Covid Hits Again

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 31, 2024

ROLLING DATE: 9-15-2024

An aching jaw was the big event for the day. The OFM right jaw was pretty sore from all the wrestling and other physical action that went with getting the new tooth installed yesterday. Most of the day was spent being careful because the OFM's balance was giving trouble also.

The campground got about 47921 new rigs in today for the big weekend. As the OFM walked gently through the campground we got to talk to just about all of them it seemed. Lots of nice folks all excited about “camping out in the wild” here. Several folks were out for the first time in their new rigs but barely knew how to unlock the door on the new rig. But the good part is that everyone one was friendly and we had lots no, make that LOTS, of folks to talk with about rving and camping. It was fun visiting. It is two more weeks until we are due to get rolling and that feels wonderful. I wonder if the OFM can figure out how to tow a rig again.

On the bad news front, it seems grand daughter Piper now has Covid but is handling it well. She is a tough kid for sure. Good luck Piper on getting well soon.

Good Night everyone. Be safe.

The Crown Fits The OFM

 ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 30, 2024

ROLLING DATE: 9-15-2024

Today was important in that the OFM got his new crown installed and is now in good tooth shape. It feels a bit odd and his tongue keeps on caressing it because it is a new item in his mouth that is not 78 years old. Sorry but we could not get the camera in his mouth to get a picture of the new addition to our body.

The next item on the get ready list is to get Sierra a new transmission starting Tuesday morning. Which brings up something interesting to some folks. While the OFM was pondering places to roam he stumbled into the fact that our records show the Castle has seen nearly 85,000 miles roll under it in its 17 years on the road. That means we have covered a bunch of the country while full time RV traveling. A lot of the time we were boondocking too. WOW. The OFM still well remembers the day we rolled out of Richland, Washington on October 5, 2007 to begin our traveling life in the Castle. It has been a good way to live and not often dull.

And finally for tonight we finished another colored pencil picture we named Hidden Valley.

Tomorrow starts our preparations for real for the next phase of our roaming the country as a free spirit flowing as the whim wanders.

Good Night.

Castle Replacement Maybe

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 29, 2024

ROLLING DATE: 9-15-2024

A rolling date has been added to the opening information today. Little things keep on happening so the OFM just added the this new feature this afternoon.

This morning on the way to the dumpsters too dump last nights trash the OFM got to talk to the owner of the exact model of Jayco trailer we are checking out for replacing the 19 year old Fox we have now. The OFM got a lot of great info from the owner and think it might be a worthwhile candidate for a replacement travel trailer if we go with a trailer instead of one of the other options on the market or just keep repairing what we have. The Castle is very well worn, to put it mildly, and we think we have about ten more years of rving left in the OFM. So we are thinking of what the future may hold for us.

A nice arrival in the mail showed up yesterday afternoon and it was two coloring books we hoped would be some we like for a change. Surprise! They both look like they will be very good. They are western scenery drawings of the style that make colored pencil work easier than many coloring books styles. These leave lots of interpretive room to customize the coloring to be specially like the the colorist wants the outcome to be.

They each have at least 30 drawings that are definitely the OFM style. That means we now have at least 60 new colorings to do to go with the about 28 ones in the waiting file. When the OFM works on one it takes at least two months and usually longer in warm weather. It takes longer in warm weather because he does other neat things like fishing, hiking and photography when it is not cold outside.

So last night when we were looking at the content of the new books we settled in to scan all the over 100 pages of opportunity. So a snack of incredibly great food was prepared to help us get through the evenings “work”.

A bowl of cantaloupe and a mug of hot green tea to help us through the difficult chore. We sure do lead an exciting life don't we.

Everyone have a great evening and sleep well.

Travel Plan Finally Prepared

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 28, 2024

We awoke early to a warm morning and managed to get off to an early start on a good walk. The warm required us to walk carefully in the shade as much as possible. To our surprise when we got near the water every bit of breeze QUIT. At our turnaround bench we sat for a few minutes drinking from the water bottle and letting a joint or three rest a little. Here was our view of the lake. 

