Red Snow?

Adventure Location:  Mustang Island Beach, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-5-2013

How about some Mustang Island beach pictures? Now that the Truck is mobile again the roaming has commenced. We rolled into the State Park at Mustang Island after lunch today. There were very few folks out and about everywhere we went. It was great. During the wandering the OFM managed to strain his right ankle again. He certainly is a clumsy fool.

The first sight of delight was just after we left the parking lot.  The low sand dunes were covered with some type of red plant.  It looked like red snow on the antique white sand. Actually it was very pretty and way brighter than the following picture shows it.

When we got closer it was easy to see that the red is from the stems of the plants. Maybe this is a variety of ice plant. They have to be very tough to survive in this hostile environment.

From these red plants we meandered out to the water line of the beach. The wind has the water blown way out from the normal water line. Our goal was to see what there was to see and report it.

During the three mile walk there were a lot of leaves laid out flat and looked like they had been glued down to the sand. We even found this moth laid out like it was glued down.

Since the wind was keeping the waves down there was not a lot of great beachcombing material on the beach, but we found some anyway. For instance this seed pod.

The OFM has seen them before near inland ponds. Some get a lot larger. This one was about an inch and a half across. You can cut them at the right time and let them dry. When they are dried correctly, you can use them as a rattle or paint them for decorations.

On one small hummock were some very small plants with beautiful pink stems supporting the green leaves. These plants are about one inch tall at this time.

This next shell was quite a bit different than all the others we feasted our eyes on today.

The colorful spiral is really neat. If it had not been broken it might have come home with us. An RVer has to be careful about bringing home every little thing that is cute. It accumulates rather quickly.

Since we had given away all the sea hearts found in the past, this one that was begging to be taken home came back to the Castle with us. It will be a nice project to polish it up and make it shine for folks to admire.

Yep beachcombing is another good way of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Into The Purse

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-7-13 maybe

The mosquitos have hatched. They weight around a hunnert pounds each here in Rockport. The lump they leave is the size of four BBs. And the bite leaves a small hole in your skin that oozes blood for a couple of minutes. These are not nice demons. So far the population is small but the increase is imminent. The mosquitos are another good reason to get away from the corrosion enhanced coast.

At least the golf course in Sinton did not have mosquitos out in force to bite us as BillyBob and I played the course. Of course the prevailing thirty plus mph wind may have had something to do with that. The wind was strong enough that on more than one occasion the wind pushed your putt up a hill instead of the putt drifting downhill into the hole. We had a great time. Here is the world famous BillyBob headed into the local “greasy spoon” as he calls it.

The steady very strong winds have been blowing the water out of the bays around here. Late this evening the OFM visited some friends down by the pier. The Rockport Beach is a lot larger right now than normal. The normal water level is where the brown from the right meets the beige on the left.

A very unfortunate young lady at the Whataburger tonight provided the entertainment for the customers. She was sitting at a table with her large suitcase size purse open in the chair next to her. As she turned toward the door, her arm turned her supersize drink over. It emptied into her open purse. WOW what a mess. She was highly embarrassed at this turn of events. That was not the way to have fun.

Plans for the Teams have to change due to the delay of some mail we expected to get today. Now we have to do some more planning for getting out and trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Nearly Died

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-7-13 maybe

That alarm clock nearly died a premature death when it went off this morning. TheOFM then realized that he had to get up way earlier than usual to get the Truck to the doctor’s office. The morning went smoothly and at the right time the Truck was started and we made it to the shop with ten minutes to spare. The Truck was parked at the side of the lot.

A few minutes later the mechanic went out to move the Truck to the shop and there was no power steering. A look under the hood showed that the belt was broken!

How is that for good luck, the belt breaks in the mechanics parking lot. Quick review finds a frozen idler pulley.

There is belt parts melted to the pulley. This is easy to see with the pulley removed.

More examining showed that another idler pulley ready to freeze up totally. You can see particles on the pulley in this picture.

More examination found the tension pulley was wobbling on its shaft and needed to be replaced. WOW that is a lot of stuff failing at once. What should we expect with 215000+ miles on the equipment?

The parts were not available in Rockport but the distributer in Corpus has them available.  The parts should arrive by 1130 this morning. The Truck should be out of surgery by 1400 and feeling really good.

