Tent Camping, Almost

Fredericksburg, Texas

Some days things do not go any where close to what is planned, but come out great anyway.

Getting the truck inspected turned out to be a bit of an adventure. The inspector was very thorough but a little unsure of what he was allowed to do. After he was educated that a diesel truck did not get state emissions testing and the county it is registered in is Polk which did not do emissions testing on any engines, he got right to work. He did do a good job on the inspection and of course the truck passed without a whimper.

Back at Comfort Castle the day pack of much experience with me was brought out and some serious consideration was done. This day pack is a large one of over 2000 cubic inches and has hauled some large loads in it’s history. However it is proving to be heavier and larger than has been needed for over a year. A smaller lighter pack with a hydration bladder designed into it seems more like my needs now that HERO HIKES are a thing of the past.

Off to Wal-Mart to check what they have. They had the exact item needed. This saves a trip to San Antonio to “THE TOY STORE”. Here is a picture of it.

It came with a two liter bladder and about 750 cubic inches of storage space. My always with me things have been relocated into it. There is room for a couple of meals of food and a jacket for cool or rainy weather. Being able to have room for several layers of clothing like in the PNW is no longer needed.

Naturally it needs to be broken in properly. On the spur of the moment it was chosen to make a tent camping and hiking adventure to Pedernales Falls State Park. Stuff was thrown together in hurry and off to the Park. Check in went well since the park had four sites occupied and about 80 available to choose from. A nice site was chosen and camp was set up.

Next it was off to photograph the falls area in the late evening light. The new pack breakin was planned for tomorrow. When you go down the cliffs to the river bed, immediately you notice all the carving the river has done to the rocks. The river is several feet low due to the drought of the state. Many carved areas were visible that have never been available in the thirty plus years of my coming here. These natural carvings are very handsome to me. Normally the water would be five to six feet deeper and really raging through here.

To give some size perspective, this photo was shot of the only other folks in the river bed besides me. Normally there is water running across where they are standing.
As the sun crept below the ridges of trees and rock, it was time for me to get out of the river. On the way back to camp, another wild hair hit me and going back to Johnson City and eating at the Country Cupboard became the goal. Back in the past the Country Cupboard was a place of first choice to eat. During the six years that Washington work kept me away, the Country Cupboard went down in a big way. Tonight was the third try it was given this year and it will be the last. The Dairy Queen down the road is a lot better.

By the time supper was finished, it was dark. Now what to do with five hours of cold dark before bed time. It had not occurred to me what to do with all the dark hours this time of the year. OK pack it up and head home. It is only an hour drive back to Comfort Castle. Breaking in the new pack will have to wait.

In closing this day of experiences, we have a beautiful picture taken in the river looking at the far cliffs.

And so ends a great day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

More Comfort

Fredericksburg, Texas

Whether to customize Comfort Castle to fit me perfectly or not has been an ongoing question. The skylights have had rigid insulation installed in them from right after the trailer became Comfort Castle. In nearly two years they have not been used as a skylight because of the heat/cold intrusion through them. Today they got made into a almost skylight. They were painted with acrylic outdoor paint in bright white. Reflecting the solar load before it gets into Comfort Castle will help my comfort level inside. The next step will be to fill the cavity with contour conforming insulation mat. The other good thing is that the acrylic skylights that get brittle and crack usually between year 5 to 7 will not get so brittle so soon since they have some UV protection now.

Here is the front skylight before and after pics




And now the rear skylight before and after.


Now the heat loads should drop noticeably. In my previous thirty foot trailer, painting the skylights and insulation created far more improvement than seemed likely.
More interior customizing is being considered. The very nice sales lady/owner of Thompson RV in Pendleton, Oregon (where Comfort Castle was purchased used) told me that some of the customizing floating in my head for a one person trailer could make it very difficult to sell in the future. A couple of things would not cause much problem. We shall see in the future what happens.

Since fat men need exercise, Sturdy Steed my bike, forced me to go riding today. The roads around here are wonderful for riding and scenery. Too bad ten miles was my limit today. The knees were screaming " WE ARE GOING TO GET YOU, FAT MAN". Being a wise individual who listens to his body, the ride was ended before disaster happened. Seems like more riding is needed to keep the body in better riding shape.

Any hoot, tomorrow will be a great day for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Ice In The Morning

Fredericksburg, Texas

Ice on the grass was greeting me this morning when the morning view was enjoyed. The neighbors trailer leaks at the fresh water intake and all the local critters come to drink there. Last night it supposedly got down to 27 for a couple of hours and left some ice in the splash zone. The cold made no discernable difference in Comfort Castle during the night.

Since there were three chicken breasts and some vegetables in the refrigerator that were approaching end dates, it was time to make chicken and rice soup/stew. First was the cutting up of the chicken.

Then starting it on its slow cook along with a can of whole kernel corn. Throw in your chosen spices and let it cook slowly.

When the time feels right dump in your already cut up celery, bell pepper, rice and onion.

Simmer the concoction for about thirty minutes. Then adjust the taste of the spices to suit your self. Since you are cooking you get to choose the final taste. Eat as much as you can and freeze any that is left over. If the aroma could come across the Internet you would be climbing through your computer screen to try this fantastic food.

Exercise was the fun of the evening. First my shoulder exercises, then a long walk around the park. That gets my pulse up very well for a healthy heart. A healthy heart makes it a lot easier to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

A New Puppy

Fredericksburg, Texas

The not so secret place to winter over in Texas that was written about a few days ago has generated more interest than imagined. It was mentioned more as a joke than as a real not so secret place. The downside of the location is that you have to be an outdoor type or the place will bore you to pieces. The town is Zapata, Texas on Falcon Lake. Most RV folks go right on past it because it is so remote from the usual things the sit on your backside crowd likes, like lots of stores and hordes of folks and expensive restaurants. Three vehicles at a stop light is considered heavy traffic. Scorpions and rattlesnakes are also residents of the area. MY KIND OF PLACE.

