Second day in the rain

I hadn't expected to sleep well but was pleasantly surprised. The parking pad was so unlevel, both front to back and left to right, that the leveling stands couldn't get us right. The back ones were fully extended and we were still tilted to the right at a noticeable angle; the front ones didn't come out at all. I suppose they realized they didn't have a job to do.





So I expected to be uncomfortable in bed (the angle was possibly about five degrees) but I wasn't.  And Zack--out of the cage and curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed--let me sleep!

We woke to calm winds, clear water, and misty clouds.  It had rained in the night a little, so the ground was wetter than before but not sodden mud, even in the heavily-traveled areas.  Dogs got a nice little walk and Ed and I both got hooks in the water for a couple of hours. Then my brother called to announce "storms were on the way." We ignored him, of course, but made plans to meet him for lunch at one-ish.

I got breakfast; Ed skipped in favor of a big lunch; and we managed to go on fishing until time to check on possibly moving to the spot we'd reserved for the next two nights . When I'd set this trip up, I originally thought I could only get a spot for Sunday through Tuesday. But I later had a thought--if we could get a one-night spot for Saturday, even if it was a "bad" spot, wouldn't that be better than making the drive for only two nights?

Yes, of course. So I grabbed one and set up a second reservation.

Then the weather forecast--and weather reality--changed. When we set out on Saturday a line of heavy thunderstorms had just moved through McKinney and were rapidly moving south and east. They'd left our house but not cleared out of Dallas or Kaufman county by the time we departed.

We arrived to find three very bored park employees sitting in the entrance station. There had been a lot of cancellations--smart people, not?  And there were several great camping spots available, right on the lake.

So yesterday I described the site we lucked into; today I will describe the one we moved to. Not far from the fishing pier--just a five minute walk--very private, very lush and wooded and beautiful. But no view at all. Looking at the online map I picked this site as being right next to a "day use area", which it was, just like the site at Inks Lake. But I failed to take into account East Texas. In East Texas, trees happen.

Plus vines and undergrowth and these cool things:



It's still a nice spot and we'd be fishing right now, but it hasn't stopped raining all afternoon. At first intermittent sprinkles, off again on again, while Ed hooked up the tow dolly, moved Mammoth to the new spot and hooked up the utilities again. Then we drove to Athens to dine at Jalapeno Tree and pick up some minnows. That proved to be challenging--of the two bait shops that were open in East Texas on Sundays, both closed at 3pm. We arrived at the Athens Marina at 3:05 or so and the nice girls cleaning up went ahead and sold them to us.

The drive back involved windshield wipers on intermittent fast speed and the dogs got a quick walk in the drip, but I'd had enough "life in the slow rain" for a while. My feet were cold, too. Me and the dogs dried off and climbed into Mammoth's warm belly.

Mind you, it's not cold at all. We haven't had the heat on yet and don't expect to need to. But you know how it is when you're damp.

Mammoth Rain-Eater

                         I need the seasons to live to the rhythm of rain and sun.
                                                                                      -Sophie Marceau

Thursday, 6 April 2019 --  Home to Purtis Creek State Park

We took 75 down to 190 east. When it met up with I-30, we took I-30 west back to the I-635 loop. Then US-175 south to Eustace, then FM-316 north to the park. Google told us to take a little "county road" over to the park, but that would be silly. Take our precious RV down little one-and-one-half lane road with no center stripe? And overhanging tree limbs. No!
1. Planned distance: 104 miles
2. Map time estimate: 1:41
3. Adjusted estimate: not done
4. Actual distance: 103.5 miles
5. Actual time:  1:58
6. One quick bathroom break on the (very broad) shoulder.
7. Average mph trip: 53
Bonus random statistic: time from arriving at gate until setup complete: 1:43. Nearly two hours!  Of course part of that was chatting with the park personnel.

Was the 190 East/I-30 West detour worth the extra miles? In my mind, yes. 190 is a new road, wide and clean; I-30 going west didn't have traffic, potholes or road construction; and we missed the glut of traffic through Garland. But we did have to pass through Mesquite--yuck.

Google showed a "little" road construction on US-175 just as it started, but I would by no account have called it little. It went on for miles, with narrow lanes and intermittent concrete walls on the right. With regular drizzle and occasional showers pelting the windshield. But it was bearable because there were no big trucks.

[Going to switch to present tense now since most of this was written at the time. If that annoys you, gentle reader, so be it.]

So here we are, camping in the rain. With thunder. With lightning. And likely to rain more tomorrow, although the chance diminishes through Monday and it should be clear on Tuesday. When, of course, we will return.



