Glowing Red

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas

Adventure Date: 7-31-2020

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Yep it was a very slow day today.  A little grocery buying and a lot of air conditioning.

A few of the peach trees in the campground have some red leaves showing up in them. It is only on random branches. We do not have any reasonable idea what is causing it since 99% of the tree is doing just fine. The only thing we can think of is hail damage from the bad hail storm a few weeks ago.  

However the red leaves are really pretty for a few days before they turn brown. Check them out.

Looking at red leaves is about the most exciting thing that happened around here today, while we are trying to have tooooo much fun.

Hills

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-30-2020
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The OFM was feeling more like the world was on top of him instead of him on top of the world. He definitely did not feel like a couple of miles of brisk walking, but the Teams ganged up on him.  Pick something outside and exercise you think you can do they told him.  

So he flexed a little and stretched a little and decided he did not want to do fast today but he should be able to do hills. Hilly trails are easy to find around this area.  So we decided to hit up Governor’s Landing  area in the park for some good exercise. It turned out to be an excellent choice for the OFM.

The gear was loaded into Sierra and we took the long fifteen minute drive to Governor’s Landing and got our preferred parking spot. The main parking lot is notched into the side of a high hill. One path runs down to the water area. Here is the path down to the water. It is easy walking but a bit steep and under water at full lake level.

The OFM made the trip to the bottom very comfortably.  After meandering a bit and talking to a fisherman we started back up the hill.  He did have to take one break on the way up but this trail was easily completed.

Next we walked across the parking lot to the stairs up to the top of the hill. And up the stairs we went. The day had turned really pretty so when we got to the amphitheater entry he stopped and took a picture back down the stairs to the parking lot.

Then we went on to the top of the stairs and the campground that is being rebuilt to check it out.  It is going to be great when they finish. One thing being added is a tent pad at most of the sites. This is a popular campground even if it is hard to get trailers in and out of the sites. The Teams have never stayed here.

Check out the view from this campsite. Note the timbers on the right side waiting to be installed as part of a tent pad.

After a meander on the gentle rolling road the Teams headed back to Sierra. We chose the route we came up to go back.  There is another trail that is more rugged but the OFM said his left knee told him to stay off that trail. So we did.

The walk across the parking lot told us that the temperatures were climbing and the Teams agreed it was time for air conditioning. It turned out to be a great outing for trying to have tooooo much fun.

Losing Weight

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date:7-29-2020
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The exciting morning was spent still recuperating from the migraine headache.  The OFM piddled around in the Castle doing not much.  Then right around 1130 he suddenly felt a lot better. This event was right at the 48 hour normal recovery time. It was almost like clockwork.

A home prepared lunch tasted fantastic and the OFM was invigorated to clean out more stuff we no longer need. 

Did you know that clothes in closets and cabinets procreate at great speed? It was less than a year ago we cleaned out about three dumpsters of clothing that was not worn anymore. That left us with only essentials.  Minimalist is the goal.

Well just the main closet in the bathroom yielded two plastic bags of excess clothing that went to the dumpster.  Then for some reason the OFM decided to look in the cabinet under the kitchen sink. A bit of poking around found a full size skillet and a one quart pot that had not been used in at least a year. We replaced them with different cooking pots about a year ago and thought we had discarded these at that time. Nope. So they went into another plastic bag.  And now it all has been deposited into one of the campground dumpsters.

While reading a nice blog a few days ago about a long term RVer, the rver mentioned reducing redundancy between his three tool boxes. A big blinding flash went off in the OFM empty head. That is a place the Teams could definitely lose some weight.  We definitely do not need bike, kayak, golf or backpacking type of tools any more. So now we have a goal to accomplish before the next rolling date.

No matter what it is, it seems that everything about rving has the ability to multiply quickly.  Getting lighter is a good way of trying to have tooooo much fun.

Plans????

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-28-2020
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It has been a typical recovery day for a bad migraine.  Three trips back to nap and let the ibuprofen do its job.  This evening things are looking good for tomorrow health wise.