My goodness the wind is mean today. The temperature is a bit brisk, but the wind chill is rough for this southern blood in my body. However there are some folks who enjoyed the bright sunshine enough to come out and have a picnic lunch. It was too brisk for me.

Several of the trees have been changing leaf colors. After tonight’s light freeze they should hurry up about it. Here is one of them that is well on the way to preparing for winter.
A wonderful old oak tree of years of survival is the shade for one of the pavilions here in the park. This handsome and experienced old oak has likely heard thousands of happy voices and children’s laughter in the time it has been standing guard. What a wonderful specimen this is.
One of the “gatekeepers” here at the park is Alice. She is a very nice lady to meet and visit with. Today her boyfriend brought his new puppy over for her to baby sit while he ran off doing some chores. The pup was a cute little fellow. He kept his tail wagging nearly every minute and really liked to be hugged as you can see from this picture of Alice and the new pup.


Only a very short amount of time was spent outside today due to the wind. It is hard to enjoy being outside when your eyes are running a steady stream of tears down your face and your nose thinks it is a water faucet running wide open. So most of my time was spent inside trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Bodie The Pup

Fredericksburg, Texas

Gordon and Juanita are fun folks to visit. See them at their blog http://www.mytripjournal.com/USAChevrolet. We visited for about an hour this morning. Their pup Bodie is showing his age somewhat but is still a wonderful pup to pet.

This afternoon was spent in nice conversations with Mac at the fort. We covered art, politics, his next stage performance and lots of things about living here in Fredericksburg.

The cold front has started its ingress to the area with very strong winds. Some of the things in the area not tied down well are getting a pounding.

Maybe the winds will calm down by the time it is bed time tonight. Occasionally Comfort Castle will get to rocking and rolling in the wind and sleeping gets a little tough. The cold will not be enough to bother the comfort inside Comfort Castle. Since it was built for very cold PNW winters this front will be nearly nothing.

This has been a too laid back day to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Frozen Peanut Butter

Fredericksburg, Texas

What a nights sleep. The old body hit the bed about 10:30 last night and the sunshine in my face did not wake me until just after 9am this morning. What is going on with this old body? Eight hours is a normal long time in bed for me. It may be the allergies that are continuing to plague me.

The rest of the day was sllllllloooooowwwww motion. Have you ever had a day when it seemed your body seemed to flow as well as frozen peanut butter?

This was one of them. Not much happened. The shoulder exercises took forever. Then lunch was nondescript, as whatever was for lunch is long forgotten.

Later a visit to the fort resulted in a two hour visit with Jim, the other person from Mac that mans the visitor center there. We told tale after tale of worldly travels.

For the heck of it, after supper, a walk around the park was attempted. Down by the creek was a nice fellow fishing. We had a long talk about the best type of boat for the type of fishing he wants to do. While we talked he caught three catfish and his wife caught two fish. By then it was dark and the walk back home was a slow one in the dark to make certain the upright was the position I remained in on the rough terrain coming up from the creek.

Tomorrow is a day with no plans other than trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Gutter Non-Extenders

Fredericksburg, Texas

First Edition

All this cold weather in the mornings is getting to me. This is the third morning this month when long pants were desirable. The weather forecast is even saying a morning in the 30’s in a couple of days. What with rain yesterday and blizzard conditions today it must be time to get rolling. Comfort Castle may need to take up residence where at fifty degrees the folks need coats and long underwear. The rent is paid up through Dec. 6. After that, no promises are made. Yesterday while looking at warmer hats to wear, the realization hit again. Warm clothes….forget it, get those wheels rolling south.

There is a place in Texas where the fishing is good, the weather is warm, a bicycle can be used for commuting chores safely, golf is pleasant, miles of lake to yak in, the food is excellent, hiking and walking locations are abundant, the rent for water, electric, sewer, free wifi, is less than $200 a month and the summers are so hot even the rocks do not want to be there. Stay tuned to find out this not very secret place. A place where shorts, t-shirts and sandals rule. A long sleeve shirt marks you as a northerner. A trip to Wal-Mart is a hundred mile round trip, but with the internet shopping who cares.

11:am Edition

Another attempt at a vehicle inspection resulting in finding out the inspector had had a mini-stroke and will be out for a while. Hopefully he will recover well. Then over to Wal-Mart with my list that was forgotten yesterday to complete the shopping. Now after lunch there is no excuse for sitting around. So get that fat body moving.

Final Edition

For some reason a big thrill runs through my body when the TV has a commercial on and it is a place from my past. Tonight the Hyundai commercial had parts of my playground in the Columbia Gorge. WOW that is a part of the country everyone should see.

On to the gutter extension fiasco. Here are the extensions in the box for easy identification.


When the package was opened, it was not packed properly. There was supposed to be two right hand and two left hand extensions. As you can see from the photo that is not what was in the package.


That turned out to be not big deal since they cannot fit on my gutter anyway. From the instructions they are supposed to clip over the current channels. No Way. The gutter extensions are for some channels that run at an angle of about 60 degrees to the trailer. Mine extend at ninety degrees. See the picture of my drains.


So back to Wal-Mart and get a refund on the five cents of plastic that costs eight dollars.

To finish out the afternoon and try out my knee, nine holes of golf were played. My score was 43 with two triple bogeys due to two errant drives caused by obviously faulty golf clubs. It is impossible that my golf swing could have caused such horrendous errors…RIGHT. Now the important secret golf weapon is about to be disclosed. The new golf ball that always goes straight.
This means that there will not be anymore curving shots getting me into trouble while out trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Gutter Extenders

Fredericksburg, Texas

The vehicle inspection station was still closed today. Getting that chore out of the way would bring some peace of mind for me.

The rain this morning woke me up with it pinging on the vent cover over my bed. Oh Boy an excuse to sleep later. Only about fifteen minutes then the body said get up or else. So up and at’em it was. Some grocery shopping was done but not well. Some old fool left his grocery list sitting on the table when he left for the store.