The OFM got SightSeer out of the back of the Truck and road back to the Castle in the bitter damp cold of 48°F. His fingers were stiff and frozen by the time we made it back to the Castle. Now all we have to do is keep the credit card limber and ready to bail out the Truck this afternoon.

The CALL came at 1130 that the Truck was ready. The OFM and SightSeer headed over to pick up the Truck. It was ready and waiting for them. A simple charge of $400 and away we went. The labor was only $60.

Now the Teams are ready and able to get busy trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Bit Of A Breeze

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

The bit of a breeze in Rockport kept most folks inside for most of the day. The Teams took a ride down to Light House Lakes to see how things were. The gentle breeze had three feet high waves going in the six inch deep water near the shore. After a bit of walking and sandblasting of the OFM’s skin and glasses, we headed back to the Truck.

As we neared the Truck, the OFM tried to open the door lock with his key fob transmitter. Finally he got it to work by giving six feet of Kentucky windage to the signal. We did not know the wind could affect the signal direction so much.

In the roads and parking lots are lots of palm tree parts that have been blasted from the palm trees. Down at LHL in the parking lot were several prickly pear pads that had been ripped off by the winds. All in all it has been a good day for staying inside.

The Truck trouble has gotten bad enough now that we know it is the new alternator that is making all the screaming noises. It looks like at 0800 tomorrow the Teams will be at the Truck doctor’s office to get another alternator installed. The old one is a month out of warranty and we would have to go back to Del Rio to for assistance if the warranty was still good. Looking back it is easy to see how badly that dealer in Del Rio shafted the Teams.

The schedule is looking better for some trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Bleah

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

Damp, drizzly, cool to chilly, breezy and gray are the descriptors for this day. It was not bad day in that nothing bad or great happened. If anything describes this day it is this next picture. The OFM pulled the Truck up next to the harbor bulkhead and fished from inside the cab of the Truck. Good grief, he even figured out how to cast without getting out of the cab.

That session lasted about forty five minutes before the OFM and the inside of the Truck was getting wet from the water laden air. Then tonight when the OFM came out of Wal-Mart about 1930, the air was heavy with a misting fog. The Teams headed for the Castle to hibernate for the night.

We need some sunshine so the Teams can get out and work on trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Community Campfire

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

Adventures today were mostly the visiting folks kind of adventure. There were two rigs that left here this morning. That means that we lost four nice folks from the campground. That leaves an opening for a nice RVer to come in for some great visiting with other folks. The fishing is about to break loose any day now. Call Dawn at 361-790-5987 to find out what will be available when you want to come on in. Please tell her the OFM sent you. I will get a thank you if you do.

Here is a bad photo of the start of the evening’s gathering at the community campfire.

Right at sunset the Photo Team headed to the waterfront to try for a new header picture. It is a pretty nice picture in our opinion.

About twenty minutes later we got another pretty nice evening shot.

Evening in Rockport, Texas
 

It was pleasant on the pier with a few fisherfolk to visit. One very young little girl caught a perch and was dancing on the pier ecstatic. We would like to show a picture of her but we do not publish pictures of young kids in public places. It was an entertaining dance that showed how excited she was.

Shortly after the dance show it was time to head back to Anglers RV Retreat to attend the campfire. A community campfire is a nice way to finish a day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Mangled

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

The OFM is feeling sort of all mangled up lately. He probably needs more aerobic exercise like biking and golf. His joints are way too stiff from staying inside out of the strong winds. A tree here in the campground resembles his impression of his physical well-being. Check out those gnarled limbs in this picture.

While piddling around the campground today the OFM notice several signs of spring appearing. These are all flowers close by the Castle. They are the point flowers for the big extravaganza headed our way soon.

Heck there was even an orange fungus peeking out of the forest debris. We guess it is the point fungus for the main body of fungi hiding in wait for the exact proper weather to come into town.

Speaking of weather, when the good weather that is already due in town arrives, lots of folks will be out trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

 

Strange Folks

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

A few weeks ago the OFM was referred to as “strange” by another person trying to demean him. We looked strange up in the online dictionary and got this definition: exciting wonder or awe. Now that seems to be a good thing to the Teams.