Last afternoon we went down and checked a new spot for sunset pictures and took this picture in mid afternoon.

Then we went back to that spot for some sunset pictures and one worked out fairly nicely.

Tonight we are headed to another spot for more sunset pictures.  It may be interesting seeing this spot at near dark. It is the far end of the Diablo East Nature Trail. We have traversed the trail often in the light but never been on it at night.  Hopefully it will be worth the effort.

And the final thing for tonight. We are actively trying to set up a date for rolling toward Alabama and looking forward to some grandkid hugging.  Now that grand kid hugging stuff is a great way of trying to have tooooo much fun.

A Trying Day

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-27-2020


What a day! Here it is 2130 and just now getting to the computer to say something intelligent. Nope not intelligent but it has been a day.

First Walmart was out of stock on every one of the five items we wanted this morning. Oh well with the OFM stocked pantry we are not about to starve.

Late morning a migraine hit and shut the OFM down until late in the afternoon.

But Fedex made up for it by not delivering a package we have we were promised for today.  Fedex now lists the package as Delivery Pending.  That is Fedex speak for we have lost your  package again. The Teams have been down that trail a few times in the past.

But the good part of the day is we found a couple of places while on the morning walk that look promising as a location for taking sunset pictures. So when it is all put together, the OFM is still breathing and griping and we have a new picture taking location to explore.

It was a bit of work and attitude adjustment but the day finished up as a decent day of trying to have tooooo much fun.

Memories of Fun

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 2002-2007
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The Deschutes River Trail was one of MANY trails in Washington and Oregon available to enjoy year around. This trail is a railroad bed that served the area years ago.  We always accessed it from at the Columbia River entrance. From there to the RR Station south it was about 15 miles if the OFM recalls correctly. These two picture are good examples of this trail and lots of the others in the two states.
Somewhere on the trail looking North.

Somewhere on the trail looking South.

The trail was open all year. Sometimes it had snow two to four inches deep and the off road bikes would have a ball on it.

The whole Pacific Northwest Area was a wonderful place for trying to have tooooo much fun.

Current Situation

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-25-2020
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A couple more rigs rolled out this morning.  This campground is like a great boondocking spot with lots of great facilities. Here is the view from the Castle’s door.

Then we took a picture from the other side of the Castle through the kitchen window. This is the crowded area of the campground.

That hurricane Hannah down on the coast is going to give us some better weather for a few days. Today the OFM made the in the campground loop through the desert and at 0745 it was already pretty hot we thought. The culprit was the humidity. At 78% it was way out of line for this area. No breeze this morning did not help either. So the walk was shortened to 1.75 miles and a great cooling shower when the OFM finished.

After some serious talking by phone with the OFM’s son about when north Alabama will be safe to visit, we came up with the same conclusion.  So now the OFM is going to set up reservations and other plans to roll that direction in mid September. This flu mess certainly has messed up the OFM Teams travels this year.  On the other hand, The OFM has had a chance to do a LOT of learning about a couple of subject dear to him. So it has definitely not been a waste. And we have been doing rather well at the trying to have tooooo much fun.

Nothing Exciting

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-24-2020
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Nothing much today.  A mile of air conditioned walking at Walmart and then back home to the Castle.  Then later a quick run to get some pictures for a painting the OFM thought about. 

Back at the Castle it was study time and practice time with the art supplies. Then before  we knew it it was supper time and time to write the blog entry.

It was definitely a pleasant but not exciting day of trying to have tooooo much fun.

Rainbow Grass

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-23-2020
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The OFM was awakened early this morning  and when he headed back to bed he noticed it was already 0557 on the bedroom clock. Oh well let us just get an early start on the walking while it is only 81F outside.  By the time breakfast was eaten and other items finished we got into Sierra and down the road in time to be parked at the Spur454 boat ramp area just about 0700 and 83F.  The parking spot Sierra chose had a nice early sunrise view and it was appreciated.