CALM LAKE

That shows the total lack of breeze we feel. We eased our way back to the Castle and stayed in air conditioned places most of the day. About 1400 this afternoon Sierra was displaying 100F as the outside temp on our way back from lunch. That is south Texas kind of weather way up north here.

Most of the rest of the day was spent starting to arrange the Castle into traveling mode. So far everything is gently moving to travel mode for the 9/10/24 rolling date. We have to keep on reminding ourselves that we will be back here the first three weeks of November for grand kid performances of their spare time activities. From looking at maps and thinking of doing lots less daily driving it looks like a loose rambling tour of central and western Texas is what we can fit in nicely before returning here in November. Maybe a bit of eastern New Mexico also. We also now plan to spend a couple of days at Martin Creek SP that is a very comfortable park with good Mexican food about five miles away in Tatum Texas. It is just inside Texas off I-20 a few miles. November 1 is our planned date to be back in Point Mallard for the performances of the grands. All this is predicated on Sierras tranny swap out on Sept. 2 going well.

Everyone have fun and definitely stay cool on these hot days.

Here We Go Again IV

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 27, 2024

We awoke to a warm morning and a trip to the dealer repair shop for the tranny change to start on Sierra. Lo and behold our luck was holding up. The vehicle ahead of us went in for a major tune up yesterday and ended needing a new engine to fix his Corvette. This throws us back a couple of days and with the labor day holiday in the mess we are now scheduled for the tranny change out on Sept 3/4. Oh well at least we are not broke down in the middle of the West Texas/ New Mexico desert. There is a lot of lonesome territory out there. The rolling date should still be good.

Walking has been sporadic and not much in general. Tomorrow is supposed to be a really hot day so it will be another day of staying in cool buildings.

It looks like we will have the opportunity for some indoor art efforts during all this mess and heat. That is all the mess I can recall at the moment so we will bid you Good Night. 

Travel Plans As Of Today

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 26, 2024

We awoke to a warm morning and a trip to the dentist for the new crown to be installed. Every thing was going nicely until the Doc tried to install the crown on the old prepared stump of a tooth.

It did not fit correctly so the Doc made some measurements and is sending it back to the factory for some corrections to the crown. The Doc explained the trouble to the OFM in detail and the OFM agreed that the Doc was doing right. So now we are due back next Friday for another attempt in putting the crown on the stump. We like this doc because he is always very careful to turn out excellent work.

We went over to Walmart to check out the clothing closeout clothing we heard was on sale but not advertised. Yep a lot of warm weather clothing is on sale at good prices but none we needed right now.

When we got back to the campground we stopped to get mail and a large white envelope was waiting for us. It was the sticker we have been waiting on for three weeks from Texas for the Castle.

The upper right sticker for the Castle license plate makes us legal to roll the roads now. That is the end to the last rolling hang up we have. Now we have to wait for grand daughter Piper's lunch with us on Sep 9 (can't miss that) at school and then we will be free to roll, barring other mishaps, on Sep 10.

The departure route is out to I-65 heading south to I-20. Turn right on I-20 heading west in Birmingham until we get to Texas and Martin Creek Lake State Park. Then we will head some direction from there to wherever we end up next. It is definitely time for some rolling to be done.

Yes we have a few destinations in mind.

In no particular order

Rockport Tx.

Falcon County Park,Roma tx.

San Pedro Campground, Del Rio Tx.

Yoakum County free camping Tx.

Deming NM

Seminole Canyon St Prk, Tx

Lake Sommerville S.P. Tx

Point Mallard Campground, Decatur Al. By November 1.

It will feel really good to be rolling again. The OFM says he is worried he has forgotten how to do it after 15 months off the road.

Every one have fun. We are finallly getting a bit excited. Good Night.

Preparations For Rolling

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 25, 2024

We awoke to a warm morning and a long list of chores to do in preparation for the tooth crown installation tomorrow beginning at noon. Then Tuesday morning we turn Sierra over to the transmission surgeons for replacement of the transmission which might take two days. Our mission today was to get everything ready to have Sierra gone for two days and replenish our food supply to last until at least Thursday. $52 later that effort was finished but we did get a start on the supplying the Castle with some of the food needs for our new rolling date of September 10 with a return date of Oct 31 for the performances of the grands.

The next rolling date in November is not known yet but is tentatively set at November 18 until the end of the year.

The latest report on grandson Gavin's fight with Covid is he is holding his own against that devil

disease.

We are running a little behind on the getting rolling preparations since it was only today we could finally name a prospective leaving date. However that is predicated on the transmission work going just perfectly. We shall see what transpires.

In the meantime the OFM is pooped and we want to be rested for the dental torture tomorrow. Good night.

Grandson and Covid

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 24, 2024

The morning temperature was very nice but the sun was blistering strong so we took a walk that stayed in the shade for the most part.

We got in a mile and a half before we decided it was getting too warm for the Ofm.

Late last night an email from the OFM's son came in that grandson Gavin got home from school with a raging temperature and tested strongly for Covid. Welcome back to school.

The rest of the day was spent piddling around thinking about travel planning with nothing decided. It is hot out there these days.

That is all we have happening so have a nice evening.

Being Flirted With Today

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 23, 2024

The morning temperature was very nice but the sun was blistering strong so we took the tree tunnel trail from the back of the campground to the creek side hike and bike gravel trail along Flint Creek.

The trail was very nicely shaded with a gentle breeze off the water. Several friendly folks were out enjoying the weather also. One young lady was having fun flirting with the OFM. A few minutes later her mother told me the young lady was just about to turn 3 years old. She was a very bright spot in the day.

There were many places the leaves were turning brown already so we took a few pictures of them to show autumn arriving early early. About an hour later we learned that there had been another herbicide spraying last week. Wow it was a great day of the OFM being wrong. An Amazon package came in two days early to our surprise. That was nice. Basically that was it for the day. Good Night.

Violet Flowers

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 22, 2024

We had wonderful walk in the nicely cool air this morning except the OFM was constrained by some slightly sore knee joints. They were not really bad but at our ancient age we treat joints gently so they got some flexing but no serious work out. By blog time tonight they seem to have completely healed so it is full steam ahead tomorrow.

We got the final effort on the latest coloring' Violet Flowers' done this evening. It turned out pretty well we think.

Most of the afternoon was spent attempting to put together a travel schedule that fits the latest need to be here for two weeks in November to go to the grands special events. We do not want to miss them. We have not succeeded yet but good progress has been made and a couple of decisions have been made on timing of travel events.

That is about all there is for this nice day so we will say GOOD NIGHT.

OFM Is A Newbie Again!

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 21, 2024

We had wonderful walk in the nicely cool air this morning. It was last year the last time the OFM could make the whole 3.5 mile loop of the golf course area. BUT we did it with no real trouble today.

Here are a couple pictures from the new to you trail. This is a picture of the thousands of white flowers over on the new section of our walk.

Then this is a bench along the trail to show you how dense the vegetation can be back here in the woods near the Tennessee River.

The temperature for the first twenty minutes made the OFM glad he had on his windbreaker but the minute the sun got up well into the trees that wind breaker was just something to carry the rest of the way home. There were plenty of folks on the trail this morning so you could here many GOOD MORNINGS being exchanged as we walked. Lots of nice friendly folks walk out here.

