off too!!!! Well, isn’t this a fine mess??? I’m too tired to fight it…Read it and weep

One of the things we love about Texas is the fresh fruit…While we are here, we just gotta’ take advantage of the great citrus grown here in the Rio Grande Valley…ONE PROBLEMO…according to the MD powers that be, those of us who have a cholesterol problem, and are taking Simvastatin are NOT to eat grapefruit….SAY WHAT?? It has something to do with how the fruit interferes with an enzyme used to break down Simvastatin in the body….bummer. Sooooo, we got the nextest bestest thing….

ORANGES!!!

All of those wonderful, juicy Texas beauties for only $5..and we didn’t even have to bargain . I am having trouble sharing these with my bird friends, but I reluctantly cut a couple up and set up a buffet. Someone told the Blackbirds there was a smorgasbord at our campsite and I had to chase flocks of those pests away…Not to be deterred, they sit up on the power lines and wait for me to go inside the camper before returning….GRRRR!!

McGyver dumped our tanks this morning while I cleaned inside. Let me just say it’s quite a jaunt down the road, around the corner and up the hill to the dump station. Den DID get a bonus “siting” while coming back from the “dumpster”…He said he saw what looked to be a Bobcat, possibly, go across the road a ways in front of him. It was bigger than a fox and if the old Indian Scout, McGyver, says it was a Bobcat, I’m goin’ with that…They are in this park, as they have photos taken of the elusive felines up at the Rec Hall…

Yesterday was quite moist and foggy in the AM…But, I see it as a way of getting your exercise and a facial all at the same time..The thing I love about the fog down here is that any spider webs (that are virtually invisible) magically appear as delicate works of art, supporting tiny beads of moisture….

I found one of these lacey works of art showing up on our HB feeder on our ladder….

And what appears as a dried up Cactus is, upon closer inspection, holding little drops of water like a thirsty straw.

It took Den and I a while to figure out why no one was taking the site just up the road and across from us..Some people would pull in and pull right back out!!

Well…NOW WE KNOW!

CAN YOU SAY “BENADRYL”????

What we have here, Cowpokes, are “Fire Ant” Condominiums…..Some are hi-rise, 4 bedrooms and some are ranch style one bedroom flats, with quick access to bare feet and legs…Trust me, I’ve inadvertently strolled through one of their neighborhoods…The word “misery” comes to mind.

McGuyver and I have decided to stay here until Jan. 30th, which means at the end of this week (our 2 week stint) we will extend for 2 more weeks…We love the weather and the fact that you NEVER know what you will see, and I mean human, animal or vegetable. After that we will be in Goose Island State Park for 2 weeks and then on to Goliad for 2 more weeks..two of our State Park “favs”. That will take us through February and then we gotta’ get our ducks in a row for March, too. March brings out the local Texans for Spring Break ,and most weekends are booked up way ahead. I have no problem..after all these are THEIR parks, but a smart Winter Texan needs to get reservations ASAP for March…or…find lots of very tolerant Wal Marts to park in.

Got me some turkey chili in the crockpot..This consists of cooked ground turkey and onion, garbanzo beans, black beans, kidney beans, Roitel tomatoes and green chilies, cumin, chili powder, tomato sauce….And… lots of Rolaids and air freshener for the following morning!!!

So, as I ride (on my bike) off into the Texas sunset, I want to thank you all for not snoring through this blog and scaring my birds…They are scared enough when I walk out our Hiker door at 4PM in one of my very seductive and stylish evening ensembles!

“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart.”
― Erma Bombeck

A Blog is just a Diary, made public….so…..

2012-01-07T17:35:00.001-06:00

Dear Diary…Thursday we drove into Rio Grande City and did our shopping. You have to go through the town of Roma on the way. Roma has some very historic buildings, but you miss some of the historic parts on the highway. Here is one old building on the main drag, and I will post some photos of “Historic Roma” later .

Left pic, a very old building on the corner…Right is the street taking you to the “bridge to Mexico”…

There is a brand new International Bridge to Mexico in Roma, taking the place of a very old worn out one…

Left is the old bridge.. In the photo on the right, you can see the old one , left, next to the new one, right. We walked across the bridge into Roma once, and ONLY once, on our first trip here in 2006.…We were the only Gringos over there, and looked it… in our white sneaker, shorts, spiffy polo shirts and cameras around our necks. Talk about feeling like all eyes were on you!! We walked up one block on one side of the street, crossed and walked right back to the bridge to the US …What a couple of dumb asses..Lucky we didn’t get rolled.!!

The Rio Grande is VERY narrow here in Roma…swimmable if you are desperate…or just wanting to spend some time getting to know the local Border Police…

The town of Rio Grande City has an old section you have to drive to on your way to the big box stores…There are some very old buildings here..

Yesterday was laundry day, so I loaded the backset full of OUR “dirty laundry”, and took the truck up to the Recreation Hall, armed with Spray and Wash, Wisk, Softner Sheets, coffee cup and Harry Potter book..Sorry about having to make an already crowded back seat worse, but somehow you all managed to make the ride without killing each other..yet.

They have 2 washers and 2 dryers…and I had 3 loads…hmmm. You have to sign up ahead of time, which I had done, and each load is $1.50. They use the honor system to pay, which consists of a padlocked box on the wall with a little slot in it…If you don’t have the correct change, I guess you’re screwed.

Our weather has been just divine this week, and we have had a couple great sunsets…

I took this sunset from the empty site across from ours… just had to get a photo of the Cave Dwellings. The birds are everywhere here, but I had been bitching (no, REALLY?) because I hadn’t seen any Javelina or Roadrunners yet…I love spotting them both, but the wild pigs do scare me… and they smell terrible..The Roadrunners I REALLY LOVE, because they are so cute…AND…they dine on snakes.. Well, yesterday evening I was sitting outside reading and heard some rustling of branches…Lo and behold…

“Yeah, your Mama’s a PIG!!”..(He actually made me very nervous)…and then the rest of the “herd” walked through our backyard…YIKES!!!..REINFORCEMENTS! ALL I ASKED FOR WAS ONE!!!! I wasn’t too sure if I should move or not..Then, the big one yawned and displayed some pretty scary tusk like teeth and I nearly wet myself. They, however, were not impressed, and apparently had better things to do, like scare a few more tourists. They continued on and left through the underbrush..

I got my other wish yesterday too..but he was in a hurry and didn’t stay long…

HEY, DUDE, COME BACK!!! YOU DIDN’T DO A COMPLETE SWEEP OF OUR CAMPSITE FOR YOUR FAVORITE ENTRÉE!! Oh, he will be back, rest assured…I hope.

This is Mr. Warbler..I don’t know his first name yet, it’s a big family..but he likes oranges, isn’t fond of sitting for a photo…and likes to give me his backside.

The Mockingbirds are everywhere, copying every other bird’s unique call and making it their own..They have a regular repertoire of songs, from Green Jay to Cardinal…better imitations than Rich Little..( I DARE you to remember who that is!)

We are sooo enjoying our stay here and hope to extend it 2 more weeks this weekend…that would make it a total of one month here, and that’s about as long as we light in one place. We hear the Coyotes here every evening and sometimes they wake me up in the night..Don’t get me wrong..I LOVE that sound..it’s soooo lonesome and sad sounding . One Coyote usually starts with a solo, and then the others join in the choir…YOWWWWWWLING into right into the dawn.

By the way, I have changed up my evening wear ensembles to accomodate the warm weather…My black fleece cardigan has given way to a very lovely little number ..my rose print nightshirt…And my Tweety Bird flannel pants are on the shelf, and OFF the shelf came my gray lightweight pants ala Goodwill Store…Did you notice my Disney Xmas mug has been replace by an “I LOVE COUNTRY MUSIC” one???…AND I DO LOVE COUNTRY MUSIC.

So, thanks for reading my diary, and for following the Crazy Caves as they try not to embarrass themselves along the route…Sometimes it’s hard not to look the idiot..Wait..I just looked at my photo and know full well that I cannot possibly NOT look the idiot in THAT outfit! Oh, well..it’s cocktail hour and I am now dressed for the occasion…

“Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos. Before a brilliant person begins something great, they must look foolish in the crowd.”~haven’t a clue.

We are on the Texas Coastal Birding Trail….OOOOOH YES!

2012-01-05T16:20:00.001-06:00

First of all, a big HOWDY Y’ALL to new brave readers Pam and Wayne!! Right now our GMC is a little crowded, but that’s because everyone wants to sit by the window …If y’all aren’t careful, I’ll strap ya into car seats and feed you cheerios like we did our kids…and BE NICE to the new people!!!

Dennis and I finally have our bikes off the rack, so we took a bike ride down around the lakefront here at Falcon Lake. There were quite a few fishing boats out there, but they were staying pretty close to the shoreline. DUH. There is an invisible line between Mexico and the US that would be easy to cross unknowingly. There is still some trouble with the Mexican Pirates stopping fishing boats, but no more shootings of Americans anyway…yet.

That would be Mexico just across the lake..

We rode our bikes up by the boat launch where some of the fishermen were unloading their catch….

As we were leaving, a young Hispanic man was holding his catch up for his friend to take a photo. I commented on the size of the fish and smiled, and he held it up for me to grab a shot…

What you see here is a Large Mouth Bass weighing 8 1/2-9 lbs (so he told me). We had a bit of a communications problem…but I am prett sure he said that his family would like this, saying “we eat good tonight”..Almost makes me want to throw a line in the lake…and in Texas State Parks, you don’t need a fishing license.!!

Monday evening, when Dennis was outside after dark, he heard some helicopter action over the lake…Border Patrol, no doubt..As we sit in front of our computer, we can just make out a “blimp” in the air waaaaay out there..I took a photo, but you have to look hard to see it..That little white dot is the “Big Brother” Border Patrol cameras..always watching…Thank you very much.

This is some kind of high flyin’ camera surveillance being done by the Border Patrol. This blimp like thing was out there 3 years ago when we were last here. It isn’t manned from the air, it’s all done from the ground.

