Finally A Visit With Lloyd

Fredericksburg, Texas

Chores are a necessary part of life darn it. Several chores were completed this morning.
A new LP detector ordered to replace the malfunctioning one.
The LP lines were all soap bubble tested to make certain no leakage was happening from all the rough roads of the past year.
The empty LP tank was refilled. Now Comfort Castle will be ready for another year of fantastic cooking.
Most of Comfort Castle was dusted and then all of it was vacuumed.
Now it is again time to play.

Lloyd of Wandrin.us rolled into the campground this afternoon. We spent a good bit of time visiting, then later in the evening we went to a nice Mexican restaurant near the Wal-Mart. Lloyd told me the food fit his taste in food well. That is a good thing.

Tomorrow will be some running around with Lloyd into Fredericksburg and then out to see what else is good for an adventure. It looks like there will be some serious help for me in trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Planning And The Wind

Fredericksburg, Texas
As a lot of effort was spent on “planning” for 2009 travels, it became painfully obvious that my life will not last long enough to get to do more than a small percentage of the things on my list. Ratzzzzzzz Most of the big things to see have been accomplished and now the detail things are ready for my attack.

One set of heroes for me is a group of folks in wheel chairs in 1982 who made it up the trail to Guadalupe Peak. That trail took me over ten hours. Here is the picture taken from the TOP OF TEXAS by ME. That is the blue day pack that is still in use in the picture.
The wheel chair folks are my heroes. If they would do it was not the question. How will we do it was the question. What is your Question??? That climb took me three tries to make it. It is on my agenda for next year again, ten years after the first time. How will I do it??? Very carefully. Get out of your chair and chose a challenge to better yourself.

There was an email about using a travel trailer instead another type of RV. In my life has been ownership and use of tents, in truck bed tents, popup trailers, travel trailers and a 34 foot motor home. In addition there have been a few occasions that towing fifth wheels for friends has been part of my life. Why a travel trailer for me??? A motor home never got comfortable to me driving it in tight quarters. The self induced tension was too much. Trailers and TheOFM are natural partners for some unknown reason, but it is accepted and enjoyed. A travel trailer is my choice at this time because of all the toys carried in the truck. My forty plus years trailering has shown to me that a PROPERLY set up trailer, whether fiver or TT, will handle without any bother. Both behave very well. A bad set up for either will be very bad. Consider that the trailer normally out weighs the tow vehicle noticeably, so which is in charge when things go wrong. My choice is TT for allowing the carrying of my toys in the truck. My choice is trailer, either fiver or TT, because of the comfort for my mind. As far as I am concerned after forty plus years of trailering, neither MH, TT or Fiver is better. Chose the style that you are most comfortable with, set it up CORRECTLY and ENJOY it as you USE it.

On a short road trip today a very nice replica of an old house was found. This is obviously a modern technique structure built to simulate and old structure. It was well done and nice to see in person. In my other trips to LBJ State Park, this structure was not noticed. That was a shame and shows that paying attention to every thing is important.

Something new to me was the gate latch. In all the old building that have had visitations from me none had used this style of latch. It worked very well and positively.


For the city slickers in the crowd, this is how a gate closer looked in the old days. They worked very well and needed very little maintenance. It was not new to me like the latch was. Any type of junk heavy object was used as power for the closer in my history.

A great happening today was a student of mine on yaking getting his graduation decree. Bob A. from South Carolina has graduated from the “OFM classes in Yaking with Honors”. It really makes me glad to have someone learn a fun thing to do SAFELY. He started a few months ago from nowhere and now is qualified to get others started SAFELY into yaking. His accomplishments have made me very proud of him. He is also an important man in other fields. See his important site at http://www.japanconsidered.com/. He is very modest about his many accomplishments.

That about finishes a day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Dreams

Fredericksburg, Texas
What a nice day to be outside! There were LARGE gatherings at the pavilions here in the park. LOTS and LOTS of families and folks out enjoying food, fun and playing all over town as well as here in the park. Even the Wal-Mart lot had huge amounts of vehicles in it.

Today was bike riding day. The ride was very unplanned as to the route. First there was a loop through the park to enjoy all the parties going on. It makes me happy just to hear folks having a fun time. When the exit to the park came up, my whim took me down the shoulder of the highway toward Kerrville to start getting experience on that type of riding. It is loud and the wind buffets you a bunch as the vehicles shoot by. Now this is a wide shoulder so the traffic is 8 feet or more away. After a couple of miles down the road, Trusty Steed turned around and took me in toward town for a good way.

After turning around in a parking lot, crossing the traffic to the other side resulted in my can of HALT falling off the bike in the middle of the highway. As the traffic flashed past, the blast of air from each vehicle shoved the can closer to the edge of the road. Of course it was the opposite edge from my location. The HALT was safely retrieved and my journey continued. There is something really nice about just moseying around on a bicycle. A loop through the county fairgrounds was actually fascinating. It will need some more exploring.

On return to Comfort Castle, the computer said the total trip was only 10.1 miles. My legs were fine, but the back side was feeling almost bruised. More riding to toughen up is needed. A good bit of time the last two days is researching for a bicycle for longer rides. Trusty Steed is great for knocking around campgrounds, towns and trips under twenty miles. However there are a lot of nice rides in the areas that have been explored that are more like thirty to fifty miles in distance and a touring bike will do that much more comfortably. Of course $$$$$ have this hope on hold for now. It is still a good time to do research and dream.

