LAST WEEK - FORT PARKER

Monday March 22: Sunday we painted out the rest of the five gallons of paint they had bought for us. We were painting over cement board that had been painted gray and the not so expensive paint took two coats to cover it. So what we did was just put the second coats on and did not attempt to go any further. The weather did warm a bit ad dry out. As a reward for ourselves we decided to try the “Drilling Rig” restaurant in Mexia. Judy and Lois were hungry for chicken fried steak. They did not give it a five star rating. I tried their ‘gangpusher’ omelet and it was really good, loaded with all sorts of vegetables and ham and bacon. When we got back to the campground we took Lilly for a long walk. The wind was pretty strong but once we were in the woods it was fairly calm. There were whitecaps on the lake kicked up by the strong winds. Because all that rain on Saturday the water was really rushing over the dam.


Dan delivered another five gallons of paint shortly before nine so it was back to painting. The change from dingy gray to white certainly brightens up the rooms. By the end of the day we had three rooms completely done, but still have the main staff room, one bedroom and the bathrooms to do. When we stopped for the day, we had gone through another five gallons, so Dan will be of to town in the morning for still more paint. After hamburgers cooked on the grill and really good potato salad (Judy made) we ran into town to get milk and thread. She started here oopsie daisy quilt and needed more green thread. By the time we got back the sun was beginning to set. It certainly has moved to the north since we first arrived at this spot. Used to look straight out the door at it setting, now have to look around a big tree.

This is a ‘red bud’ tree just next to our camper.

They are very delicate little flowers.

Tuesday March 23: Another exciting day of a painting in the group barracks staff building. At the start of the day all we had to go was the last bedroom and the bathrooms. Bill went to work with the Kilz in the small half bath. While he was doing that, I scrapped the ceiling and upper walls of the shower in the other bathroom. He painted the baseboards and moldings and noticed the supply line to the toilet leaking so he called for Dan. I had just finished giving the shower the first coat of Kilz when Dan arrived. He tried to shut off the water and the supply line broke. Consequently we had a flooded bathroom. Took them a while to find the shut off, well not find it really. It was well marked but the gofers had been in the hole and had it filled with dirt and sand. Dan had to dig down nearly 18 inches with his hands to find it. At one time there were seven of us working in that small building!

Needless to say, we won’t be doing that bathroom. They finally fixed the supply line and re-set the toilet. We are down to the final hours on the building. That water problem caused us some delay so we spent a bit more time there than we had planned. Wednesday we just have to put a little paint around the light in one room, reinstall the curtains and give the remaining rooms a quick once over. Two of the three bedrooms we had finished, we cleaned and closed off.

Looking at a beautiful sunset across the lake. This is what our site looks like from the camp site next to the lake.

Wednesday March 24: Well, spring has arrived in central Texas. On her morning walk today with Lilly, Judy found some blue bonnets. There weren’t many, but soon the fields will be full of them – or so they tell us.

It did not take long to wrap up the staff building this morning. In fact by 10:30 we were back at the camper. All of the painting equipment paint and tools are now back at maintenance and they will have to deal with the bathroom at a later date. Even before we were finished the cook for the arriving group pulled in and began to unload. This is a group of Sonic Drive-In managers in for a two day meeting and session. Wonder what they will be eating?

In the afternoon, it was nap and read time for the females and GPS computer time for me. I needed to transpose the data from the GPS unit to one of the office computers. These are the locations for the various water mains and cut offs for the park as well as the electrical cut offs. While at it I logged in all of the wood duck boxes around the lake.

Bill and Lois depart in the morning to tend to their water damage problem. After they had their farewells with Tom and Dan we went to Billy D’s at the sale barn for dinner. Another thunder storm is to move in later tonight. It is a long line stretching from north of Dallas south to Del Rio. The main line should pass over us about mid-night. Will be anxious to see how much the lake level comes up.

Thursday March 25: The storm rolled through but didn’t last too long. The wind was pretty strong and carried into the morning. An interesting sight to observe is the lake level following a storm. You could see where it had raised some when we got up, but later in the morning it was even higher – all those creeks and streams flowing into the Navasota.

In the morning I found the instructions and permit blank required to place a geocache in a state park. Tom wants two and Bill made and painted two four inch PVC pipe sections for us to use. We have rough locations selected but will have to get the final approval before placing.

After a long morning walk we decided to go to the new property area to flag off another lot for Tom. He wanted to know for sure if some major ‘junk’ was located on a parcel they bought. Turns out it is not so the park can’t touch the stuff to clean it up.

We then checked out a location for a geocache Tom suggested.

In the afternoon I checked the Cougar tires and added a little air to two of them. The satellite service ended at midnight so the dish was broken down and packed away. We also sorted out all our painting gear and packed it for the trip home.

On our evening walk we came upon some bluebonnets in full bloom. The plant looks a bit like sweet woodruff but the flowers look like blue bonnets. This is a close up of one such blue bonnet.

This is a patch along the road. They say that when they are in full bloom, the fields and pastures are nearly blue with them.

It’s another quiet night in the campground. The sun was bright orange as it fell below horizon across the lake. We have two other campers in the park so we don’t expect any noise tonight.