I gotta tell ya, if you don’t like bird photos, we won’t want to read my blog for the next few weeks…It will be a BIRDAPALOOZA.. Here are a few shots I took while sitting outside having coffee yesterday morning.

These 2 Green Jays were thinking they could be Karl Wallenda, and hang from this little feeder. Hey, you two, this is for little “perching” birds, NOT big desparados like you two!!

I believe this is the male Pyrruloxia…(I call these birds the “pyromaniacs” cause it’s easier for me to remember.)

Isn’t this the cutest little bird EVER"?? He is a Black Tufted Titmouse..I think. I’m sure Judy will correct me if I am amiss.

There are some very interesting campers here …To each his own, I always say…yep, travel vehicles take many forms down here.

I’m thinking these folks are still reliving Woodstock and the Magical Mystery Tour…(A few of you will understand).

Above is the Falcon Lake Dam and the bridge to Mexico..That is a Border Patrol tower to the right of the bridge..The photo on the right is a barbed wire fence which marks the boundary of the park..You may be able to see that the wires have been separated many times for someone to climb through..

ME THINKS ITS TIME TO MOSEY ON BACK TO THE CAMPER, DENNIS..PRONTO!!

As you can tell, we spend lots of time outside and NEVER leave the door without our camera. Today we got groceries in Rio Grande City which is about 35 miles from here. At least we don’t have to leave the park for laundry..They have 2 washers and dryers up at the Rec Hall…I’m not too sure there are any Laundromats I would want to wander into in town..just sayin’.

OK,…..long blog….not much talk…probably too many photos…But, Hey, that’s how I’m gonna roll down here..Thanks for hanging on this long and getting to…..THE END!!!

“He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.”
~Confucius

Why We LOVE Falcon State Park…

2012-01-03T14:24:00.001-06:00

We are all tucked in here at Falcon State Park. In fact we are in exactly the same site we were in 3 years ago, the last time we were here. The park is not even half full, but we did run into some old friends who have been coming here for years, Harold and Judith Paeltrow from Minnesota.

Here is Harold, waving from their motor home…..He is originally from Germany and also is a gifted wood carver. He carves canes and walking sticks. I ‘ll see if he will let me take a pic of one while we are here….

Here are some of the reasons we love it so much here..

..The sites are all “pull through” and we have a covered picnic table..AND this year they have paved the sites.

Nice roads to drive and bicycle…and we have a large backyard in our site..Great for the wandering Javelina, Roadrunners and deer here. Wish we had a swing set for them to play on..

Sooooo many different birds here…I finally got this female Pyrruloxia to come into the sunshine and pose…

I’ll be you are wondering why we tie WalMart bags on our truck mirrors… Well, these birds here either HATE their reflection, and think there is another bird looking at them in the mirror…or they have a serious ego problem.. Either way, they like to peck at the mirrors and they can scratch them up pretty good!..We thought we had won the “pecking order” contest, however…

…they are finding something else shiny on our GMC to see themselves in…I can’t help it, I do love the nerve of these birds…naughty…hmmmm, maybe because I ‘m just like them?.

This is a photo of a Green Jay. I promise I will get a better one soon. You may be able to see that his head is bright blue and his body is bright green…very tropical looking, and there are quite a few around this year.

(We also spotted a couple Orioles on our walk this morning, but didn’t get a good photo.. This means I will be putting some orange slices in the trees around our site to attract them into my personal “aviary”….LOVE IT HERE!!)

NOT so fond of these huge-ass red ants roaming around outside…That ant on the right pic has a piece of something half his size and is taking somewhere…hopefully somewhere FAR FROM OUR RV!!! (I may have to drag out the ant spray!)…But, even these little darlings cannot damper my excitement for the wonderful wildlife we can see here…AND…

…they have a Butterfly Garden to walk through!! My camera oughta be smokin’ by the time we leave.

Did I mention that our bikes are finally off the rack for the first time on this trip?? Oh, yea, McGyver had to lube them both up..The chains had begun to rust from all the rainy weather we came through, but they are greased up and “ready to ride”…

You may be able to tell that the weather is MUCH better…Temps are to be in the 70’s all week..I may even get a chance to add to my wrinkles (if there is anymore room) by sitting in the sunshine!! I will be posting more pictures soon. I am hoping to get some very different bird shots than my normal boring stuff…

This is the free bridge to Mexico, just 2 miles outside our park entrance. If you look closely, you can barely see the mountains of Mexico in the background.

We won’t be venturing across the border on this trip..no way, no how…

Ok, so we are settled in for at least 2 weeks, and very likely we will stay longer because you can extend your stay more than 2 weeks at this park… Obviously , people aren’t beating down the doors to get in, which is a shame..This is one of our favorite places. Thanks for checking on us. As you can see we are happy as ~~pigs~~ javelina in ~~sh—~~mud.!!

“There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before.” ~Robert Wilson Lynd

Midnight last night …Thought we were being STRAFFED!

2012-01-01T13:22:00.001-06:00

Just a short blog to say Happy New Year to all…We had a great time here the past few days.

We had a beautiful day yesterday…The temp was 75 degrees and sunny. We took our walk in shirt sleeves..WAHOOEY!!

Yup!! We’re Texas all right!! Antlers, a wreath and a brush guard are all the essentials for a Texan’s truck to be decorated for the Holidays!..I just LOVE those brush guards..I think they make a truck look tough, rough and ready…!!

Yesterday afternoon MacGyver and I rode into the big town of Sattler and stopped at the VFW, which was packed with locals. This place is very friendly to us Winter Texans,… a glass of wine and a draft beer will cost you $3.25…and that’s with a frosted mug! We each had 2 drinks, picked up a pizza at Fox’s Den Pizza Place, and headed for the “Hills”. (We left the Hiker at 2:00PM and were back at 4PM..and that includes a 15minute drive each way.)

McGyver and I are just like Superman without the phone booth…We can change from dress up clothes into campfire attire in a matter of seconds…The minute we hit the Hiker door, the good dress- up shirts and jeans came off and the casual evening attire was donned by both of us for a relaxing New Year’s Eve by the campfire. I plugged our I-Tunes into the surround sound, turned it up (playing ONLY country music), and we were in our chairs by the fire at 5PM…We sat outside until 8PM, watched the sun dive into the surrounding lake and hills, and the fireworks began at dusk, about 7PM. We had a few munchies made up..

I KNOW….WOULD YA JUST LOOK AT THE FANCY SERVING CONTAINERS I DUG OUT JUST FOR THIS OCCASION…I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE ZIP LOC SHRIMP BAG WITH THE LOVELY BLUE ZIPS…AND OF COURSE, MY FAVORITE MICKEY MOUSE MUG!!

We went to bed at 9:30PM, watched a little TV, and were snoring by 10PM..until exactly midnight..We were both awakened by what sounded like bombs going off all around us…I peeked out my window (both our windows were open, but mine faces the lake), and the sky was alive with fireworks. I mean HUGEGIMONGOUS displays everywhere on the lake!! This went on for about 1/2 hour…I think every home on the lake had a commercial size package of rockets and boomers, and they sure were having a great time welcoming in the New Year…Y’all sure know how to ring it in down here in Texas!!

This morning we were watching our neighbor across the street, packing up and getting ready to leave..He had his rig hooked on, but he still hadn’t pulled in one of his slides. As we watched (nosy, aren’t we?) he UNhooked his truck and soon had his tool box out and was crawling around under his rig.. It didn’t take McGyver long to end up walking over to see if he could help..

McGyver…offering his expertise to the tires of the fiver ..(the guy was somewhere underneath there). Pretty soon Den walked back in our door and said the apparently the neighbor had fixed the slide with a bolt and the slide was now working. They were initially going to leave this morning for “The Valley”, but when the slide wouldn’t co-operate, they put leaving off until tomorrow…That’s when we are leaving too. In fact, there are quite a few leaving here tomorrow…hmmm..could be a long line at the dump station. We might have to get up extra early so we can be “front row Joe” at the dumper!!

ONE LAST PHOTO

WHAAAAT??….HOSE, LONG BRUSH AND ALL!!!!

I NEED NOT TELL YOU HOW P.O.’d THIS MADE ME..

…NO, I DIDN’T REPORT HIM…BUY MY EVIL TWIN WAS WANTING ME TO!!!

“Reason often makes mistakes but conscience never does.” ~Josh Billings

I JUST CANNOT SEEM TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!!.

2011-12-30T10:54:00.001-06:00

Our weather is finally getting better here…The campfires have been much more tolerable when not bundled up like a “fasionable” Eskimo.. McGyver is in his glory…

Our Hiker is a real DIRTY site…She hasn’t bathed since October (PEEEEYOU!)..And we have driven some dirty, wet, icky roads in the 6 weeks we’ve been gone. I wanted to give her a bath, but after reading the park rules, (and amazingly, I actually DID read them), I discovered there is NO washing of RV’s or vehicles in the park..OK..I can understand that since the wildfires..I’m sure they are conserving water. Alas, our fiver’s front side was covered with bugs and black streaks, and under her it tongue was caked with dirt..(Checking under the tongue of a fiver is no easy task…Open Wiiiiiide!….BATA BING, BATA BOOM!)..I told Dennis I was going to put some water in a bucket and take my spray bottle of 409 outside…Maybe if I just sprayed and used a scrubby I could clean her up a bit under the tongue and on the front..I started under the tongue and got it pretty clean using minimal cleaners and lots of elbow grease, and I rinsed with a wet rag….NO HOSE WAS INVOLVED IN THE CLEANING OF THIS RV!…This worked so well, I drug out the ladder and began to attack the front end with the same menial tools, except I needed our long handled brush to reach to the top…This was my big mistake, I guess….