At least the gutter extenders for the gutter drains on Comfort Castle were remembered. Now there is that chore to do tomorrow.

Most of the day was a piddle around about one thing or another without anything important being done except for the golf practice. It does take a bit to get any skill back when you goof off for a few months.

Several folks emailed me thank yous for serving our country in Vietnam. It is nice to know it was not a worthless effort like it seemed at the time.

It looks like putting on the gutter extenders tomorrow will be the high point of a day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Chickens In The Road

Fredericksburg, Texas

It is a failing that has befallen me lately that paying attention to smaller things in life has gone by the wayside. On one of the small chore trips today, boredom was picking at my soul. But what to my wandering eyes should appear but a small thing of great interest if one only paid attention. As traffic on a main street was heavy, sitting on the side street waiting for an entrance chance gave the opportunity to see some very intelligent chickens.

These chickens were trying to cross the side street but cars were coming out regularly. They had learned to cross the street correctly. Each would wait until no cars were coming, then hurry across to the other side. If a car showed up at the wrong time, a chicken would hurry back to safety. They were crossing right to left to get to the food around the fire hydrant. This must have gone on for five minutes. My time watching these chickens was well spent. Finally they all got across and attacked the bugs or whatever it was around the fire hydrant.

If my usual, lately anyway, mode had been in operation, my turn would have happened and the chicken show would never have made it to the blog and that would not have been good.

Earlier laundry and a vehicle inspection were planned since the two locations were next door to each other. The laundry was started with Patty to watch over it for me.

The trip next door proved futile as the place was closed with a sign on the door saying Leroy had gone to the doctor and hoped to return later. After the laundry was finished, Leroy was still not back. So back to Comfort Castle the clothes went. However during loading the basket of clothes into the truck my left shoulder got a twist in it that left me with very tender shoulder for the rest of the day.

Later a trip to attempt the vehicle inspection once more was again unsuccessful. Hopefully Leroy did not have something bad happen to him. On the way home a thought hit me between the eyes. Since thoughts are not normal for me, the thought hurt somewhat. The thrift store was open, so it was checked for anything needed for my extravagant lifestyle. Before entering the store for the millionth time, the door handles were finally given attention. Check this handle set out and the door braces.

There were even square horseshoe nails used to fasten them to the door. Two small but interesting things in one day. Yeah me.

The bed still needs to be made and some t-shirts folded and put away and it is after 8pm. At least there will be clean comfortable sheets on the bed to help me dream about having tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Friday Mystery Solved

Fredericksburg, Texas

The mystery is solved. Lloyd of Wandrin.us provided us with the answer.
“The chain looks just like those ID necklaces that were on our large herd of dairy cattle back in the 1960s.” Thank you Lloyd. Now Mac can sleep in peace. All is right at the fort now.

A trip to the Austin airport was done today in preparation for my trip to Alabama on Thanksgiving Day. My flight leaves at 6 am and my truck had not covered the route before so we had to train it. Folks around here had told me it was a bit over an hour. Well it took an hour and forty minutes. This means that Thanksgiving morning, The truck will be rolling to the airport at 3 AM. Yuk. Of course it will be nice to visit with my son and DIL. If luck is with me there will be food to taste of excellent quality.

On the way back, an attempt to stop at a sporting goods store was thwarted by the heavy traffic and maze of roads. My crowded highway skills have disappeared and that is very wonderful to me. So the truck and the Meanderthal old fat man wandered some more appealing highways on the way back.

OH BOY Wildseed farms was on the way back. A tourist type stop there is always fun even if no money is to be spent. Alas money was spent on a music CD that I have been enjoying. Between near death experiences, infantry duty in Viet Nam, divorce, ugly office politics, and many other nasty life experiences, my taste in music is leaning heavily to peaceful and soothing. This CD is by Marshall Styler and is named “A Face In The Clouds”. It is very calming and polite.

While at Wildseed, two neat birdhouses were seen. The first is obviously state orientated. Can you tell which state?



The next ones were very pretty with the state flower of Texas.

On the back side of the place was an old cart. Due to my usual interest in old tools, it had to be examined even though the signs told me to stay out. It is called an “attractive nuisance” under state law and no fences were crossed to get in close to examine it. But is turned out to be just a moderately well done replica is all. RATZZZZZ! It even had nuts and bolts from the hardware store with the sticker still on them. Oh well, maybe next time.

When Comfort Castle was receiving the traveling stuff from the truck, the clouds in the sky were noticed. Another strange to me pattern in the clouds. They were very pretty, but unusual.



This evening a long visit with Alice at the check in station was going well when a new camper arrived. He was full of jokes and kept us laughing for several minutes. Man that was fun. So we had a great time finishing off a day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Friday's Mystery

Fredericksburg, Texas

Friday brought in a big mystery that we need help in solving. A flint knapper was hunting stone down below Fort Martin Scott along the creek and found a potential artifact. He brought it up to the fort office and we tried to figure out what it is. Mac was told my readers could figure it out without any doubt. So jump in folks and solve the mystery for the reward of feeling good that you helped us.


The chain loop is about a foot long. The tag is aluminum that was cut from plate. The 13 seems to be etched into the tag as opposed to stamped and 13 is on both sides. The closure ring is a double loop split ring like a lot of us use for key rings. The tag is about 2.5 inches long by 1.5 inches wide. The split ring is about a 1.5 inch diameter. The chain links are about 1.25 inches long and 3/16 inch in diameter.

The chain is elongated welded links with a twist in each link. It was apparently dropped in the creek before it was used much since the tag edges have very little rounding from wear.

Most of Friday was spent taking it very easy on the knee and visiting Mac. We have so much fun visiting that we come very close to having tooooo much fun. TheOFM

2:30 pm

The trailer has been getting washed to get rid of the splatted bugs on the front. However the detergent is doing a number on my old fat man thin skin. The rest of the trailer will have to wait until some proper gloves are purchased to protect my skin. Those splatted bugs are very tenacious and really like staying on the fiberglas. The Escapees forum is about to get checked for ideas on how to remove them more easily with out damage to the fiberglas. Steel wool is not a good idea. First wash to the left of the A, unwashed to the right of the A. Of course with the Texas sun they really are baked bugs now.