Saturday March 27: Friday was a fairly lazy day. At 12:30 we had a big meeting about the Adventure Race on Saturday (more on that later) and we set off to place the geocaches. Tom’s kids had gotten us some more little items to put in them so we have a number of little goodies (beads, matchbox car, compass etc.). On Thursday we had scouted out the areas so it was not too hard to get them placed. Late in the day I went to the office and l finished updating the computer file with all the water valve and electrical cutoffs so that task is now completed. I also used their computer to log on to geocache dot com and list the two caches we had placed. I had a hard time finding the forms required by the TPWD but did locate them and completed two for the caches.

The park slowly filled with campers and folks for the race. The park is loaded with mountain bikes. With this race (check out tocoolracing dot com) there were two courses and single, co-ed, man-man and woman-woman teams/competitors. The short course takes 3 to 6 hours and the long 8 to 12. They cycle; paddle a canoe or kayak, and trek (walk/jog) a course. Along each way the have stations where they check in, receive a clue to the next station and at some have a task to complete.

We were up at 6:30 when there was a knock at our door. Two guys wanted to know if our trailer was where they were to sign in. So that started our race day.

This is the group at the 8AM start. There were 30 teams/groups so that meant 60 competitors. For the start they were linked to their partner at the ankle with a large cable tie. They had to run to a tree and grab their first clue and race back to the start line.

My job was to help with vehicle traffic (stop cars) on the old bridge when the cyclist moved from one part of the park to another.

If you look far across the lake you will see three of the canoes.

The three hours of bridge duty had some pretty dull times. I was able to do some reading between cycle groups and was able to take this picture of a couple of wild flowers.

After our time with the race, we went to the office to say our farewells and give Tom and Dan a short course on the GPS unit and what was loaded on an office computer. We received a wooden cut out of Texas with a plaque as well as a mini-mag flashlight. It was in a way sad to say our goodbyes, but we are ready to head out.

As Sunday we start our journey home, this is the last blog from Fort Parker. Most likely when we do arrive home and settle in, I’ll add a few comments about the trip home.

FORT PARKER - WEEK FIVE

Wednesday March 17: I’ve been a bit behind in working on the blog and not for any particular reason. Sunday part of the day was spent at the shop working with Bubba on adding a top to the Cushman we’ve been using. The park had two old battery powered golf carts that no longer would hold a charge. Rather than spend the $600 for batteries, the park is junking them. Another volunteer had taken the top of one and installed it on the center drive Cushman. Apparently the fiberglass top was in bad shape as he had replaced it with a piece of ½ inch plywood. It took some engineering and some welding by Bubba but it is now mounted and solid. At least it will keep some of the rain off and more for the summer, the sun. Judy worked on her sewing projects. We also spent some time doing the canoe and kayak thing. They actually rent the units at the park office; the renters then come to the old park store where we fit them with life vests, paddles and get the appropriate vessel into the water for them. At one point we had three kayaks and five canoes out.


Monday our task was to clean the group barracks buildings. They had been rented to a group over the weekend and a new group was to arrive Monday afternoon. This was not a deep cleaning, just sweep out and wipe down. Never the less, it was a real project and we finished about noon. Later in the afternoon, Tom stopped by and wanted to meet with the four of us at 9 Tuesday to give us a ‘small’ project we might like to work on. So at nine the next morning we all gathered at the office.

The park recently acquired most of a forty acre parcel at the south end. In the 40’s the area originally was divided into small lots to be used for vacation homes. Most of the lots were anywhere from 75x100 to 100x135. All but 15 had been purchased by one gentleman who turned the area into a hunting ‘ranch’ for ‘wild boar’– nothing more than domestic pigs gone wild and cause lots of damage, but that’s another story. Anyway there are no clear markings between most of the lots. The park does not own the entire area so they want to know where those lots are they did not purchase. They need to know what they can clean up and what they can’t. There is a lot of trash. In some areas there is fencing and in others nothing to determine lot lines.

They will be working on purchasing the remaining lots, but it will take some time. The area is completely over and under grown with brush and vines. We spent three hours and were finally able to find one fence line and the approximate location of three lots. There is so much ‘trash’ it will take a long time to clean it up, and some of it you can’t get to unless you hack through all the vines. We saw old coolers, lots of cans, an old air compressor and even a large (maybe 100 gallon) water tank – this was near the river and it appeared they were pumping water from the river for use.

This is what the area looks like.

There are several ‘cleared’ paths that run along new or old power lines.

Oh, forgot to add that as we were preparing to leave the campground, the right rear wheel on the Cushman started to come off. Apparently somewhere along the way the cotter key and nut came off. Tom drove us to the area and gave us a general tour of the area and pointed us to a start location. He said to call on the radio and he’d some pick us up.

As we were preparing to leave the area, the ladies decided to ride in the back of the mule back to the camp ground rather than call Tom.

That evening the sunset was uniquely different through the mist over the lake. Almost like one of the moon rise pictures from last year in Florida.

Today we all decided to take off. We did not much of anything all day. In the afternoon we took a drive over to FairfieId, a town located about 25 miles to the east. I did read through the Garmin GPS book and found a way to ‘project’ a waypoint so we may be able to use that to find other points.