I filled the bucket half full with clean hot water from the sink…NO, I CERTAINLY DIDN’T GET OUT THE HOSE!!.. I put a small hand towel over the brush, dipped it in the water and climbed the ladder to see if I could at least loosen the bugs a bit…Just as I was seeing some results, the park Gustapo lady rolled up on her little moped and screamed at me..”I’m sorry, Ma’am, you are NOT allowed to wash your camper in the park!”..My answer was “Ma’am, I have no hose hooked up, I am just getting the bugs off the front..” And her retort was, “Would you like to read the rules?”…OK, now you all know me by now. I CAN be one to stretch the rules, but I figured a spray bottle of 409 , and a wet towel was not wasting any park water. ..I politely yelled back, “I’ve read the rules, and I don’t consider this washing my whole camper, I’m just cleaning the bugs and dirt off the front!!”…She just shook her head no, and started to drive off..I couldn’t resist the last word, so I ~~said~~ shouted at her as she zoomed away, “I just have a spray bottle!!!!”… What I wanted to say was #^@!*##@!!!!!

So, with 1/2 of the front looking somewhat better, I begrudgingly put my SPRAY BOTTLE away, and mumbled to myself the whole time. “And,where was McGyver?”, you ask…Actually, he came out earlier and offered to help me reach the top, but I said I could do it, so he went back inside. I KNEW I should have allowed him to help..He could have been the recipient of the abuse I received from Moped Park Cop.! I did keep the ladder out, (partly just to antagonize) and washed the Hiker windows with a SPRAY BOTTLE of Windex. All the time, I was whispering to myself, “Just let her come and tell me to quit washing my window…then there WILL be a problem!) ..Hmmm, did I remember to bring my bail bondsman card?”..Better yet, what would our son-in-saw, Detective Heiser, say??

“WANTED”

…RULE BREAKER AND ABUSER OF GOOD FASHION TASTE..

Above, is our view looking East, out McGyver’s back window, the other is looking West out my side window this morning..

Yesterday we took the drive to do laundry and get groceries…Rt 306 into New Braunfels is very a very hilly and pretty drive..You might notice that I also managed to wash our truck windshield yesterday, pushing the envelope even further..

Above, left picture is the Canyon Lake Dam. We drive by it on the way to Sattler to do laundry…

Middle photo is another RV park along Rt. 306. There are lots of huge rocks from the hills around here…

This is a photo of some of the condos built up on the hillside around Canyon Lake..The view of the lake from the balconies must be fabulous!!

(No, that’s not a comet in the sky..That’s a streaky “windshield meteor”)

I have been having an issue with our stove light, or lack thereof, since we got the Hiker. It is so dim, I can hardly see to cook..(That has been my excuse, anyway.)..Well, yesterday, McGyver and I stopped at Camping World and he picked up a new light with mucho more illumination. And after some swearing about not being able to remove the range hood to attach it ,( and some superior flashlight holding from MOI),…..

TRA DA!!……Charlie Alpha Victor Edward niner one zero, cleared for landing on runway one three....10-4.

Well, we have decided that when we leave here Monday AM, we will program “Carleton”, the GPS, for Falcon State Park, North of Roma, TX. Yes, we know…they have had big trouble (AK-47 killing, for one) on the lake there, concerning the drug cartels. After some online safety checking,we found that the park is still busy and security is good. The worrisome part is for the fishermen, who stray on the Mexico side of Falcon Lake. This is too bad, because this is a big Bass lake and they even have had fishing tournaments. Well, McGyver and I won’t be fishing any time soon. And, as it is anywhere near a border town, everyone is encouraged to be very cognoscente of your surroundings and stay away from certain areas.(.not unlike going into Chicago…!)..

We haven't’ been there in 3 years, and know for a fact the weather is always much warmer in that area. They are still under a burn ban, but they usually are…At least I can sit outside during cocktail hour in my “Spring like” ensembles and enjoy the Green Jays, Wild Javelina, (no, those are NOT cocktails, they are hogs and birds! Thank you, Judy) and the occasional Roadrunner visiting our campsite..Maybe I can even wash my Hiker…

I must say, we have had a few very strange “characters” wandering through our campsite here!! But, then..I should be the last one to comment on “characters”!! Thanks for following THIS one!!

“It is a good idea to obey all the rules when you're young just so you'll have the strength to break them when you're old.” ~ Mark Twain

Finally!! Some sunshine this week.

2011-12-26T17:17:00.001-06:00

OK, got my Xmas decorations down..which took all of 5 minutes, much different than when we are home! Christmas night, I concocted up some kabobs for MacGyver to grill for our dinner…and they were so yummy! Usually I put some potato chunks in them, but this time we just had some rice..

I’m going to pull a few photos from my “vault” for most of this blog..Turns out we haven’t exactly been burning up the social scene here lately. It seems this long period of rainy, gloomy days has managed to take it’s toll on my Xmas spirit. We have been away from home for about 5 of the last 7 Christmas seasons, but this one really depressed me. The sun finally showed up yesterday afternoon. I am now a firm believer in how gloomy days can affect your state of “well being.” I was beginning to trip over my bottom lip. (and watching all those tear-jerking Christmas movies didn’t help..boy was THAT a dumb idea.) But…it’s on to the New Year now…and I’m lovin’ this sunny, warmer week forecast!!

Den and I took our walk this AM in our winter coats,… yet one more time. We ended up by the entrance and checked to make sure our extension was approved…I was hoping no one had complained about the crazy lady residing in site #13, the one with the nasty and offensive campfire attire. Apparently no one did, and we had been approved to pay our $84 and stay one more week.

This place has lots of neat places to see….The deer are all over in our side of the campground this year because they are being hunted on the other side of the park. MacGyver and I are not sure exactly WHAT they are being hunted WITH?? We haven’t heard ONE gunshot since we arrived…Either they are bow hunting…or using poison dart guns…

Above pics were taken here at Potter’s Creek in the Spring. You better have a reservation if you hope to be camping here in the month of March…This place is full of families on Spring vacation, towing their own BBQ pits behind them…I’m trying to get MacGyver to build us one like in the middle photo…I just know he could do it!

The local ranchers decorate their entry gates for Xmas each year…and the Guadalupe River runs all the way from Canyon Lake to New Braunfels. Sometimes we drive down what is called the River Road on our way to get groceries…What a fabulous drive that is…a great tubing spot in the summer….New Braunfels is home of the famous water park, The Schlitterbahn . Kinda sounds like a German swear word to me…OH SCHLITTERBAHN!..WHAT THE SCHLITTERBAHN?..THAT ROTTEN LITTLE SCHLITTERBAHN!

That photo on the right is a house on the opposite side of the Guadalupe River…all 3 stories of it..and yes, that IS a copper roof you see on top. That top story of this place is worth as much as our whole house back in Illinois..No, wait..make that 3 times as much, these days. One thing we have noticed here in Texas, is that the recession hasn’t seemed to have hit here..not like elsewhere in the US..Here in Texas, they are building commercial buildings, new homes… and repairing roads and Interstates like lemmings being led to the sea…

OK…You can get wake up and get your drueling heads off the keyboard now. I am done transferring my need for mental therapy on my poor followers and fellow bloggers…I must thank you for your patience…I hope I didn’t pull you into the abyss I was stuck in…I, myself, am feeling much better…OOPS!..I think I neglected to thank Page, a new follower who somehow got caught under the crowd in the back seat of our GMC….After this blog, she might just want to jump out the window…!!!

“Weather forecast for tonight: Dark. Continued dark overnight, with widely scattered light by morning.”

~ George Carlin (The Hippy Dippy Weatherman)

Merry Christmas from the Caves….

2011-12-25T11:49:00.001-06:00

Just a quick Christmas note…What does it take to complete a Christmas Eve ensemble for MOI??..

A FEW TRINKETS OF BLING….

…….THE MAKINGS FOR A BRANDY MANHATTAN (JUST ONE, FOR ME, PLEASE)..BUT MAKE IT SWEET…

..AND….HERE YOU HAVE IT…MY XMAS EVE ENSEMBLE

MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL…(AND DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME, YOUR KIDS WILL KILL YA!)

Holidays in the Texas Hill Country…YEEEEE HAW!

2011-12-23T11:27:00.001-06:00

I first would like to say “Howdy, Y’all” to our new followers Michael and Dee . Climb into the back seat of our GMC..Yes, I know it’s dirty..I intend to clean it up next week, IF it warms up…OK, everyone…SHIFT, and make room for them..and no fighting!!!

OK, I think the rain is almost over..Well, the key word here is ALMOST. It rained all Wednesday night, but Thursday dawned with a beautiful sunrise over the Hill Country of Texas..

…and the promise of a lovely, sunny day. Thank you , Jesus…and Happy Birthday, by the way.

We did the laundry in Sattler, and got some groceries in New Braunfels, which is becoming a Thursday ritual. MacGyver is a huge help with the laundry, and does NOT subscribe to the “real men don’t do laundry” adage. He helps by changing paper into coin, sort of like Rumplestiltskin. He also operates the dryers, which have been known to gobble up coins and NOT work, resulting in having to move the whole wet load into another dryer…MacGyver does this for me.. Keep in mind that at any moment, a Laundromat dryer can cop an “attitude” and refuse to dry your clothes, or..just eat them entirely.

Last night it was so nice, we had the Hiker door open and played our Christmas Carols by the campfire again. The sun was setting magically and cast long shadows on the open field in front of us..

The setting sun shone on the homes up on the hill overlooking Canyon Lake…Pretty nice real estate. Cave Dwellers would have to rob a bank to live here in sticks and bricks, but we can talk our way into Potter’s Creek for lots less $$ with the same view, albeit temporarily!!

As the sun ~~dived…dove~~…set into the Live Oaks, and darkness wrapped around the RV’s, you could hear our Christmas music softly playing, being enhanced by the lake as only water can do to sound. I was wearing one of my favorite ensembles, complete with polka dot purple socks, sweats, Moon and Stars nightshirt, Lighthouse fleece, black fuzzy jacket and crocks…Oscar de la Renta eat your heart out! (You know damn well I had to look up THAT spelling)…I’ll bet he doesn’t have a 2006 Disney Xmas mug, either!

The picture on the right?? My Goodwill Store candle décor. This charming little “brandy snifter” is the perfect match for my ambiance of the evening. “What are the colored little circles?,” you ask?…Why, they are different colored marbles, embedded all around it with some kind of decoupage…So, for those of you wondering what happened to my “lost marbles”…now you have your answer…and, NO, I did NOT make this.