A wonderful friend of mine has proven to be “strange” in his announcement today and the OFM Teams totally support his decision to go for a more adventurous life this year. His blog is http://travlinwithjohn.blogspot.com/  . John is going to do his traveling this year while living in a PT Cruiser. WOW that is great news. The Teams will be watching his adventures with great anticipation. Go visit John’s site and tell him you were sent there by the OFM to appreciate his adventure. This is very exciting to the Teams. Never choose ordinary when you can be “strange”.

The OFM seems to be all well again today and got into the preparations for chasing fun.  In fact the latest member of the OFM Teams arrived today. Let me introduce you to Puddle Boat II.

This new Team member is a direct descendant of our original Team member named Puddle Boat and is the new improved model of the Perception Tribe 9.5. PBII is 9’5” long and can carry 300#. It is expected that PBII will be taking the Teams on photo, fishing and meandering trips around the waterways we encounter during our travels. PBII is being rigged while reclining on the picnic table so the OFM does not have to bend over to do the work.

For travel PBII will rest in the back of the Truck. The OFM will not have to wrestle anything onto the top of the Truck with this arrangement. That alone will save him the cost of a lot of ibuprofen.

The Teams are looking forward to PBII helping us get out and try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

 

Hungry For Grease

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

The OFM has had a day of mostly horizontal time recovering from some malaise.  There are no definite symptoms except a general feeling of severe blah and lack of energy. We did a 1.6 mile walk early this morning and that was it for serious moving around.

With this lazy day to use up we spent some time checking the weather in other parts of the west we had considered for the winter time. A popular area is the Tucson area and it is a nice area. We seriously considered this area but a couple of fears held us back from going to that area. It is 300 miles north from our current location. That seems the wrong direction for comfortable winter living.

Then another item is that the Tucson area is about a half mile higher in elevation than our 14 feet here in Rockport.  And now they have snow this late in the year. Yep we did good staying south and low this year.

The Truck is sick again. The serpentine belt idler pulley is crying. It wants some grease. The honest and competent shop in the area is booked solid until our appointment on Tuesday. This is an easy job the OFM is just plain not strong enough to do on his own. So we wait for the Truck doctor to do the surgery.

In the meantime the OFM is keeping a low profile until we can again get busy trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Good Eyes

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

Writing a blog entry dilated with dilated eyes is a really nasty chore. The eyeexam went very   well.

Good eyesight helps the OFM when he is tryingto have tooooo much fun. TheOFM,

Tear Drop Time

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

Getting the income tax done was the major emphasis for the day. On waking in the morning the OFM was forced by the Teams into getting finished with the income tax and getting it filed. The Teams do not want that mess getting in the way of running around.

Back at the Castle right after filing the tax forms a major migraine hit with a vengeance. Naturally the OFM went into survival mode and hit the bed. But the income tax work was finished. YEA!!!!!!!!!!!

When lunch time rolled past the OFM got up and we went to Whataburger for a sandwich and free tea in Aransas Pass. Coming out of Whataburger was some pretty bright flowers on a bush. The camera missed the focus a little bit but they are still pretty.

 After that the OFM was feeling like some gentle walking so the Truck took us to the waterfront along hwy 361 for some gentle exercise and recuperation. TheOFM even got out a rod and lure for some fruitless fishing. But his energy was waning after a bit so we headed back to the Castle and some more horizontal time.

Then late in the afternoon the Ofm got up and moving again. The next item on the fix-it list was to get Sightseer’s seat set up correctly for the new way of riding more gently. That was nice comfortable gentle effort and most importantly was successful. Now SS is ready for longer rides again.

Back in Del Rio the Teams ran across an old RV in great condition. It is a Twilight Bungalow. TB brand is one of the very early good brands of RV. We did not even know that they had made a teardrop version. Here is a front and rear view of it.

The owners said they got it from a family whose ancestor had put it into a garage a long time ago and never used it or had it out until they bought it last year. From their research they had found only six more and none in near this excellent condition. Even if it was neat to see, there is no way the OFM would get along with this style of camping.