Also tried to do some more work on the bikes but it is readily apparent that they both need major work. Judy’s will shift through maybe 3 gears and mine through 2 so we really haven’t used the bikes like we did in Florida.

Friday March 19: Wednesday the rangers had repaired the Cushman so we are back with transportation. On Thursday we headed back to the new property to continue our flagging. Using the GPS to project points made it easier than stretching a 100 foot tape through the brush. By using the compass headings of the map and the lot line distances we were able to fully flag off six lots and the back end of two. The weather cooperated and the sun felt good, but the composting forest ground hardened like cement on our boots.

The ‘red buds’ are beginning to pop out, one of the first signs of spring in Texas. Not at all sure why they call them red as they look more purple-pink to most of us. It is really “Cercis Canadensis” or Judas tree. Apparently it is a not uncommon small flowering tree that can be found in other area’s but in different colors. Soon the blue-bells will be popping up too.

This morning Bill and I went to the office to transfer the data to a chart for Tom. We showed him what we had done so far, but he would like at least one more lot flagged. Within the property is a 20 – 25 foot metal pipe tower (may have been a water tower), now laying on its side. He wants to know if it is on property the park owns, or one of the pieces they have to buy. Other than that it was a nice quiet day off. In the afternoon we took a drive to Groesbeck and then one of the “Ranch Roads” out of town. We turned on to a paved county road and soon found ourselves on a dirt road. We found some nice ranches and property as well as places surrounded by the usual Texas antiques (old vehicles, farm equipment and just plain junk). Tomorrow we begin our major painting project – the interior of the staff building in the Group Barracks area. Fortunately Tom has agreed to paint walls and ceilings a semi-gloss white so there will not be a lot of cutting and edging to do. The 10 windows will be fun though.

Saturday March 20: Awoke to light rain, but the forecast calls for heavy rain and dropping temperatures. When we looked out, no tents could be seen but there were still a few pop-ups. Shortly before 8, the wind picked up and the rain came – hard. We decided to leave the Cushman and drive the truck to our painting job. On the way to the Group Barracks Staff building we had to stop off and feed Dan, the Lead Ranger’s cats. He had ‘rescued’ four cats and they prowl the maintenance area. They have certainly cut done on the rodents in the shop buildings. We finally got to painting and it’s a chore. The paint does not cover the gray painted cement board very well and the rooms are quite crowded with two bunk beds in a 9X10 space. We will run out of paint soon and will not get any more until Monday. Ah well, the furnace works and it was warm to paint. A cold front is moving through following the rain earlier today. Sunday we may see 45 and the low 30’s at night. But, Monday it turns and nice again and it will be much much warmer.

The Rushes may depart early as they have had a couple of problems at home. Guess their sump pump failed and their basement flooded – again. Think this is the third time they have had this problem. Their basement is completely finished, so the carpet and pad are ruined and not sure about some of the furniture. If they leave a bit early, we will only have a couple of tasks to finish.

So much for this week and one more to go.

FORT PARKER WEEK FOUR

Monday March 7: Just a quiet lazy day around the park. After church we stopped at Jim’s Krispy Chicken and brought home lunch. Half a fried chicken and four fresh baked rolls for under $5. Had the chicken and green beans and beets from home. Late in the day we took Lilly for a long walk ended up at the office. We have a camper in who travels to shows and rallies with a food wagon. There had been a motorcycle rally in Groesbeck and they came in for that. He was going to cook up some of his ‘crispy’ fried apples if we wanted to order one. So we ordered two, on for the Rushes and one for us. It’s a whole apple cut into French fry lengths. The cuts are coated in cinnamon and then deep fries. The slices are put in a waffle cone that has been coated inside with whipped cream and then topped with more whipped cream. It was a good mid- afternoon desert. In the evening of course it was the Oscars.


Monday’s forecast was for 100% chance of rain – and it was raining lightly and we decided to go into Groesbeck for breakfast before starting work. We went to a little place – Mary’s Breakfast and Burgers – located off the main drag; another interesting eating place full of locals. You order at the counter and they bring your meal on a plastic plate with plastic ware…..no dishwasher needed. As usual in these sorts of places, the food was good and just enough.

We started work on the Rec Hall in the group area. It is all windows! I think Lois counted 36 but surprisingly only two broken panes to replace. Lots of screens need work though.

Because of the rain, we worked only on the inside. All of the windows and the ceiling fans are now clean, but we still have to do the rafters and lights. In the afternoon Bill and I went to the shop to take the top off an old golf cart. We are going to work out a way to mount it to the Cushman.

Monday night a real widow rattle rolled through about 8PM, lots of lightning and thunder and of course rain too. The family in tents below us left for a while but came back about 9. Sometime after midnight another storm rolled through, but the next few days are to be sunny and seasonably warm.

Tuesday March 9: According to the rain gauge at the office, we had nearly 3 inches of rain from the storms. The lake is rising as the waters from further north in the small creeks and streams flow into the Navasota River. The Navasota is dammed and forms the Fort Parker Lake, the 740 acre lake. By 9 the fishing dock was nearly covered and several of the camp sites were close to being flooded. At noon it was covered and by 3:30 the water was near the top of the bottom railing.

Here the water is encroaching on several of the camp sites.