Here is what it looks like with the flash on…My contribution to the centerpiece was the pinecone branches confiscated from Sam Houston National Forest…HEY!! I ONLY TOOK 2 SMALL BRANCHES, OK??

After such a lovely evening, we woke up to 38 degrees and a cold wind….A different outfit for walking this AM…

There’s more…Tomorrow we have an 80% chance of rain…OK, Donna, shake it off!! It’s Xmas Eve, doggone it, so suck it up and get festive. After all, you have Skype to see the grandkids, you have a very nice “fireplace” in the Hiker, and a sweet little Xmas tree..Your Xmas Carols are on you I-Tunes for your enjoyment, your stockings are hung, you have a pine scented candle and you DVR’d the movie Christmas Vacation…(Not to mention the huge shrimp waiting to be Xmas Eve dinner)…PLUS ,( and this IS a plus), you will be closer to the cocktails for cocktail hour if you have to be inside …

At this time I would like to thank you all for this great year in Blogland, and for being brave enough to jump in the GMC with us..The Cave Dwellers wish you and yours ALL a blessed Christmas at this very special time…

“I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.”

~From the song, WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD….

Songwriters: GEORGE DAVID WEISS, GEORGE DOUGLAS, BOB THIELE

We’ll be here until next year!

2011-12-20T12:58:00.001-06:00

We have made the decision to stay here at Potter’s Creek until Jan 2, 2012. The main reason being.. our mail. Our trip this year has our mail somehow NOT falling in the correct timeframe for us to be staying in one place to get it! We have a good friend back in Sandwich pick up our mail,( which is on hold at the post office), every 3 weeks or so. Then she sends it to us General Delivery to the PO where we are at.. in prepaid envelopes. What with the snail speed of mail over the holiday, we were thinking we may as well PLAN to stay here to receive it. Got that?…very complicated this mail thing. Mostly, MacGyver handles it and I just nod yes…works for me.

Well, our lake view has returned. As we suspected, our tenters next door were just here for the weekend, and left Sunday. We woke up Monday (the “to da dump” day for MacGyver), and this was our weather out our back window.

OK, so dumping the tanks was going to take place between the raindrops..

I know darn well the Dennis doesn’t realize just how many pictures I get of him when he isn’t looking…Yesterday, I snuck this one out our window…For those poor souls who have been the “dumpers” in the rain , I feel your pain…but not enough to get involved.

Monday morning was better…still cloudy, but the rain had quit..and we were able to get a walk in.

Actually Monday evening was darn nice out…We had our cocktail hour by a campfire…

…complete with Christmas Carols on I-Tunes, and the surround sound playing out the OPEN door of the Hiker…And….

…….A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET!!!!!FINALLY!

This morning we awoke to sunshine…Tra Da!..It was windy, and the temp was about 47 degrees at 8AM, but it warmed up nicely to 56 degrees before we took our walk…

Just look at that blue sky, would ya??…Oh, and just who are these guys?? The Three Stooges??

NO, THIS ISN’T “THE END”….and I’m very sure Judy told me last year exactly what kind of ducks these are…but, in the true form of Dementia Donna, I have forgotten…Ohhhhhh Juuuuuudy….????

I tried to get a better photo of this dude, but he apparently was offended by the “stooges” comment and gave me the “butt end” of the joke…They are pretty weird, strange looking ducks…until they fly..Then their wings have beautiful white feathers on them as they open up..I am trying to get a picture of them in flight, but now that I’ve insulted them, I probably won’t be allowed that luxury. Maybe I could waddle up and apologize..Hey, I could do that..I have my waddle down to a Fine Art!!

Today I have been having a real time getting this “Live Writer” to liven up!!…It is just about as slow and I can tolerate without throwing the whole thing through our window…GRRRR….Sometimes, I have to wait for “Dead Writer” to catch up to my typing…and my brain isn’t that fast, so Mr. Writer man is really slow today!

Since we will be here over Christmas, and now New Year’s , I need to get some stuff to make a couple “horse dervers” for Mac and I to “munch in” the New Year…Pretty soon, the Christmas tree will come down and the camper will seem quite gloomy until I adjust…I love glitz and twinkle lights…guess you’d never know it by my “ensembles”,eh?? I need to look for some stripe socks and happy pants with some BLING!!

“I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn't itch.” ~Gilda Radner

(I have the feeling Gilda and I would have been great friends.)

Bandera, TX..One of our new “favs” in Texas…

2011-12-18T10:39:00.001-06:00

I’d like to give a big “YEEHAW!” to Alan and Connie for jumping into our GMC and riding along. The back seat is a little more comfy since MacGuyver cleaned out his stash, but you still may have to fight for a window seat…

Friday nite, about 10PM, we heard some noise in the vacant spot next to us, complete with music, dogs barking, and flashlights. Yep, we were getting new neighbors….They worked on setting up, then partied till 2AM…that’s when I fell asleep. I awakened at 4AM when they were apparently making breakfast outside. I peered out my bedroom window , but couldn’t see much..Yes, I know..I am becoming Gladys Cravitz. Saturday morning when we raised our day/night shades, we found this…

Well, there goes our lake view….I’m thinking this huge tarp is a wind block, or else they didn’t want to look at our Hiker. That’s OK…the feeling is mutual. But…our sunset view over the lake (when there IS one) is pretty much non-existent. We can only hope they are just here for the weekend and we will get our lakefront property back soon.

Yesterday, Den and I took an hour and 1/2 ride over to Bandera, Texas. We got there about 12:30PM, just about a half hour before the “gunfight” was to begin. I guess you need to schedule those things now days, there are so many…

This took place at Heritage Park, right across from the courthouse. Before the shootin’ started, we all got a lecture in gun safety. These players are local people who do this every Saturday at 1PM and 3PM…and let me just say, when the gunfights start, it’s loud!..These are real guns, cowpokes!!

..This was sooooo much fun…After the smoke cleared, and the “bodies” were revived, we got a few photos of the participants without guns drawn…

That character in the left photo,the one with suspenders and beard, reminded me of Gabby Hayes..If any of you remember who that was, you are older than dirt, just like us.

…Some people in the audience had no shame and became Cowboy “groupies” who insisted on a photo with some of the shooters>>>…I gotta get this one framed!!

After so much “violence”, we needed a drink. So we walked the block around behind Main St. to the much acclaimed 11th St. Cowboy Bar. The 11th Street Cowboy Bar has been featured in Life Magazine, The Oprah Show, Texas Highways, Texas Monthly, Texas Co-op Power (July 2006), USA Today, Southern Living, the Houston Chronicle, Hill Country Happenings, the Hill Country Sun (July 2006), the San Antonio Express-News, area radio stations and many more national publications and outlets as a must-see destination in Texas.

This place has the look of a real OLD bar. What you cannot see from this photo is the huge dancehall, stage and seating to the rear of it…Of course, MacGuyver and I had to go in and check this place out…making sure it was up to fire codes…yea, right.

Yep, those are all bras hanging from the ceiling. That is the first thing you notice when you walk in the door…I told the lady barkeep that I could put mine in a shot glass for posterity..it would fit. She could identify, and laughed with me..

There is a little bar,in the original building, but when you walk through that, you to get to the big dance hall in the rear…

...OK, this place is good for fire codes…I checked for myself….Couldn’t find anyone to polish my sneakers, though.

We had our cocktail there and headed back down to Main St.,where we heard there was yet another old bar..in the basement of one of the buildings…

We were told by the bartender at 11th St. Bar to just look for the red door and go down the steps…to Arkey Blue's Silver Dollar Saloon Boy, we were in for a treat..This bar was supposedly won in a poker game by Arkey Blue, a local singer. It has had the likes of Hank Williams, Sr. and Willie Nelson singing there..or drinking there…Soooo much history for me to channel!! We opened the red door and were transported to another time, and they were having a jam session !! YEE HAW AND GET ALONG LITTLE DOGGIES!

…Complete with sawdust on the dance floor, billiard table, a real wood burning fireplace and a picture of Arkey Blue hanging over it. (Who the Hell he is, I have no clue, but the folks in Bandera know of him!)

There weren’t many folks in there..could have been because it was only 2:30PM…OK, we are early partiers! You might notice one of the more “unsavory” characters seated at the far table in a baseball cap.

These musicians were just locals, jammin’ it up country style, and MacGuyver and I could have spent all day…but we had to stay straight to make the long drive back to Canyon Lake….

I just gotta say that we will make another trip to Bandera some day…but find a closer place to stay so we can enjoy it more…The whole trip was well worth it, and you don’t have to have a beer to go in and enjoy some great country music that will make you tap your toe all the way home!!

“Country music is three chords and the truth.” ~ Harlan Howard

This park is a regular stop for us “Winter Texans”…

2011-12-15T16:47:00.001-06:00

We just read Al’s blog..My dear friend, I have had 5 kidney stones starting at age 18…One had to be surgically removed, 2 had to be “blasted” like yours, one had to be “grabbed” with a nasty device..I won’t go into the details..other I passed..Hang in there!! I sooooo feel your pain…it is debilitating!!

Yesterday was rainy, but warm…NO COMPLAINTS!..I dug out a few more scenic photos of this campground…ones where the sun was shining from a few years ago. The sun is hiding out somewhere, no one has seen it in days.

This picture was taken in Dec. of ‘05..That is our friend, Ronae, sitting outside their Hiker watching the deer. We were parked next to them in our Cougar…That Hiker of theirs is the reason we ended up with ours..Hard to believe that was 6 years ago.

Christmas Eve, 2005. We had luminaries all around our campsite. I made the luminaries, and they consisted of white paper bags with sand in them, then a votive candle was put in the sand , light the candles and…walla!..If we tried that now we would be inside the Fire Marshal’s jail cell looking out..but it was allowed back then. Back in Sandwich, all of the homes on Center St. (ours included) use to put out these luminaries on Xmas Eve and lit up the whole street…

This photo on the right was taken Christmas Eve, 2006…still allowing the nutsy Illinois Winter Texans to have their traditional luminaries…and this was the last time we got away with it, or even TRIED …There wasn’t a drought like they have had here lately…AND, another new rule… You cannot feed the deer anymore at this park. Everyone has to sign a paper promising they wouldn’t drag out the deer corn… I do understand the dilemma of feeding wildlife though…The deer still come around, but WE DON’T FEED THEM..I PROMISE!!