He is way too soft to put up with much to put up with much lack of comfort while out trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Reflections

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

Laundry was number one on the agenda this beautiful morning. The good news is that Bay Wash Laundry is two blocks from one of the public piers on the bay front. So while the laundry washed, the Camera Team went looking for pictures. We even found a couple.

As we approached the pier the morning sun was doing a great job of trying to evaporate the entire Gulf of Mexico. The reflection from the water was very strong. The wood pier is the private pier for the motel just behind where the Team was standing.

We walked along the shore toward the public pier enjoying the many different reflections that the sun and water was generating. Looking back at the pier at one point gave us this great view of the interaction of the wind ripples on the water and the reflected image of the pier.

A few more feet and we were looking across a nice area toward the Rockport boat harbor. It would have been great to be out playing in a yak with water this calm. Later in the day the wind got high and made this area a maelstrom.

We made the walk out to the end of the pier. The tide was low so we could see a few critters crittering around on the bottom of the area. A camera shy egret stood guard at the end of the pier. That was one elusive bird to try to photograph.

On the way back to shore a reflection of one of the many palm trees in the area was interesting.  This is actually right side up. It is a neat picture in our opinion.

Back at the laundry the drudgery of laundry was finally finished.

Speaking of finished, let us finish the mystery tool identifications.

This tool was about 20 inches long and the foot part seems to have a pivoting gadget on it. Good luck my friends. Hopefully we will have an answer soon.

Getting neat pictures of reflections is another good way of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Winter Weather

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

Hordes of folks were out braving this horrible winter weather to get in some fishing time.

They were having a great time trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Another Mystery Object

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

All the maintenance chores the OFM let pile up while we were in Del Rio have come home to haunt him. The weather has been very nice for fishing and catching. Several folks from the campground have been out in their boats catching fish these last two days.

The Teams have been fishing some but more doing chores than fishing. With a little luck we will be caught up on Sunday including the stupid Income Tax.  The OFM has no taxable income but when we take a little money from the IRA the IRS keeps 20% until we file the 1040 to get it back. So we fill out forms to get our money back each year. This is dumb in our opinion.

The good news is that the OFM is doing well on the chores instead of sittin doing nuttin. The bad news is that there are still chores to be done. Heck he even (sorta) washed the Truck this afternoon. At least the Truck weighs a lot less now than when we got here to Rockport.

How about another mystery object?

So far some reader has always been able to tell us what each mystery object has been over the years. Guessing at objects function is another way of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Table Move

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

The major chore for today was moving the dining table back about a foot toward the rear of the Castle. This will give the Teams a nicer open area between the couch and the dining table.

It was an interesting chore to do while wearing tri-focal glasses. A ton of the under the table work was done with the OFM holding his glasses up with one hand and using the other hand in an awkward position and his fat body twisted into a knot that would make a pretzel baker proud. All the brackets and pivots and other stuff was removed and discarded. As BillyBob says “a Hunnert” screws had to be removed. Then only about fifty had to be installed in new locations.

The main thing that caused this change was the table was set up originally to be let down between the two dinette benches to become a bed. When door dinette went away the letdown feature was not needed anymore.

The office chair has been being strapped to the table while the Teams are rolling. The extra weight of the chair jerking on the table had loosened the original hardware. Now the table is firmly affixed at several points and should be able to restrain the chair without any difficulty. Future travels will test that optimism.

During one rest period the Teams went to visit an old friend at his new house. They quit the RV traveling a few years ago and stayed in an RV park here in Rockport. Now they have purchased and moved into a very nice home backing up to one of the lakes in the Community Park of Rockport. It was a really great location, nice home and good lot to park all the toys.

Finishing the table move without any bloodletting is a wonderful way of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

 

Different Level Needed

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

The most important things come first. Readers Sharon and John stopped by today for a wonderful visit. They are really nice folks and have a blog that is totally different from this one. It has very important information about places to visit and enjoy. Enjoy their blog at http://zeetraveler.blogspot.com/  .

The stove top in the Castle is set at a slightly different “level” than the Castle’s idea of “level”. When the Castle is level the stove top tilts back to the rear of the stove. This has proven to be a nuisance often but not really a major trouble. Finally the OFM had another of his “ideas” but for a change this one might work out OK.

