This is Tahoe, the friendliest huge bundle of fur that anyone could meet.
I dropped off to sleep with the sound of fireworks going off somewhere close by, maybe even in the park. I counted the bangs and just like counting the proverbial sheep, finally fell asleep. I think I got up to 17 so I must have been tired.
We awoke to not only a new day but also to a New Year, 2023. Each year that I reach is a major milestone in my life. I have a birthday on the 20th of this month although I do not want to grow any older if I lose my faculties. Fine the way it is even if I cannot remember what I had for breakfast…Come to that, did I even have breakfast, or do I need to fix it?
We harnessed up to wander around the park and walk the lane directly outside and covered our usual .05 of a mile. The big dog was out along with his folks who were sitting outside enjoying the sunshine. The dog, whose name is Taho, only spent a little while saying hello to Sandy before going back to his spot to lay down and go back to sleep. His owners both made a big fuss of Sandy who just lapped it up. Although they tried hard, Mikey would just not come out from behind me to make friends.
We wandered on and went out into the outside lane but only walked from the bottom of the park to the main entrance and from there, back to the RV.
I unpacked the new coffee maker that I bought yesterday trying to find out what makes it tick. I figured out where the pods go, the ones I had to go back into town for yesterday, where to put the water and which switches did what and finally ended by frothing some milk to add to the coffee to make a Latte. Everything turned out well and after breakfast, I unhooked the old Latte maker, placing it outside with a view to throwing it in the dumpster later.
As it happened, Daniel stopped by to chat and pass the time and when he was getting ready to leave, offered to take the old coffee maker to the dumpster for me. I replace coffee makers on an annual basis or so it appears. If it was a straight foreword coffee maker, then I am sure they would last longer but the frothy milk part seems to complicate things and they break quickly.
Back inside, I continued with writing in the blog completing and posting the last for 2022. I have nothing planned for today unless we go for a walk to one of the parks. That got me thinking and I decided that is exactly what we should do. The dogs jumped in the car all excited that they got to go for a drive, and we headed down Hwy 290. Somehow, I missed the turn to Pedernales Falls Park, and we ended up taking the long way round which was OK as we were only out for entertainment. Driving falls into that category for the dogs. For me, not so much as I have driven thousands of miles in my lifetime and it is almost second nature, although I always try to be alert and aware of what is going on around me.
We eventually arrived at Pedernales State Park only to be asked when we pulled up, if we had a reservation. I explained that I was only going for a hike, but the Park employee was insistent that I had to have a reservation as they were full. I said OK, trying hard not to show my disappointment and headed back the way I had come. I wondered how a huge park with lots of trails and wide-open spaces could be full and then realized that the human part, car parking, restrooms and such would govern the amount of traffic. On the way back, I toyed with the idea of hitting Reamers Ranch Park and just at that moment, Sandy chose to throw up. I guess the ride had upset her, so we canned the alternative park idea and headed back to Henly.
We went walking around the park to make up for our lack of action at the State Park and then came back to sit outside for a while listening to an Audiobook and watching the world go by. A Class B pulled in right across from us and I watched as they took three small dogs out walking. They must be here overnight as they did not lower the jacks or hook up to the services although I noticed they had an extensive solar array on the roof of their RV. A little while later, they drove out leaving me wondering if they had just pulled in to rest for a while. Later, they returned so it was probably a shopping trip. Incidentally, the Class B series, is a professionally built motorized van conversion both small and agile enough to not need a tow vehicle.
We went out for one more walk around the park just to give us all a bit more exercise before returning to Quatro where we sat outside on the wicker couch and listened to an Audiobook. After about an hour, we adjourned back inside of the RV for the usual evening’s food and entertainment.
This is Taho’s little buddy
Welcome to 2023.
Written January 1, 2023. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
I’m glad you posted a picture because I was wondering what the big dog looked like.
He is the friendlest and the laziest dog you can ever encounter. Some days, instead of getting up to greet us, he rolls on his back for belly rubs.
Sweet!
Taho looks like a very sweet dog!
Also, when I worked for parks, we used to have to turn people away when we got too full, for the reasons you mentioned: lack of parking and restroom space. Parking was the biggest concern, since when we ran out of parking spaces, people would start parking wherever they liked and destroying our lawns. I should add that we only had to start turning people away when COVID hit. This was partly because people were more concerned about getting sick, but it was mainly due to the huge increase in park visitation that COVID brought about.