Crochet Me Crazy

We left Thursday heading to Cleburne State Park. We got off to a great start until we had a blow-out on the RV tire about 30 miles before we got to Waco. It was hot but Jeff and Michael got it changed pretty quickly and without incident. The plan was to get to Waco and go to a tire shop and get them to put 2 new tires on. We got to Waco and we can't believe it when we hear the noise of the other tire on the same side as the last flat blew! This time it was worse because we had to try to get to a parking lot and out of traffic to pull over and it also meant no waiting in the A/C while they changed our tire. We had to un-hook the RV and leave it in the parking lot while we drove the truck to find the tires. We were extremely lucky to find the tires after going to 3 different places before we found a Goodyear that had any trailer tires in stock and just before they closed too. We almost spent the night in Waco! Well, the Jeff and Michael came back and changed the tires in about an hour. He had to move some tires around so we had the good tires in the right place. We headed back on our way but ended up getting in late. We picked the best site we could find in the dark, all the while knowing we might had to move the next morning because there was some confusion about which sites were available since the park was full for the 4th of July. Sure enough, the next morning Jeff went down to the park office early to find out and the answer was yes...we would have to move because all of those sites were booked for the weekend. Well, things worked out nicely for us in the end, because the nicest spot in the park became available while we were shuffling around. Having that site, completely made the trip I think. Our fire pit was just steps from one of the nicest entrances to the lake. We had our own little beach area and never had to go to the public swim area. We had never camped at Cleburne before and was delightfully surpised at what a little gem the lake is. It's a very small lake and there were no ski boats or anything like that. It's a spring fed lake and the water was some of the cleanest lake water I've been to and the perfect temperature on the hot days. We spent a whole lot of time in the water and we all got a lot of sun! We did have one more event though....on Friday night, Jeff discovered water coming out from our storage compartment and that's when we figured out someone had left the water on the bathroom sink which filled up our holding tank, when then backed up into the tub, which then overflowed and when throught the vent and into the storage compartment. Okay, this was worse than the tires...this was not good at all. I was very worried ... did I do that? Do I need to be checked in to an alzheimer facility? Hardly anyone had been in the RV all day...I did go in there and used the sink.... the kid's washed their hands without being told?? What is going on here? The mystery was solved later that night luckily after Jeff had cooled down. My forensic investigative skilled had figured it out. A few hours before we went to bed, Michael had a kleenex sticking out of his nose. I asked him if he was having a nose bleed. Yes. Later in the night, after all the stressful flooding and I was brushing my teeth I saw the tiny drops of blood around the sink and a few on the mirror. I knew they weren't there earlier when I had used the sink. Okay, I'm very relieved now knowing I didn't do it! I went to tell Michael I had solved the mystery! He was very impressed with my investigative skills. The rest of trip went well other than we wasted part of our day Saturday driving to the Creation Evidence Museum in Glenrose, Texas which isn't very far away but when we got there they were so full they weren't letting anyone else in the building. There were people sitting everywhere in chairs outside listening to the lectures over a loud speaker. We ended up leaving and going to Dinosaur Valley State Park which was just a few miles up the road. That was a big mistake...it was extremely crowded with cars and people literally everywhere. You could hardly find a parking spot. We walked down to one set of dinosaur tracks and there were lots of people and relatively no water in the river. There were some people swimming the stagnant water. We made a quick decision not to waste anymore time and head back to our picturesque campsite in Cleburne. We all just felt like relaxing and not dealing with the crowds. We spent the rest of the day swimming and floating. We had planned to go to a meet my sister and brother-in-law at a fireworks display that night in a town near-by but ended up deciding not to go. We were tired of running around and wanted to play games that night and relax. We would've gotten back so late. It's good we ended up not going because Michael's was tired and went to bed even while we were playing games. Even though his cough was much, much better when he started the medications we got from the doctor this was the first night he really wasn't having any problems with coughing. He needed the rest. I only heard him cough a few times on the way home today in the car. We had religiously been giving him the Mucinex and the inhaler every 4 hours but today, he's only had it one time. He can use the inhaler on a 4 hour basis as needed but I think the whole thing it finally winding down. Anyway, I got a little carried away with details on this post and just so I don't forget for the next time we go there...we like sites #45, #46, #48 in that order.

We just got back late last night. We had a great time once we finally got there! We had a few set-backs on the trip there. Jeff ended up getting called into work the morning we were supposed to leave and his truck was towed from the parking lot of the customer he was servicing! It was a mistake and the lady from the office called the wrecker driver to tell him to bring the truck back and caught him right before he was about to drive through the gates of the impound lot. So Jeff had to wait for them to bring his truck back! Then, we had a flat on the 5th wheel. It was the first flat we've had since we got it. It wasn't too bad. We didn't even feel it and a passing driver waved at us to tell us our tire was flat. Luckily, it was before dark and it only took about 30 minutes to change it. Next, we hit a deer! That was another first ever for us. Didn't hurt the truck because we have a Ranch Hand Grill Guard on the front of the truck. I felt really bad for the deer but he ran the wrong way and we can't stop that fast pulling a huge RV behind us! The trip turned into a 14 hour drive! We misssed the sign going into to park which we figured out when the road suddenly ended and it took us 30 minutes to get the trailer turned around. It was around 4:30 am when we finally got int. We were exhaused and went straight to bed when a wildest wind storm I've ever seen blew in and and was shaking the RV. I thought something was surely going to blow off the outside. Anyway, that kept us up for awhile.

Jeff's parents and grandma drove in on Saturday to stay the night with us. We took a hike on the Canyon Loop Trail and ended up hiking a total distance of about 7.5 miles!




We went and looked at some property for sale and while we were walking out there, we saw a mountain lion! I never expected that and it scared the be-jeebers out of us!

We're back from our over a week long RV camping trip. We spent the first two nights at McKinney Falls and the next week at Garner State Park. We had a hugely great time! The river was down at Garner but that park is good no matter what the weather. We were busy on the river swimming, floating, tubing, fishing, or hiking our every waking hour. The kids swung from the ropes into the river. The worse part of the trip was the rudeness of the other campers. This is our first trip to Garner while school was out. We usually go after school starts to avoid the crowds. We couldn't do that this year though because this was Michael's birthday trip and he invited one of his friends. He had to be back to start school today. People and kids don't seem to have any manners anymore. Of course, we met some very nice people too but its always so sad to see the disrespect of people these days. The beautiful river was strewn with trash from the busy weekend before we got there. People walked through our campsite all week long when they could have taken a few steps another direction to avoid it. People actually used our picnic table pad site as a walkway...I thought about putting out a bowl of chips for everyone as they passed by. Even my kids were shocked...probably because we've always taught them its rude to walk through peoples campsites. The last two days our new neighbors moved in and the mother did not watch her kid at all. Her son was in our campsite more than he was in theirs and she was no where to be found. He couldn't have been more than 4 years old. He was over picking up all of our stuff and asking us questions constantly. He picks us my husbands ax...I'm having to tell him "Don't touch that...Don't touch that...." I kept telling him he needed to go back to his campsite but he would be right back. Where is this kid's mother?? Every now and then we would see her come out and see him wandering around our campsite and she would just go about her business like...oh, good someone is watching him! Geez.... Oh, and the Torres and Reyes family made me proud of Houston...they left their mark on the mountain with their Sharpie markers....apparenly just a few days before we got there! So anyway, despite it all, we had a great time but there was no phone service there so I wasn't able to call my mother in the assisted living. I went to see her yesterday and boy, was she glad to see me. There was some trouble with her not eating while I was gone. Two different neighbors of mine went to see her while I was gone. We are very close with 3 of our neighbors...almost like family to us. And I got some really great news when I got back...My neighbor, Stephanie, got hired as a housekeep at the assisted living while we were gone!!! I had recommened her to them because their housekeeping stinks. It's going to be great because she can keep an eye on my mom while she's there and my mother loves her. My prediction is that the residents are going to love Stephanie so much that they are going to want to send her for training to be an aide and they couldn't pick a better person for that job.

Now here are some pictures from our trip:

A View from our campsite

Those are my kids in that tree getting ready to jump


Some really big trees

I'm not doing a very good job of keeping this blog updated.

We just got back from a week long camping trip to Martin Dies, Jr. State Park. We had a really good time and it was so nice to get away in the RV after such a long time. We stayed pretty close to home since the gas prices are so high and my husband is out of a job right now. This wouldn't have been my first choice of where to camp. We swam, fished, rented a canoe for the day, and walked on trails. This lake has alligators so looking at the alligators was fun. We did have one scary event happen while we were there. A tree literally broke in half and fell in the road about 25 feet in front of where my husband and daughter were walking. It hit a power line and snapped the power line which fell right behind them. The grounds were out of power for about 5 hours. It shook Alison up pretty bad and she was trembling for about 20 minutes. Thank you, Jesus, for protecting my family.

They had a little bike decorating contest and then the kids did a bike parade on July 4th. They had various other games like a watermelon seed spitting contest, hoola hoops, bean bags toss, etc.

I have still been working on the filet name doily. I finished my letters and had started on the decorative part. I don't like it though and I don't know if I'm going to finish it. I may frog the decorative border, put some type of trim on it and leave it at that. It's hard for me to stay motivated on a project that I'm not happy with but I hate to rip all that out too! It will need to be blocked, obviously.



I made this little doily. I started that yesterday and finished it tonight.



It could almost be used as a coaster. I'm going to make another one to match for my dresser. I love doilies but I have only made two others before this because I don't really like working with thread much. I admire those that work with thread so beautifully!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We just got back from a camping trip. We stayed at the Blanco State Park. This park WAS my back yard when I grew up. My back gate literally opened up into it and the river was 100 yards from my house. Quite a nice place to grow up and I still like going back.









The kids picked wild river onions and decided to make their own onion soup. LOL! That kept them busy for an hour or two!





We went to Enchanted Rock on Thursday. We actually walked up this giant rock which isn't easy to do!! Geez...I had to stop and rest several times.







There is a cave at Enchanted Rock that you can climb down into on your own if you want. We have been in it a little way before on another trip but we weren't equipped with enough lights so we wanted to go back again with plenty of flashlights and batteries. It was much darker than it looks in these pictures because my flash sorta lit up the place and you can actually see what it looks like in there. We were in there in the dark crawling through spaces that were almost two small for us parents to squeeze through at some points. It was very fun though and we went all the way to find a 2nd unmarked opening near the end this time.








We saw one of the prettiest light displays I think I've ever seen in the nearby town to Blanco called Johnson City, Texas. They had 50-60 trees COMPLETELY wrapped in lights. This light display was at the local Electric Company! Go figure...





Made this little Christmas Tree for Alison to decorate however she see's fit and hang on the tree:

I'm using the kids computer right now because mine is in the shop but I heard from DHL and they are delivering my computer back to me tomorrow! I CANNOT believe it was so fast! The last time I sent it in, I thought it would never come back! Anyhow, I'll be a happy camper to get it back for sure!
Now onto our camping trip we just got back from on Sunday.
We had fun on a camping trip to Huntsville State Park. It would have been a WHOLE lot funner if it hadn't rained every day but we still managed to do a lot of fun stuff despite the rain. They have a lot of stuff to do there and its only 1 1/2 hours away from home!
They have a free kids fishing program which I was really impressed with. The kids came away with a nice goody bag of stuff, an Junior Angler pin and a certificate. Jeff and I both won door prizes! I got a fishing rod and tackle boxed set and Jeff got a big tackle box! Can't beat that! The rod was a blessing since Michael's fishing rod walked away somehow while we were there.
Here is Alison practicing her casting....

They teach you everything from rules, safely, bait to use and how to build your rod. We actually caught a lot of smaller sized fish on this trip that we threw back. We were catching Sunfish, Bass and Catfish! Fun enough!!

We visited the Prison Museum which was interesting... There were some displays of how resourceful those guys get while in prison. Take a look at this very detailed "Prisonopoly" game that was made by hand by a prisoner. They found it in a cell "shake down". He begged them to send it home to his mother. The guard complied but only on the agreement that he make another one for the prison museum. I bet his mom was proud! :)



We had a friendly little visitor to our camp site...this little squirrel sat 6 inches from my foot and ate a piece of pop corn! In all of our camping, I haven't had one get this close to me.


They have stables that you can pay for and hour our horseback riding there at the park. This is actually one of the main reasons we went there. Alison has been asking to ride a horse. It was fun and different from our usual camping activities. We got back from our ride to find 6 fire trucks lined up the road. A little cabin there had caught fire and burned up pretty bad in the time we were gone. It was some sort of electrical fire. We were pinned into the parking lot so we decided to make the walk back to our campsite and come pick our truck up later after the action died down. A park ranger ended up coming by our site to give Jeff a ride back to his truck later in the evening to save Jeff from having to walk back, which was nice.




Oh and you won't believe this BIG FISH story I have...Jeff caught an alligator on his fishing line!! Yup...I've got proof. The signs said that they have alligators and we hadn't seen any until we were fishing after dark Saturday night. Jeff saw something right near his bobber and thought it was a turtle or a snake. When we got the flash light to it, we saw it was a baby alligator! EEk! The thing was very interested in eating Jeff's bobber and ended up doing some sort of splashy thing and ended up getting Jeff's fishing hook stuck in his tail. Now how do you get an alligator off your hook? VERY CAREFULLY!!!
I had to run and get the camera to try to catch the action...

Jeff and Michael ended up pinning the alligator with the net you see in the last picture to hold his head down while Jeff got the hook out of his tail with a pair of pliers. Then, we stood clear to let him run back for the water which he was trying to do the whole time. That little guy wasn't bashful though...he stuck around the area even after we let him loose. He wasn't too intimidated by the whole event.

View of the Frio River from our camp site 


View from our Campsite 


We climbed this mountain....it's called "Old Baldy" 


Scenery on our way up the mountain 


Almost to the top! 


another shot...isn't is beautiful? 


See the tiny cars below?? Our truck is the red speck...that's how far we've climbed.... 


Looking up at more to climb.... 


To the top! 


Collage 

As you can see, we had a really great time...will post more pictures of our stay at Inks Lake State Park later! :)