This morning the OFM was nursing a bit of a bruised ankle so we stayed along side the hwy 454 for the walking. It turned out to be a really good choice since we had shade for the walk going out from the ramp area.

As we walked briskly the OFM mentioned he was feeling good except for the sore ankle, so we moved on out a bit faster than usual for the whole 2.5 miles of walking.

As we moved along the wilderness area the sunshine was making many nice views with sunlight hammering it s way through all the growth.  We chose this next picture for tonight. The light coming through the grasses waving in the breeze was making dancing rainbows all over the place. The OFM had never seen that happen before and it was exciting enough he stopped and watched the scene for a couple of minutes. The picture naturally does not do the event justice.

On down the road about a half mile more is where an arroyo cuts back from the main lake.  It is a moderately reasonable water access point and there is parking near the road.  This fellow and his two kids were on an early fishing excursion it looked like.

We hope they had great luck with the adventure.  They were still out there a half hour later when we came back down the road wishing Sierra would come pick us up.  

We got back to Sierra with some water left in the walking bottle to the OFM’s surprise. The OFM is thinking about setting an alarm clock to keep up this early(cooler) walking. We will see what he actually does. 

We had nothing special to do this afternoon so the OFM finally got started on another painting.  It is called a painting even though we are using colored pencils for most of it.  Maybe it will be worth showing when it is finished. Maybe not. We will see.

Over all it has be a good day of trying to have tooooo much in several ways. 

Social Residents

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-22-2020
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It was a good walk this morning at 277North area. From where Sierra parked at the gate it is one mile to the turnaround point, down hill all the way. Of course we do have to come back the same way to get back to Sierra.  The lake bottom has grown in nicely and a thunderstorm last night in this area sure greened up some of the vegetation.

Shortly after we started down the hill so local residents came out to wish us “ HAVE FUN”. They were sociable and polite.

We made the walk down in the shade of the brush on the east side of the roadway.  Then going back up most of the shade was gone and it got a bit hot. We need to hit these trails earlier in the morning in the future.

The two mile round trip was just right and the shower back at the Castle was even better. The rest of the day was spent goofing around doing little of worth..Called an old friend to see if he was still breathing regularly and he was. We talked for almost an hour.  He is in Michigan for the summer.

And there you have it. A rough day of trying to have tooooo much fun. 

Christmas Decorations

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-21-2020

Not much happening today.  The big excitement was taking a picture of the colorful sap coming from a nearby peach tree.  A few weeks ago a miserable hail storm came through and cracked the limb of the tree. The campground owner diligently came through doing proper pruning on the damaged trees in the campground.

On the way back from a garbage run to the dumpsters, the eagle eyed OFM noticed the near Christmas Decorations appearance of the sap from the tree having many colors emanating from the wound area due to the sunlight refraction.

We hope all our readers had a wonderful day of trying to have tooooo much fun.

Electricity Quit

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-20-2020
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Not much happening today.  We did get over to Diablo East early enough to see a pretty start to the trail of choice today.

The walking went well and covered more than two miles. At the end it was getting a bit hot so it was wise to shut down and head for the AC.

The big excitement came  a while later when we were attempting to check out at Walmart.  Just as the OFM was trying to insert his credit card the ENTIRE store lost electrical power.  The emergency power to lighting  kicked in and quickly the employers took control of the situation and started clearing shoppers from the store.

We exited the store and noticed all the shoppers were being calm about it all. Sierra got us back to the Castle in fine shape and the OFM spent the rest of the day trying to do a watercolor painting with total failure.

But at least we were trying to have tooooo much fun while wasting paper.

Hit The Trail

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-19-2020
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It was unreal this morning after more than two weeks of super high temps.  We had the windows open in the Castle and a fan pushing fresh desert air in.  WOW it was a nice couple of hours for a change.

After a very slight precipitation event the OFM decided to attack the campground loop trail that goes up on the hill behind the campground. The trail has been in the blog often but it has been a while since he made his way around the trail and looped the campground also. That gave him a nice 2 mile credit. Here is the view as we approached the high point on the hill.