He decided to place flat washers under the supports on one side of the grill on the stove top.

The new wonderful wok was supplied with a small amount of water to use for the gage of how level things were working out.  It took three adjustments before the wok was a happy wok.  Every cook knows that a happy wok is a good cooking wok. This fix will be tried out for a few days to evaluate the OFM’s silly idea.

Part of the day was spent working on a new fishing rod. The tip was too flimsy for the OFM. He likes a firmer tip. So we hit the harbor to try out the rod. Then we came home and cut some of the tip off. A new tip was installed. Then, of course, we had to go to the harbor and test it again. Still not just right was the conclusion.

After a few minutes thought the decision was made to drop back to 20# braid fishing line from the 30# that was on the reel. Then back to the harbor for another test. AHHHH now it feels right.

Meanwhile the weather warmed a little and the sun came out and the clouds made funny little shapes.

Something about the sewer hose support brought about some comments and emails. Here is what the sewer support looks like for this site.

We generally carry two sections of rain gutter. One is four feet long and the other is a bit over six feet long. A few weeks ago the long piece became shattered from some accident. That meant we had to go purchase another section of rain gutter to replace the six foot section. So now the secret to our sewer support is out in the open.

We guarantee you that having a sewer that works properly is critical to trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

 

Just Visiting

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 maybe

Another day of non-adventure is some ways. It was a great day since the sewer is now hooked up to the Castle. The sewer at this campsite is set high and distant from the pad. The Truck had to take the OFM to Aransas Pass to get a couple of things so the sewer hose could be installed without a droop in it. After two hours plus the sewer is fully functional and in service. Of course we still had about seven days of use before the holding tank would have been full.

Fishing happened for a bit this morning. While down at the harbor one of my friends happened along. We spent a long time discussing what has been going on during my escapade to the Rio Grande River. Now we are both up to date. He was nice enough to give me a good fishing report on where things are going well from the shore.

After lunch the OFM got the Truck to take him over to Corpus Christi to the Coastal Bend Blood Center to relieve him of some of our human magic elixir of life. Now the prize is not a T shirt but points toward some purchase on their website. We have not yet checked out the new system to see what it is all about.

And finally for the evening we visited with lots of old friends here and there around town. All in all it was a good day of trying to have tooooo much fun visiting friends. TheOFM.

Planning And $aving

Adventure Location:  Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13 at the latest

When the Teams headed here to Rockport, TX we had a list of major and minor modifications or additions in mind to do to the Castle and Truck. The morning rain woke the OFM to his disgust. The day has been chilly and wet with strong winds. So the Truck took us to Wal-Mart and Tackle Town. Now the fishing tackle bag has been resupplied and waiting for the wind to get better.

However the rest of the day proved to be extremely productive. Each possible task of change was carefully researched and planned. Part of the planning was to make a list of pro and con or want and need. This sent a couple of chores to the garbage can.

 Then step two was taken. Detail pricing of the chore along with its real value was the next list. Two major expense items were eliminated. Both died from the same malady. Live simpler or spend money to get more complicated. Simpler living won out easily.

Now we are down to about four items to do before we roll again. Receiving mail and income tax info are the major ones left on the agenda. Two more are to give blood and visit another toy store named Academy and look for hiking boots for wide footed fat men.

Even though there was not any special adventure it was a great day for clearing the OFM’s head and making plans for the near future. The results of all the considering has been a serious saving on the outlay of cash.

Tonight we get to have another mystery tool for knowledgeable folks to identify. Last nights had several responders and the Teams thank them all for their help. Here is tonight’s mystery item.

Asking for help on identifying items is another great way of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Old Tools

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Rolling Date: 3-10-13

We rolled out of the Whitsett roadside rest area about 0630 this morning and rolled for an hour or so until the Teams got to Indian Point pull off. There the OFM cooked breakfast in his new wok.  It did extremely well cooking eggs and onions. This seems to be the beginning of a wonderful relationship.

While eating breakfast and waiting for a spell this was the view. The day is very overcast but the temperature was 73.

 The Castle arrived at its new home right at 1000. We were greeted with several howdy’s from folks that were here when we left in December. A lot of the day was spent just visiting with folks. It was a pleasant way of easing back into the coastal lifestyle.

