Tales From The Camping House

Tales From The Camping House

Monday, November 21, 2011

Final Day at Inks Lake

November 21, 2011
Today is our last day at Inks Lake State Park. Tomorrow, we will be moving close by family for Thanksgiving.

I spent Friday in Austin going to Christmas Affair with my daughter, Lisa and granddaughter, Karli. Jim spent the day playing golf at Packsaddle Country Club in Kingsland.

We spent the weekend just hanging out around the park. Some more pictures of this beautiful place.


















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Location:Inks Lake State Park, Texas

Murmeration, One More Time

November 15, 2011

We spent most of the day just relaxing and catching up on chores. We did go to the other side of the lake just before 5:30 to see the murmuration of the starlings from a different perspective. We realized there was a place we could sit about 50 feet from where they roost at night.







It was spectacular to see them fly right above us.



































Here's a video of some of what we saw.


Fredericksburg, Texas & Nimitz Pacific War Museum


November 14, 2011

I woke up to this beautiful view this morning from our window. It looked like a painting.






Our plan today was to drive 65 miles to the little central Texas town of Fredericksburg.



We have been there many times, but we had never been to the Nimitz museum.



Chester Nimitz who commanded the Pacific fleet grew up around Fredericksburg and his father owned the Nimitz Hotel which was built in the shape of a steamboat. Part of the museum is here. There is also another new section, the George H. W.Bush Museum. It is big enough to house airplanes, boats, and other artifacts from World War II. There are video reenactments of Pearl Harbor and the atomic bomb at Hiroshima. It is extremely interesting and definitely worth the trip.












After that, we still had time to make a quick trip to Fredericksburg Winery and then returned home.

Location:Fredericksburg, