The unpainted railings

I got out of bed at a reasonable hour, took a shower and then took the dogs out walking. We wandered around the park, stopping to talk to Malinda, who had been away looking after her mother for a week or more. Returning to The Caboose, I opened the can of paint and gave the railings a second coat of the stuff. They look surprisingly good to me so unless Daniel tells me differently, that is the end of my painting.  

While I was out there, I filled the bird feeders and added a couple more of the seed cakes in their holders. The birds really like these cakes. I deliberately spilled seed on the ground for the doves who are ground feeders. While I was at it, I watered the roses I had planted and found a Mourning Dove that had died for some reason. I dug a hole and buried it next to the roses. R.I.P little Dove. Finding the Dove made me incredibly sad. 
 
We went back inside as all the outside work had been completed and I made breakfast, shared with the dogs. Must be, they did not like the Burrito that I had as they turned their noses up at the pieces, I offered them. I ate mine regardless of the dog’s taste. 
 
I sat and wrote catching up with the blog. We have nothing planned for today so will take it as it comes. With today being Saturday, the campground was busier than through the week with many more people walking around or using the Laundry Room. 

I played around with the TV but to no avail. Something I am not doing right so I gave up on that and found some things to do outside. I remembered to close the grey water valve that I had opened yesterday while the washing machine was doing its thing. I could leave it open, but it is useful to help wash out the black tank as needed. 

I received a phone call from Daniel telling me to come over at 4:00 pm as he was going to grill stuff and I was invited along with a few other of his close friends. I took the dogs out for a short walk and then headed over to Daniel and Melindas RV, just across the park from me. Dolores was already there and then Gary and Kerry and later her husband Chris joined us. We sat around talking and drinking beer and there was a world full of stories and yarns and at times, it was like a competition to see who could spin the most extravagant tail. It was all-in genuine fun, and I added my 5 cents worth along the way. 

Between them, they had produced this wonderful meal of several unusual types of Bratwursts served with all the fixin’s and they literally forced two platefuls on me. I was satisfied with the first one but Daniel would not hear of it and so I ate the second Brat and another plate of fixins. I forgot the bun on the second plate. In my mind, a sort of a compromise. I even drank two beers which I made last, and Delores commented on how slow a drinker I was. 

This led to stories of my past and the one and only DWI I had received many years ago. That prompted stories from the others about their own experiences and that is how the evening went. 

It started to get dark, and Delores left. I followed as I had to take the dogs out for their last walk of the day. Overall, a fun evening and I have a few friends at this park. 

I walked back to The Caboose and took the dogs out for a short walk about. By now, it was almost dark, and we walked around the campground and I got to see some of the twinkling lights that many of the RV’s have. I need to walk in the dark more often. 

Back inside of the RV, I fed the dogs and as I did not need to feed myself, turned my attention to the blog. As I wrote, I thought about the people that I had just been mixing with and except for Chris, were all people that I had the most contact with since I have been here. Nice to be accepted among them. 

As the TV is still not working, stupid thing, the rest of the evening was spent watching a Premier League game on the computer. 

Written 03/04/2023. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com  

The Adventures of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Dripping Springs, TX Day 95, Sunday 03/05/2023

The finished project.

We got up at a reasonable hour and, as we always do, walked around the park and along the bottom road. There were several others doing the same as us either with or without their furry friends. A few of the people are walkers, and they do several laps around. These people dress in shorts and running shoes and really look the part. There is even one young couple who take turns watching the baby while the other does a lap or two. Then they switch off. They are serious about their workout as they exercise with pushups and squats while awaiting their turn to run. Oh, to be young again (but without the baby). 

Working out unless in a group requires a strong attitude of mind. You must want to do it, or the effort is wasted. Generally, those people are driven either to participate in a sport, to lose weight or the desire for a better and fitter body. Back in the day, I was driven by my ability to play soccer which I was particularly good at, so I trained hard to be even better. I worked out until I was 80 years old although I had given up playing due to knee replacement surgery in my left knee when I was 72. 

Then one day, I decided that I had had enough of this working out thing, and I was not going to do this anymore. Just like that, I quit and concentrated on hiking or just walking to stay fit. Which brings us to where we are today. We, me, and the dogs, we try to walk at least a mile or more a day minimum although dog walking is not very productive walk wise. Way too many interesting smells which stop us making any real progress. As the walk is really for the dogs, we go at their speed. Sometimes, we will go to one of the local parks and hit the trails but again, it is hard to cover any distance when Sandy must smell everything of interest to her.  

The last time we went to Reimers Ranch Park, I made the mistake of walking the paths on top of the Riverbank which of course is the most popular trail for those with or without dogs. Consequently, Sandy was in seventh heaven with all innumerable doggy smells left behind and we did not make any distance as she was too busy sniffing everything. 

Back in the RV, I fixed breakfast for me which is an important way to start the day although food just does not taste the same anymore as I grow older. I guess, that like everything else, the tastebuds are also losing their ability to differentiate. At least, that way, I will not overeat. Not much point if everything almost tastes the same… 

I watered the new roses I had planted trying to encourage them to grow. I need to stop in town and get some other plants to complete this little patch of Heaven. I thought about the gathering last evening and was happy that I had been invited although I do need to watch out for Daniel making me eat that second plate of food. 

I spent time writing and working on some pictures I had taken. Occasionally, I would think of something that needed doing in the RV and stop what I was doing at the time and take care of it. We went out for a short walk down to Quatro to pick up a couple of things that I needed. There is not much left in that rig anymore and nearly everything has been moved to The Caboose. I moved all my worldly posessions into Quatro when he was my only rig but as he will only be used for the occasional trip, later in the year and The Caboose is my permanent abode, it made sense to transfer everything. For one thing, why drive around carrying the extra weight? 

I worked on the television as it did not make sense to me that I could not get it working. I was doing everything it asked me to do but it still would not receive a signal. I fiddled around and happened to look at the network I was using on my phone and realized that it had a different password than the one I had been putting in. I immediately tapped in that password and lo and behold, the TV works again. Glad of that as I was tired of watching the English Premier League on my computer. 

Daniel walked by and hollered at me to be at his RV in about an hour as he was barbecuing again. I waved back in acknowledgement and continued with my writing. Knowing that I now had a dinner date or maybe that should read, barbecue date, I harnessed up my little friends and we went out for a walk. 

I was back outside of the RV after returning from the walk and Mikey, my watchdog, started barking. This time,it was my neighbor behind me that had brought me a bowl of fruit. He wanted the bowl back but “No Hurry” and I took it back inside, switched the fruit to a different bowl, washed it and at that moment, Jeanette, my neighbor’s partner, was returning from the dumpster, and I handed the bowl back to her and thanked her profusely for the gift of the fruit. 

At the appointed time, I wandered over to Daniel and Malinda’s RV to be met by their little dog,who quickly made friends with me again. She must bark to let everyone know she is there. BJ and Peggy were there along with Jeff and Daniel handed me a beer. We spent the next couple of hours eating chicken wings and drumsticks with all the fixin’s as everyone, except me, told stories of their travels which included gambling wins and losses at some of the well-known casinos around the country. They all appeared to have travelled extensively and some had even been abroad to other countries. 

My own offerings were insignificant compared to the stories that they all had. My one and only trip to a foreign land was coming to America from England and that was one way. Traveling to Wales and Scotland does not count. It made for an interesting evening. Eventually, the party broke up and I thanked them profusely for inviting me and wandered back to the RV where I harnessed up the dogs and we went walking around the park in the dark and once more, getting to see all the lights. 

The rest of the evening was spent in front of the big TV watching a game and then another couple of episodes of Farscape although for whatever reason, that show is turning weird on me as the writers strive to produce different plots. 

Written 03/05/2023. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com