Gene Found An Arrowhead!

Gene's arrow/spear head

View from "backyard" of  RV at Wilder Springs

Gene is so excited!  He's been looking for an arrowhead for years on his walks around the ranch.  Monday,
August 26th we went for a walk to Leo's Crossing.  As we walked down the trail through the meadow, he looked down and there it was.  Just a few minutes before he had said, "Lord, as many years as I've been walking these trails, you'd think I would have found an arrowhead."   He took a picture of it on his cell phone and sent it to family.  Today he took some pictures with his camera, so now I can show everyone his great find.

We moved from Lonesome Pines campground down to Wilder Springs Thursday afternoon.  I can sit outside and see and hear the water gurgling along in Spring Creek while I crochet or read.  I love it!

Gene at Leo's Crossing

Gene wanted to show me how much the water had gone down at Leo's Crossing.  When we were here in
December 2006, we took a bike ride/hike from Hill Country Campground down to a meadow and across Leo's Crossing.  At that time, the water was much deeper and colder.  Gene walked his bike across and said
he'd come back for me.  I, being sure it couldn't be that difficult, started across.  Not a smart move.  I lost my balance and sat, then fell back into the water.  He rushed across and rescued me, now soaking wet.  As it was really cold (40's) I had on several layers of clothing, so peeled off the first couple layers and started the walk back to Wilder Springs Campground.  It seemed to last forever.  We sat down at the first table and took off our shoes and socks and wrung the water out.  Then the hike from Wilder back up the hill, pushing my bike, to Hill Country.  Gene rode on ahead and asked Sally, the camp host, to come pick me up in her enclosed golf cart.  It looked like a chariot from heaven.  Back in the RV, it took several hours before I got the chill out of my bones.  So, in memory of that delightful experience, we made the much shorter hike to see how the course of the stream had changed and water was much, much shallower.  I did not try to cross it even in it's calm state.

I bought some more yarn at the Craft House at Wilder Springs, and spent a couple afternoons with the ladies there working on various projects.  It was reminiscent of old sewing bees - good fellowship and creating something at the same time.

Wednesday we moved up to Melody Lane.  It's the quietest campground during the holiday weekends.  They'll be lots of fun activities all through the weekend - flea market, duck race, ATV "marble" run, etc.  It's fun to watch the "parade" of ATVers going by - all types of vehicles.  It sort of reminds me of driving up and down the main street of town on Saturday night when we were teenagers.

Gene and I walked to the clubhouse yesterday and played mini golf and I put a puzzle together while he watched TV.  Today was computer day for me.  I might try to work in a swim at the pool later.  Ah, such tough decisions.  Love this relaxing life!

Until next time, God's blessings to all our family and friends.

A Quiet Week

It's been a nice, quiet week - almost.  We moved from Foggy Hollow campground to Lonesome Pines campground on Friday.  I did my laundry before we settled in site #124.  It's shaded, near the bathhouse and I have a wifi connection - all very important requirements. 

That evening we went to a potluck dinner in the Patio Room and met Art and Faye.  They are also in Lonesome Pines.  The dinner was delicious with a good variety of dishes. 

On the trip here, we had a little problem with the RV engine overheating.  Gene added antifreeze and water to the reservoir and the radiator (after it cooled down) and the temperature stayed in the normal range the rest of the way here - about 100 miles.   There was water dripping from the engine area, not the radiator, after we parked it.  When we moved to Lonesome Pines, there was water dripping again.  I asked Faye if we could ride with them to the Chapel for the service Sunday morning, which she gladly agreed to. 

Monday Gene called the Chevy dealer and made an appointment for Tuesday morning 9:00.  It takes about a half hour to get to town, so we were up and out of here by 8:15.  It turned out to be the water pump.  I'm so thankful it wasn't something major.  While there we met a delightful lady "over 80" who regaled us with stories of her family, friends and childhood.  Lou Ella could be the next Laura Ingalls Wilder! 