By the time the OFM was rested it was time to plan lunch and supper.  Supper was easy, a big salad with chicken and other goodies.  But lunch took a little thought and then it was a fantastic idea that made an even better lunch.  A fresh bell pepper was chopped up and part of it pan fried with some pre-diced potatoes. A fresh slice of chopped onion joined the party as well as a couple of choice spices. When that was ready, a couple of eggs were scrambled and added to the lunch plate.  Some honey sweetened BBQ sauce was trickled over the top of it all.  YAHOOOOOO that was a great feast.

Then a nice nap and get to work on the current art study in progress.  All in all it was a very good day in the desert trying to have tooooo much fun.

Two Walks

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-18-2020
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It was a restless night so the OFM slowly got out of bed and noticed it was later than he had planned on arising.  That is OK.  There is nothing pressing today he thought. And he was right. But he ate breakfast and soon was ready for our morning walk in the AC of Walmart.  Sierra got us there and the parking lot had very few shopper vehicles in it.

We hopped to and got ourselves inside and started looping the store.  By the time we made the four loops the store was starting to have a lot more folks shipping.  From the style and sound of a lot of them they were from Acuna across the river. Nice folks and very polite are their style and all of them wore flu masks.

We paid for our small purchases and headed for the Castle 4.1 miles away. After the purchases were put away the OFM checked the weather and it was only 85F and a slight cloud cover. Time for a campground walk.  So we prepped for it and away we went. The OFM knees were not happy so the pace was slower than normal but we got in another mile and a half with a bunch of flower pictures to boot.

When we returned to the Castle the temps had gone up to 90F and the cloud cover had disappeared so it was time to get inside for sure.

The OFM was feeling kind of rough and wanting something for a mid morning snack. The Refrigerator was opened and THERE IT WAS.  The container of freshly purchased watermelon.  Now there is not much better snack than fresh cold watermelon after a good walk on a warm day.

Left Over for Tomorrow

He hopped to the chore of eating a nice chunk or three and then he smiled real big.  UMMMM UMMMMM.

And that is a great way to get started on a day of trying to have tooooo much fun.

Good Long Walk

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-17-2020
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A good morning get going happened and we got a decently early start on the long walk. We hit up Diablo East section of the NRA and Sierra got us parked at the top of the hill in the most prime spot in the area.

The OFM knew better than to try the steep boat ramp hill again. The last time it took two days for his knees to recover.  So we moved out on a good pace to loop the two large parking lots at the top of the hill. The slope on the lots is serious but still nicely do able. The morning was warm but not hot and had a strong breeze to help things.  

After looping the parking lots, which takes about a half hour, the OFM decided his body could handle the Arroyo Trail today. So it off the near the restrooms to start the trail.  It starts really benign and never gets really bad. It was originally laid out for wheelchair access.  Apparently there was no money alloted for maintenance because a wheel chair would have a hard time with lots of the paved surface worn away.

We have been on the trail lots of times and had it in the blog lots of times over the last 12 years. Right after the first turn the trail drops gently down onto the side of the arroyo and provide nice views. Here is a view of the trail on the far side. Look just a bit above the rock ledge for the relatively straight tan line. That is the trail.

The trail just meanders all along the the arroyo and eventually returns to the main parking lots. There are benches now and then for resting. Today the prickly pear were still producing lots of prickly pear fruit as seen in this picture.

There were no animal adventures or insect incidents but we did find a huge spider web. This web had to be nearly six feet long and three feet wide.  

The rest of the way back to Sierra was pleasant and increasingly hot.  The slight cloud cover burned off to help us toast ourselves better. 

Back at the campground we worked diligently at keeping cool inside the Castle by letting the new AC work hard. It seemed a good thing to do in 103F heat.

For supper the OFM hit up the Whataburger with good vigor.  Getting a fresh Whataburger for supper was another great way of trying to have tooooo much fun.

Laundry Room Snake

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-16-2020
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The morning came way to soon but the OFM managed to ignore it for a little extra time this morning. But eventually he had to swing his legs over the side of the bed and rise to the occasion. It was a designated maintenance day of sorts.