Enchanted Rock Excitement

Fredericksburg, Texas

Yesterday was a BIG DAY. A special part of yesterday was reader Jeff taking the time to write me an email describing what he really liked about my blog and things that he feels would improve it. Getting constructive feed back is wonderful. Thank you very much for you input Jeff.
Enchanted Rock worked its magic on my companions as usual. Very few first time visitors come away disenchanted if they bother to get out of the car and look around. Well we did more than a little looking around. Old Friends Mike and Bob were ready for the adventure. Here we are getting the last items ready for the quest.

This is the time of the year for leaf colors to be at its best in the hill country of Texas. This park is not the best one of the many parks, but it is just fine by us. Between the drought and the early freeze last week, the color is less than usual. Perhaps this picture will be an incentive for others to come out to the park.

The walk up to the top of ERock is fairly steep but not dangerous. Once on top one must wander all over the several acres of “top” to see the mini-forests and small “gardens” that are up top. Additionally to the left, as facing the main rock from the parking area, is jumbles of boulders and seal rock.
Mike and Bob were fascinated by the “gardens” scattered across the top of the rock. The gardens have cacti, succulents, many types of grasses, flowers, several types of trees and resident small critters.
A resident small critter from on top.
When out meandering got us over to the boulders section, Mike had to go out on a point to look around.
Meanwhile back at the Bob, he was checking out the Texas sized pebbles to see if he wanted to take one home for his coffee table as a conversation piece.
After a decent exploring of the top of the rock, we took a meandering path off the rock down to fix lunch and plan the next event of the day. The choice was a short hike along a creek, that turned into a long hike thanks to my superior trail turnoff missing ability. But the hike was nice and Bob and Mike got to see some of the aquatic natural points of the park.

Some where along the way a ligament in my right knee decided my day was going to well and started causing pain for me to enjoy. This slowed me considerably and this morning it is sore. So being careful will be the style of a few days while trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Damaged Goods

Fredericksburg, Texas

Between being tired out totally, having tooooo much fun and a damaged right knee, the blog will be updated tomorrow. Recuperation and replenishment is required above all else. The day was fantastic and the report should be the same. There is no way to do it justice tonight in my condition. Whoopped from having tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Research And Preparation Day

Fredericksburg, Texas

Nothing happened exciting today. First was research on a heater that does not need electricity to operate. A couple of possibilities are available.

Second was research on solar panels value. It still looks like a couple of extra batteries for $250 or less will to the trick better than spending $1500 on $olar $y$tem. One reason for the want to boondock is called GUMO (Guadalupe Mountain National Park). There is not dump stations or electricity in their campgrounds. Many NP campgrounds do not have electricity for campers. Some like Fruita do have a dump station. Trying to keep as many options as can be done within my limited budget.

Third was getting groceries for tomorrows assault on Enchanted Rock by the Meanderthalls.

Fourth was way too much wind for biking, golf or yakking. So several trips of walking around the park happened as the boredom got too strong.

So for now it looks like tomorrow is a good chance of having tooooo much fun.TheOFM

This Makes 365

Fredericksburg, Texas

365 blog entries will have been published with this one. A year of daily entries that have usually been published every day. When a daily publishing was not available, the entries were saved up and published in a wad at the first chance. It has been a very rewarding and sometimes frustrating experience. There have been emails from folks as far north as upper Alaska and south to the tip of South America. A new major event has been the blog allowing some old friends find me to get reacquainted. Over all it has allowed me to flourish from all the new friends. Maybe the next year will even be better.

Another thank you goes out to the folks on the Escapees forum for the help they did not know they were giving me. One of my dreams if things work out is to go back into some areas without utilities like electricity and water (it is called boon docking)to try to have tooooo much fun. Comfort Castle is good for 7-8 days as is now, except for heating. As my research has progressed, it became necessary to find out about heating Comfort Castle without the use of electricity. Within that research the need for a CO detector was brought up often. When my research was well advanced, it was my conclusion that a CO detector should have been in my life for years. There are lots of things that can go wrong in a house that can poison you with CARBON MONOXIDE. My new CO detector/alarm cost less than $20 at Wal-Mart today.

The next chore ahead of me is choosing which type of LP heating that will be keeping me warm in cooler weather. Why not COLD weather? Because that is why Comfort Castle has wheels to keep me out of COLD weather. What is COLD weather? Any weather that is colder than 50 degrees F. When would cold weather get me for more than one night? When the Gulf of Mexico is stopping Comfort Castle from going farther south.

On this eve of this important election, it is finally time for my opinion. Many times in elections, my support has gone to the candidate who, in my opinion, is the lesser evil. That has been an impossible task for me this election to choose which seems to be the lesser evil. Therefore my announcement is that the folks of the USA will be the loser this Presidential election. Many around me have been upset about my opinion, but that is why all you folks did your responsible action and voted, Right????

It is a little after 7 pm as this last paragraph is being typed. A few minutes outside looking at the peaceful sky

with its new moon rising for some reason gives me hope. So everyone, no matter who is elected President, Commander-in-Chief, let us all work toward having tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Brain Dead Laundryman

Fredericksburg, Texas

A very ordinary day it has been. First stop this morning was the Post Office at 8 am. They open at 8:30 am it turned out. So thirty minutes of enjoying the pretty flowers and gentle cool breezes made the time pass well. Once inside the PO, the line was moderate and the clerks were very efficient. After getting the insurance applications into the mail, it was over to the laundry to wash clothes and visit with Patti. She always has something fun to talk about. As the clothing was being removed from the washer to go into the dryer, the realization that the towels had all been left at Comfort Castle hit me. Too late now.

By the time the laundry was put away and Comfort Castle squared away, it was lunch time. Home made chili was thawed and relished with vigor. The search about health insurance continued without any new revelations.