Thursday March 11: Wednesday we took a day off as we are technically ‘on duty’ on Saturday and Sunday as park hosts. In the morning, however, Jon spent 2 hours going around with Dan (Lead Ranger) finding water valves and shutoffs and marking them in the GPS. Later he has to enter all the data so they can find these items or at least get very close to them. In the past they have ‘lost’ shutoffs and had to dig up larger areas to find them. Later we took the long ride to Waco as Lois and Judy need to secure some sewing items. We located the Hobby-Lobby and a couple of other neat places before enjoying a nice Tex-Mex restaurant. One of the finds was a like new pair of Crocks – the real thing – and the right size for Jon. He now joins Niko and Aleskie is wearing them all the time.

The level of the lake has finally gone down, but not back to what it was before all the rain. As you can tell from this ‘after’ picture there is a dramatic difference. Roughly the lake had come up almost three feet. So for the mathematicians out there, how much water was it – figure 740 acres and 3 feet of water???

Thursday we finally finished all our work in the group barracks buildings. They Rec Hall required more screens and it was a bear to clean. It has open rafters and the spider webs and nests were all over. We thought we were done when Judy turned over a bench so Bill could tighten up the legs. Whoa Nelly, lots and lots of spiders. Guess that is where they all fled to as we cleaned. So Judy took the handy dandy sweeper and worked on all the benches too. By the time we finished and returned all the cleaning gear we were ready for another day off!

Saturday March 13: On Thursday the USPS brought a nice package of mail and a phone from Matt. He sent us one of his old AT&T phones so we could activate it and get cell service. So Friday we decided to see what we could do. At first we were just going to make another trip to Waco, but while Judy and Lois were on their morning walk, found a neat little town about 35 miles south that would be on our way to Temple Texas, where I found and AT&T Corporate store. So we headed off for Marlin. Marlin was a big tourist attraction in the middle of the last century for a hot spring mineral well was drilled in the center of town. Now they were not’t looking for a hot spring, just a well, but this warm mineral water flowed out. A pavilion was built and people came from all over to drink and bathe in the waters from the spring. It was said that drinking two cups of this mineral water would ‘thoroughly cleans the body’ and heal many afflictions. The spring is still flowing and the water certainly warm.

Judy discovered that the mineral stains on the side of the fountain rub off her jacket. It’s really just a salt and rubs off.



We finally did find the AT&T store in Temple, which is a very big city really. Esther (the voice in our GPS) is a bit out of date as they have put in some new highways in the past two years. Anyway, the young lady was very helpful and we are now switched to AT&T. We have our same number and she did transfer in all the numbers too. We are still learning how to use the phone, so if you get a call from us and no one is there, please understand. I did find the instructions on the Internet and downloaded the entire book. This morning printed off a few of the pages so we can know the basics anyway. It’s good to have cell service again.

On the way home from Temple we passed a sausage house in Zibciksville (lots of Germans settled in Texas) and decided to check it out. It was both a retail store for the packing house and a restaurant. The store had all sorts of sausages they make along with some cheese. In wondering about before buying we found packages of Amish noodles…..Mrs. Yoder’s made in Millersburg, OH! Can’t get away from those Ohio Amish!

Saturday afternoon we visited the Confederate Reunion Grounds. It is about 3 miles from Fort Parker and used to be run by the park. It is now operated by the Texas Historical Commission and they’ve put lots of money into it. They have a full time staff of four, where Fort Parker had to take care of it with their normal park staff. It’s an interesting place as it has had three different ‘lives’ and uses over the past 120 years. But that is a story for another day. In the evening we had a campfire and cooked ‘chubbies’ from the sausage house over the fire. It was fun watching all the campers and kids. In the shelters next to us there are several families (looks like all related) with nine little kids under five. By 10 the campground is all quiet with nothing lingering in the air but the smell of dying campfires.

So much for another week at Fort Parker.

FORT PARKER WEEK 3

Tuesday March 2: Sunday was moving day. After church we finished putting things away and hooked up for the long move from the maintenance area to the campground. The weather was very cooperative and backing into the spot was not too bad. By late afternoon we were all settled in. Lydia has more sunbeams and Lilly has some new smells and views too. We are along the main road into the camping area so on the weekends we will have lots of traffic passing us. This is our new home location for the next month.

After we moved in we walked up to get our bikes and talk to Tom about our duties now that we are in the campground. He told us to just keep doing what we are doing, but he would like us to be ‘available’ on the weekends when campers are in the park.

This is the view of the sun setting across the lake from us.

Overnight Sunday into Monday it began to rain – and rain hard at times. By the time we were ready to start work it had let up some. We decided to work on the inside of one of the cabins rather than working on the outside of the dining hall (we had the windows to take care of). It was not a nice day so we knocked off early. In the afternoon Bill and I went to the shop to make some repairs to a ladder and gather some more materials. Tuesday it was chilly in the morning but the sun came out and it warmed up nicely. We finished the cabin and moved on to wrap up the outside of the dining hall. We did not’t complete the dining hall as we found more broken windows to replace. Replacing the glass with Plexiglas can be a pain. Most of the problem is getting the old glass out as the window stiles are so old and thin.

Wednesday March 3: We were slow moving this morning so instead of Judy and Lois walking Lilly, we walked to the Rush’s for coffee and discussion on our work plans. Judy and Lois have been walking Lilly each morning. They turn on the walkie-talkie’s about 8 and make a decision on time for the walk. Today none of us felt like doing much too early so we did not get started until nearly 10. We used up the cut plexi on some windows in the dining hall and finished the inside cleaning. We have two more panes to replace, but will wait until we know how many more need to be cut when we do the last cabin. We finished the last bath house and moved everything to the last cabin. In the afternoon, Judy sewed and Jon went to the shop to repair 3 screens from the bath house, do laundry and spend some time in the office. Need to download all the old waypoints from the park’s old GPS unit so they can be put into the new one. In the evening we played another game of canasta and the ladies won again.

Thursday March 4: Another beautiful day, though still a bit chilly for Texas. On the way to the group area, stopped by the office and gave the GPS unit another try. Was able to download the data to a PC so at least it is safe for now. Someday I’ll spend some time in the office working on separating it and then get what we want loaded into the new park GPS unit. Next week one day I’ll go around with Dan and we will locate all the water valves, hydrants and electrical shut offs.

We worked on the last cabin today, and it was the messiest! It is mostly in the shade and there were big, thick cobwebs between the screens and windows. Speaking of windows, we had to replace 7 panes. We pushed on through and finally finished it and Bill installed the last two panes in the dining hall about 1. We rewarded ourselves by heading up to Kirby’s BBQ, about two miles north of the park. When we were here five years ago, it was located closer to Mexia in a very old building with more outside than inside seating. We will definitely have to return for lunch again. It is only open for lunch hours – mainly 10 to 3, except on Saturday when they stay open until 5. As an aside, when President Bush (the second) would be on his ranch near Crawford, the agents would come to Kirby’s for BBQ.

Now that the cabins are done and all that is left is the Rec Hall, Lois wanted to count the windows they have washed. Four cabins with 16 windows each with each widow having 12 panes….got tired trying to do the math!

Anyway it is a sunny lazy afternoon with the animals sleeping in the sunbeams and Judy busy cutting quilt squares. From the looks of it, we will have another pretty sunset over the lake.

Saturday March 6: Friday we decided to just take it easy. As we are now a ‘Campground Host’ we are to be available to help campers as needed and the Group Barracks area is rented and we were not sure when the group would arrive. We needed to do a load of laundry and I needed to do some more work on the GPS data so That occupied my time on Friday and Judy took care of more oopsie daisy work. It was such a pleasant afternoon so we built a fire and sat around with the Lois and bill having a few snacks and watching the sunset and a few campers come in and set up. All in all it was a relaxing day.

On Saturday we took Lilly on a long walk and picked up trash along the way. By the time we got back to the camper it was near lunch and we decided to head into town to check out a store we had learned of and get some lunch. After lunch we picked up some equipment to replace a trail maker and headed out to replace it.

Seems like I am forever driving in trail markers!

Later I tried to do some more bike adjustments (both our bikes need a serious tune up by a professional) and Judy and Lilly enjoyed the sunshine.

Tomorrow starts a new week. The weather has warmed and we are nearly done with the barracks buildings! Well the cleaning part. We still have to paint the interior of the staff building.

Another Week at Fort Parker

Monday February 22: Another one of those Canadian fronts moving in so the weather is turning again. We borrowed a Kawasaki Mule and loaded all our gear and took it to the staff barrack building. It’s a bit smaller than the others, but is divided into four sleeping rooms and one staff room. It also has its own bath. Because this is one building we may paint on the inside, we decided to just concentrate on the inside. Besides, it was too chilly to be washing windows on the outside. Tried to get the ladies to slow down some and not work so hard and so fast. As far as Dan is concerned, if we get all the buildings cleaned before we leave we done enough!


After doing a thorough job on the inside we carted the supplies to the dining hall which we will tackle on Tuesday. Again just working on the inside as the temperature is to drop steadily throughout the day. After lunch and rest we piled in Bill’s Ford and took off for Corsicana, a town 30 miles north. On the way out of the park, Bill stopped to check for mail and the jewelry the ladies had ordered while at the "Rock House" had arrived. This brightened the day for them a bit. Anyway it was a nice drive and of course we had to find an ice cream shop and a couple of ‘junk stores’ to check out.

Tuesday February 23: Awoke this morning to some light rain, but by 7:30 it had changed to light snow. It snowed on and off all day and by the accumulation on the grill stand, we have about 4 inches on the ground. Needless to say that is not why we came to Texas! We certainly can’t do much work outside, so it was on to the group dining hall. It certainly needed a cleaning. We figure that the building is nearly 70 years old, and has the original windows though they do not fit, the lift ropes are broken and many of the stiles between the panes are rotting. We spent the bulk of the day on the dining room area and cooks room. Tomorrow there is a luncheon for staff and volunteers, so we won’t work too many hours. We have the kitchen to do and then if the weather breaks, move back to outside work. They have a huge 10 burner gas stove, large restaurant sized refrigerator and big chest freezer. The kitchen is in pretty good shape except for the heating/cooling vents.

Lilly enjoyed romping in the snow. Tom Fisher’s kids (he’s the park manager) fun making large snow balls and forts – and having snowball fights. This is what our site looked like this morning as we walked to work.

Wednesday February 24: The weather was not great so this morning we worked on the kitchen and knocked off in time to get ready for the luncheon. It was a nice affair with everyone bringing a dish and as usual everything was good and we all ate a little too much. Two of the host couples will be leaving on Sunday so it was a farewell for them and welcome of us. One couple from Missouri arrived here in January and will be here until after we leave at the end of March. She had been a volunteer coordinator at a state park in Missouri and seems to be assuming that role here. It will be interesting to see what Tom does about the ‘transportation’ situation once the other two couples leave. One has the use of a John Deere Gator and the other a Kawasaki Mule. She is laying claim to the Mule and the radio that goes with it. One of us will have the Cushman again.

Seated across from us are Virginia and Ken along with Donna and Evert and at the end, Shelly a park employee.

We met Virginia and Ken the first year we volunteered in Texas. They live full time in there RV and spend eight to ten months volunteering in state parks as they cover the west. In the fall of ’08 we stayed with them at the Missouri Head Waters State Park in Montana.


Thursday February 25: Another chilly night and morning. We did not get started until nearly 10 when the sun was up and bright. We first finished the exterior of the staff cabin and then after lunch went back to the dining hall. By the end of the day we had over half of the exterior windows done, but the going was slow because of the number of broken panes. About 3 we decided that we’d finished enough for the week. We put everything inside as the facility is not rented out for this weekend.

After dinner we took Lilly for her now becoming ritual evening walk. She certainly enjoys all the different smells and sights. She particularly enjoys it when she spooks a white tail.

I spent some time going through the park’s old Gamin GPS unit trying to find out what all they had on it and what the various abbreviations. I need to meet with Dan and then Tom to make some decisions on to make some standardized codes. Tom wants to get a number of things marked with the GPS coordinates.

Saturday February 27: Friday we decided to take some time and make a trip to Waco. We needed to replace a trailer taillight and the Rushes needed a couple of RV items too. The RV dealer left a lot to be desired, but the parts area was more than adequate. It was a 40 mile ride through wide open mostly cattle ranches until we got near the south end of Waco. We picked up some interesting items at several shops and the ladies were able to visit a couple of quilt shops.

Bill found a lock-smith and finally had some extra keys made for his camper. Camper keys are somewhat unique and you just can’t get one made at Lowe's or Ace Hardware. Somehow they have a propensity to misplace their camper key. The last two camping trips with them they have had to search out and have made a camper key.

When we left Friday morning the sun was out and it was pretty. As the day progressed the sky became gray and the wind came in with a bite. According to “Intellicast” the average high temperature should be 66, but we are hanging in the low 50’s for highs.

This was sort of a lazy day here, except for getting things prepared to change site locations tomorrow. It took some time to get the long sewer lines taken apart and stored. Also had to replace that taillight and store things away. Judy finished putting together the twelve full blocks for the oopsie daisy quilt and will now begin to assemble the half blocks. We took Lilly on another long walk, played some 80’s Trivial Pursuit and then decided to go to the Sale Barn Café for dinner.

Yes the restaurant is located in the live-stock sale barn. It was pretty good and really interesting to see the local folks. Of course there were lots of steak on the menu plus the usual ‘country fired’ version and shrimp. What we did not see was any pork.

Not sure if these ladies are sellers or for sale??

That’s about it for this week. We move on Sunday to a different location within the park (into the campground proper) and there should at least have better air card coverage, but still no real Sprint cell coverage.  May try to Skype, but that over the air card is a bit garbled

FORT PARKER

Sunday February 14: We left Lackland AFB and met up with Lois and Bill Rush along I-10 east of San Antonio

We then moved on to meet Rita and Bill Weidendorf at La Grange, TX. They are folks we met the first year in Texas and are currently volunteers at Monument Hill State Park. After a tour of their little park we had lunch at, what else but, a Mexican restaurant and then headed on to Fort Parker.

When we left Rita and Bill in La Grange it was sunny and near 65, however, as we moved north the skies became grey and the temperature began to drop. By the time we arrived at Fort Parker it was 40 and a cold, cold wind was blowing out of the north. Because they had their schedules a bit messed up, there are five volunteers for four sites. This means that the Rushes and the Samples have to ‘share’ one site location. Fortunately it’s at a spot near the maintenance area and we have about a half-acre to ourselves. We backed in and set up temporarily as it was getting dark and we were tired. The position of our units is a bit awkward as the Rushes have to watch how the walk out the door so they don’t walk right into the front of our unit. The power was not on, but Tom Fisher, the park manager, came over to meet us and took care of turning the power on to our location.

We had been set up for a short time when Laura and Becky, Tom’s daughters came over and gave us home-made valentines. We had a nice little visit with them. Becky is 13 and Laura is 18. Tom has two boys too, a 21 year old in grad school at Baylor and Jacob, a ten year old. All of the kids are home schooled.

Monday February 15: At 7:30, I walked over to the shop/maintenance area to meet Dan, the lead ranger. He had just started to work here when were here five years ago. Later that morning we walked to the office to meet with Tom and get his ‘briefing’ on what he expects and what jobs he has planned. The first thing he did was dig out volunteer hats for us. Bill had worn his Texas Longhorns hat and Tom is at Texas A&M grad. There is no love lost between the two schools. He told us his general plans for us, but said we would be ‘working for’ Dan (Lead Ranger) and we should talk to him. After the session with Tom, we took a tour of the park and we showed the Rushes around, then it was lunch and time to re-arrange our units. It took some time to make the move but we are situated much better now, though there is only one sewer connection. We looked at ways to make a “Y” to share, but think we will just alternate dumping days.

This is the “Cushman” that we’ve been assigned to haul our equipment around in. It has a 3 speed transmission and a motorcycle engine.

Wednesday February 17: Tuesday morning I walked over to meet with Dan to find out what he had planned for us to do. Just as Tom had listed first, he wanted us to give the group area buildings a thorough cleaning. These are nine buildings built by the CCC in the 1930’s. It consists of four sleeping buildings with 20 bunks; two restroom/shower buildings; an open ‘activity’ building; dining hall with full kitchen and a counselor cottage that sleeps six. We started to work on the first of the group barracks buildings. It took some time to gather all the materials we needed and we finally got started about 10:30. We finished everything but the lights and knocked off about 3:30. (We took 90 minutes for lunch and break) After dinner we walked Lilly to the campground area and really think that we will move to one of the host sites there at the end of the month. They overlook the campground and lake and even though it was chilly, the sun setting over the lake is quite a sight.

On Wednesday we finished up the light fixtures and moved on to a bathroom. As you can see we are busily working.

A number of the screens must be repaired (my job) and some of the glass panes need to be replaced (Bill’s job).

Thursday February 18: Another Chilly day in Texas, but the sun is out and feels warm. It was back to the group area and the next dorm barrack building. This was a bit dirtier than the first and required more work. There were more broken/cracked windows to replace and more screens to repair. In the afternoon we took Lilly with us so she would not be in the trailer. She was able to see some different sights and smells. As it was a pleasant afternoon we decided to have a campfire. It was nice to sit around a fire and cook. Judy made several nice big juicy s’mores.

Bill is busy cutting Plexiglas to replace the broken/cracked windows.

Judy and Lois are off on the Ohio Crew’s Cushman.

Friday February 19: Because the group area is rented for the weekend, we decided not to clean and let Judy and Lois rest. Bill and I joined another volunteer (Everet) to look for wood duck boxes. These are wooden nesting boxes placed around the lake for the wood ducks that migrate and hopefully some will remain through the winter. These boxes had not been checked for over two years. Our job was to locate them and pin-point them with a GPS unit. We went out on a flat bottom boat in overcast skies with the air temperature in the 40’s. It was even colder on the water. We located 20 of the 30 boxes Tom said were out there. We were on the water for nearly two hours cruising along the shore line and checking the reeds. The lake was formed in the 30’s by a dam placed in the Navasota River by the CCC. It’s a 700 acre lake.

Tom also would like to GPS all of the water and electric lines as well as the hose bibs and shut off valves. Looks like that will be another job we attack – after the group area is completed.

As an aside, here is a link to an article that appeared in the NY Times about volunteers working in State Parks. For us it’s not that we have to do it or need to do it. We do it to be out and be active during those months when, if back home would be hold up and snug at 2020 Tricaso Drive. Even Lilly enjoys the change of scenery and new smells. What other Ohio dog has gotten to see Axis deer and follow their tracks?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/us/18campers.html?emc=eta1
Saturday February 20: Big day here and it looks like most of the park staff knows who has a birthday today. We slept in some and just took it easy most of the morning. We took a nice long hike with Lilly down by the Navasota River and then by a spring and then back into the campground. We are having trouble with the cell phone and the air card making any connections. Yesterday had a nice solid roaming signal on the cell, but today nothing. The phone tells us we have four messages, but we can’t retrieve them. Maybe we can get something when we go into Mexia for church and shopping on Sunday.

In the late afternoon we went into the big town of Groesbeck and checked out a couple of shops. The one big antique shop had started out as a grocery, later it was a plumbing and electrical shop and for the past 20 years it’s been an antique shop. We then went to ‘Stevens Steak House’ for birthday dinner. It was a unique little place right next to Stevens Grocery. Judy had a sirloin and baked potato and the rest of us had chicken fried steak. Everything was very good and when we were done, the lady doing the cooking came out and asked how we liked it, and then she bused the table. It’s a return place for sure!

Ah well, time to end this week and see what next week will bring.

Last Week at Garner

Sunday February 7: Did our usual Sunday thing, into town for shopping and such. Judy wanted a haircut so we spent some time at Wal-Mart for that and managed to get her old old sunglasses repaired (the lens had popped out). Wal-Mart is pretty good about fixing glasses regardless of where you got them. The lens in her new ones also came out and last week they took care of that too – and all at no charge. In the evening we reacquainted ourselves with Canasta. We had the Rushes over and played a game. Took a little getting used to things but we had all played before.


Monday February 8: Awoke to chilly temps and heavy dew today. We have to wait for the sun before we can paint. Weather prediction for the end of the week is not good, for here or back home. We see that the east coast is getting another blast and DC has turned white! There is another storm moving in to us from the west which is supposed to bring sleet and freezing rain beginning Wednesday and stay through all of Thursday. With the threat of the bad weather we hope to get in our hours. In the afternoon we moved on to the last bath house for us to do. We worked longer than normal, but did not have that much to do before finishing up and we did complete the job. All the park rangers have to do now is the trim on the new windows they have yet to install. As we are out of painting jobs (no materials for the old workshop) talked to Greg the lead ranger about doing some chipping on Tuesday. There’s a lot of brush in the four other loops from trimming the park folks have done. So it looks like we will have to do some chipping before Chicken Earls on Tuesday.

Tuesday February 9-Chicken Earl Day: At a little after nine, hooked up the Bandit Chipper and headed to through Persimmon Hill and Live Oak loops. When we started, the piles were pretty small and we all thought it would not take long at all. As we rounded the curve larger and larger piles and lines of brush/cuttings came into view. We had planned on knocking off about noon to make it to Chicken Earls, but the brush just kept coming. We finally finished in Live Oak at it was nearly 2 by the time we returned the chipper. Chicken Earl was waiting!!

As promised here are some pictures for your pleasure. When we arrived the wind was cold out of the northwest (though the sun was bright) so we opted to sit in the truck and eat.

Earl went to great expense to have this sign constructed and approved by the local zoning authority.

But that expense was nothing compared to the lavish seating arrangement.

You walk up to the window and order your dinner and drink (you have your choice of sweat tea, sweat tea or sweat tea) and its help you self from the big orange jug on the counter.

This is Chicken Earl talking to Bill Rush.

Earl told us that this is the 3rd location for his place. He sold out twice and each time bought the business back because people complained that the chicken was not the same. He fries in a large deep cast iron skillet. He fries two batches, strains the oil then cooks one more. The oil is then saved and he takes it to his place. There he converts it and burns 50% diesel and 50% oil in his ’96 Ford.

So that’s Chicken Earl’s place and story. Oh, almost forgot, Earl will be closed on the 16th. He’s going in for surgery so they can “take out” three vertebrae out of his neck….his words.

Later we found a lumber yard that deals in only cedar. Picked up two nice cedar poles to be made into hiking sticks.

Thursday February 11: Yesterday started out pretty dreary and we did not believe we could get in any real work, so we went into the Hill Country BBQ for breakfast with the Rushes. They must use extra large eggs for their omelets, because they are huge! We were so full but decided to walk Lilly and maybe do some litter pickup to get in a few more hours. We left about noon and did not get back until after 2:30. It was overcast and a little chilly, but we picked up 5 bags of trash from around campsites. Judy was also taking the opportunity to search for antlers. When we were here five years ago she found a complete set in the woods.

Wednesday night was our last dinner and game night. Only three couples are staying on so we exchanged email addresses and took lots of pictures. This is the entire group with the exception of Ruby Hersh (she’s a volunteer who actually lives here in an old old trailer – long story have to go into it some time).

It was overcast, drizzling and cold so most everyone is taking the day off. We have more than enough hours in and after the long walk yesterday decided to just enjoy the day. In the morning took care of laundry and did a few things to get ready for pulling out in the morning. We want to be on the road by 9 so the satellite dish was relocated for the night and the bikes were loaded. This means much less to do in the early morning and it is supposed to be COLD. We came to Texas for warm weather – where is it?

Friday February 12 – Lackland: We did get on the road at 9 after stopping by the office to bid the folks there farewell and leave copies of the pictures with Rick, the manager. The FamCamp at Lackland had some space so we set up camp for a couple of days. Lilly’s check-up went fine and she received all her shots and checks. They even verified that her ‘chip’ was still active. The vet clinic is only a few blocks from the campground, so we walked. After the vet trip we paid a short visit to the BX and picked up a few needed items, like a new kickstand for my bike and a cheese cutter. We saw a number of young recruits with family members. There must have been a class graduating this weekend.

Lilly is enjoying the warm sun at our temporary home at Lackland AFB for two nights

On arrival C5’s were doing ‘touch and go’ landings on the Kelly Field runway. These belong to the Air Force Reserve unit assigned here. There is also a large contingent of F-16’s assigned to the Texas Air National Guard. So we hear lots of airplanes.

The C5’s look like they will fall out of the sky the look so big and appear to be moving so slow.

For dinner we decided to try a Bill Miller’s BBQ and found it very good. The brisket was really tender and they don’t skimp on the side dishes.

Saturday February 13: After a leisurely morning we headed to downtown San Antonio to visit the Market Place and the River Walk. The Market Place has changed over the years. The first time we were there, the year I retired from the Air Force, it was all in one older building and it had a number of real small shops full of Mexican items. Over the years it has expanded into what was the old farmers market and many of the shops are run by the same group. Think we may have visited 90% of them in our walking. A little after noon we began to look for some place to eat. We had planned on hiking the half plus mile to the River Walk, but were a might tired and hungry. We found a Mexican place (well in reality that’s all there is to eat there) that had just opened. We were the only ones there for a while then some others found their way up the stairs to Senor Teque’s Grill. Had a nice lunch then made the jaunt to walk some along the River Walk, and it’s a good thing we ate, because most of these places have only outdoor seating, and it is still cool in the shade.



Tomorrow begins a new week and a new park. We are to meet up with Rushes about 9 on the road.