Laundry went very well except for the snake in the laundry room. It was about a foot long and thick as a good pencil.  A pretty mottled tan color but with serious attitude.  Eventually it was dumped alive and well over near the ditch at the road in the tall grass.  After that laundry went really well.

Then the Castle was reintroduced to the vacuum cleaner and other miscellaneous cleaning tools. That went well also. There are serious perks to living in 148 square feet of home. 

 We are actually looking at down sizing since lots of the toys the OFM used to carry around are no longer with us.  For example no bicycle, kayak, rough country hiking gear and only simplified fishing gear of one rod and a small tackle box. At last count only one third of the cabinets in the Castle have stuff in them.

So it has been an interesting day in many ways. For more fun the OFM went to work on a new painting. This time he is doing it by the book (sort of) and has done a preliminary sketch to check out the composition and color scheme.  

Who knows what it will turn out to look like later. However you can be certain we will be trying to have tooooo much fun.

Be Careful OLD Man

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-15-2020
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After lunch the OFM noticed the temps had not gone to three digit yet so he chose to try some fishing for a little while. A small box of lures was selected, a 12 oz bottle of water was grabbed and away we went.  Sierra quickly got us to Spur 454 area and a special spot we had been noticing.

It looked like a cliff went into the water and the wave shapes were like it was deeper than usual water at the base. The trouble is all the loose scree you had to negotiate to get to the waterline

 In his excitement the OFM forgot to take a picture of our exact spot but just across the little cove is the cliff jumping spot. We got to watch a few jumpers make big splashes before they quit and went away in the vehicle at the top.

Jumping Cliff and Clear Water

They sounded like they were having lots of fun.

The OFM Fishing Team made a VERY careful climb down on all the loose rock to the water line.  A 1/2 oz Johnson Splinter Gold spoon was put to work.  There was lots of fish activity in the area. A few times we saw a large catfish roll and splash near us. The wind was fairly strong and was nice to have on this hot day.

Suddenly the lure acted funny and it was fish on the line.  The battle was small and the white bass turned out to be about an OFM shoe length.  White bass from clear water like this lake really shine pretty.

That was the only bite for a good while. The OFM was drinking a lot of the water he brought with him and when the bottle went dry it was time to leave. We had been there about 45 minutes as it turned out. We could tell it was getting hotter anyway. By the time we got scrambled up to the top of the slope the OFM was feeling the heat pretty badly. 

When we got to Sierra and the gear stored, the dash temp gage showed us 101F and that is temperatures that the OFM needs to stay out of for sure.

The AC in Sierra was feeling great as the OFM cooled off from the scramble back up to the top where Sierra was parked. BUT when we got back to the Castle the OFM was not “just right”. So he swallowed 16.329 liters of cool water and hit the bed to rest from the heat. A couple of hours later he awoke feeling much better.

We think it was the arduous scramble up the loose rock that over heated him.  So now we know that the nearly 74 year old man needs to be a LOT more careful about the heat while we wait to leave the area.

However it was really nice to finally catch another fish after so many months. Catching fish is still a favorite way for him to try to have tooooo much fun.

454 Meander Part B

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-14-2020
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PART B:

As the kayakers paddled around the bend of the shore line the OFM turned to go back up the boat ramp toward Sierra. But when the Teams got near a spot to go over the roadside ledge, they took it. They had been in this area a few times fishing but today is a meandering day so different places were explored.

If you go to the left in the picture above it goes to some decent fishing places. But since we had been there before we went more to the right. It was a good choice. As we got down the rough rock into the arroyo left dry now, we could see a cliff section back to the left we did not know was there. Great, a new place for an intensive meander.

Glancing around to get oriented again, we chose to go on down the arroyo since the last time we were in the area there was about twenty feet of water over this area. It apparently is heavily used now that it is exposed.

When we came up out of the arroyo we realized that we were back into a fishing area we have been in many times. So we meandered around in case there was anything special to see. Just a few feet more cliff here and there since the lake had gone down a bit since our last visit.

