Park Closed

Adventure Location:  Del Rio, Texas
Adventure Date: 7-11-2020
Click the pic to enlarge.

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.