Speaking of dreams, one of my dreams is to ride in Big Bend National Park from Stillwell Ranch to Study Butte and back. That should be a fantastic ride and a very good way to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Light Duty Adventure

Fredericksburg, Texas

A crisp morning to begin a wonderful and pleasant day. Easing along finally got me to the HEB to get some fruits and vegetables along with checking their prices compared to Wal-mart. Wal-mart wins again by a small margin. Since they are both the same distance away it looks as if Wal-mart will continue to be the store of choice for food.

A walk along the peace and quiet of Live Oak Creek yielded some peaceful pictures. This first one was taken while standing on the apron of the dam looking upstream. The concrete on the bottom edge of the picture is the dam itself.


Since OF Bob took me over to the Hill Country State Natural Area and looked at a bunch of different varieties of grasses, my viewing of the area has changed. In this next picture there are many varieties of grasses and flowers. How many different varieties are there??? Many in this picture alone. The flowers are pretty nice also.

Just down stream of the dam the stream splits then later comes together forming this small pleasant rapid. On the bank is a comfortable spot to lay back, relax and enjoy the natural music of the rapids. Want to guess if kicking back occupied me for any amount of time???


And if that was too rambunctious for you here is a soothing picture of the creek as it leaves the park going on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

During the day a slow easy trip through the country was taken. Everything is looking good after the rain of a day ago. Nothing special was seen, but lots of nice farms and ranches for comfortable living. Notice the fabulous tree with the two wagons and the old bell in the background. It looks like this place could be rather nice place to live.


For the evenings exercise a walk in the park down by the golf course was taken as the day cooled. Three virtually new golf balls came home in my pocket. GOD supplies me with a lot more golf balls than get lost now days.

You can see from the pictures that today was a beautiful day and tomorrow is supposed to be even better for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

End Of The Ads, Thank Goodness

Fredericksburg, Texas

A very nice pleasant day of doing the minimum to maintain my status as a lazy bum. The first email this morning was from Google Adsense telling me that someone was not clicking correctly on the ads on my blog. They would not say in what way or from where or anything else. Because of the undefined improper clicking they were closing my account. My first thought is WHO CARES if you close the account. They have not been putting any money in my pocket in a while and some of the ads they put in were not ads I would prefer anyway. So now my blog is ad free and a lot nicer to view without all the nonsense Adsense junk. It will be nice to not have to worry about why their ads are messing up two or three times a month anymore. The ads certainly have not been worth the bother. Great things come in many disguises.

Nothing special happened today. Wal-mart and the thrift store were toured for anything that Comfort Castle or I could not do without. The thrift store had some neat things for folks with stix and brix homes, but not Rvs. Every now and again a thrift store visit is interesting to do.

After piddling around the campground for a bit after lunch, my golf clubs made me go play golf errrr try to play golf. After my $2 was paid, the course was at my mercy. When the course had been rearranged to my satisfaction, the pro shop was told the good news and bad news. First the good news, there are two new bunkers on the course now. The bad news is that they are on tee boxes.

And with that good news, the blog will be published in its new uncluttered with advertisements style. The big question tonight is where will I go to try to have tooooo much fun tomorrow????TheOFM

Great Decision

Fredericksburg, Texas
The rain pitter pattering on the roof vent was music to my sore legs this morning. No hiking to be done in the rain. However about ten am it cleared up and there was no good excuse to stay away from Enchanted Rock.

The weather was sprinkling a little as the hike started and a good ways into the hike it was shortened due to very black clouds headed my way. The trail chosen is the Turkey Pass Trail because it is new to me. The trail start looked innocent enough. Just a little up and over between Enchanted Rock and Turkey Peak.

After making it up to the pass, this picture was taken looking back down the trail to the valley floor. The light fog and misty conditions prevented clear pictures.
A long the trail were many caves where the Robert Felines and coyotes live. Of course TheOFM has no fear of them because he is __________ (fill in the blank). One of the rocks on this route caught my interest. It is a common toadstool style, but is uniquely propped up by two other rocks. So it is now named Propped Rock.


Onward the quest for adventure continued. The wind was calm and the temperature warm with the high humidity and the sweat was pouring out of my svelte body. As another ridge was crossed, the trail through the location now named Trail Between. At this point you get to squeeze through or crawl through the arch made by these two rocks.


A little bit past Trail Between, the Turkey Pass Trail dead ended into a connecting trail with no name so it shall henceforth be called NoName Trail. From this vantage point to see into the valley to the west a snack was eaten while a decision of great importance was made. This will be explained later. The decision was that the weather looked ferocious enough to take the NoName Trail to the Loop Trail and head back to the truck by the short route.
The hike to the Loop Trail is actually very pretty and will have to be done again to fully enjoy it. When the Loop Trail was intersected, the trail dropped into a creek bed.
From this point all the way to the parking lot the trail meandered into and out of the creek bed. The weather had become stifling. No wind, warmer and very sticky, you might say electrical feeling. That is not a good sign in the south. Head for shelter. After stepping lively for a good while, the truck came into sight. A wonderful sight it was.

Since things weather wise were not bad yet and the stomach of my svelte body was screaming FOOD FOOD, lunch was fixed and eaten. Now this was a great meal of cinnamon swirl bagels, sweet pickles, spicy mustard and ham for a sandwich with diet soft drink for my beverage. All the while HAVING to put up with this view from inside the truck camper shell.