So we looped around a bit for the fun of it. Crossed another small arroyo and headed on through some dried brush area for another crack in the surface to explore. It did not take long for the brush to get too ugly for this days adventure. This was the view when we turned toward the road.

We busted brush for about a hundred yards and there was the road and a greeting committee.

After checking the water bottle, the Team voted to go on out the road for a ways to look around some more. And Away We Went.  The road, which it old highway 90 we think, went through an old cut through a ridge.  Along the side of the road cut were occasional deer trails up onto the ridge top. Here is what a deer trail looks like in this area.

From here it was just clear walking alongside the old highway until we decided to turn back.  It is just nice country for a pleasant walk until the sun started to get toooooooooo hot. So we stopped at the first good shade to water up and head back to Sierra. Here is a picture from the shade back toward Sierra up and over the hill.

As we headed back down that first section of the road, we grabbed this picture of the finger coming from the main lake.  It is a popular shore fishing location. You park by the road and walk yourself to where ever you want to try your luck.

We had a pleasant walk along the road back through the cut, past the old ranch house foundation and cistern ( 29.481141, -100.987263  ).                .  That is a good place to meander to see how the old place was put together  years ago. Amistad lake started flooding in 1969 and the ranch was here many years before that. 

When we arrived at Sierra the OFM asked if Sierra had missed us. Sierra said “You bet. It is getting hot.”  We agreed and told Sierra to get the AC going and we would board very soon.

On the way back to the Castle we all were taking about how Meandering is so much fun. Sierra said don’t forget to take us on some road meanders soon. All the other team members hollared “Great idea in the hot summer time for sure.”

Soon Sierra was parked in the shade of the peach tree next to the Castle and the OFM grabbed his Meandering gear and the empty water bottle. It was time for a little clean up and a nap before lunch.  Something about a nap before lunch is wonderfully decadent sounding but it sounded pretty good after being out on a good adventure like we had for trying to have tooooo much fun.

454 Meander Part A

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-13-2020
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PART A:

WELL he meandered through the stickers and rocks where a snake won’t even go--- somewhat of a takeoff from an old song.

The OFM needed a walk and Amistad was open.  Sierra got us to a good spot and the OFM quickly figured out that with new territory and moderate temps with a good breeze this was not to be a walk. It was time for a MEANDER and off we went. 
We had been to spots before that you will see but today it was no holds barred. And that fool took us on a tour for sure. Our best guess is the meander was around three miles not counting the up and down distances. WOW it was fun.

So lets get going. Remember that this whole area is under about 20 feet of water at full lake level. Sierra got parked near the porta-can at the boat ramp where a new to us path leads on to the lake shore. The OFM grabbed his water and the camera and away we went.

As we got close to the edge of the bare part of the bank we looked right at an area we showed a week or so ago.  

The Teams said nope, hit up the new stuff to the left. So it was a left turn and the loose rock under the vegetation was a difficulty.

It was nice to be meandering new territory but the OFM had to be carefull of hidden holes and loose downhill rock slides. He don’t bounce so good anymore. There was nothing special to see except it was new area to the Teams.  Eventually we came back out on the road to the boat ramp and Sierra. For sure the OFM was glad to have plenty of water with us.

When we got back to Sierra we could see kayakers launching down at the boat ramp.

So we headed down the ramp with the idea of visiting a little bit. But they were on their way to do their own wet country meandering. Wet country meandering is great fun on this lake, we know that from personal experiences of the past.

As they rounded the point the Teams headed back up the hill of the boat ramp to go onto the north side of the road this time to any spots we had not been to in the past.  It turned out to be a big effort that will show up in tomorrow nights posting. It was a fantastic morning of chasing new sights and experiences for trying to have tooooo much fun.

Scrunched

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-12-2020
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The Castle had shrunk to 3.87249 square inches of area by the time lunch was over. The walls were scrunching the OFM’s shoulders.  It was time to get out into some moving room. So we commandeered Sierra to go find some elbow room in the desert to our North. A bottle of water and a face mask went with us.

