LCRA South Shore Park, Bastrop Day 4 06/04/2022

We slept well and woke up to the sound of rain on the roof, so I rolled over and went back to sleep getting out of bed around 9:30 am. The dogs make no effort to get up and I wonder how long they can “hold it” after a long night as the minute I am showered, they suddenly are ready to get out of the door. We walked for about a half mile just around the loop before returning to Quatro for breakfast and then settling down to write in this blog. 
 
I spent some time on RV Trip Wizard writing a very favorable review along with pictures on Henly RV Park from which I recently left. It is a very well-maintained park with extremely helpful hosts. I figure that credit should be given where it is due, and that park deserves as much credit as is possible.  

When I first started writing this blog, I wrote it using Word and then transferred it to the blogsite. This month, I decided that I would write directly in the blogsite but much to my dismay, it does not make the same corrections that Word does so I have switched back to writing in Word and then copy and paste into the blog. It is a bit more work but at least, the finished product should pass the test of any critical English Majors that might happen to read it although, to be truthful, I do wonder on the corrections that Word sometimes wants to make. 

I decided that I needed to go into the town of Bastrop as I need a second backup set of keys for the RV. For some reason, there was only one set this time. When I purchased Mr. George, there were two sets of all kinds of keys, many of which I had no clue to what they opened. It is a well-known fact that many RV keys fit other RV’s especially in the storage areas. The drive in was simple enough and eventually I found the Lock shop only to discover they are not open on the weekend. Strange really, but I guess they did not get the business that warranted keeping the shop open. I looked on my phone and discovered another one and followed the directions that brought me to a Walmart’s parking lot but no Lock shop. After several frustrating drive arounds, I parked and lo and behold, the lock shop was a machine to make your own keys located inside of Walmart’s. This would not work for me so I guess that it will happen on Monday. Since I was at Walmart’s anyway; I took advantage and did some shopping. Incidentally, because the HEB is so big, the Walmart’s is even bigger. Cannot be outdone… 
 
The drive back was uneventful, and we harnessed up, after putting the groceries away for the evening walk. I discovered another trail and we walked it which brought us back to within 100 yards of Quatro. Altogether I covered a little over 2 miles for the day. We finished the evening in the usual fashion with the evening meal and watching TV. 

Written 06/04/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2012.com 

LCRA South Shore Park, Bastrop Day 5
06/05/2022

We took our first walk around the park and saw many campers breaking down their campsites as they prepared to go home to their “bricks and sticks” houses. My guess is that many are locals and come here for the fishing and boating that the park is noted for. With the weekenders gone, many of whom have their campsites reserved for months in advance, the park looks comparatively empty as there are very few, if any, long term residents and those are all employees. This is a holiday park and does not cater for long termers. My neighbors on either side and in front of me have left although a very nice Airstream pulled in later in the afternoon.

I drove over to the office both to empty my trash bin and to see if I could make changes to my site as it occurred to me that I had a doctor’s appointment in of all places, Dripping Springs, the same day that I am scheduled to move to a different site. I was finally able to work something out involving me staying at this site for one more day before changing, enabling me to keep the Doctor’s appointment. 

With business out of the way, I drove back to be greeted by the dogs who looked at me as if to say, “How dare you not take us with you.” I did not feel guilty one little bit and fixed breakfast for us before settling down to write. I was looking at RV trip Planner, the program I use to find out where I might want to go next, and my second stop was scheduled for Tranquil Gardens RV Park in Salado. When I first booked, they had only one spot for two nights which I took, and they promised to call me back if things changed. While I was looking at the RV Trip Planner, the phone rang, and it was them doing just that. I was able to book for 7 days total. Great timing on their part. It seems that even though I can plan a trip out, I cannot make reservations until the week before in case things come up as they did here. That also gives me time to adjust if I cannot get into a desired campground. All a part of travelling in an RV as you cannot just park anywhere, especially in Quatro which is 36ft long and the size of a bus. 
 
I also worked on one of the tablets that I have and uploaded RV Trip Wizard and was able to pull up the trip I have planned. I will use this as well as my phone when we travel to show us the way. The trouble is that neither of them will show me that the road signs that are pointing in the wrong direction like we encountered coming into this park.  

I looked at the clock and it was time for me to drive over to BJ’s house for the Pond Tour. I arrived and parked next to the house being a special guest and all. BJ and Sam gave me a warm greeting and we sat around taking for a bit along with others from the Pond Society, catching up on old times and such. There was a steady flow of people coming and going all “oohing and aahing” over BJ and Sam’s beautiful garden and ponds. BJ showed me where a baby fawn was laying in the bushes waiting for its mother to come and pick it up. We kept an eye on it and a couple of hours later, the doe came back and the next thing, the baby jumped up and raced after it is Mother. Wonderful sight to see Nature up close. Seems fitting somehow as we were there to enjoy Nature albeit with a bit of help from BJ and Sam and Mother Nature joins in to put on her own little show. 

People were coming and going all afternoon and I got to meet many old acquaintances in that time. The last ones left just after 5:00 pm and I took that as my cue to leave also. I said my farewells to BJ and Sam and drove back to Quatro. We immediately went out for the evenings walk for just a short trip before retiring back to Quatro for the evening. 

Written 06/05/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2012.com

LCRA South Shore Park, Bastrop Day 6
06/06/2022

We have nothing planned for today, but we got up at a reasonable hour for us to take the first walk of the day around the park. There are a lot of empty spots now that the weekend is over and as we walked by a couple of others who were preparing to break camp. We had breakfast, which some consider to be the most important meal of the day. For me, the coffee is the most important part with the food, not so much. As coffee has little nutritional value, then it must be accompanied with something solid. 

Following breakfast, I made plans to get the dogs to the vets for their annual shots and as I already have a doctor’s appointment in Dripping Springs of all places, I managed to arrange for both dogs to visit my vet that I have been going to these past 30 years. In that time, I have seen several veterinarians come and go including the original owner who retired many years ago and Dr Donop, my long-time vet, who retired recently at an early age. The plan is to drop the dogs off on the way to Dripping Springs for my Doctors Appointment and then pick them up on the way back. With all these arrangements going on, I need to find a hairdresser for me as what hair I have left is long and untidy although I am not restricted to any of the local hairdressers and can get it cut about anywhere. Vanity has long gone out of the window with old age… I suppose that with my hippie lifestyle, I could let just it grow long to look the part. 

With Thursday’s arrangements all made, I spent a couple of hours working on the pictures that I have recently taken including the fawn. Cute little guy. I wrote in the blog, but my mind was elsewhere planning my next move. I knew that I had to move on Friday to what I thought was the site for over the weekend. I also planned that when I moved, I would stop at the Dump Station to empty the tanks as we are not hooked up to the sewer on this site. 

The rest of the day was spent in the usual fashion although, I had quit writing early as I tried to get used to the wrist brace. It gets in the way especially when I try to move the mouse as my wrist is no longer level with the table being raised as it is by the brace. I tried working without it, but the pain was too great, and I had to put it back on. I never realized just how right-handed I am but am finding out really quick. My left hand cannot do half the things that my right hand can.  

Written 06/06/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2012.com