The searching stopped about 3 pm and it was time to practice golf to work out the frustrations. A nice walk in the park is planned for this evening. Most likely it will be dark since it is dark by 6:30 now.

Thursday OF Bob and OF Mike are supposed to come over and the three Meanderthalls will attack Enchanted Rock in the quest to trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

More Health Insurance Information

Fredericksburg, Texas

Man o Man this staying in one location is about to drive me nuttier than my head already is. It has not been a month yet, but the ITCH is severe. Rolling about every week or two seems to fit very well. Sometimes it seems the rolling is more exciting than the arriving. This time of the year one must keep in mind that the cold weather is just starting and to have patience or move farther south.

Some lessons to be learned are showing up to me as my past year has been analyzed for ways to cut expenses. The original concept was park and cloverleaf out a chosen distance to sightsee and participate in local points of interest (POI). On careful thought and exacting calculations it seems that the more frugal way is to take my home everywhere. Tioga George does essentially this by staying right where he is exploring.

Towing only costs 50% more than not towing, but going out and coming back costs 100% more. Also it has proven accurate that staying in free to cheap places and clover leafing is not always cheaper. Frequently it has been more expensive to stay in cheaper places and spend a lot more on diesel when going to a POI than staying closer. Each situation needs to be evaluated carefully. A day of clover leafing normally costs me about 100 miles which adds up to $23+. My truck cost per mile for all consumables, oil, diesel, tires is about $0.23 a mile when not towing. Nothing is ever simple is it.

Most of the afternoon was spent interviewing nonworking or self employed folks under the age of 65 about who they use for health insurance. The bad news is that of the approximate dozen interviewed, no one had health insurance due to the monthly cost. WOW. The other part of the afternoon was spent searching the internet for possible insurers. Finally Aetna was found to have a catastrophic policy that could be lived with for about $375 a month. The application took me about two hours to fill out and get ready to mail tomorrow. Who knows what will be next!!!!!

Overall it has been a very interesting and informative day, but definitely not one filled with tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Fredericksburg Fall Foliage Frolic

Fredericksburg, Texas

This morning started with a lot of banging and heavy engine noise with vehicles running back and forth outside my bedroom window. That is very unusual for this exceptionally quiet park. It seems a pile of weekenders had come in early to get busy trying to have fun. At least it was after the end of quiet time so there is no real complaint from this end. Most likely my packing the truck in an early morning bothers someone a little too. You know you are living good when someone getting ready for an adventure wakes you at 8 am.

Speaking of adventures, a nice lady who writes a great blog (http://www.mytripjournal.com/travel-404650), fell and broke a foot recently. Check out her comments about exercise for older folks. While you are there look around at her site. It usually gives me a chuckle or a feel good.

Later in the morning, a glance out the kitchen window yielded a large volume of cars parked in the field behind the rv park. On investigation, it was found out that the Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club is having their Fredericksburg Fall Foliage Frolic today. There is 10, 34, 44 and 54 mile routes laid out for folks to enjoy.

While taking these pictures, a careful watch was being made to see if a Surly bike was in attendance. Sadly none were found. My good eye is searching for a Surly LHT to become mine in the future. Some folks came with a lot of rolling gear, like these folks in this truck.
One thing bikers do not like is stickers in their tires. Fixing flats is a way of life with bikers unless you use airless tires like Sturdy Steed had up in Washington.
Perhaps this rider got the stickers in the short ride from the pavement to his vehicle. Those thin wall high pressure tires flat fairly easily.

For the afternoons amusement, some golf practice was done. To my surprise, the practice was very good instead of a session of frustration. If this keeps up breaking a hundred might happen. With that bit of excellent luck, maybe this was a good day of having tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Sticker Shock

Fredericksburg, Texas

Definitely not a day of too much fun. Notice came in today that the health insurance on me is going up a huge amount to almost $900 a month and that does not fit into my budget. So now the choice is between going back to work to get insurance or going without health insurance. This puts me in the same boat with a lot of folks in my age group. It is not a nice place to be. No matter what happens this has been a great year in my life. It would have been terrible to miss out on all the adventures.

The news had me down a bit, so off to visit Mac for an uplift. We had a bit over two hours of great conversation. Even if you do not care for a visit to the fort, a visit with Mac will certainly be worth your while. He always leaves me feeling excited to be alive.

The rest of the day was spent not spending money. A walk in the park and some clean up in the truck were the other big events in my life. Tomorrow starts a new month and a great opportunity to get out and have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

A Good Paddling Was Needed

Fredericksburg, Texas

A busy fun day today. This morning a visit to the Fort Scott Martin historical site to visit with OF Mac. He is acting in a local show written by some guy named W. Shakespeare. It did not take very long watching the show to see that Mac was the best actor on stage by a wide margin. We visited for a little over two hours. Where we get so much to talk about is beyond me, but every time we get together the fun goes on for hours.

Arriving home a bit late made me very hungry for lunch, but WOW was it worth the wait. Stir fry in Zesty Italian Dressing some squash, bell pepper, celery and onion for a bit. About half way through toss in a half cup of chopped grilled chicken. Add a beverage of choice like fresh coffee and kick back for a treat.

Of course a great lunch like that needs an equal supper right? How about coleslaw with Marie’s coleslaw dressing? Then add in some cold boiled shrimp and for a beverage some cold lemonade. Some days my food is so good it is sensuous.

After lunch the wind was ripping the trees apart, but the yak is tough so we went for a paddle. After unpacking the truck and getting the yak ready, it was looking a little iffy on the water.

However the wind slowed dramatically so the paddle started by heading for the shelter of the tree line by going downstream which is left from the picture above. When a lapse of wind allowed me to stop paddling for a moment, this was the view back upstream at the launch point.


It is amazing that the pictures came out as well as they did. Between a slightly rocking yak and the wind blowing us all over the place, it was expected for all the shots to be too blurry to use. Luck was with me though.