Above photo was taken Jan., 2008…our first year bringing the Hiker down here. The bucks were vieing for the affections of the “ladies”… It just happened to be rutting season…for the deer only! I didn’t notice any “ dating action” to prove it, but the Does all had on lipstick and their nails were painted…… …well..maybe not.

…Dec., 2008..weather was nicer, as you can see..Oh my!..I still have this outfit…in fact I wore it to have cocktails with our friends Monday nite…I really need to update my wardrobe..maybe with some bright yellow or puce colors???

Yesterday afternoon, Wayne and Ronae stopped by for a cocktail. We sat outside on our picnic table, which was still soaked from the constant rain we had all day..Luckily it finally stopped…temporarily. They are leaving Saturday AM for Arizona, so we wanted to see them a couple more times before they left… Our dinner that night was our cross cut ribs that MacGyver grilled. I cut each one in half, marinated them in my special recipe…and they were sooooo yummy!

So, this AM when we got up it was pouring outside…This photo below was taken at 7:45AM this morning..

Notice how gray it was outside…This was quite unfortunate, because we had to go 15 miles into Sattler to do laundry, then another 25 miles to New Braunfels for groceries. We do this to save 2 trips to town and also save us some diesel fuel. I have to say that the cheapest diesel here was $3.65 a gallon. (Isn’t it amazing what we call CHEAP now, compared to a few years ago .)

Laundry…ahhhh, yes..What can I say about Laundromats that is a positive comment?? Today, nothing. Half the dryers had “out of order” signs and one of the others we used SHOULD HAVE! Forty-five minutes of drying, and here is what I have hanging in my bedroom with our little heater running.

OUR WEATHER HERE IS SO SATURATED I HAD TO SET UP OUR LITTLE HEATER AND SHUT THE BEDROOM DOOR TO DRY THINGS…IT LOOKS LIKE A CHINESE LAUNDRY, EH?

Well, the first chance of seeing any sunshine here is Monday. We are still planning to go into Bandera Saturday for “Cowboys On Main”. I guess they have a gunfight, horses and real Cowboys riding through Main St. I really don’t want this trip to turn into wet “Cowpies”on Main. I will let ya know if we had to dodge piles and rent a canoe to float into the saloons…

“ALWAYS DRINK UPSTREAM FROM THE HERD” ~Will Rogers

The Heart of Texas Hill Country

2011-12-13T14:17:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we drove 215 miles from Sam Houston National Forest to Canyon Lake, TX and arrived at Potter’s Creek Campground about 12:30PM. Sunday night before we left, the moon was just past full and came up hazy and bright amid the tall pines..

Our drive yesterday was mostly back roads, and we came through the East side of Bastrop, Texas on the way. This was where they had the terrible wildfires in September, destroying over 1300 homes. The charred remains of trees and burned brush are still evident along the drive for at least 10 miles….very sobering.

We were breezing along, guided by our trusty GPS with an irritating male voice (whom I have named Carlton) chirping in our ear. ( Just for backup I ALWAYS have the Atlas laying in my lap, open..just in case Carlton goes berserk and loses his way.) We were getting into familiar territory, following Rt 12 going through San Marcos and connecting with Rt. 32 to Canyon Lake. Suddenly there was road construction…and a stop sign where there never was before…like being in the twilight zone…Do we turn right toward Wimberly, or turn left to the South?? Just when you needed Carlton the most..he was as silent as a church mouse. So…I made the call..”I HAVE NO IDEA!!”. By now, we had traffic backing up behind us and were already in the left turn lane, so… turn left we did. The minute we turned, Carlton woke up and blurted out “turn around when possible”…Thanks Carlton.#@!>^##@!! Dennis found a place to do a “youee”, which is no easy task in a 30’ fiver, and we were once again heading the right direction. We only had to do one more turn around before we got to Rt. 32 and finally found ourselves back on familiar roads, making it safe and sound to Potter’s Creek.. Unscathed, but surrounded by lots of blue air inside the GMC.

At this time I need to welcome Arkie38 to the back seat of the truck. There should be more room for y’all back there now, as MacGyver has managed to “clear up” a couple cases of Busch Lite along the way.

We have friends staying here that we haven’t seen in 2 years. We met Wayne and Ronae Sele here at Potter’s Creek when we had our Cougar, in 2005. We were parked next to each other, and they had a Hitch Hiker then. We liked the way it was built…BETTER than our Cougar,.. just sayin’. They hail from Minnesota (ya hey dere), and Ronae says she noticed my stylish campfire outfits immediately. A few years ago they sold their home and are now full-timers…Also they have a lovely new fiver, a 34’ Grand Junction, 4 slides and a fireplace…

Of course, we had to have cocktail hour with them in their new rig last night. I dug out my Tweety Bird happy pants and striped socks for the occasion…didn’t want to disappoint them. No pictures..I forgot my camera because my hands were full, carrying my bottle of Rum, my Diet Dr. Thunder, and my Mickey Mouse Disneyworld cocktail cup…I just gotta say right here…I LOVE THE LAYOUT OF THEIR NEW RIG!!

This morning we woke up to a heavy fog over Canyon Lake.., but then, I wake up in a fog every morning. BOTTA BING, BOTTA BOOM!!

WHERE DID THE LAKE GO?? IT WAS THERE WHEN WE HIT THE SACK LAST NIGHT…TOO MANY “MICKEYS”, PERHAPS???

MacGyver has checked the weather for the next 2 weeks and they only show ONE day of sunshine…This is really going to make it a gloomy stay if they are right. Could be a real test of the 42 year marriage…I can see the headlines.. “Woman dressed in tweety bird jammies, wearing striped socks, charged in battery of her husband at Potter’s Creek, when he called her a walking “Loony Toon”..

We took our walk this morning and when I came back I looked like I had been in a sauna for an hour, dripping, but without the sweaty weight loss. The temp is a balmy 58 degrees, though, so I should just shut up. I could be back in Illinois, dressed like Nanook of the North, shoveling snow for the winter..BEEN THERE, DONE THAT…LAST YEAR!!

Above is our spot until Dec.26th.. I’m sure the Texans are loving this moisture, God knows they sure have needed it.

Thursday we are venturing into the town of Sattler to do laundry, and then on to Camping World in New Braunfels to see if we can find a new ball seal for our toilet,( plus drool all over the new models of RV’s .) Actually, I like Al and Kelly's idea of the raised throne….very “uplifting” idea. I also have the wild idea of going to Bandera, TX this weekend, Cowboy Capital of the World.. I wants to see me some REAL cowboys!!! STAY TUNED!!

“There's a time in a Mans Life when he needs to Cowboy Up and Ride” ~unknown Cowboy

LITTLE DID WE KNOW!!!!!!

2011-12-09T18:43:00.001-06:00

First of all, we need to welcome a couple of new “gluttons for punishment”, who jumped into the GMC to ride along with us…OK everyone..SHIFT!…and make room for Richard Iles and his wife, and Rick and Kathy Rousseau. I couldn’t see any blog sites for you guys, but if you have one, let us know….and hang on!!

I was just a-Googling around online today, trying to find out what kind of plants these were that we have been spotting in the forest on our “field trips”…

They start out like this on left, all green and one blade, then they get white on edges, like the middle photo, and begin to separate…ending like this one on the right end..Den thought they were a form of variegated palmetto..Soooo…I began looking online to see if I could find out exactly what it was!..Googled “Sam Houston Forest Plants”…

Boy was I surprised to find this!! An article about “POT” (NO, NOT POTTED) being found in Sam Houston National Forest not too far from us, supposedly planted and harvested by Mexican drug cartels..WHAT?? Remember when I said,” MacGuyver looks like he is walking among the “weeds”, and by that I mean wacky weed.”

Well, this was the photo…Click on the link of Sam Houston National Forest in the paragraph above, and look at that photo..HMMMMM…MacGuyver SWEARS this is NOT “Mary Jane”, but now….OK, probably not, and I never really even considered it was, until now..I was just being a smarty britches ..Imagine that! Being the skeptic that I am, I wanted to take another stroll through the woods…a woman alone with her camera…After about 1 mile, I found the plants I was seeking. I quickly realized that these were NOT weed…

Left, THIS is real weed..found online, NOT by me….Right, is what I found on my “weed walk”…NOT!

OK, enough of this about my investigation of illegal drugs in the national forests of Texas, with apologies to our son-in-law, Detective Timothy Heiser, Glenview PD…..Yesterday, our walk took us down along the banks of Lake Conroe…

A couple men were putting a pontoon boat into the lake…and MY man…well,.. notice he is growing back la mustache!

Soooo many signs to read, rules to follow, procedures to attend to….The only one I read was Alligator Safety.

Ahhhhhh, the beauty of a FULL hook up site…This makes it sooo much easier…Why do they have to label it “body waste”?…Why not just “disgusting?”.

There is no shortage of firewood here, and MacGuyver just cannot keep his little Paul Bunyan paws off of it… This makes for lots of campfires for me to model my latest in evening attire from my new collection…

THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES FROM MY COLLECTION. I LIKE TO CALL THIS LITTLE NUMBER “EXPERIMENT IN BLACK FUZZINESS”….STUNNING. I GOT MY INSPIRATION FROM THIS LITTLE FELLA….

On my lone expedition into the forest, I did get some more neat photos. The GOOD thing about being alone was that I could stop whenever I wanted to and gawk over a view, or plant, without Dennis waiting, hands on hips, tapping his toe. The BAD thing about this lone wolf trip was stopping to make sure someone wasn’t following me, and jumping at the snap of every branch…”If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?”..

So…Sunday is our last day here at Sam Houston Nat’l Forest campground. We leave Monday AM for Potter’s Creek, Canyon Lake..North of San Antonio. We really enjoy it at Potter’s Creek, and I think we have spent the last 6 Christmas’s there, with the exception of last year, when we were home in Illinois..That’s a long story, complete with blood, gaping wounds, staples, and an Emergency Room trip…

Thanks to our new followers. I am having trouble organizing my followers so I can actually keep some semblance of order as to what order they jumped into our truck..!! I gotta work on that ‘cause it’s driving me NUTSO!!