We have electricity, water, food in the fridge and plenty of shows recorded on DVR.  Loud, obnoxious shows but Ed is having a great time. And I'm doing what I do, fiddle fart around on the computer.

The only thing we don't have in abundance is Internet connectivity. I hope I live to be able to afford a data plan that lets me use my phone as a mobile hotspot. Even if I only get enough internet time to check the weather radar, it would be worth it. But an hour a day to read blogs and do research would be really nice.

The only worry I have is that it may not stop raining long enough to take the dogs for a walk with dry feet.  They've--and we've--already tracked enough wet feet in here.

Here are a couple of vultures drying off before their nightly roost.





So far I've seen two cardinals, a fairly large (30?) flock of unidentified birds flying north, and that vireo that i can never quite see--the one with a song that begins and ends with a chip!  Chip!  Vlurry-vlurry-vlur-chip!

Okay, I actually did see it--I went out in the off-and-on rain to be sure. There were two or three of the White-Eyed Vireos out foraging and singing at each other.  I got to watch one for a while--could see the white wing-bars, the yellow underneath, the heavy-ish vireo bill, and while the eye wasn't dark, I wasn't really close enough to see the color of the eye, plus it could have been a second-year bird.  And I made recordings of the song that clinch the ID.  It's a white-eyed. (And one of the most common birds around here.)

Nothing much to say about the rest of the day. We had instant noodles--doctored with added shrimp and vegetables, fish sauce and soy sauce--for supper, watched some comedy shows, and went to bed. This will be hereafter known as the "trip of the Impractical Jokers episodes." I don't know how much is real and how much is acting, but it's absurdly amusing. The sort of thing you don't want to laugh at, but you do.

Gardening in the Roots, Ending April

First harvest.  Gorgeous!

I'm disappointed in the spinach, of which there is none. I didn't plant it too early and I did keep it watered, but it must have been those two intensely cold days we had.  Is a cold frame is going to be required to ever grow spinach again?

Some of the tomatoes look horrible...but tomatoes often do at first. I should make a notes and then come back a month later and see which ones perked up.

Funny to no fault

Night of the Living Deed
A Haunted Guesthouse mystery #1


Almost as funny as advertised. I'm scared (no pun intended) to say anything because I might give away the plot. Single mom buys an turn-of-the-century Victorian house and starts to fix it up as a guesthouse for vacationers. Only whenever she turns her back, strange things happen.  Strange and annoying and creepy.

She's the one who has to solve the mystery, however, she's not technically the detective in this story. But that comes later.  She's very likable; a hard-working amateur handyman who'll take on just about any project, including a crumbling mansion where holes mysteriously appear in walls.  It's going to be a great series.

Must be read by anyone about to retire!

Definitely the book to own. So much stuff! Almost all you ever need to know about retirement income--when and why you might consider annuities; which are good and which to avoid; stock index funds, bond funds, bucketing and all that stuff. Includes a long discussion of the 4% rule and why it needs to be tweaked according to your circumstances, retirement goals, life expectancy and stuff.

Underwhelming...for a book about a dog!

Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words
by John W. Pilley

Pretty fascinating stuff, here. Man sets out to see how many words he can teach his Border Collie puppy, and basically finds there isn't any answer to that question. Most interesting to me was that he could teach the dog "take the ball to Pop-Pop" but only if he reversed subject and object in the sentence, as they do in some languages other than English: "take, to Pop-Pop, the ball."

I was less than thrilled about two-thirds through when the chapters started to focus on where they exhibited Chaser and what he did and how people reacted to him. That was kinda boring.  But hey, don't blame the dog!

Gardening in my Roots, mid-April

Snap peas are finally starting to bloom!  Heavy rains all day Saturday discouraged the tiny crop of beets and Swiss chard I have left, but it's too late in the season to replant it.  Tomatoes and peppers--the ones in the ground--are happy. Except possibly for the Jalapeno pepper I pulled up while weeding.  I shoved it quickly back down in the mud and will hope it forgives the imposition.



Notice the problem with beans--if you plant them too late, bugs are hatched out of the egg and ready to chow down!


















Next April I might just forgo a garden and spend my whole spring bird watching. In the short time after work I saw Cattle Egrets, American Goldfinch, American Crow, hawk unknown species, probably red-tailed, Carolina Chickadee, wren unknown species, Eastern bluebirds (lots), Eastern Phoebe, hummingbird unknown sp., red-headed woodpecker, stupid Cardinals, and a  yellow-rumped warbler.  All very common species, I admit, but the bird guides are encouraging--the better you know familiar species, the better you become at spotting the unfamiliar ones.