The route continued downstream toward the dam and alongside the tree line. It is a fairly nice area. There is a nice nature trail in the trees on the right.

As the dam was approached the current became a factor to with which to contend. When the yak was near a shore, the current was nil. This picture was taken just as the current became a factor in the yak handling. It was not really dangerous but you did have to pay attention to maintain your chosen route.
From the dam area the route started upstream through a shallow slough filled with turtles. This picture is of one of them swimming under water. It is in the bottom right. They were not particularly scared, but cautious. One large one even came over like it was going to try to climb into the yak. It was gently pushed away with the paddle.
The route went past the launch point and on upstream with the wind. Here is a view along some reeds. The golf course is on the left.


A few hundred yard farther on is where this picture of Comfort Castle was taken. It is the little trailer to the left.
The wind had come back with a vengeance so handling the yak prevented any more pictures until the turnaround point. There is a large rock cliff we passed that will have to wait for another day to get its picture in the blog.

The turnaround point is the low water crossing/dam that provides access to the golf course. Getting to close to the dam would not be the best thing to do because of the many jumbled rocks just under the water. It is not really a deadly area, but you could knock some serious hide off your body if you turned over in there. This picture was from a proper distance back and out of any danger.

Now the long paddle against the wind back to the launch point. More than once thought was given to paddling to the bank and pulling the boat out of the creek. Then a comfortable hike back to the launch point to get the truck would have been easy. However, it did not happen. The creek curves just enough that by hugging the leeward bank, the wind was somewhat abated.

Except, of course, when the route had to cross the creek to the opposite bank as the wind shifted or the creek curved. To my astonishment, entering and exiting the yak was done without getting my feet wet or dirty.
What an awesome day to try to have tooooo much fun! TheOFM.

LMSP Part Two

Fredericksburg, Texas


Today has been a fix up day at the trailer. The new LP detector was installed and tested. It works properly. A close examination of the old one showed absolutely no damage or anything obviously wrong. It resides in the trash can outside now.


Unpacking the pack from yesterdays hike led to some surprises. It seems that the supplies for the LMSP hike were placed on top of the remains from the last Enchanted Rock hike, so there were a few pounds extra that helped strengthen my legs. Now the pack is totally unpacked so the next hike will require packing from scratch. There is not a chance of getting repacked for the next hike without forgetting something. The fun never ends.


Both of the electric heaters were stripped down and thoroughly cleaned. The bearings were lubricated with the proper lubricant for their type of bearing. Fan blades were cleaned, grilles washed clean and the whole thing assembled and tested. Now Comfort Castle is ready for cold weather. The electric heaters are quiet enough that they do not wake me like the central furnace does when it runs at night. Aside from that at this campground electric is included in the price.


And now back to the halfway point in the LMSP hike of OF Bob and TheOFM. We made it up the staircase and rested for a couple of minutes, then started the trek across the mesa. At several spots at the edge of the mesa is a rock edge to view the valley below. You can actually sit on the edge, dangle your feet over the edge and have a nice snack or lunch. Here is OF Bob taking in the view from the top of the surrounding area and the valley way below us. That white stripe just in front of OF Bob is the very steep ball bearing path you take to get down the cliff.

At another prime viewpoint this picture was taken of the color and the ponds below the cliffs. The trail to get down is very steep and covered with loose rock nearly as bad as ball bearings. With my bad left knee it took me a long time to make it down all the slippery stuff. Thank heavens for my sturdy hiking stick. Without it my pants would likely have worn out the backside.
Once down to the valley the walking was a lot easier, but still at least a mile back to the truck. As we hiked along below the cliffs, this cloud set was noticed. It is a new style of cloud to me, but was very interesting to see.

Finally after the loooooong walk back to the truck, it was lunch time. We claimed a table in the shade of some trees and to my surprise, we had no insects bothering us. That was the best sandwiches ever made in my life. The hike had taken us four hours. OF Bob came up with a great description for us. Since we meander so well, we must be MEANDERTHALLS.

On the way back to OF Bob’s home we stopped at another OF from our past. OF Mike has been an avid reader of OFM Adventures for some time. We had not seen each other since April of 2002 when my Washington employment started. He was looking very well and we had a wonderful visit. With a little luck the three of us, The Meanderthalls, will be going to Enchanted Rock in a couple of weeks. This is OF Mike with tree limb growing through his head.

OF Mike is really a neat fellow with a little bit of a Jeremiah Johnson thrown it for good measure. It will be a really special time to get to visit with him for more than a few minutes.

It is very late as this is typed, so tomorrow may start a little later than today in my effort to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

LMSP Part One

Fredericksburg, Texas

Yesterday wore me out totally. Thank you Mr. Shadow for covering for me last night. Seemed like the fun would never stop and that was great. Old Friend Bob is a wonderful fellow. When the truck rolled into his place, he was eager to get going, but we needed to check on a neighbor who had not gone to work that morning. We walked over to the neighbor’s home to check if any help was needed. The neighbor was just a bit under the weather and getting along fine, so we had a nice walk through the trees back to his truck. It is wonderful to have folks who will notice and check on your well being.

On the way to Lost Maples State Park, there were several spots OF Bob had fly fished in the past. We paused to enjoy one of the streams while he told me stories of fish caught and not caught. It is a beautiful stream as were many others we crossed that day.

Another stop was at an old friends home, but he was not there. We promised to be back after our hike. Now it was LMSP for another adventure. We checked in at the ranger station, picked up a map of the trails and headed for the trail head. After a careful assembly of our gear and us, it was off to tackle the trail. It is actually not a hard trail, but it has a lot of loose ankle twisters the whole way. That makes for difficult walking.

When the conditions are correct the canyons explode in color. Our trip is about two weeks early, so the colors were scattered. Here is some of the trees showing color right now.

This was OF Bob’s first time to hike the east trail so he was enjoying the canyon. We came to a bright Maple and Bob was captured for eternity admiring the scenery.