We made a day of it - ate lunch at Skillet Cafe, filled my prescription, bought groceries at Wal Mart, made a stop at Dollar General and finally back to Cloud 9 at 3:00.  After supper, Gene rode his bicycle up to the clubhouse to watch TV.  He cut across one of the RV concrete pads and his tire went off and back on (almost) the pad causing the bike and him to tip over.  I didn't know about this until he came home later and requested an ace bandage and some Ibuprofen.  Again, I'm very thankful nothing was broken, just sprained.

We have enjoyed walks around the campground, reading, playing Scrabble, and last night got together with Art and Faye to play Mexican Train ( a domino game).  I'm making great progress on an afghan I'm crocheting using yarn from other projects and some yarn Jen gave me.  Yesterday Faye & I rode down to the Craft House at Wilder Springs to browse.  They have some yellow, blue and green yarn that I think  I'll get today to make the afghan more colorful and larger.  That should keep me busy for a while.  We'll be moving down to Wilder Springs  campground later this afternoon.  I'm looking forward to another peaceful week.

Until the next post - God's blessings to all our family and friends.  

A Jaunt to Missouri



Water had risen and was roaring after rain 8/10/13



This is how the culverts and roadway usually look (2012)




Several ATVers found themselves unable to get back across after water had risen



Mist rising from the creek

We have come back to our beloved Cloud 9 Ranch in Caulfield, MO.  We left home on August 5th with the intention of taking two to three days to make the trip.  We spent the first night in Dothan, AL at a Passport America campground, Pecan Point.  It was very clean and quiet.   After a morning of packing up the RV and then traveling almost 300 miles, we were "early to bed and early to rise".  Usually we don't get a very early start in the mornings, but we were both in the "go" mode, so hit the road about 7:30 on Tuesday.

Gene asked me to look up the Thousand Trails Cherokee Landing in Middleton, TN on our GPS.  I saw Cherokee Campground and  told him it was only about 3 hours away.  Ahh, a short travel day.  That happy thought was dashed a couple hours later when we stopped at a Rest Area near Jemison, AL and he looked at the map.  Cherokee Campground is near Birmingham and we still had about four hours to drive.  I felt really bad and offered to help drive, which I did later on for about an hour.  That gave him a second wind and we arrived at Cherokee Landing about 5:00 that afternoon.  August is their slowest month, so we had our choice of good campsites.  We spent three days there relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet.  On Thursday we walked over to the lodge and played some pool.  Now when I say I played pool, I use the term very loosely.  Anytime I actually make contact with a ball I consider it a victory!  A couple we met the day before came over later and we shot three games with them.  I was ecstatic when a few of my balls actually went into the pocket. 

Friday morning we headed out a little after 8:00 and arrived at Cloud 9 by 3:30.  When we checked in we noticed the sign posted that said "Do not cross creek until Tues."  They had had a lot of rain and flash flood warnings.  The creek had risen and both Wilder Springs and the lower section of Foggy Hollow campgrounds had to be evacuated.  The water had risen and receded several times.  It would seem safe to cross in the morning, then it would rise again.  Several ATVers had crossed over on Friday morning and were unable to get back across.  The rangers were kept busy locating them and bringing them out the back side of the property.  We usually like to camp in site 91 at Foggy Hollow, which is right next to the creek.  Ranger Rick said they couldn't let us do that in case the creek rose again, so we choose a site on higher ground.  It has actually worked out well, as we're closer to the bathhouse and I have a WiFi connection here in the RV.  (Last year we carried the laptop to the bathhouse and set it on the sinks.)

It rained off and on until Tues. and has been beautiful, sunny weather ever since.  I am always in awe of the beauty of God's creation.  The vibrancy of the green of the leaves as the sun shines on them and then more muted shades of the trees farther away makes me wish I were an artist and could capture all of it on canvas.  A camera just does not do it justice.

Gene has been doing some cleaning/fixing jobs on the RV and watching tennis at the clubhouse.  I have been crocheting an afghan and reading.  We take a walk in the evening down to the ford to see if the water is receding or rising.
The "misty" picture was taken on one of our walks.  It is so beautiful when the mist starts coming in.

Friday we'll move up to Lonesome Pines campground so I can be close to the laundromat and we can go to the potluck that evening. 

So, until next time - God's blessings to all our friends and family.