The rest of the day was a bit blaah but comfortable inside or outside the rig. We needed to get a travel schedule worked out for certain details to let the campground know our planned coming and being gone. Very few of the long time campers here understand that there is a whole world of rving that does not want to sit still in one spot for years at a time. My statement was something to the effect of of I plan to leave on Sept 15 and then be back Nov 1 until Nov 18 for a grandkid event and then be gone a few months and then return for next summer some day in May. That was way out of her experience about camping. She is a very nice lady and good at her job but this was a new concept of just running around instead of going some where for a week or two trip and coming back to the same spot every time. But we got it worked out and the OFM realized he has to be careful talking to these nice folks about full timer style of travel scheduling.

We do not make reservations usually and when we do it is only a couple of weeks ahead of time and at peak season time. They also have no concept of boondocking for longer than a night at Walmart. In the 16 months we have been stuck here the OFM apparently has forgotten some full timer things he did automatically during the 16 years of full timing he has enjoyed. We need to be careful for a bit to not make any bad mistakes. WE also hope to not need such a long time not traveling again.

We hope everyone will have a great day tomorrow. Good night.

Where And When

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 20, 2024

We now are supposed to have Sierra at the repair shop on Tuesday Aug,27 morning to have its guts ripped out and replaced. The estimated return fully repaired with a new transmission is Thursday.

Our walk this morning was very nice and long. The air was coolish and the sun pleasant.

The grands each have a performance we would like to attend in November so we spent a lot of time trying to work out a travel route to some places that comes back here by November 1. Then we could leave after the performances on Nov. 3 and Nov.16 to roam some more. It is two days of towing to get to the Texas border at Shreveport La. from here. We are mapping possible places in an order to get us at places when the temps are nice. So far it is a difficult effort but by the end of today some faint semblance of order was beginning to become apparent. The big hassle has turned out to try to be NOT in HOT places while out boondocking. It is starting to look like we may have to go higher in the mountains of New Mexico and Texas to make it work out. It is all part of the Great Adventure of Rving. At least we should be getting some new pictures wherever we end up going.

Have a great night.

Very Busy Day

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 19, 2024

A day of many facets greeted us today and some things worked out well. The first thing was the oil change appointment for Sierra. We were on time and the crew went to work on Sierra and finished up in reasonable time. While wondering about the need to add a quart of oil about 2/3 through the normal oil change interval that Sierra has developed we found out some nice to know news to us. Sierra has about 148,000 miles on it. We found that Sierra's 5.3 liter engine has an oil change interval of 7,500 miles. It is also designed to use a quart of oil about every 5,000 miles. So Sierra is right on spec for oil use instead of my old engines that were not supposed to use oil between changes until they had at least 200,000 miles. So yahoo Sierra is right on schedule for oil usage. We were afraid we were looking at an engine rebuild within a year. According to the internet GM data that engine normally gets to 250,000 miles before a rebuild is needed. That should get us to wheel chair time for the OFM.

Next we hit up the car dealer repair shop about a new transmission. It turns out that they have one in stock that can be installed as soon as we can get it scheduled. The shop is very busy at the moment but they expect it can be done in less than two weeks. It will take two days for the install to be accomplished. The job just needs to get on the busy schedule. We are supposed to try to get it scheduled tomorrow. That is an $8000 job but a lot cheaper than a new truck.

And importantly we got in some good walking today. It took three wanderings to get in a full walk but we got it done. The evening one was under shade trees with a nice breeze.

Things seem to be working out that we will have a tow vehicle in first class shape by Labor Day. Now all we need is an OFM in first class shape for rolling.

It has been a busy bothersome day but seems to be ok now. So let us all get a good nights rest, OK.

Here We Go Again

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 18, 2024

WELL HERE WE GO AGAIN. As we were pulling out onto the highway from Burger King after lunch today and turning left Sierra's transmission locked up for a moment and both back tires skidded for a bit making lots of noise and a loud bang from the transmission. As we kept going it was obvious from the way the transmission was acting we have another happening to stop us from rolling until it is repaired. Sierra is still drive-able sort of so we will be getting it into the dealer shop tomorrow for the bad news. We guess it was better here than in West Texas or the New Mexico mountains.