Back in Del Rio is a restaurant with all sorts of tools hanging on the wall. Most of the tools the OFM is familiar with but this one (and a few more another night) he has no idea what they were used for.

If this tools function is known to any reader, please post up so all the rest of us can be edjumacated too.

We did some driving around to see what is new in the area. Not a lot of change in the immediate vicinity. However south on 35 is a lot of dirt work going on. It looks like some fancy housing development is starting up. Maybe we can find out more in the near future.

Meanwhile it is time to get rested up from all the fast travel. There are chores to do and folks to visit. It is all part of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Quick Decision Made

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas

Rolling Date: 2-09-13

Yes Sir, that Grandson Gavin guy knows how to have tooooo much fun. He gets his parents to take him to Walt Disney World and carry him around. Check out this big grin. The Teams are envious.

A morning grocery shopping trip worked out well. The Cooking Team has been searching for a smaller wok to use. The smallest we had found was a 14” and is way too large for our needs. Today in Wal-Mart was this very overpriced small wok that is very heavy aluminum. After handling it to check that my arthritic hands could easily hold the wok, it was added to our bulging shopping cart.

We have great hopes for this wok. The OFM really likes to stir fry his fish when cooking. This might be the perfect item to get back to doing that type of cooking. It was $20.

The OFM was just sittin there watching the drizzle coming down and the cold wind blowing. He decided to read BillyBobs blog. That set his mind into motion. BB thought about going back to the coast for a couple of reasons. The OFM considered that the Teams would have access to several things easily back in Rockport to assist with the modifications to the Castle. A weather check was made. Del Rio is nasty for the next couple of weeks. Rockport is much better. So with twenty minutes of get ready time we rolled out of San Pedro at 1430.

Tonight we are at the Whitsett, Texas rest area on I-37. Tomorrow we will be set up in Rockport, Texas for a couple to four weeks depending on the weather and modifications success. Some serious planning is going on in the OFM’s rattling skull. Plans make a horrible racket when they are banging around in his skull.

There are several items left to blog about, from the wonderful stay in Del Rio that will be getting reported soon. In the meantime the Teams will be very busy trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

 

Low Level Adventure

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas

Rolling Date: After 2-11-2013

The letdown after the stress of worrying about the Castle and how much it would cost for repairs was strong today. Naturally the mild cost of the repair was appreciated by the Teams bank account. SSA income keeps it thin anyway.

A few things happened today but the most fun was the low level adventures. With Lake Amistad being raped of 4” of water a day, lots of new lake bottom show up every day. It is sort of like beachcombing. You chose and area and meander around to see what is new to see.

Our first stop was at the 277 bridge where the OFM used to catch all those white bass. The area is basically dry now. The red line on the picture is where the water level was when the fish were being caught.

While meandering that area we found two and a half links of a chain and then a few meters away were the other two and a half links of the chain.

That would make a great kayak anchor. The OFM could not lift even one link off the ground. Wow that chain is massive.

For the next stop the Truck took us over to Governor’s Landing Recreation area. Since it has been several days since the last escapade there, a lot of new ground has been uncovered. Out near the end of one of the many points sticking into what is left of the Lake was a couple of interesting finds.

The first one noticed was a landing net leaning against a bridge column. Apparently it took a mighty leap from a boat sometime in the past and is now waiting for a new home. The Teams have a never used landing net in the Truck so we passed up this opportunity.

Not too far from the net and up the hill a little is these cable anchors. At least that is what the OFM thinks they are. They are aligned parallel with the bridge structure as if they were for some item used during construction. One thing for sure they are very strong still after all these years since they were installed.

The final item for tonight was a canvas cover and frame lying in the dirt. The synthetic canvas was in very good shape but dirty.  The pipe frame work was badly corroded.

The pipe that arched like the leading edge of some sort of cover has a crank arm on it.  The crank arm has a universal joint in it. We were not able to determine how the cover works or used to work.

Very near to the cover is this large slab that apparently used to have some sort of equipment bolted to it.  Maybe the cover was some sort of protection for the unknown equipment that sat on the slab.

You never know what you will find when the water recedes from an area. However meandering around checking things out is a great way of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.