As the lunchroom was being put in order the light sprinkle of rain started. Things were quickly put in order and into the truck for shelter. Within the next three or four minutes the important decision made back at the early trail intersection proved to be a good decision. Several black clouds came over and dropped their load of moisture on the area with great vigor.

The drive back home was slow and careful. If the other hiking route had been chosen, the storm would have hit about the halfway point. Bad scene for certain. As it was the heavy rain stayed with me all the way home and for about two hours after arriving home.

In spite of the nasty weather, it proved to be a great day for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Fun Golf Round

Fredericksburg, Texas

Another beautiful day in the Texas Hill Country. Even having to cancel the Enchanted Rock hike because of OF Bob having a family emergency did not spoil my day. Hopefully OF Bob was able to take care of the situation without too much problem.

That event led to me doing the laundry. Doing the laundry led to me getting to visit with Patti at the laundry for a couple of hours this morning. She is always a wonderful lady to visit. She and her husband live in an RV now and are thinking that they are approaching the time when they will get to run and play like TheOFM. We discussed many facets of the nomadic life.

After lunch it was time to go play golf. The course is swapping over to the winter grasses and for a couple more weeks will be less than the best grass wise. A group of three very nice fellows, RT, Tom and Ron, and I played the front nine. My bag was a little heavy for me at the sped they moved, but great golfing times were had.

Great golf will have to wait for some other time. My birdie on the up and over the cliff par 3 surprised me severely. That is the only par 3 known to me where you have to tee off below a cliff. The cliff is only about forty feet high, but definitely right in your face.

For tonight we need some pictures so included is a few of the beautiful flowers along Live Oak Creek for your enjoyment. A friend from back in Washington sent me some pictures of the fifteen inches of snow on the ground at his sisters house in Idaho.

And here we have the standard issue Texas Hill Country sunset.

It has been a great day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

All Day Rain

Fredericksburg, Texas

The rain hitting the skylight is what woke me this morning. It has gently rained most of the day. Even as this is being written it is raining and the sky is a beautiful blue out to the west. Tomorrow should be exciting.

Old Friend Bob and I are headed to Enchanted Rock to do some walking. He has never been there before and has no idea of the spectacular enhancement to his life that is coming. All this rain is going to green it up a good bit and make the creeks run with some vigor. Lunch is going to be at a picnic table that is under some oak trees next to one of the creeks at a small rapid. It should be wonderful. OF Bob is studying to become a Texas Master Naturalist so this outing will be very eventful for his education. He lives in Pipe Creek Texas about an hour from here.

The Dukes of Hazzard event from last night ( see last nights blog) was caused by a ditch bank in the field behind Comfort Castle. Not flipping the car was a miracle.

A special event for me happened at Walmart of all places. For about three+ years, a nice fellow and I have been exchanging emails. He is Lloyd of www.wandrin.us fame. As my groceries were being placed into the truck, a familiar looking fifth wheel was noticed. Understand Lloyd and TheOFM had never seen each other in person. The truck pulling it was right also. HMMMMMMMM Lloyd was supposed to be heading for Kerrville. And sure enough it was Lloyd. What a surprise!!!!! A friend of his, Carey I believe, was also towing his rig and parked nearby. We had a great visit in the parking lot for several minutes before they needed to get on the road. You never know where or when you will meet someone from the internet and blogging fame.

As this issue of the blog closes the excitement for tomorrow is building toward trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

The Flying Car

Fredericksburg, Texas
Oh what a pleasant day with not any big excitement. So as the blog entry is starting what to my senses should occur but a Dukes of Hazzard event right out on the main road in the park about a hundred meters from me. Some fool came up the road with his engine screaming and headed around a vehicle driving properly. Now finding out what that driver hit will have to wait until daylight tomorrow. My guess is the vehicle went at least four feet into the air. Then landed on the pavement leaving showers of sparks in the night. A loud bang of something breaking came from the car then more sparks trailing off into the night. There should be some evidence in the street for photos tomorrow.

There are some young men across the way about five hundred meters at a basketball court. The game is being played as if it mattered and lots of enthusiasm is being exhibited. They are having a great time and it is wonderful to see.

A little messing around the downtown area resulted in me finding a few new to me things at the library building. What does a tourist town do with a beautiful old pecan tree that dies in the front yard of the library?????? They make a very nice statue of it of course.

The three eagles are very nicely done and actually an impressive piece of art work.
First is the center eagle.

Next is the left eagle


Then the last is the right eagle


To me this is a wonderful use of an dead tree. Hopefully every reader is beginning to understand why this town appeals to me.

My path around town had not taken me to the front of the library before, so some nosing around was in order. One thing very attractive about the building is the balcony railing on the second story.

Here is a close-up shot of the railing. Why these types of railings interest me so much is beyond me, but nowadays it is nice to relax and enjoy it.

On the other side of the front yard of the library is a wonderful fountain with shaded benches and peaceful comfort to watch the activities across the street at the Market Plaza.

Finally my walk was continued and another surprise awaited me. Set into the corner of the library is a USGS SURVEY MARKER.

Now we all know the official elevation of the area.

My guess when my travels resumed last March was that there was little left of the town to see or do for me. Now it seems that there is more left than has been seen. That gives me the feeling that there are many more opportunities to try to have tooooo much fun in Fredericksburg. TheOFM.