We enjoyed short visits with several folks on the trail. The studies OF Bob is doing for his Texas Master Naturalist certification came in handy for helping folks identify things along the trail. After a bit more hiking, an impressive cliff came into view. Another hiker used my camera to take this picture of the Dynamic Duo at the base of the cliff.
On the opposite side of the trail from the cliff was the path of the creek headed toward a hillside with some nice color on it. After walking downstream a short ways, this was the scene captured.

At another spot along the canyon trail was this sort of grotto with a bench nearby to allow you to rest in a very peaceful oasis. The ferns were very pretty and some were very delicate appearing.

Shortly after the grotto, the trail climbs out of the canyon to the mesa on top. In the years past there were “steps” hacked into the rocks to help you get to the top. In the years of my Washington time, some virtual stairs have been constructed of the natural rocks. It is a lot easier to climb the several hundred feet to the top now. The elevation on top is about 2200 feet, but the climb usually requires at least two rest stops since it is sooooo steep. My breathing was so heavy that holding a camera steady for a picture was not possible.

About here you are at the halfway point of the trail. It has already been a full fun day and a lot more remains to be told of our attempt to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Worn Out

Fredericksburg, Texas

This is TheOFM's shadow writing to let you know that he is soooo pooped from all the fun hiking, visiting and taking pictures that he is headed for the shower and bed immediately. He told me to tell you that he will definitely write a blog entry tomorrow morning when he can keep his eyes open. You know how it is with those OLD folks and how easy having tooooo much fun wears them out. Mr. Shadow.

Inks Lake

Fredericksburg, Texas

The Highland Lakes of central Texas are a beautiful string of lakes on the Colorado River. Depending on who you talk with, they are irrigation lakes or flood control lakes. No matter why, they are some of the prettiest most heavily used lakes in the South. One of them is named Inks Lake and on that lake is a state park with the funny name of Inks Lake State Park. Where ever did they come up with that unique name??

A tour of the state park reveals a somewhat crowded but extensive camping area. The boat ramp and store area do not have any extra space either. However on most weekends this park is packed shoulder to shoulder. During the week it is very nice. My plan is to do a little truck/tent camping here with the yak and fishing equipment. It should be a nice change of pace. Since it had been MANY years since my last visit, my visit was to determine if it was still an OK place during the week. It is. The park is very worn.

There is over seven miles of designated hiking trails inside the park and lots of pretty clear water. The roads wind all over the hills inside the park and will be nice for a bike ride during the cooler part of the day. In a few weeks it will also be cool enough for nice sleeping in a tent.
As you approach the park from the north there is a viewpoint looking over part of the lake. In this picture the state park camping area is on the left of the lake.

Wandering around in the park gave me a chance to take some pictures from right at waters edge. There are lots of coves and inlets. The entire lake smells like it is good fishing. In fact on my last trip here years ago, a large quantity of white bass were caught from the western fishing pier after dark. The lights on the pier were on and this fish catcher man was able to sit in a lawn chair and catch fish until he got tired of it.
This picture above is looking from the pier back to a cove behind some of the campsites.

This picture above and the one below were taken from spots right at the waters edge in various parts of the park. It certainly makes me want to get out there in the yak and tour the lake.


Taking pictures required s good bit of hiking and rock hopping. The views were wonderful every where you looked.

When the trip back happens, it well could be overwhelming trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

An Old Red Car

Fredericksburg, Texas
The hitch itch was getting fairly severe. The truck was chomping at the keys. The only solution was a trip to somewhere. The day had started out very overcast, but by eleven am it was breaking up. Head north OFM. Head north.

North on highway 16 is a pleasant town named Llano. And in that town is a beautiful lake and park. Around the town are historic old buildings. The drive north was very pleasant as the truck rolled over the hills and valleys. Traffic was light and the scenery was delightful. Autumn is starting to show in the colors of the leaves. It will be about two weeks more before the leaves will be at their best. This area is still in a drought situation so the color may be a little diminished this year.

Several folks were out for a ride on this day with the blue skies. One couple apparently had been out to one of the car rallies and were on their way home. This car had an MG emblem on the front and a car buff will be able to identify it for us. The air temperature when this picture was taken was about 73 degrees.

The park was nicely restful as my lunch was eaten in the shade. Along the bank two fellows were trying their luck at catching the fish visible in the river. The fish were winning, but the fellows were having a wonderful time anyway.

This looks like a great place for my yak. Too bad it was asleep under Comfort Castle instead of with me. There were several places that were accessible for launching the yak into the river. The dam creates the lake that is the water supply for the town of Llano. No motors allowed in this drinking water.

The water is very clear and clean appearing. The deepest part of the rock visible in the next picture is about ten feet down according to the local fellow that was fishing. The river is over twenty feet deep in the river bed area.

After a little more looking around it was time to head back home. In my notebook are notations about things to examine carefully on the next trip. A large old building with bars on the window and a Texas Historical Marker was being used as a Haunted House for the Halloween celebrations in town. Most likely in Llano tonight will be a night of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Making Holes In The Sky

Fredericksburg, Texas

This town is something else, still. An additional event today is a old airplane fly in. After my new lpg detector was gotten from the RV dealer, nothing much else happened today. There was a little bike riding and a little walking but no real excitement.

The airplanes over at the airport were pretty active today. A lot of rich folks fly in from Houston, San Antonio, Dallas/Ft. Worth and many other places for the events here in town. Here are a couple of the visitor planes.




The old airplanes were lined up on the airport concrete, but they are a bit too far away for my camera to pull them in well. My background is not in airplanes so you will have to identify them. Here is a low wing war plane and a biplane. The biplane was apparently taking folks up for rides today.

The biplane made one take off at the right time for me to get two pictures of it in action. Notice the folks in the plane cockpits.

The pilot may have been playing, because right after the wheels came off the ground the plane wiggled back an forth like something was wrong. He did it every time he had a passenger. It was amazing how slowly the biplane flew.

There was one other small airplane taxiing around for a few minutes. It was painted like an old army plane. It never flew and actually went back to a hanger while other activity was going on.