A VERY HAPPY HMMTHCHMMPHth birthday to our middle daughter, Terrie Lyn Heiser!! It was great talking to you today (surprising I got one bar to call out!)…Hope your birthday was everything you wished for…and…I heard you got the snow you wanted!!..Love you from Mom and Dad!!!

“If a man says something in the forest and no one hears him is he still wrong? “

Close Encounters With One of My Childhood Favorites…

2011-12-07T16:35:00.001-06:00

While we was busy staying warm, we have acquired some new riders in the truck…Alan and Connie, Jerry and Judy and Charlie and Peggy have all managed to squeeze into the back seat of the GMC..Please feel free to move that case of Bush Lite to the floor to make more room. Somehow, we have enticed just over 100 people to ride along with us..I’m humbled.

Well, last night the temp got down to 31 degrees. We stayed in all day yesterday with our day/night shades drawn, and I felt like I was wrapped in a warm cocoon. We leave our fireplace on all night and our ceiling fan on low so it circulates the warm air up and into our bedroom. So far we haven’t had to turn our propane heater on. Tonight is suppose to get into the 20’s…….I swear we are back in Illinois. But then I watched the Illinois weather and saw that they will be at 12 degrees on Friday. Nope, I will NOT complain about the weather here, but you know it’s cold when MacGuyver won’t sit by the campfire.

We are parked across from one of the camp hosts, who have a motor home that has peaked my interest. It is called a Jayco Seneca, and has 3 slides, very sharp looking and not HUGE.

Now we are not in the market for a new rig..but…someday a fiver may not be exactly what we need in our extended years. It sure would be nice to park and only thing to unhook would be a little “toad”. Then, push a button to level ‘er up, push another button to get the satellite signal, push a button for the awning , and sit down and relax. I did go on Jayco’s website and I believe this one is a 2008 or 9, because I didn’t see any floor plans with 3 slides. Also , something to think about ..this is a rather “high end” little motorhome…Mucho buckos… Oh well, it never hurts to dream, right?

This morning, Den and I came out of our cocoon to go into Conroe for groceries…brrrrrr However, the SUN was out. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of Ol Sol since Sunday..….We left all the shades down and the fireplace on when we left. I’ll tell ya what, that fireplace has paid for itself in propane costs! When we got back, we took our walk… bundled up like Nanook of the North (well, at least I was). We walked the trail down by the river again..

MacGuyver looks like he is walking among the “weeds”, and by that I mean wacky weed. NO, IT WASN’T, BUT WHATEVER THIS STUFF WAS, IT WAS EVERYWHERE! I couldn’t resist “shooting” along that downed tree..Man,was it a BIG ONE!

We began to realize that there are lots of “bent” trees in this forest. Possibly when a storm came along, it blew other bigger trees and branches against the little skinny ones, and caused them to bend over….

As you can see, it doesn’t take much to entertain MacGuyver and me. A few bent trees and I can’t stop taking pictures. I was now on a mission to find more bent trees…UNTIL…We heard some very loud “pecking” noises in the woods. It was coming from just up the trail , and I just knew by the loudness that the bird pecking HAD to be a big one….We actually got off the trail, wandering through the brush while looking up …and the sound kept getting louder. I was trying to tip toe and keep quiet, but I’m pretty sure we still sounded like a herd of elephants walking on all the broken sticks and leaves.. Finally, MacGuyver and his keen eye spotted the culprit…

….What we have hear is a Pileated Woodpecker. These dudes are about 15 inches long and are the biggest woodpecker in North America…I was in 7th Heaven just about now, but wasn’t happy with his posing technique. He didn’t seem to mind us gawking so I tried to get a couple more and better photos…

YOU GO,WOODY!!

OK, I know these are not nearly as great as Judy's bird photos, but I was elated! Usually birds fly away just as I press zoom for the close-up! ANOTHER WINNING DAY IN THE EAST TEXAS WOODS!!

Today, while getting groceries, we visited our very favorite Texas grocer, the H-E-B store. You can only find these stores in Texas (darn!), and their meat and deli departments are A-1 in our book. They also have their own brand of “cardboard” pizza, which we are having for dinner tonight. Now that I said there will be no campfire tonight, MacGuyver is outside making kindling to start one…Go figure. A big thanks to those of you who haven’t snored through this crazy blog.

“Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and keeps pecking away until he finishes the job he starts”~Coleman Cox

There’s just something about a walk in the woods….

2011-12-06T07:44:00.001-06:00

…..that calms me, makes me speak in a whisper, and gives me a better attitude instantly. Yesterday, MacGuyver and I donned our jackets ,after the rain FINALLY quit, and followed one of the trails into the woods. It is paved for a while, but then it becomes just a path through the forest….You need to have a trusty scout available to follow, one you trust, on a journey like this…

………………..like I did…….or….. ….you can follow the trail marks (above) . These trail markings were strips of tin, nailed to trees along the path. What a unique way of marking a trail..I’ll bet Tonto would have liked this idea if only he had a hammer and nail…

Is it my imagination, or is MacGuyver getting farther ahead, perhaps trying to LOSE ME????

Actually, I was stopping to take pictures frequently, and he did occasionally stop and wait…What should have taken us about 45 minutes, took us an hour and a half, thanks to my lollygagging with the camera…Hey! That’s what it’s all about, at least for moi!

These little orange balls eventually opened up….. and became pretty little red flowers….(Dennis tried to tell me those little balls were cherry tomatoes..yea, right.)

The trail took us down by the banks of Lake Conroe…Hey, Den!..I TOLD you those weren’t tomatoes, didn’t I?? Now let’s get goin’..I want to see the lake!

There are lots of downed trees here in this woods. Some have been cut down, and some have burned or fallen…This presents a real BOON for Dennis. He can now drag Redwood size logs into our camp and play with his chain saw and his new splitting maul. Now that we can have a campfire, he has the grin Alfred E. Neumann most of the time..(who remembers who that is/was..and… is he still running for President???)

Some of the wood laying around has been cut up in small logs and you can just go pick it up…but that is just tooooo easy for MacGuyver..Aaaaah…a man and his toys. And, speaking of MacGuyver, which seems like all I do lately, he attacked our ground fault interrupter outlet. (I’m not even sure if that’s what you call the darn thing!). We picked up a new one at the local hardware store yesterday, and he proceeded to take out the bad one and install the new one….working amongst the pretzels, paper towels, tomatoes and cookies, and taking over my kitchen for a while.

That was fine with me because this is where I leave the room…Electricity scares me to death. All of those wires, green, white, black, some naked, some hanging by a screw…How does ANYONE know what to attach to what, without sparks flying?? And, it so happens..our daughter, Terrie, has inherited his propensity for danger..She hangs her own chandeliers and ceiling lights in her house…Then, she says to me, “Mom, all you have to do is remember to turn off the electricity at the box.”..WHAT BOX??WHERE?? She got the MacGuyver genes.

So, yesterday was a great day. I actually had one bar on my cell phone and used it to call Aunt Jeanette. We rarely get any bars at all. …A walk in the woods, new fault ground thing installed, a successful cell phone call….Yup, a good day for the Cave Dwellers, and tonight…STEAK ON THE GRILL, TWICE BAKED TATERS, SALAD W/BLUE CHEESE AND GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE…preceded, of course, by Happy Hour at the campfire... Our lives are blessed.

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ~Confucius

Easin’ On Down the Road

2011-12-04T11:30:00.001-06:00

Well, I have no photos of our last stop to show you . Above photo of me in my “ensemble” was taken at Tickfaw…We weren’t at our last stop long enough and we camped basically in a parking lot, which was NOT a Kodak Moment… Nothing against the town, itself. The spot we “camped” in just wasn't our “cup of tea”…neither one of us felt secure and I wished we had a big dog with us, if you get my drift. We had originally planned to stay 2 nights and had already paid for that, but when we woke up Saturday AM, we felt that we should move on to our next destination, Sam Houston National Forest in New Waverly, TX. Adding to our decision was the fact that Sunday it was suppose to rain all day, and as I sit and write this blog, Sunday, it is pouring on us, but we are all set up and in our spot at Cagle Campground.

We drove about 240 miles Saturday, and when we arrived here, the CG host asked if we had a reservation….No…I had looked online the day before and it looked like there were plenty of “first come, first serve” spots..Well, as is turns out, this place has gone to ALL reservation only. We wanted to stay 9 nights…and couldn’t be sure someone might reserve our spot online while we were in it…WHAT?? RUN THAT BY ME AGAIN… I was really disappointed because this place is very nice, tall trees, full hook up and only $10 a night with the “old geezer” card..The camp host (who is a retired Texas State Trooper), suggested we find a spot from the ones he was sure were open for 9 nights, and call and make a reservation, site specific for that spot. However, we needed a 2 day window to reserve, so we could only reserve starting Mon. the 5th..Mr. Camp host suggested we set up in one of the spots he knew were available, and pay for the first 2 nights at the office here, then call to make a reservation for the next 7 nights…. Oh, yes..one other little problem… We tried to call, and couldn’t get any cell service…NO CELL PHONE SERVICE ON MY DUMB PHONE, AND VERY LIMITED ON DEN’S SMART ONE…LIKE ZERO TO 0NE BARS, INTERMITTANT..

What to do, what to do..MacGuyver , not to be thwarted, proceeded to set up our Hughesnet as quickly as humanly possible, which is about 45 minutes from start to being online….After setting up the tripod, getting the settings off the computer screen, with me relaying the numbers out the fiver window,….TRA DA!! We were online, and I hurriedly made reservations for site #4, (the one we had our butts all set up in), for 7 more nights, Monday, Dec. 5th through Mon., Dec 12th…We got an email confirmation back, making us feel lots better, and finally settled into cocktail hour..relaxing at last. Oh, and by the way, not everything was a problem… We found out that they just lifted the burn ban here last Monday, so we have a campfire and can cook outside…WAHOO!! We must be living right, and need to buy a lottery ticket ASAP.However…….

……this morning after turning on the coffee, our circuit breaker outlet shut down about 1/2 of our electric outlets…including our weather radio, coffee pot, my Xmas tree (which really hawked me off), and our little bedroom electric heater…and you could not reset it. We had this problem last year and after about an hour, it suddenly let itself be reset…The same thing was true this time. About 10 minutes ago, Den tried to reset it for the 10th time and it worked…Den says we are going to get a new circuit break outlet next chance we get..this one must be faulty. OK, NOW CAN WE RELAX???

Soooo….we are all set up here at Cagle Campgrounds, with full hook up, until Monday the 12th. After that, we are going to Potter’s Creek, Canyon Lake, North of San Antonio. We always seem to end up there for Xmas because it is so pretty and convenient to lots of stuff to see in The Hill Country of Texas…Meanwhile, I will try to keep you informed of any mischief we get into (which is usually a given) here at Cagle Campground…

A welcome to a new follower, Pearl ‘Penny’ Lane C.P.C., to the Cave Dwellings..We tend to flit around a lot, so get in the truck and hang on tight….

“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land.” ~G.K. Chesterton

Our Last Day at Tickfaw

2011-12-01T13:48:00.001-06:00

Today is our last day here at this state park…We have really enjoyed it. This morning I went to their laundry and did a couple loads..They have 3 washers and 3 dryers, all Maytag, and it’s only $1.00 a load to wash and the same to dry. ..and the dryers run for an hour. This is much cheaper than the Laundromats, where it is about $1.50-$2 @ to wash and to dry…and then you are lucky to get 30 minutes on the dryers…This makes for hanging damp clothes all over the fiver to finish drying…looking like a gypsy camp.

This morning on our walk, I didn’t take my camera, which is a guarantee we will see some wildlife..Yup…We were walking the wooden walkway through the swampland, and suddenly we both heard a large splash!..We expected we had startled a sun bathing Gator on the banks, and we could see bubbles and mud stirred up and now moving underneath our walkway and over to the other side. We stood and watched the air bubbles (actually, I hid behind McGuyver)..and suddenly this little face popped up and peered at us..This was a cute little face, not one with scales and big teeth…We laughed as we watched a Muskrat family of 4 scurry out of the water, up the bank and into the thicket…At first we thought they were beaver, but their tales were rat like (yuck)…McGuyver , my loyal scout, identified them as Muskrats for me…I wouldn’t have had a clue. …and of course, I had no camera. I should know better by now, right???

Next to Dennis is a huge uprooted tree, viewed from the bottomroots. There are lots of these in this swampland..Apparently, the ground is so wet, it won’t support the bigger trees, with the exception of the Cypress who LOVE the water.

Yesterday, I walked out to what is called the “fishing” pond. McGuyver and I had walked around it on Tuesday, hoping to ~~catch~~ see a lazy Gator sunning himself. The path goes all the way around the pond, with a few picnic tables scattered here and there…In my humble opinion, I really can’t imagine myself sitting calmly at one of these picnic tables, eating lunch, while watching a Gator clamber up on the tree bank in front of me..Nope…not happening!

Above, left, Den at the end of the pier on the fishing pond…Right, he is trying to lose me on the walk around the fishing pond…but I managed to keep up.

Above, left…looking inland from the path…green swampwater ..Right is a photo of the pier from the other side of the pond. I just had this a feeling we were being watched on our walk, and that the wildlife would immediately appear when we DIS appeared…So, later in the afternoon, I walked back to the pond alone, being very quiet and covert, camera in hand, trying to sneak up on something…anything!! And..sure enough….

I’m saying this is a Snowy Egret…just saying. This pond was soooo still and quiet that reflections were all around me…

I am having some problems making enhancements on Picasa and saving some of the photos..It tells me the disc is full and won’t let me save my changes on some photos, especially if I crop them…Hence, the uneven color between photos…This is really hacking me off, as you can imagine, and...I am in full “Maxine” mode when working on photos, so this computer is lucky it isn’t “swimming with the fishes”…and gators!

Tomorrow, we are leaving here and going about 115 miles West to the town of Opelousas, LA , self proclaimed Zydeco Capitol of The World…They have a park called South City Park that has RV camping …right in town. They have 67 sites with W & E for $10 a night…Yep, I thought it was cheap, too. I don’t think they take reservations, so I hope they have a spot.

One more thing…This is for Al and Kelly, who are experiencing some trouble with their satellite dish tripod set up…In case you couldn’t get our attachment photos on email, you two, here is what McGuyver did with our TV dish, so we never have to worry about a tripod…

He holds this down with 4 long tent stakes…Never had one problem….MCGUYVER’S “THE MAN”,EH??

"If you don't have the right equipment for the job, you just have to make it yourself." - MacGyver (Out in the Cold)

(OK, I just discovered I’ve been spelling his name wrong..I shall correct that from now on!! After all, I’m his WIFE!)

Oak Alley Plantation..A Reminder Of Turbulent Times…

2011-11-30T09:47:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we toured Oak Alley Plantation in Southern Louisiana along the Great River Road..one of my dreams ever since I watched “Gone With The Wind”….This grand lady made me feel like we were back in the days when sugar cane was king. The big house is an antebellum mansion and was built in 1839 by Jacques Telesphore Roman, a wealthy Creole sugar planter. It was built for his young wife..Actually the magnificent trees were planted first. In the early 1700’s a settler built a small house on the site of the present mansion. He was the one who planted the 28 Live Oak Trees in 2 well-spaced rows, reaching from his house to the Mississippi River…

….We took these photos before we toured inside the Mansion…We arrived early on a Tuesday, and there were only 10 people in our tour group…There were NO photos allowed to be taken inside the house….WHAT???? So…I took photos with my memory, and channeled some serious Southern history by touching the walls…

These were taken on the 2nd story balcony. Notice the panels on the ceiling between the columns. Lower right is our tour guide, who has lived in Calif, IL, SC, and Louisiana…He says he is considered a true Southerner as long as he resides South of I-10..

Right photo was taken from the back of the mansion. There is a huge parking area way beyond this and you pay ($18.00 per) at a little ticket booth before you enter the grounds. I actually got goose bumps as I looked down this walkway toward the “big house”…The grounds are extremely well kept…

Talk about goose bumps…Above is one of the few remaining lists of slaves owned by one of the plantations, and what they were worth monetarily ..This record was recorded by the owner for tax purposes…I felt a twinge of shame reading this list..Note that the price you were worth went accordingly to how important your job was to the plantation owner….

Above is an old photo of the slave quarters….all housed behind the big house where we stood.

This wooden structure once housed the kitchen…They kept the kitchen well away from the main house in case of fire, which could burn everything in a few minutes…Now this is used to house a couple vintage cars…

Left is the levee we followed down the Great River Road, holding the Mississippi River back..Middle is a typical Louisiana cemetery, all above ground… and right is one of the many sugar cane fields. King Sugar Cane still rules down in this part of the South…

What a eye opening trip we had…It was an honor to walk among the ghosts of a past that was wrought with fabulous opulence…. and such sorrow.. at the same time…

THANK YOU, OAK ALLEY PLANTATION…FOR STIRRING EMOTIONS I HAVEN’T FELT BEFORE….

Four Virtual Eco Systems…Now I Get It!

2011-11-28T11:10:00.001-06:00

This park is really amazing.

It has four ecosystems on over a mile of boardwalks. You get the sights and sounds of a cypress/tupelo swamp, a bottomland hardwood forest, a mixed pine/hardwood forest and the Tickfaw River. We took and extended walk around the park this morning. It truly is an amazing place.

On occasion, (according to the brochure), the park site serves the region by holding back the floodwaters when winter and spring rains overflow the banks of the Tickfaw River. They explain that this occasional flooding offers an opportunity to educate visitors, such as ourselves, on the importance of periodic flooding in the cycle of life. This makes wetlands an invaluable habitat and breeding ground for wildlife (aka alligators) and fisheries.

They have hiking trails , and they even have cabins you can rent that sleep 8 people. They also have a Nature Center, which was closed today, but we will explore that later in the week . In the Nature Center, they have an 800-gallon aquarium stocked with fish found in the Tickfaw River, and also have displays featuring the animals, history and culture of the area and of Louisiana, which I love!

Above photos are of the cabins… I got this pic of one of the screen porches through the door….very nice!

If you are feeling brave/adventuresome (or, I would say stupid), you can take a “fun-filled” trip in a canoe on this section of the Tickfaw River. Visitors can bring their own canoes or rent ones at the entrance station. Darn!! I just knew we forgot something..I sooooo wanted to canoe with the Gators and look for Captain Hooks’ clock… They also actually have a “water playground” for kids (and those who will never grow up, as moi)..Looks like it would be really fun when the hot summer months occur . We must come back in the summer sometime so I can put my squirt gun collection to good use!

Den is standing at the canoe launch, which we will NEVER, EVER be using…..

Saw this sign on the road beside a trail and, as Den led the way, we followed the trail into the woods to see the “Grandma” Bald Cypress Tree…Every time I heard a noise I almost wet myself….and McGuyver laughed…

“Here is “The Grandma Tree”..(the biggest one in the picture). She is a bald cypress estimated to be between 400 and 800 years old. She has survived many natural disasters as well as the logging of the forest in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Why would the loggers leave her untouched? She was no worth to the loggers because she is hollow and her top is broken out. She is a monument to longevity – she could have been here when Christopher Columbus discovered America.” We didn’t linger long in this trail to gawk at the tree…Man, it was soooo quiet in that thicket…TOOOO quiet for me.

OK, that was our tour for today…We are staying here at the park today…Partly because we cannot find our way OUT of the park, and partly because it’s too chilly to go plantation touring. Tomorrow the sun is supposedly coming out and it will hit a balmy 59 degrees…Perfect for our drive to Vacherie and down The Great River Road…Now, if McGuyver and our GPS can just get us outta here…..