The Market Plaza

Fredericksburg, Texas
Like was mentioned in a blog or two ago, Fredericksburg Texas is a tourist town that does the tourist thing right. Right on the main street in down town is a couple of city blocks set up with festival facilities to handle the crowds, good rest rooms, good electrical supply for the vendors and parking. The parking is along streets designed so that you get to walk past a bunch of shopping opportunities on the way to the plaza. These folks are good.

The plaza can be entered from any direction by way of the sidewalks. However there is a grand entrance that leads to a historic building that is the Fredericksburg symbol. Here we have the grand entrance leading from Main Street.

The historic building carries an official historic marker explaining about it for all the world to see.


As you wander the grounds, the sidewalks eventually lead you to the back side of the building and the Pioneer Memorial Walk. The flowers seem to be rotated out to have something blooming all the time.

If you look across main street from the grand entrance, there is the public library and court house and behind that is a wonderful park for sitting and watching the world go by. For several blocks in every direction around is all sorts of historical and tourist stuff to keep you coming back again and again.

The day was very easy going and this evening scene

topped off a great day to trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Mesquite Furniture Show

Fredericksburg, Texas

A show featuring mesquite wood furniture occupies the market square this weekend. Free admission attracted a large number of local folks, but late in the day the San Antonio, Dallas and Houston cars started arriving. Tomorrow will be packed. This town is mainly a tourist town and they do it right. My guess is that three out of every four weekends is an event that packs the city full of tourists with more money than they know what to do with. Todays prices were a good example.

The wood working in general was excellent or better. Obviously a lot of folks used the same generic patterns so the differences were in trim and quality of construction. The worst piece noted in my tour was really good quality of construction and finish. The horse you will see in a minute was fantastic in fit and finish.

The tour starts with some plain looking table from a few feet away, but the closer you get the better they look. In fact up close they, as is typical of all of it, were close to a work of art.


Several different folks had rocking chairs of a few different styles, but this one was my choice for the best finished one. It was not the shiniest, but has a velvet finish that was almost erotic when you sat in it. $2800.00 each.



These birds were by far the most unusual of the show. Apparently they go out and collect mesquite stumps and chunks to carve into decorations. It was very unusual and interesting to examine them up close.

Notice the bulldog in the back right of the picture above. His owner brought him through one of the tents for a walk. It was my good fortune to be at the right place at the right time to meet my first bulldog. He came walking through the crowd like a minature bulldozer. Some folks shyed away from him, but not me. When my hand got low enough, he came right on over for a good ear scratching. A wonderful pup he is. As they continued on through the crowd, others that had seen me in action, started letting him approach him. It probably took the pup twenty minutes to go the fifty feet back to his water dish. He was very popular.

Now for the fanciest woodwork of the show. At a mere $10,000 we have the hobby horse. This is the first one the fellow built and now he only builds on commission. He said he has more business than he can handle. He has several models and they range from $7500 to over $20,000.


And now we get to my favorite stall. As you are walking by this old country boy greets you and invites you to sit a spell and tell some lies. Mr. Browning of Snyder has his act honed very well. We chatted for several minutes.

His furniture is more rustic in style than the others, but not any cheaper. All this hand made one of a kind furniture is priced proudly. In the picture Mr. Browning is on the right and one of his helpers is on the left. It was a very pleasant time visiting with him and his companion.


Please note the lampshades on the lamps in the bedroom suite are made of mesquite. The lampshades and the birds were in the running for most unique of the show.

It was a fun event to experience and Kevin L. you now have some challengers in your woodworking hobby. But it is still a great way to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Riding The Highway

Fredericksburg, Texas

That lazy truck of mine never even got out of where it spent the night. It just sat under the pecan tree and took it easy all day. Is this jealousy on my part???? Maybe. Of course staying up to watch a movie on TV until nearly two am did not get me out of bed early either. WOW what a lazy bum.

The good part is the walk that was taken along the creek in the park. That creek has a name. It is Live Oak Creek and it runs into the Pedernales River about a mile south of the park.

Since the weather was so beautiful again, a walk by the water was a requirement. As one of the small cliffs on the creek came into view, a section of the natural area that had not been explored came into view.

Of course a wander into the area was needed. So off into the unknown my shoes took me. It was a rather interesting area to visit. A new mystery trail showed up. NICE. Some new exploring along a trail.

Even the spider webs were gone which made my passage a lot more pleasant. The trail had a sign along it that said it had been made by students about ten years ago. The trail is well laid out and maintained. As corner was navigated a mystery set of stairs came into view. Now where does that go!!!

They led to a nook in the woods on the upper plateau that had never had my foot prints before. Another very nice surprise for me. To make it even better there was a sign board with great information on it.

One side tells of many of the animals, insects and flowers that are sighted on the trails. It even had a large collection of pictures of these items for reference.

On the other side was a description of why this natural area is special. Apparently this particular area is at the junction of several micro climates. The sign breaks it all down for you so you can know what is special about what you are seeing. It is very nice to know more about the area. Click on it to read the details.
After all this excitement, a bike ride was needed to relax. So a ride on Hwy. 16 toward town was taken. The route left the campground on the shoulder of the highway and made it all the way past my doctor’s office, up the HILL and to the High School. At that point the shoulder quit and riding would have to have been done on the main traffic lanes. NOT ME. A crossing of the street and back home on the other shoulder of the highway.