A change in plans has put me going to the live play tonight in about an hour. So with the need to get busy getting cleaned up to go, tonight’s blog is short. Everyone go out and try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

What Is Going On?????

Fredericksburg, Texas

This town is something else. Three tourist events going on this weekend and the town is less than ten thousand in population. One is a big gun and knife show at the fairgrounds. From the looks of the lines of exhibitors it will be enormous.

The second is a classic car show at the convention center. There has been piles of old classic cars rolling into town. Many are being driven in their bright shiny glory by their owners. Others are being brought in on trailers. One tow seen on highway 16 was a medium duty truck towing a trailer with five nice older cars on it. For old car buffs this town will be ecstasy for the next two days.

The third thing is not known, because there were no signs telling what is going on at the market plaza. However a large crew was getting it ready for some extravaganza. The identity will likely be available tomorrow.

And last but far from least the live theater company here in town is putting on a play by
Shakespeare. My old buddy Mac is acting in it. Sunday is the performance planned for my attendance. Mac requested that no tomatoes or cabbage be thrown at him. My response is with the stock market collapse, those vegetables are for me to eat.

The silly allergies still have me a bit wiggly on my feet so no biking or golf was attempted. Tonight’s walk gave me the feeling that my allergies are on the wane. If that proves to be correct, tomorrow ought to be a wild one of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

The Red Eye Special

Fredericksburg, Texas
We got all the travelers out the gate and on the road by ten am this morning. My truck was working up a heck of a froth on the front bumper wanting to go along. Comfort Castle just sat there pouting. Our time will come again. Hitch itch must be brought about by diesel, propane and blood since we all three have the itch.

Other than the goodbyes, nothing in the way of an adventure even tried to happen today. It was another not feeling well day, but at least there are clues today. Itchy red rimmed eyes and a mild headache all day usually means allergy. The strong front that blew in yesterday must have brought some undesirable gifts for me. Most likely tomorrow will be a lot better. Tonight is supposed to be bitter cold and clear---37 degrees OUCH. The heaters will be working tonight.

Late morning was visit Mac at Fort Martin Scott. We solved a lot of worldly troubles very easily. Of course there has to be opposing opinions to keep the friendly discussions lively. Eventually there were visitors to interrupt the conversations. A goodbye was said and off to the grocery store on the way home.

After lunch a nap was desperately needed. Three hours later my eyes blinked open with the sun coming in the window right terrorizing my face. My blood had been replaced with cold molasses. Man this allergy stuff is rough.

To get myself going, a little golf pitch and putt practice was tried. What a dismal event!!! But at least there was blood back in the veins and even flowing slightly.

Now there is chicken cooking to be put away in individual meal quantities in the freezer. After supper it will be an unusual event in this home called TV time with some freshly popped popcorn and rootbeer. It is not the proper time for vigorous physical activity. Look out for some adventure tomorrow while trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Big Race Day

Fredericksburg, Texas

It was race day in the park. The last two days there have been folks preparing the park for the high school cross country foot race. All day there has been trucks and atv equipment running all over putting out red cones or hanging flagging. The ground has the limed stripe of the course running all around it.

Earlier today on the way back from the golf course, this was the scene greeting you as you crossed the low water bridge.


My guess is it was the start line. A walk along the limed stripe yesterday proved that this would be a fair test for cross country runners. That route would likely give me a heart attack if running it were attempted. The girls race ran first while the light was better. This is part of the girls pack making the loop near the baseball diamonds.
The boys race was run in fairly dim light so the picture is less crisp. This is on the section a little after the start line but before the loop around the baseball diamonds.
The race path came right behind my trailer. These kids were tired by the time they made it to Comfort Castle. As this point one of the coaches was heard to say that it is only a half mile to the finish line. This is the lead girls pack.

It was too dim to get a shot of the boys as they passed behind the trailer. However a great shot of the Comfort Castle spectators was achieved. Left to right is Lloyd, Daryl then most important is Mary.
We had a long joyful time visiting and watching the races. All three are leaving the park tomorrow for other locations in search of having tooooo much fun. TheOFM

A Bad Body Day

Fredericksburg, Texas

The bad news is that Lloyd of www.wandrin.us fame had to put up with an ailing old fat man during our adventures today. It is certain that my body not feeling well got in the way of Lloyd’s trying to have tooooo much fun. He was very nice and pleasant about it. Thank you Lloyd.

One of the early things we did this morning is go out and hunt for a cinnamon roll. Here is the hunter on the stalk.

We were successful in finding cinnamon rolls, but you will need to check Lloyd’s blog to see if it was any good. Lloyd is the head cinnamon expert of the world.

We also went out to Wildseed to visit and check out what is new there. There were several new things for yard decorations. One decoration especially for my DIL is the frog statues. Here is a bunch of little froggies all sitting in place as if waiting for the teacher to start class.

Over in the patio decorations were several new figures for you amazement. This ant statue and several others could make great conversation pieces for your porch or gazebo.


On a fence was a vine with beautiful flowers. They would make a good screen from a near by walk or street and be very nice to view also.


By now it was getting to be time for lunch, so back into town we went. We walked a lot of blocks in the town looking for a place to eat. We found that most of the restaurants were closed on Tuesdays. The place we ate at finally, after much trudging around the town, was named Winklers (maybe). My chicken salad was very good and only slightly too expensive. After lunch we stopped at the Thrift Shop in hopes of finding some good bargains, but alas we walked out empty handed.

By now I was worn and we headed home. Lloyd let me out at my home. Rest and ibuprofen was next on my need list. By the time happy hour came around at five, my body was doing relatively well. We were joined by my new neighbors Daryl and Mary from Mesa, Arizona.

Lloyd, Daryl, Mary and I had some great conversations on many things. It turns out Lloyd, Daryl and Mary had lived some of their lives in areas near each other. Lots of fun stories and tales were related. With the help of all these nice folks, it turns out that it was a good day for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

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.