The Grass May Not be Greener, but The Skies are Certainly Blue

 

First camping trip of the fall season and I forgot to bring my laptop... so I'm photo dumping nearly a month later, and what I can tell you is that it was lovely, and it was nearby (Huntsville SP, Raven's Loop, Site #1 (F)). That I worked a half day and dropped off our fall food drive donations to the Montgomery County Food Bank. We took several walks. I've started using Dad & Bunny's Kroger's card and that made for a hilarious text conversation. And there's a bat colony over by the Walls Unit prison. (No, not that prison, this prison.  Yes, Huntsville has a thing for prisons.)

And it was beautiful, and wonderful, and all the things I love about camping.

Simple Days in South Texas

With the time change earlier this month, the days are getting shorter and shorter.  I can't say enough how much I appreciate that RDB does our hauling and parking. We just made it down to Choke Canyon State Park Thursday evening as the sun set.  The park has a great "no contact" check in process: I received an email the morning of our stay, requesting that we reply with any changes to the reservation, and notifying us that our car tag would be on the bulletin board outside headquarters.  Simple, easy, safe.

Friday morning, while the boys slept in....

I had a bit of office work to do before taking a half day off Friday afternoon.  We were encouraged by our manager to watch a Q&A between the president of our business unit and Emmanuel Acho, of "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man."  If you've not had a chance to watch his videos (or read his recently released book), I'd highly encourage it. I was challenged to rethink not just being non-racist, but to be anti-racist.  Like the title of his series states, it's not a comfortable conversation or line of thinking to address, but it's necessary; lives depend on it.

Once I signed off from work, we rode over to Beeville for lunch. Why so far (about an hour away)? Because the only thing open in Three Rivers was the Dairy Queen!  But the trip into Beeville was really fun. 

Note that Lady Justice _isn't_ blind.

Returning back to our campsite, we dropped into the Southern Unit of the park; it's day use only and has a great viewing area of the reservoir.   The lake was first filled back in 1982, though with the recent droughts, it's only about a third full this fall.  

You could tell that the levy area of the park wasn't often visited - and that's unfortunate as the view from there was so nice.  It was also unfortunate that someone had spray painted racist graffiti on the backstop of one of the parking spots. It stung in a different way having just listened to Emmanuel's exhortation of breaking down barriers and actually having honest conversations.  We still have so far to go. 

RDB, Diesel, and I enjoyed taking walks around the park this weekend. Late in the day and once the sun had gone down. It's dark enough here at the park that you can see the Milky Way (and I saw a shooting star the first night! So Cool!)

Also cool? Finding a house hippo in the dirt out by our campsite.   I think he'll hang out with us in the camper from here on, hopefully he won't eat all the potato chips!

We also found Thanksgiving dinner.....

....though, they are kinda skinny!

Saturday was a slow and easy day. RDB and I were craving a good Waffle House breakfast, but with no WF nearby (remember, the only thing in town is the DQ) we drove over to the nearest gas station and picked up eggs, onions, and bacon, and added the cheese and cream we already had - and it was maybe the best plate of scrambled eggs ever! Of course, it's always delicious when someone else does the cooking! (Thanks, RDB!)

RDB napped while I did a few crafts. One of the things I love about all the space in our new camper is that I can have a small stock of crafting supplies with me at all times... watercolors and acrylics, paint pens, yarn and a hot glue gun (I mean, you never know, right?).  

Sunday morning we woke to significant winds - gusts over 20 MPH.  The camper itself is relatively sturdy, but the flag stuck to its side was being battered all over the place!  We had hoped to grill out steaks for lunch, but put that plan aside and cooked in the camper instead - no point in tempting fate and causing a fire that burns down the campground!  We brought leftovers from my #miniturkeyday last week - and y'all! This was a GREAT idea! No cooking, easy clean up - and tasty!

We're watching our weather app to see when the winds might die down - though the camper is plenty stable in it's camp site, it's more like a traveling billboard going down the highway.  Looks like we'll wait till later this afternoon before we head out and go home.  

We were at Choke Canyon State Park, site #108. This is an ADA site (it was all that was available when I booked it late last week) so the pad is twice as wide as usual and you'll have a paved sidewalk around the picnic table and all the way over to the bath house.  We saw plenty of birds (you're right next to a "sanctuary" bird blind), deer, and javelinas.  Also, Saturday afternoon there was a swarm of wasps around the patio cover (did you know they're blind to the color red? Might have to pack a few shirts in that color in the camper, just in case!).  Overall, it's a nice park - but is a bit too far away from all the "adventures" we enjoy to consider coming back again.  But, you never know!

 For more camping pics, go here. 

Fine Art, Family, Food and Friends!

To say this was a beautiful weekend would be a real understatement!  So many amazing things to enjoy from family and friends to fine art and food!

RDB and I drove up to Cedar Hill State Park Thursday afternoon - working from the comfort of our "Mobile Office" on Friday with bountiful views of the trees out our windows.  The weekend was off to a great start when my retired Navy Big Bro, M, Face-timed me from his new "mobile office" - he's recently switched jobs up in Canada from the honey farm to a traditional farm and is now driving a S670 Combine harvesting fava beans.  From bees to beans - he's in a sweet and filling position! (Ha!) 