The best part of this ride is the strong wind was with me going up hill and in my face going down hill back to the campground. The whole ride was only a little over eight miles and very pleasant except for the traffic noise right next to me.

As if that was not enough, this evening ended with me down by the creek viewing the ducks on the creek ducking around trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Fredericksburg, Texas
Man did the truck get a lot of driving today. Really close to twenty feet. That will save a lot on diesel fuel costs. The morning started with a serious walk to help me get ready for some hiking next week. There are some nice hills to the north side of the park. A walk up and down and along and around them was done until my legs were pretty tired. Up hill just wears me out fast. Here are a couple of pictures of them taken during this afternoons bike ride.

They are not very high but fairly steep. After a few trip all over them, your legs might notice it.
A huge effort was made in cleaning out the truck of a year of JUNK. The garbage can next to my site was nearly filled up with unused JUNK. That stuff multiplies faster than fire ants. The preparations are in hopes of some future camping trips without the trailer to some remote locations in Big Bend and the Guadalupe Mountains when the weather cools more. The last time that sort of camping was done was about three years ago in Glacier National Park up in Montana. Hopefully my old body will still enjoy it.

The bike ride this afternoon was a gentle event just to be out in the late evening air and relax. Nothing special happened. Even the sunset was very ordinary and not worth a picture.

Today is my DIL’s birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA. The birthday card from me that she received had a voice module in it that scared their pup. He kept looking for some folks making all that racket. That would have been very funny to see.
Another day in paradise trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Fiscal Responsibility

Fredericksburg, Texas

Or how to continue to be a lazy bum deluxe without being independently wealthy. A couple of months ago Myself was talking to Me and told Me to pay attention to the USA financial mess and make some careful plans. Me paid attention and decided it was too late to move investments around. Me was not quite right but now it is for certain too late. Myself said to Me “Now what, Me”. And Me very carefully studied the checkbook and expenses and decided that the wise thing was to find somewhere really great and hunker down for a while until things sort themselves out. Now GOD takes care of Me very well. Last spring when the truck started to break down in Big Bend, Me and Myself were wondering why did we come all the way to Fredericksburg Texas for the repairs?

Now we know it was so we would know where to hunker down for a long stay and still try to have tooooo much fun. Today has been another bad day for those of us betting on the stock market with our future. The OFM is down 43%, not counting today, since he started traveling full time a year ago. On the other hand, it may be fortunate that this has happened because this fifty mile radius needs really extensive exploring and adventuring. It is also putting me in touch with two old friends from back in Houston who live in this area now. Life is great, live it NOW.

The campground here is the best valued one that Comfort Castle has located in of all the places we have been. As noted in the blog a day or so ago, almost all the fun you could want is a short walk away. And today a problem that seemed like it would take me from here, went away. YEA! So I went to the HQ office and signed up to stay until the cheap rates go up on April 1, 2009. In other words TheOFM has a wonderful six months to intensely explore and wear out this part of Texas. Of course it helps that this six months are the far and away nicest time to be in this area.

Part of this morning was getting the campsite squared away, some things put away, a couple of letters written and some emails sent to OF Bob about an adventure next Tuesday. The truck got fed some $3.92 a gallon diesel fuel this afternoon. The hand weights were even give a good workout. This evening was an excellent supper while watching a beautiful sunset. When it is all said and done this is pretty close to having tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

The Latest Home

Fredericksburg, Texas
A 5:30am jake brake got me up this morning. Comfort Castle was hitched and moved to the new location before eight am. Since this is the planned home for the rest of the year, a trip to the building supplies store got some concrete blocks to put under the stabilizing jacks. Putting blocks under the jacks allows them to be a lot more resistant to wobble. Now home is The Lady Bird Johnson Municipal RV Park.

There is a lot of noise here also. Birds chirping, insects buzzing and the wind rustling the leaves in the trees. Once in a while an airplane taking off or landing in the adjacent airport.

When the settling up the money at the previous park, one of the residents said there is nothing to do out here. My reply was there is only a three mile walking path along the creek, a nice golf course to play, the creek to paddle my yak in, access to several miles of bicycling, tennis courts to use and even some small fish in the creek to catch and release. Yep nothing to do here.

Parts of the walking path were in the blogs of last March. However there is more tonight. Two pretty nice scenes caught my eye today while walking. The first is along the part of the “lake” section right before the main dam. The yellow flowers were making themselves spectacular so you get to see the beauty.

As you get over to the nature tail portion of the walking path, the creek winds back and forth some. Then it goes along a short cliff. This picture is as the creek starts to traverse the portion right by the cliff. It shows the trail along the right side of the picture. The picture was taken from an overlook on the Nature Trail.

The owner of Fredericksburg RV Park, Jan, was very accommodating on my early move out and refunded a proper amount of my original cost. It is a nice park just too close to town for me.

My new home is five sites south of the one from last March. This will be a very good place to live while money and medical get straightened out. This is looking to the northwest from my campsite.

The view out my “office/dining table” window is very pleasant also.

A great aspect of this location is that all the activities mentioned above, except kayaking, are accessed by walking from Comfort Castle. The number one tee box is about a half mile walk away. That is just long enough to get limbered up nicely. The practice greens are mid way along that route. The bad part is that the grocery store (Wal-Mart) is about four miles away. The doctor is a twenty minute bike ride north.