The first plan was to meander some part of the NRA but the OFM came to his senses that the NRA is still closed until tomorrow, so we just rolled Sierra north into the desert.  Here is a view of some of the desert just north of Del Rio.

As we rolled the OFM had an idea to a couple of more pictures of the desert in this area as seen from the highway. Now we had a purpose and that helps the mental attitude. Meandering with a purpose is good. We knew that if we got to the Pecos River it was far enough. That would be about 30 miles north.

As we rolled along the OFM took a few pictures along the way of what we were passing through.  Only a real desert lover like the Teams would take a picture of some of these places so they were discarded.
Then we hit a canyons area and the road scene changed a bit to like this.

Finally we rolled in to the Texas Travel Stop up above the bridge across the Pecos River. This is one of the many road stops locations in Texas where you can stay the night as you are traveling. It is a nice location but usually windy at night.

The OFM ended up giving two different families information about the area for making their trip more enjoyable. The OFM was first here to the best of his memory in 1972.

On the way out we stopped on the road to get this picture of the Pecos River canyon bridge.  There is a full size car at the blue arrow.

Now you have seen how the terrain is from Del Rio Texas until you get to Sanderson Texas where the Big Bend Country starts and the mountains start showing up.

Then we took a nice gentle ride on back to the Castle and were relieved to see it had grown back to normal size when we got inside.

Just riding around to locations you love is a great way to spend a really hot day (103F) when you are trying to have tooooo much fun.

Park Closed

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-11-2020
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The fellow in charge of Amistad National Recreation Area is a nice fellow that the Teams has spoken with a few times. He tries really hard to have a decent place for folks to SAFELY play. We figured something would happen when on the July 4 weekend hordes of folks ganged up at each picnic table in the open areas. No masks in sight and definitely not any hint of distancing at all.

During his exercise walks that weekend the OFM saw Rangers riding around looking at the crowds and snapping a few pictures of the congestion. Our thought was changes need to happen. Well the changes happened this morning. The ENTIRE NRA is closed for weekends and holidays.

Our flu cases have exploded here in Del Rio, Tx and the park superintendent had to do something he hates to have to do. Here is a picture of the new signs on every legal entry to the NRA. Those entries are pipe gates that are locked. Entry is a federal crime now when the gate is locked.

Having seen first hand the lack of public response to the epidemic problem, the Teams agree completely. He is also handicapped with a shortage of rangers to help keep folks in line. It is a disappointment since the OFM Teams really like exercise hiking in that park.

So what did the OFM do to enjoy himself today. He grabbed his gear and went over to the open air patio next to the entertainment hall and worked on sketches trying to develop the next painting(s). Here is  a picture of him. He looks so scared because he had set the camera on a window sill with the self timer running and just as it tripped the shutter a wind gust started the camera sliding toward the edge of the ledge. Thank goodness the wind quit in time to save the camera. We know, We know taking a picture of something as horribly ugly as the OFM is dangerous to the camera’s innards, but we did it anyway.

The paper we use for planning drawings is a good cheap Canson paper from Walmart. As you can see on the cover there is notes about the techniques we have tried on it.  It is definitely not paper for a finished color painting but it still is great for roughing out a painting composition.

Even though it was 105F at the patio in the shade we had a good time of trying to have tooooo much fun.

Updated

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-10-2020

To the three nice folks that made comments on the now deleted blog entry, Thank you for the pleasant comments. 

The blog entry about the difference in quarantining and isolation that was found during research to stay legal and proper in our country’s current situation was written for information and that is all it was about. There is no political or personal agenda involved and no reason for the ugly private emails.

 In the mean time we are heading out to try to have tooooo much fun.

Cool Castle

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-9-2020



Well the AC repair/install fellow showed up right on time and we went to work. He checked everything on the unit very carefully.  We both were on the roof while he was checking and neither of us could spot the trouble. Finally he decided to put the cover back on it. The OFM reached and picked up the cover and noticed a worn spot inside about an inch long and a half inch wide and 1/8“ deep.

Mr. Repairman went Hmmm that looks odd when the OFM showed it to him. Since we had found nothing wrong, he checked the cover carefully.  After aligning the cover carefully we could see it was pressing down on the inlet tubing of the compressor. A groove a bit over an inch long and almost through the cover had been formed.

After lifting the cover off again, we could see the spot on top of the copper compressor feed tubing where the cover had been pressing down.  Since the compressor is rubber mounted, the cover had been pressing down on it and the compressor leaned over on its rubber mounting feet.

The repairman carefully bent the tubing to give some clearance to the cover. We put the cover on and hit the start button. Lo and behold all the obnoxious noise had gone away. It was loud noise too.

After it was all buttoned up again we let it run for a few minutes and the quiet was deafeningly wonderful.  So the repairman headed on to his next appointment and the OFM went inside to enjoy the peace and quietness.

So here we are seven hours later and the AC is sounding like a normal AC in and RV. It is nice to have an AC performing properly in 113F outside heat. The OFM is really enjoy the quieter COOL atmosphere inside the Castle. In this desert heat, inside the cool Castle is a great place for trying to have tooooo much fun.

Celery Leaves

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-8-2020
Click the pic to enlarge


A comment was made today about cleaning celery leaves  off the stalk and throwing them away. We always wash the celery leaves and eat them in salads or stoup. The OFM considers them better than the stalks.

Looks Good to Me

The stoup we made today turned out excellent and in this picture you can see a celery leaf or two. The effort gave us five meals for saving and one for lunch.

The new AC has gotten so noisy from the compressor that we went to the shop this afternoon to ask them to come check it out and see what is wrong.  We are the second stop on the mobile repair guys list for tomorrow.  It would be nice to be able to hear on our phone without having to go into the bathroom and close the door.

That excellent lunch was about as close as we came to having tooooo much fun.

OFM Remembered Finally

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-7-2020
Clic the pic to enlarge


Well the OFM Walking Team managed a nice walk this morning. It was only 82 with a decent breeze when we started. The route was on Spur 454 for about a mile each way starting at the boat ramp.  Most of the way was on the paved road except for the couple of hundred feet at the boat ramp that was relatively smooth gravel.

Speaking of lake elevations, apparently the lake has gone up a few inches so the agricultural irrigation must be pretty well over with until cooler weather comes along.

During the walk, the OFM  was reminded by his feet that the extra sole inserts in his shoes are worn out.  This time the warning was a little stronger. Strong enough that when we got back to the Castle, cooled off and showered, the OFM still remembered the need for shoe maintenance.

So off to Walmart for shoe insoles, cheap Root Beer and some new socks to help his feet feel better.  By the time all this was done it was after 1200 and the temps were high 90s.

So the rest of the day has been spent inside in the AC staying cool in the triple digit temps outside. As you might guess we spent a lot of time playing at art learning. But with the temps so miserable there is likely to be a day or three that no blog is published since outdoor activity is so restricted. But we will find some way of trying to have tooooo much fun.

Calm Beach

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-6-2020
Clic the pic to enlarge


The OFM hit the Walmart walking trail early this morning. We had a clear path for the first three laps and it was barely getting some folks in when we finished lap 4.  Four laps gives the OFM a mile IN THE AIR CONDITIONING.  It was already 88 when we got to Walmart.

Then it was time to do some shopping for fresh foods and head back to the Castle. Today was under $10 for a change but it is really nice getting fresh fruit and vege the same day you get to eat them.

A bit after noon the OFM got it into his head he needed reference pictures of distorted dead trees.  So we hopped into Sierra and checked a few places we thought might have some. Nope nothing to photograph.  So we headed back to the Castle.

The OFFool got busy working on a painting using oil pastels again.  He learned something new about using them last night and wanted to try it out. It worked and here is the simple beach scene named Calm Beach.

And that pretty well took care of our trying to have tooooo much fun for today.