Good night every one. We hope to be able to tell you more tomorrow.

Change of Art Direction

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 17, 2024

Not any excitement around here today. Hmmmm heard that last night didn't we. Well it is here again. The best news is that the OFM is still getting out of bed like a decent human should, thanks to the guclosamine tablet. The walk started out well but the heat and humidity caused the OFM to slow down to a mild walk and decide it was time to quit when we came to the short cut trail back to the Castle. It was only a mile walk with about a half mile of it aerobic in nature. The conditions were very correct for another heat trouble session with the OFM body. W do not push our limits very hard now days.

Then twice during the day large mean thunder storms raged through the area and sure enough we had a small leak in the Castle. Late this evening the ladder was put to work and a likely spot was located. So if we get some dry enough time tomorrow the caulk will be applied in hopes it was the correct pinhole we spotted. If not, it needs touch up anyway.

On the art front the OFM has decided he has learned enough about handling colored pencil coloring he can go back to learning about the drawing part of paintings again. So we made the short drive to a Hobby Lobby to get the correct paper for colored pencil and picked up a pad to use for our education effort. We have several scenes photographed near Amistad Reservoir several years ago that will provide fodder for at least six paintings. That means the OFM cannot use the what is there to paint excuse to lollygag around and not at least attempt to learn.

Now we have only to wait until the license tag for the Castle to arrive before we choose when to roll. That was an exciting sentence to write finally. That is it for tonight. Have a great night.

Castle's License Tag

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 16, 2024

Not any excitement around here today, even the big thunderstorm predicted fizzled out with about ten rain drops total. We did attempt to speed up our walking pace today since the hips etc were not hurting. Our guess is that we got to about 50% faster than before starting the glucosamine. It was very nice to get up some speed for a change. That takes the OFM into aerobic speed level which is really good for his health and well being.

The other nice event was meeting a new fellow in the campground that has never been around RV rigs before. He really pulled lots of information out of the OFM about this life style. We had lots of good discussions because the folks around him in his previous lifestyle that had no Rving experience were giving him lots of bad information some of which was dangerous.

That and doing the laundry made up the day for us today. We are kinda on hold until the license fee tag for the Castle gets here. Then we will be able to make more firmer plans for rolling dates. In the meantime everyone try to have tooooo much fun.

Wimp Report

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 15, 2024

Short blog tonight. The OFM underwent the first phase of getting a crown installed on an upper back tooth. He is hurting and not on the top of his game. It was right at two hours in the chair. For some reason it seems everything the dentist did was extra painful. He has been working on the OFM for the last twelve years without a hint of discomfort so it makes us think it is more likely something to do with aging. One article from the Internet mentions that old folks like the OFM sometimes start to react differently to the deadener put into our gums. Any way we are doing Ok except for feeling like a platoon of crazed baboons worked us over with baseball bats. The crown is due to be installed on 8-26-24. So we have been taking it easy all afternoon to be recovered for trying to have tooooo much fun tomorrow in the predicted rain. Good Night.

Morning Pain Report As Promised

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 14, 2024

About a week ago we had a blog entry about old man morning pain and what the OFM has found out about it. The item we decided to try out was a pill that might help get lubrication into the body bone joints to relieve some of the morning pain. Well we have found that Glucosamine and Chondroitin pills from Walmart have knocked about 80% of the morning joint pain out of the OFM body. And loosened up his movements also.

About thirty years ago he tried it for some different pains that turned out to be tendon trouble that led to knife work by a surgeon. They did nothing for that injury. They are definitely not a cure all. But for the last five mornings the OFM has been able to get right up in the mornings and not have much at all for pain in the way of the walking. On top of that his balance is a lot better also. We are guessing that when your joints can work right, your balance will be better also.

Apparently they are like most medicines, they work on what they do and don't work on the rest of the human frailties.