If you check the map you will find that a massive amount of adventure country is within a one hours drive any way you want to go. The big shopping malls of the north San Antonio area are just under one hour away. The next few months promise a lot of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

A Time For Labors

Fredericksburg, Texas

After the noise keeping me awake until after 2 am this morning, sleeping until 9 am was not a surprise. Tomorrow is move to a quieter campground day. Of course a lot of the noise was due to the Octoberfest celebration in town Saturday and Today.

Grocery shopping was very successful because the store was well stocked this morning. Later a visit was paid to my new location to be for planning where to position the trailer. It is going to be a very nice place. Tonight was laundry time since most of the patrons have gone home from this area.

Great news is that my back is about 90% now. Even practicing putting and pitching did not cause any uncomfortable feelings. Maybe that is all the trouble from it for a while.

Just for the heck of it, the Texas Master Gardener program is being examined as a fun item to try. On Tuesday a trip to Kerrville and the main office may be done to obtain exact information.

We shall see. There is not a doubt in my mind that after tomorrow night my body will be doing better. A couple of nights sleep without disruptive noises should do wonders for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

The Old Farmhouse

Fredericksburg, Texas

There is just too much noise around this park for me to be content. Monday after all the festivities are over, Comfort Castle is moving to LBJ Park. Whatever this place wants to settle the bill at will be the end of it. This is the current overflow spot I agreed to for two days.


However the clerk asked to have me stay an extra day so a two day person could stay an extra day. So here I am paying for full hookups for a day while getting only water and elec. Something not right here. The noise of the area is the real kicker to getting me out of here.

This morning a relatively short trip into the back country to look for pretty scenes was my amusement. There are lots of land that is beautiful around here for building a house on and having a lot of fun maintaining the property. One example is this old German settlers place from back a few years.

Apparently this is still in use. Notice the modern antennas on the roof.

All scatterred through the Hill Country of Texas are low water stream crossings. Many are trickles this late in the year. Some have enough water for kids to be having a good time swimming. Many others are just sitting around being pretty and a nice spot to stop your truck and sit under a tree on the creek bank and enjoy what GOD has provided.


My back feels like it is well on the way to healing, but care is very important still. Today has been another easy going day and tomorrow will likely be one also. After that the plan is to get busy trying to have tooooo much fun again. TheOFM.

OH My Aching Back

Fredericksburg, Texas

A slow day for certain. The back muscle that was pulled yesterday has made it displeasure known today. The required move of Comfort Castle to the over flow area was done very carefully.

Then some serious rest time and ibuprofen led up to lunch. After lunch a long visit with Mac at the Fort was fun. But the back started in on me again. After returning home it has been a "be gentle to my back muscle" evening.

Mac is going to be an actor in a live play starting the 17th of this month. He takes his acting very profesionally. Maybe attending one of the performances will be in my future. That could be a good try at having tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Old Friend Bob Visit

Fredericksburg, Texas

The trip to Old Friend Bob's home started about 8:30 this morning and is now ending at 10:30 pm. It was one of the most fantastic days of my life. In the eight years we have been apart both our lives have evolved toward similar or complementary goals. Amazing. My head is worn out from all the fun we had and discussions we engrossed into in depth. We will be visiting often in the next few months most likely.

He is chasing a Texas Master Naturalists Certification at this time. That is not a field that interests me as a main item. However what interests is more of the historical part of Texas people history. As we explored the two interest we found huge amounts of complementary information. Both parts of the Texas history are needed to get the whole picture. This is fantastic.

We visited his two sisters in law that live adjacent to him. Both of them are wonderful folks to experience and really very TEXAS friendly. With a little luck a chance to photograph the three small properties will be coming up soon, because there are some very spectacular sights to be seen.

The golf round was great fun and we played to our abilities. The golf course shop even had my eight iron that I left behind somewhere on the course for me when we finished. This was a day of tooooo much fun without any question. TheOFM

The New Doctor

Fredericksburg, Texas
A gentle morning was a welcome visitor. After piddling around getting my medical records sorted and cleaned out for the doctor, my feet took me to the club house where the morning coffee group was gathered. They are a jovial group to have a visit with in the mornings. But time went quickly and soon it was time to be off to the doctor for a first visit.

As usual for me things did move slowly. The doctor turned out to be a very young man of 29. However he seemed to be reasonably experienced and took time to pay attention to what he was told. So we had the usual lab work done for blood etc. and a flu shot. It was a very comfortable meeting with the doctor. There have been enough quacks in my life that it is not a problem for me to fire a doctor if the doctor seems wrong.

Monday night a new 64 degree wedge was ordered and it came in today. It is very good. This afternoon was spent practicing with it for tomorrows round of golf. Now the golf balls will stop on the green like they are supposed to. OF Bob is in trouble now that this wedge is in my bag. HE HE

It is exciting to think about OF Bob and I trying to have tooooo much fun tomorrow. TheOFM.

Excited Sheep

Fredericksburg, Texas
Once again TheOFM has been honored to have some of his writing used and credited by a national writer in her work. Please visit her site and enjoy her literary talents.
http://www.paddling.net/sameboat/archives/sameboat465.html
Tamia also has another site at http://www.tamiasoutside.com/. It is also very worth reading for the cooking tips if nothing else.

This morning commenced action with a bicycle ride down to the bike shop. It turned out that after about five strokes on the pedals the down slope into town to the bike shop did not require any more peddling to get there. The route took me through some very peaceful neighborhoods. At one spot the sheep were very excited and actually opened their eyes, but never moved. See how excited they are.

Farther along the route was a very cute house with lots of gingerbread on it. The carport and house were decorated in the same theme. The whole yard was a garden and very pleasant to see.

Arrival at the bike shop was before they opened. Across main street, hwy 87, was a little store where a bottle of orange juice was purchased. While sitting on the picnic table under the large tree out front of the shop, the drink was enjoyed more than it seemed possible to enjoy a morning. Nice sun, gentle breeze, 65 degrees and the shade of a big tree. WOW. After a bit and right on time the owner came driving up and the tour of the store began. He is a very nice fellow and his small store has nearly as much stuff as the big ones down in Houston. Amazingly his prices were competitive to the catalog places, so purchasing items there would be economically smart.

The ride back home was just as pleasant as the ride to the bike shop, even if it was slightly up hill all the way. Some different streets were toured and enjoyed during the return trip. In general this is a very nice town to be living in.

After a few hours of golf practice to get ready for the golf game Thursday with OF Bob, it was time to rest. My neighbor John has a very type A body and is always doing something. He was mowing and trimming his “yard” to have it pretty for the weekend.

John is a very friendly fellow and fun to visit with, but he will wear you out just watching him.

Tomorrow morning is the appointment with the new doctor and then it will be time to try to have tooooo much fun TheOFM

Computers Again

Fredericksburg, Texas

YAHOOOOO both computers are up and running. The computer doctor traced the vista machine to having my security turned on when an update was attempted. The security would not allow the update to change my profile. It took him about thirty minutes to get everything back on line and running properly. That was a wonderful way to spend the morning.

My medical needs have been nonexistent for the last year, but now it seems wise to get a check on my body so nothing nasty can sneak up on me. For that reason a doctor and I will have a visit Wednesday to see what he has to say about anything on my health front. Maybe it will be another year before my body needs another checkup.

The best news of all is that an old friend, Bob, from Houston has moved out here to the Hill Country while my time in Washington was passing. Now on Thursday we will be playing golf together and visiting after nearly seven years. That is a wonderful prospect for me.

Fundamentally a lazy bum was my style today, so nothing special happened. The bicycle was unloaded from the truck, assembled and parked by Comfort Castle. Now it can be an additional way to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

One Year Since Quitting Work

Fredericksburg, Texas

It is getting to be the big time of the year for Fredericksburg. Through the end of the year are major festivities nearly every weekend. It is a good time of the year to tour the area to try to have tooooo much fun.

Currently my plans are to be mostly here for the winter times because this area is a fun area. Fall and winter is the best time of the year for central Texas. The location where Comfort Castle will be most likely be for this time period is….

This was my location last March during the big truck repair event. It will be late October before this park becomes my home since my rent here at Federicksburg RV Park runs until then. This current park is just a little too much in town for my preference.

This morning a walk was taken at LBJ Park. It is very nice to me. The spot chosen to park was near the airport fence and about mid way between “facilities”. A loop of the park is about three miles of up and down fun.

The whole place is normally very peaceful and calm like you see in this picture of the creek.

About a mile downstream was another very peaceful spot.

Right after the last picture, a fellow working on his fishing reel came into view. We visited for many minutes and discussed fishing in the area. There is even a slight chance some “fish” stories were told.

As the path chosen went on along the Nature Trail entrance finally came into view and beckoned with allure for me to take it. The trail winds along a short cliff along the creek for a good ways then cuts back into the woods.

There is a very picturesque farm near the entrance. They are getting the fields ready for planting and provided a nice view.

By the time the walk was finished, my legs were getting tired. Apparently my body needs a lot more of this gentle exercise. Hopefully this circuit will be a near daily event for me. It helps to be in a little bit better shape when you are going out to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Dead Computers

Fredericksburg, Texas

This morning started with two non working laptops. When repairs are available TheOFM will be back online.

Loud Music And Racket

Fredericksburg, Texas
RV living does have occasional bad times, but the wheels solve the problem very easily.

Where to go when my not refundable rent runs out? The first night the cattle pens and other event place two blocks away ran until very late in the night. Last night the VFW hall next door was still going full volume at midnight thirty. This morning when my eyes finally opened, the plan was to go looking for a different place to be staying.

After reviewing several places down in and around Kerrville, information was becoming clear. The public golf course there is very nice and competitively priced.

On the return trip to Federicksburg, my location during last springs truck repair was paid a visit. A very nice place and THEY HAD A CANCELLATION FOR THE WINTER MONTHS this morning. A good golf course in the park, a long walking/hiking trail in the park, a stream to yak in in the park, quiet during the night, and cheap for the rent. My spot is now reserved for until Comfort Castle leaves. Most likely Comfort Castle will sit here for the winter.

The best part is some of the best hiking, yaking, and biking in the south is all within an hour drive from here. The best saltwater fishing is about four hours south, but this area does not have to worry about HURRICANES. So the adventures do not stop but likely the fuel bill will drop a bit. The rent will drop by about half of what it had been costing me.

Now that my immediate future is resolved, my main objective can return to trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Mr. Mac At The Fort

Fredericksburg, Texas
The big spot of the day was a visit with old buddy Mac at Fort Martin Scott Historical Park. We caught up with many topics. He is going to be playing a character in a Shakespeare play starting next month. Maybe things will work out for me to see him in action.