After work Friday evening, RDB and I went over to the Dallas Museum of Art to explore.  They are re-opened for full hours, and still a no-cost experience, but you do have to reserve timed entry tickets and follow appropriate CDC guidelines during your visit.  With the limited amount of visitors, it was almost like we had the museum to our selves.

There was a newly curated exhibit, To Be Determined, which "looks to the uncertainty of our present circumstances with the resolve to move forward." It pulled from works in the current DMA library, and was a somber, yet interesting experience.  One of the installations, Sound Silence Discord, was meant to be interactive - using sound and touch from spectators to engage the art, but with Covid-19 and its impact on experiencing live art, the artist had reworked the piece to be automated - with the lights dimmed and the experience roped off with caution tape. 

 RDB and I enjoy visiting art museums, and The DMA was no different - they've done a wonderful job of creating installations that draw you in and make you think. And they've blended new-age and contemporary art in with the classics and masters.

Up on the second floor of the museum are the European artists.  It was an unexpected surprise to find three Monets - including two of the 250 water lilies that he painted in the later part of his lifetime.

To say I was enraptured is, again, an understatement:

A few interesting tidbits - the reflection painting above with the lack of a horizon had attendees thinking the painting had been displayed up-side-down at an action house. 

And the round painting is one of only four known in existence in the world done in this specific circular style. 

I so greatly enjoyed being able to see these incredible artworks up close and am also so grateful for conservationists who think about preserving this kind of beauty and making it available for others to enjoy.

As we walked thru the artworks, I was texting back and forth with my high school girlfriends, KKW, ADW, and REC. When RDB and I first got the new camper mid-summer, The Girls and I had talked about having a "girl's weekend" sleepover in the camper somewhere up here in the Dallas area. Though schedules couldn't accommodate a stay-over, KKW and REC (and her family) were coming over to the campsite Saturday for dinner.  I laughed when I saw this artwork and sent a text to them:

"I found a painting of the four of us! ..."

".... Not sure who's getting baptized this time!" 

RDB and I left the museum and walked over to Kyle Warren Park - kind of a neat experience knowing this green space was built over the top of the existing highway.  It was lovely evening nearing sunset - and we just happened to catch a marriage proposal there in the park. Ah, love is in the air!

Saturday morning RDB and I slept in for a bit, hit the nearby Waffle House for a late breakfast/lunch, and made a run to Walmart to grab a few items for the camper and for the get together that evening.  I had texted my other Big Bro, D, to let him know that we were in town, and we'd love to see him and A, if they didn't have plans. A had to work on Saturday, but Bubba made his way down to visit - Cedar Hill SP is only about 20 minutes from his house, so it was a super easy drive.

Not too long after KKW arrived. She and her family are campers, too, and she made herself at home checking out every drawer and door in the camper to see how I organized and stored stuff! 

Needless to say, I had a short list of items to send her the Amazon link to before she was done!

REC and her family drove up just and joined us next - parking at the site was starting to get, well, tight!  The park is limiting how many people are allowed in per day (Covid-19 restrictions) and we were under the allowable site limit (10 people) but had maxed out the number of vehicles allowed.  We ended up parking KKW's car down at the headquarters parking lot.

You'll find a common, but different, feature of the Cedar Hill SP there in the HQ parking lot: a firewood self-pay station.  Bundles are in individual lockers and you can use your credit or debit card to unlock and take your load.

It was really sweet to have my high school girlfriends here enjoying the beautiful weather and a great grilled out dinner (thanks, RDB!). It was a bummer that ADW wasn't with us, but we saved her a spot for next time:

It's great that we have so much space in the camper for being able to host a gathering like this! Eight people inside and it didn't feel crowded at all!

We hung out till the park almost closed to non-overnight visitors, and the texts circulating the next morning confirmed that everyone had a great time and we were all excited about having the chance to do it again!

REC brought me flowers - this women knows how to speak to my heart!

Sunday finds us sleeping in (again - sense a theme here?) and watching the Steelers vs Eagles game (24-14 Steelers, at the top of the 3rd Quarter). I made a batch of Cast-Iron Queso (sans the beans, as we're trying to follow a low carb lifestyle) and we carved up a small watermelon for dessert.  With a full belly and a quiet camper, RDB found himself taking a mid-day nap.

I'm sitting here enjoying the flowers REC brought me last night... and the beauty outside my window here at the park.  Life is beautiful!

We were at Cedar 'Hill State Park again, this time Site # 209 in the Lakeview Camping area.  It's right at the top of the hill and the entrance to the camping loop (making it really easy for everyone to find us).  The only real downside is that since it's so high above the rest of the park, you'll hear a lot of road noise from nearby FM 1382.  Full hook-ups, which will make for an easy pack-up when we leave later this afternoon.

We've been to this park several times before: Thanksgiving Part 1 and Part 2, and Wow, What a Weekend!

For more camping pics, go here. 

(PS - beware of chiggers! Surprisingly still active this far into fall!)