Down To Basics

Only goofing off allowed today.  In the spirit of scientific experimentation, Emerson used liquid dye in bags to color plastic eggs.  Luke used the traditional vinegar in water with liquid dye, while Allie used liquid dye swirled in shaving cream.  All the eggs turned out well.

No meals.  Everyone ate whatever they wanted whenever they wanted.  Hot ham sandwiches, leftover cabbage rolls, chips and dip, cereal, fresh fruit and of course, hard-cooked eggs--all up for grabs.

Nothing better than an afternoon scooting up and down the river trying for catfish--which weren't biting,

and checking the trot lines where we collected two nice catfish.

Back to the house for a last nibble of ham before we hopped the bike for a moonlit ride home.

View from our front door.

Remind you of anything?   

War Of The Worlds?

Louise and Duane

Recipe For Fun

Take an absolutely gorgeous spring day. Add two kids and their friends with a day off school, their dad off work for the day, and two grandparents with nothing better to do than goof off.  Stir in various fun stuff to do like make a pot of cabbage rolls for dinner,

check out the new rail on the Fishin' Shack porch,

wade the creek

show off your best trampoline tricks,

and load up the boat for a run upstream

to set a few trot (or drag) lines to catch some fish for dinner tomorrow.

Let simmer as you watch the sun set and the moon rise.

Enjoy cabbage rolls for dinner, then put away leftover memories for the next rainy day.

More fun in store tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

We Blew It

What a beautiful day! The sun peeked out of the clouds enough to require sunglasses, and the breeze was warm.  Shorts and short sleeves were the order of the day.  Did we spend the day out on the bike enjoying the weather?  Nope.  Did we take a long walk just to savor the wonderful weather?  Nope again!   We played pickleball for three hours in the morning indoors.  From there we drove home, dumped equipment, gathered laundry, and headed back to town.  First stop, fast food for lunch, then the laundromat.  After our clothes were all clean and folded, we drove next door for some fresh vegetables, then home to put stuff away.  Then we sat inside on comfy chairs and relaxed.  We did enjoy the weather each time we walked from a building to the truck to another building and back to the truck.  We really enjoyed looking outside at the sunshine instead of dark gray clouds.  The nice weather made our chore seem less like work.

After one doctor appointment in the morning, tomorrow is wide open.

Louise and Duane

Drip Drip

24 hours of this left us with 3 inches of rain and our old friend the drippy leak around our tv antenna, but the leak in back seems to be fixed.

What to do on such a day outside?

Stay inside.

Better weather forecast for the rest of the week.

Louise and Duane

East Texas

No pickleball today left us with walking for exercise.   Apparently people in this area don't walk.  Drivers fly down the roads and there are no sidewalks.  We turned left at the first road. We walked the length of this one which ended in a turnaround.  

Every road looks the same with a ratty "trailer house" next to a nice brick, sometimes on the same property, 

and landscaping left to itself.

  

We came back to the main road, turned left at the next one and ran into the scourge of East Texas--loose dogs.  Those little things, you say?  Yes, five of those little ankle biters chased us down the street with the owner watching them.  I was walking backward because I didn't trust that little black one.  He kept getting nearer and trying to get behind me.  When we got back to the main road the owner started calling them--in a rather soft voice for the amount of racket they made barking.  

We managed to escape and tried the third road left.  We lucked out--only one dog in a fence.  We don't trust fences entirely.  Last week we tried walking left out of the park.  About 1/2 mile down we heard, then saw 5 dogs fenced in a yard.  When we got closer, the dogs started filing through a hole in the fence and were on the road challenging us.  We turned around without stopping.  

Definitely no animal control here.

Louise and Duane

Busy In Tyler

Today was our first doctor appointment for our annual checkups or, as I call them, our annual poke, probe, and squeeze.  I failed my cholesterol blood test--too much cheesy pasta and rice recently, I guess.  Duane passed, but he cheats.  He uses a prescription statin to keep his cholesterol in check.  We both received our pneumococcal pneumonia vaccines and were declared good to go in that department.  Our appointments weren't until 1:30 and 2:30, but our blood tests called for fasting.  We went for the blood draw about 10 am, then used one of our restaurant Christmas gift cards for lunch at Salt Grass Steakhouse.  After our doctor visits, we stopped by Camping World for a couple of things, then went home until 6:30.  We went back to Tyler to the Glass Community Center to play evening pickleball.  We arrived first and started setting up nets.

A lot of the players here competed recently in a tournament.  They played the way the pros play, starting back for the serve and return,

then rushing to the net for close play.

Duane was able to hold his own, though the guy on the front left is a college student and won second place with his partner in the tournament.

After a couple of hours everyone left except these four.  Game over, we all took down nets and went home.  All evening my arm hurt from my pneumonia vaccine, except when I was playing.  I needed all my concentration to play against this group.  

Tomorrow, a goof off day.

Louise and Duane  

Liesure Time

As usual when we are in the Tyler/Kilgore Texas area, we met the family at Denny's for a nice long breakfast visit.  Jennifer, as usual, chose sleep over food.

Back at the house we decided on a trip to the river.  Allie and I took the lead on the four-wheeler while the guys followed behind in the Mule. 

Allie decided on the short cut, but with Grandpa driving the guys arrived first.

We had several things to accomplish on this trip.  First we had to view the new concrete porch (poured yesterday), 

and the concrete pad at the head of the boat ramp.  

Next we all piled in one of the boats to pick up trot lines set yesterday.  A trot line is a long line tied between trees or bushes or tied to a tree or bush with a weight on the bottom of the river.  Short lines--12 inches or so--with hooks on one end, are attached to the line at intervals.  The hooks are baited then dropped into the water and left overnight.  When we found a line, Luke untied the line, 

Grandpa unhooked the lines, Allie took off any bait left (on most of them the bait was gone), then placed the hooks around the top of a five-gallon bucket.

Allie and Luke rolled the lines around the weights and put them into the bucket, ready for the next time.

On the way back we chatted and enjoyed the scenery.  

We could see hundreds of thin soil layers in this eroded hillside.  This erosion is what Jeremy is hoping to curtail with his new road and concrete apron to funnel rainwater runoff  down the boat ramp.

Where Jeremy's creek empties into the river, or in this case, where the river floods the creek.

View of the fishing shack from the water.

To be continued.

Louise and Duane

One Star--Maybe

The first time we stayed at 5 Star RV Park the place seemed small but well-kept and very nice.  On our return visit we found the park to be less than welcoming with an office that's always closed and buildings and landscaping in need of sprucing up.  There are two buildings in the rv park. This is the office and, up the ramp on the right, the laundry and library. 

library

two washers, two dryers

the rest of the laundry

At the other end of the park but on the same side are the restroom/showers.  We've never looked inside.  Next to this building is the dumpster.

View of the park sites (all of them) from outside the showers.  Notice the two unleashed dogs not paying any attention to their "owner" at the dumpster.  That water tower is across the road.  Our rig is the one with the double window on the left in the distance.

Our house  Those open frameworks weren't there the last time we were here;  we're not quite sure why they were erected.

View across from our rig.  Just to the right is a house in dire need of repair with four rv's in the front yard, but when I'm sitting inside looking out this way, this is what I see.  Just beyond those trees is a little catch-and-release pond with a walking path around it.

Walking down the drive past the shower house the path winds a little way through woods, then comes out to the left of the pond.

The path above  is just behind those trees.  

View of our rig (the dark one on the left) from the pond edge.

That is the entire park.  

Definitely not 5 star, but less expensive that other area parks and close to our doctors.

Louise and Duane