Please Key Up the Dueling Banjos music from “Deliverance”…

2011-11-27T16:54:00.001-06:00

I wanted to let all of you who were worried about us know that we survived the wind and rain yet one more time up in Twiltley Branch campground….and we have landed the Hiker at Tickfaw State Park, in (well, near, Springfield, LA)…Thanks to all of you for your concern. You obviously now know how McGuvyer and I roll…very wobbly.

For those of you who have seen the movie “Deliverance” , with Burt Reynolds, you will recall how very far in the backwoods those men were hunting…like…REALLY OFF THE BEATEN PATH!!…Well, that just about sums up Tickfaw State Park, LA. Don’t get me wrong, I really like this park…They only have 30 RV spots, and they are all pretty deep in the swampland. We had to do some scouting to find one that McGuyver could site a spot through the trees for both satellite dishes…Did I mention that what we do is NOT considered camping???…It IS considered RVing.

Last evening before we left Mississippi, we decided to try our luck at the little “restaurant” just behind the Gas Station/Mini Mart in beautiful downtown Collinsville,…population about 200.

BEHOLD…CATFISH PLUS…”PLUS WHAT?”, YOU ASK?…WELL, PLUS CHICKEN TENDERS, SHRIMP, OYSTERS, POPPERS, FRIES, …AND A DOZEN OTHER THINGS…ALL MADE BY 2 LOVELY LADIES, WHO ARE BUSILY DEEP FRYAAIN’ EVERTHANG…

I NOW GIVE YOU THE ENTIRE MENU…WE HAD OYSTER DINNERS…TO GO.. THEY DID HAVE ONE TABLE OUTSIDE…WE DECIDED TO FORGO SITTING OUTSIDE IN THE RAIN AND TOOK OURS HOME…OH, AND CHECK OUT THE “MENU PLATTER” ON THE UPPER RIGHT…VERY TEMPTING…

Alas, my brain was so set upon wolfing down the oyster dinner that I totally neglected taking a photo…Hey, I have my priorities!!..It was quite tasty…but….I have to say that the oysters Den and I had at Pop’s little joint, in Rockport, TX were slightly better….Maybe it’s because we attended Oysterfest there…Trust me though, the Catfish Plus dinners went down extremely fast!

Here is our new real estate for the next 5 nights…It’s about a 60 mile drive to Plantation Road ( by Vacherie, LA) from here. Since the weather won’t be cooperating tomorrow, we will put off the drive until Tuesday, and I am really looking forward to “channeling history” from the early 1800’s. I want to feel the vibes by walking some of the old plantation grounds. Some even still have the remainder of the slave quarters… Hopefully, we will be touring the Oak Alley Plantation mansion on the inside….WAHOO!!!

So, we are here, safe and sound. There are, of course, alligators here too. On the drive into the campground, we crossed a bridge over some very creepy, swampy, dark and wet , nasty looking water….very ominous looking. I will get photos tomorrow… Is it me, or does it seem like we are deliberately gauging our parks to include dangerous reptiles?? So don’t any of you kids think you can just wander off. No sticking your toes in the water, and no playing around the water’s edge!!..and I want you to count of all of your digits before we leave and report back to me.……More from Deliverance tomorrow….

Quick blog..more bad weather moving in!

2011-11-26T11:21:00.001-06:00

OK…I was cleaning the Hiker, cause I like to give her a good inside clean before we travel, then I heard the weather…McGuyver was going to wait and take down our internet dish until this evening, but it looks like the weather is gonna make it earlier. We have more severe storms moving through Southeast Mississippi….and it is clouding up as I type this….

…”the stockings ( overalls) were hung by the cupboards with care”….

So, we are getting some pretty strong wind gusts off the lake right now, enough to shake the Hiker…No, kids, you CANNOT go outside and run through the rain in your underwear!!!

Tomorrow AM, we are heading for Springfield, LA and Tickfaw State Park, complete with more alligators….But, we hope to cruise Plantation Road and tour Oak Alley Plantation from there….Last night we went to the Meridian Moose lodge and I have never gotten so many sincere Southern hugs and welcomes….What a nice group of peeps..and the fact that we won the war didn’t bother them at all !! Found out they have RV hook ups there, complete with W and E, sewer..and an Olympic swimming pool…for $7 a night if you are a Moose…No, a Deer, Elk or Bear won’t get ya in…

OK…weather radio is beginning to squawk a few watches….Last time we “watched” from the Hiker….this time we might take some action!! Hang on , group….It could be a very tight squeeze for all of us to get into the brick “kybo” house …Watch for spider webs and snakes….HMMMMM>….Maybe riding it out in the Hiker will be a better plan….Time will tell…LATER!!!!

Thankful for MANY things…Having known an Angel on earth…..

2011-11-24T13:02:00.001-06:00

Dennis and I have very heavy hearts today after hearing news from our daughter, Chris, that a dear friend has lost her long battle with breast cancer at 38 years old…Sandi Thurman McCool, you were an Angel on earth, sent by God, and now have been called back…God probably needed someone to keep a close eye on all of this group from above…(and you WELL KNOW, our dear Angel, how hard this group is to keep a close eye on )….Sandi and Chris came to visit us in our camper in February, 2008 at Rockport, TX….What fun we all had…what memories.

…..YOU WILL BE MISSED, DEAR FRIEND……

And so, it puts things into perspective for us…and are thankful for so many things this Thanksgiving Day . Dennis and I wish you all blessings to you and yours this this day of thanks. I also want to welcome Jenny Johnson and Lauren Miller aboard the GMC for our Winter trip. I hope you are of strong constitution, as our toilet issue continues to be a little “sketchy”..but it still WORKS so far. Something about the waste ball seal (we need a new one???)…sounds like something you’d find in the Arctic Ocean to me.

We had a little excitement the other night…Lots of red on the radar coming at us…We are on that little blue lake in the center …to the right of the monster storm…just great.

The wind blew lots, and we gave a thought about going to the little block bathroom just outside our door, next to us. But, by the time our thought process was complete, (brain cells are lazy as you get older), the storm was upon us, and we rode it out in the Hiker…It was a little windy (understatement), and rained sideways..but we held firm and lived to be stupid another day.

..I’m thinkin’ this is a Heron, but he isn’t very blue….. Look close and see the 2 turtles on this log….

COULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT MAKES THESE HOLES IN THE GROUND AROUND OUR SITE..

OR IF I NEED TO CURTAIL MY WALKS AND CALL THE GAME WARDEN??

We I am planning a yummy Thanksgiving dinner for two..I am trying to be traditional, somewhat, without making too much work for my lazy self…

Hey!…I got crockpot chicken (I really wanted turkey thighs, but there were none to be had), stuffing, mashed taters, the stuff to make green bean casserole….oh, yes, and for desert we have some delicious sugar free frosted oatmeal cookies …BOOYA!!! This oughta be pretty easy…(I guess it’s not really “traditional” home cooked, but it’s how I roll today..slowly…)

Our weather here today is 70 degrees…and Dennis has the toilet on the kitchen floor again..Something about a toilet as a Thanksgiving centerpiece goes against my grain…He discovered he put the seal on upside down last time he worked on it…but…we are still in need of that Arctic seal eventually…..Hopefully “la pooper” will be back in the “throneroom” by dinner time..

So, on this day of reflection and thanks, The Cave Dwellers would like to wish everyone a Blessed Thanksgiving..Hug your family tightly, keep them close… and make every ~~darn~~ damn minute count…

“In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing.” ~Robert Ingersoll

Lovin’ these Army Corp Mississippi campgrounds….

2011-11-22T07:37:00.001-06:00

Above header are the new Cave Dwelling’s diggs until this Sunday. We are about 15 miles North of Meridian, MS, near Collinsville, MS and situated on Lake Okatibbee. Our site backs right up to the lake and the weather has been 75 degrees.

We have had an evening visitor….

…I believe this could be an Egret, but if it isn’t, I’m sure Birdlady of Blogland will give you the correct name…The way I see things is..it’s a bird, it’s white, could be an Egret. He was having great success with dinner right behind our campfire, and paid no attention to me rudely watching him eat.

Yesterday, we went into Meridian and did our laundry..and I must say it was one of the cleanest Laundromats we have ever been in. Even though McGuyver could NOT believe I did this, I brought the camera in the laundry to get a photo of this sign…

It was number 2 that got my attention…”INSERT appropriate number of coins or debit card”… Debit card??.Is is just me, or is this something new..? Using debit cards to wash and dry laundry is very telling of where our country is at…It use to be that the debit card was used to BUY a washer and dryer, not OPERATE one…I must be getting old.

We took our walk around the two loops of Twiltley Branch campground and got some photos of the dense swampland we are tucked into. And, yes, they do have alligators in this lake, though I haven’t seen one ….yet. If I were an Egret, “ I would watch my step” while finding dinner. That Egret could BE dinner.!

When we drove into the campground, a sign was posted saying, “Alligators exhist in this lake. Fish or swim at your own risk.” 10-4, A-OK, Gotcha!

There are quite a few fishing boats today…Wonder how hard it would be to pull a gator in…or who would want to! This area is subject to some intense flooding….

Left..the sign in the tree…….Right, a 6’1” McGuyver reading the sign..puts in all in perspective, eh?

Left, this pile of firewood was a little overkill…Not to be outdone , Dennis dragged a WHOLE TREE up to our campsite and became Paul Bunyan. As you can see, we have been able to have campfires every night…so far.

These woods offer up some very pretty flora nestled in between the towering pines..if you are brave enough to walk into the underbrush…I did my fastest photo shoot ever to get these pictures…and got the crap scared out of me when 4 turtles jumped from their log into the water behind me…All I could think was…GATOR!!!!

OK…Today is a big day for Dennis and myself ……..Today is our 42nd wedding anniversary…We are celebrating with a toast by the campfire, and by living our dreams..

Just look at that happy young couple…We only knew each other 6 months before this day, 42 years ago…Since then, Dennis has quit using the Brylcreem, and I gave up the bangs..Other than that not much has changed…..well…

……there have been a few additions …

What once was just “us”…. is now ALL OF US!!!

“Newlyweds become oldyweds, and oldyweds are the reasons that families work.” ~Author Unknown