Written 11/12/2021
Another week has flown by at this beautiful park. Shame that I have to go back to Austin on December as I really like it here. All of the people that I have spoken to on my walks are all very friendly and curious and like to spend time visiting and I really like this glorified camping life. It’s not like tent camping of my youth where you are a lot closer to nature as Miss Daisy has all of the mod cons that I need even if space is a bit cramped and that I can never find anything.
We went out for our morning walk and just strolled around the park. I have discovered that if we walk the grassy perimeter we can get in a lot more steps and besides, it is much easier walking than on the gravel roads with it’s larger rocks which make for uncomfortable walking even wearing boots as I always do. We try to get in at least a half mile on the morning walk before heading back into Miss Daisy for breakfast. The first part of my days is pretty set and I generally always follow the same routine which only gets varied if we happen to have something special or different planned for that day. That routine comprises of walking the dogs, breakfast for us all and then sitting down to answer any emails that require my attention followed by writing about yesterdays adventures in the blog.
I spent a couple of hours writing and then Sandy, who I am sure has learned that if she is a big enough bug, she gets to go out for a walk. Mikey, on the other hand, is content to sleep the day away only going out to answer the call of Nature. Remembering Sandy’s performance of a couple of days ago when she really did need to go out to do her business and breathing a deep sigh of resignation, I put on my boots which only excited both of them even more. They patiently wait as I strap on their harness but after that, its a “Lets go Dad” as they pull and tug until I open the door and out they fly. By now, I am prepared and brace myself for the inevitable tug as they hit the ground running. We walked the Park perimeter and this time, I walked behind the RV’s on the far side, a route we hadn’t taken before. We got to meet more neighbors and one little Schnauzer in a caged run that Sandy managed to touch noses with. Mikey, not so much as he stood behind me in his usual spot when other dogs are around. We completed the perimeter circuit and I was prepared to go inside but the Madam, had other ideas and led us down to the trails and made us walk one of the short ones. Finally, she led us back to Miss Daisy as she had tired herself out at least enough she didn’t want to walk anymore.
As I was sitting on the couch, another large 5th wheel pulled in a parked in our old site. I watched for a while and again, the man did everything while the wife just stood around. She didn’t help in anyway that I could see as far as setting up the RV. No directions, no nothing. They also had two smaller kids, a girl and a boy. Incidentally, I got a better look at the man and he appears to be much older than the woman so maybe it’s his daughter and grandkids which would account for her not helping. Talking about tent camping, a couple of families moved in today and are doing just that, tent camping. There are several children and at least three different families with the kids of all ages plus a dog or two. They are in the grassy area in front of the office and not far from the playground. Wonderful way to bring up the kids and teach them how to get closer to Nature.
Then it was time for the evening meal and the usual round of television and a glass of wine. Tonight, the Internet reception was very good and I got to watch a football game plus a couple of episodes of Midsomer Murders, an English thriller series that shows wonderful views of the old English houses and countryside interspersed with the odd murder or two just to spice things up. Reminds me of home.
Written 11/13/2021
We awoke to the sound of the children that moved in last evening, playing on the swings in the Playground. It’s great to hear them enjoying themselves. Sandy was ready to go so out the door we stepped in our usual tangled rush and headed for the grassy area to walk the perimeter again. Like I said before, for me it is easier walking and does take us away from the other RV’s and whatever dogs may be tied up outside which usually ends in a cacophony of barking, jumping up and down and generally being very noisy. We made a full perimeter of the park and ended up close to the Trail head which was one of my many mistakes for the day as Sandy was determined that we needed to walk the trails. I tried to talk her out of it but being the woman of the group, she easily won any arguments that Mikey or I could come up with so off we went. Actually, I had the last word as I took the shortest route turning back onto a return trail at the first opportunity. She didn’t know any different. We walked almost a mile for the mornings walk, a good start to the day.
The rest of the morning followed our usual routine, breakfast, coffee and then reading and answering emails and writing in my blog. As I watched, another one of the long term residents to my left and across the way, packed up his RV and pulled out. A little while later, he came back with a trailer to pick up his two outside grilles and a couple of other items and then left again. Obviously, they have moved campgrounds but have not gone very far. There is quite a bit of activity in the Park with a lot of comings and goings by the Residents, others are busy doing “stuff” around their units or heading off somewhere in their vehicles. My new neighbors have set up their grille and are busy cooking a meal but then again, they do have two small kids that need to be fed on a regular basis. For myself, I eat two meals a day, breakfast and the evening meal and very little in between. I’m not much of a barbecue enthusiast as I don’t eat much in the way of meat. I’m limited to occasional chicken or turkey and I buy them prepared so I don’t have to. I have never been much of a meat eater my entire life and at age 85 and in good health, am not the worse for it.
A very nice looking Class B pulled in with a young couple inside and parked directly across from me. The camper looked new and they didn’t bother to level it up so I knew they were not staying more than overnight.
The rest of the day was spent in the usual fashion of writing in this blog and working on some photos that I took before heading out for the afternoon walk at Sandy’s insistence. We walked the park and then a couple of the trails and covered about 2.5 miles for the day. We actually ran into another couple heading in the opposite direction which was a bit of a surprise as we normally don’t see anyone on the trails. Not sure that too many of the residents are into hiking as many are older. So am I but I have always run or hiked and I find no reason to ever stop, that is until I can’t anymore. Besides, Sandy won’t let me.
We sat for a while outside and as my next door neighbor was working on his RV, I walked over just to chat with him mostly about RV stuff before calling it a day and going back inside Miss Daisy for the evening meal. For some reason, the TV reception was not very good and I ended up watching on my laptop.
Written 11/14/2021 – Check out my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com