We had a very nice walk today and enjoyed the nice less hot temperatures. Even the grocery store trip was a lot nicer without all the balance wobbling in time with the joint pains. We did not like that old joints song. Good night.

Free Grapes

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 13, 2024

Basically it was a nice easy day today. The OFM went to the office today to ask a silly question after he learned of an old fellow leaving the campground yesterday. The person on duty was able to confirm that as far as they knew the OFM is now the oldest person staying in the campground. There are several folks in their early 70s in here.

The morning air was nice and cool when we started the walk/garbage effort. It was a surprise when we saw the ripe grapes on the walking path.

Every year they fall from the grape vines way up in the tall trees along this path and make a mess on the path. So now it is time to watch out for slipping on the grape slime on the walking surface for a month or so.

Anyway it was a very nice walking morning and we were feeling good and just kept on walking and suddenly we were at this resting bench.

We sat for a short while and enjoyed the view out across the water looking east at I-65 headed south. We hope to be on that road in a few weeks when the weather out west starts to cool down some.

Then we hopped up and headed back to the Castle. At the Castle we started the computer and plotted our path to see how far we walked. It was only 2.89 miles and a delightful morning.

The rest of the day included an afternoon nap WITHOUT a timer to wake the OFM. Turned out to be an hour and a half nap so we must have needed some extra rest for some reason. However the nap was wonderful.

The next big deal is the new tooth crown due to be installed on Thursday. Just one more thing out of the way for traveling. We are monitoring the weather so we can time our traveling for cooler weather.

But tonight is good sleeping time. Good night folks.

Very Long Lunch

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 12, 2024

The last day of being 77 years old has been very nice and decently cool for the morning walk. There was even a cool breeze. The sort of bad side was that lots of folks were out with their pups and ready to visit. So the OFM got in a bunch of puppy petting and jaw time getting in great TEXAS size howdys for lots of people. It was a wonderful mile walk that took slightly over two hours to get back to the Castle.

We headed to Burger King as usual for lunch. When we pulled Sierra in and started to the dining room a fellow in the next to Sierra hailed the OFM and wanted to ask a couple of questions about the area. When we finally quit yammering it was two hours later. Then when we got our order and started to a table, an old acquaintance hailed the OFM from the dining room to come over and visit. That lasted another hour +. So lunch took almost four hours from the time we left the castle fifteen minutes away from the BK place.

Then this evening we noticed the cubed chicken breast meat in the freezer that we thought we had eaten already. A quick check of supplies showed it was time for a pot of The OFM's infamous stoup. So tonight it was cubed chicken breast, Knorr Mexican rice and a can of pinto beans as the main ingredients.

We ended up with three meals in the freezer and one in the OFM tummy tonight. Yes the OFM eats rather well.

There is a good chance that the Teams may sleep well tonight with the lower temps outside since the A/C will not have to run to keep us cool. That will be nice.

We have no special plans for tomorrow beyond trying to have tooooo much fun. Good night.

Lots Of New Seeds

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 11, 2024

A good nights sleep last night and getting up to wonder what to do today was the big morning event. We scraped nearly all the left over nail polish off and then got ready for a walk. How far we had no idea. We would just have to see what happens.

The first thing we noticed was that nearly every bush, vine, non-tree growth seemed to be loaded with fresh new seed pods getting ready for next Springs blooming season and new vegetation explosion. We have more seeds happening than we can recall in the last twelve years of coming here. Next spring should be a fantastic flower season we think.

We did a trash run at the start of the walk and the bins were full of all sorts of things like furniture, kid toys etc. We found an opening and slid our trash between a small chest of drawers and a full inflated pneumatic raft like you would use for fishing or pulling behind a power boat to give folks rides in. But it would have needed a really good scrubbing before we would have used it.

The rest of the walk was a good long one in the not hot air. About 82f was the temperature for the whole walk of about two miles. The general weather made for nice walking and several short visits with others out enjoying the morning.

In the evening after supper we took a shorter walk around the campground and noticed the short time stay area (section A) had a lot of empty spots now that public school has started again, if anyone wants to stop by for a few days.

The trash walk turned into a nice one mile walk that let us get in several short visits with other campers sitting out enjoying the nice weather this evening. Eventually we made back to the Castle and a quiet evening. We guess we need to shift back into some other mode but which one as we hope to find ways of having tooooo much fun again.

Puddle OF Frazzle

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 10, 2024

Waking up this morning was painful again. But we were on a gentle schedule for birthday celebrating and excellent Mexican food for lunch at Phil Sandavals restaurant in Huntsville Al. Boy was that a lot of fun. Games played etc. with lots of laughs and horsing around. After lunch the OFM opened his birthday card to his enjoyment. The family provides the OFM Team their Internet service year round as his Christmas and Birthday gift. It is a wonder gift to a traveling fool like the OFM,

After lunch Grand Daughter decided she needed to paint the OFM's finger nails sparkling blue. She did a pretty good job of it too.

 While it was drying she showed us what she was learning at cheer leader school. She is doing great learning all the things she needs to learn. Lots of other messing around happened. But all too soon the OFM wore out and headed home to Point Mallard and some rest.

Tonight we are taking it real easy to let the OFM body to recover from all the fun we had.

Busy days like this one can wear the OFM to a puddle of frazzle we guarantee.

Morning Pain Again

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 9, 2024

Waking up this morning was painful again. Every part of the OFM body hurt some amount again it seemed. So we did a different thing and asked the Internet a Question. Why does my 78 year old body hurt every morning? And to our surprise up jumped a lot of good information. After an hour and some we think we have a realistic answer that applies to the OFM. Our body is wore out. Basically this 78 year old body has been physically pushed for so many years doing so many activities that the bone joints and a few other parts are just plain old and worn badly. The OFM has definitely earned the WORE OUT OFM badge.

What is there to do to heal so the flexibility returns to like new? We found that the correct answer seems to be you cannot get back to like new. But most folks can, by life changing action, bring themselves to a point of minimizing the pain causes. So after a few hours of research on different things that can be tried we chose the ones we want to start with to find out if that change helps or not. The process is basically try a change for a while and see if it helps. If not then try one of the many other items that helps some folks to handle this part of aging. Definitely not the answer we were hoping for but if it helps we will use it. We will keep you up to date on our progress or lack of progress.

Our diet is supposedly not part of our trouble on the pain front and we were glad of that. Tonight we had one of our favorite meals.

A salad mix from a Walmart mixed salads rack with a can of drained tuna dumped on top and then a preferred BBQ sauce drizzled all over it. Boy these are good, quick and easy. The beverage is cheap Walmart Root Beer. The OFM Team really likes these about once a week. And that is about it for tonight from a sore and aching OFM.

Pretty Roses Blooming

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD PARK

DATE: AUGUST 8,2024

We got going a bit late this morning but stepped out into a surprise heavy over cast and a lot less heat.

The result was a nice walk of 3.6 miles with a gentle breeze most of the way. In the last ten minutes the overcast burned off and the sun load quickly became very strong. We are glad to have the chance to walk in the less hot day.

We noticed that the spiders have been very busy on the short grasses near the walking trail. They are back in their habit of building a carpet of flat webs about three inches off the ground all over the place where there is vegetation. We hope they are catching lots of biting bugs so our life will be easier soon.

Some of the bushes are setting berries now. It seems a bit early to us but Mom Nature is in charge. It is our job just to be happy to have nice vegetation to enjoy while walking the trails.

A rose shrub near a parking lot out the back of the campground had a nice rose on it today to brighten our day.

We think they are Simplicity roses. They will be back in huge masses again we hope. Some years there are hundreds of blooms in the planters scattered around the park and it is really nice to see.

Everyone please have a great day tomorrow trying to have tooooo much fun.