The Rv Campground here is rather excellent in general. Today was spent in catching up on laundry, groceries and visiting with Mac. Groceries are a LOT cheaper than in New Mexico.
The entrance to the campground sets the tone for a very comfortable experience.


My site is typical of a well done commercial campground with sufficient space between trailers for a little breathing room. It still is taking some getting used to after west Texas and New Mexico where things are spread out a bit more than here.

A really nice building in the park is reserved for large group gatherings. From the front it looks very nice and if it is like the other general use buildings, the interior is also very nice.

In the back right portion of the park near the greenhouse is the Memorial Walk. At the bench end of the gardens is a stone on each side with brass tags of folks who stayed here but have gone to the campground in the sky.

In the back left corner is the water garden with a nice deck and tables. The tables even have a sunshade over them. The tumbling water is a very soothing event to enjoy.

The welcoming committee always come along to help you out and make certain you are entertained while at the water garden.

Once you are on the deck, the social committee takes over to keep you entertained with their antics. The alligator is very standoffish and does not seem to want to be bothered.

Some of the folks here have finished their RV traveling and have made the park their home. It is easy to tell which folks they are.



Well it has been an active day and my body seems to have healed well. That means tomorrow will be a great day for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

A Major Adventure On The Road

Fredericksburg, Texas

Man, towing the 65 miles to Fredericksburg took over two hours. Last nights supper attacked with a vengence on the way here and at least four (I actually lost count) sudden roadside stops were required. It is nice to be taking your bathroom with you when you are sickly. When the arrival check in and setup was finished, some nap time was taken. It is 8:30 pm and the weakness is finally starting to subside.

A walk around the park showed me that they really take care of this place. There are lots of cute things in the park that will be making it into the blog over the next few days. That is about all that the sicko could come up with for the afternoons adventure.

Now for more rest to be able to attack the day tomorrow for the purpose of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

11:00 pm A friend sent me this site about a humming bird birth
http://community-2.webtv.net/Velpics/HUM/

American Voter Responsibility

Junction, Texas

Howard Payne has written and published an article on voter responsibility in America. It is the best written article on American political needs I have seen in a long time.

http://www.rv-dreams.typepad.com/

Today has been very laid back and lazy. Basically being alazy bum is getting to be a habit. The walk that was attempted this afternoon was aborted after about a half mile. It was too hot for comfort. My outdoor thermometer hanging in the shade showed 92. This morning it was all the way down to 70 for a low. What a change from a day ago and 2000 feet higher.

Other than a couple of wonderful visits with folks and reading Howard's literary output, it has been a day of just enjoying being alive and preparing for a day of toooo much fun tomorrow. TheOFM

Long Driving Day

South Llano River State Park
Junction, Texas

Four hundred fifty miles today. Even my truck is tired now. From north of Carlsbad, NM to five miles south of Junction, Texas is a long drive even without a trailer. However there is very good reason for this long of a day. The only thing worth stopping for between those two towns is the diesel fuel pump in Ft. Stockton.

Until you get to the last few miles near Junction, there is little to find interesting. That is the flat boring part of Texas.

The good news is one of my favorite restaurants in the world, La Familia, was open and serving wonderful tasting food at cheap prices. So there is a full bellied fool typing this blog tonight. Today was not a lot of fun but it puts me on the edge of one of the most fun sections of Texas. My choice to try to have tooooo much fun tonight was to add one of the fantastic pralines to my supper tonight for dessert. Now that does come close to having tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Trails and TRAILS

Brantley Lake State Park 9-21-08
Carlsbad, New Mexico

A nice walk started this morning well. This park has a path called Lake Loop. The starting and finishing points are in the campground. So off on the path my shoes took me. We even started at the entry location.

From that point it was at its most exciting. Mostly it is a path to do when you are tired of doing nothing. Even the side path that was walked was not of much interest.

To my surprise, the entire loop was strolled with only one jackrabbit to break the monotony.

Since were are on trails, let me digress to one from yesterday at Sitting Bull Falls.
The sign at the beginning called it the top of the falls trail. At the top it was obvious it tied in to many other trails. When the return was accomplished safely, a sign board was found that showed the myriad of trails that ran back and forth up and down the mountains.

It was a very steep trail. Much steeper than most government trails are. There was even a lot of relatively round rocks to keep you interested.

At many places in the cliff, steps had been cut into the rock face to help get you across the area. This was not a boring trail at all.


When the top was achieved, there were trails running in several directions. My superior trail finding ability was useful to hit the correct trail for this chore. However when the edge of the cliff where the falls starts came into view, it was too treacherous for a solo fat man to get close enough for a picture. A bit farther along the trail, it became apparent that to go on a hiker would need more than a half liter of water. A turnaround was done with regret because the trail looked more interesting in the distance. But sanity prevailed over machismo. Does that word ever apply to me?????

The best part of today was after the finish of the Lake Loop. Two very nice folks, Naomi and Michael, in an A-liner were getting ready to pack down and leave, but allowed me to see their camper inside and out. Later they stopped by to tour my little rig. We had a great visit. They are from Massachusetts and running around having a great time.


Custom Castle and the truck are staged to make a easy getaway tomorrow morning. Fredericksburg, Texas by Thursday is the plan. In between then and now is time to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM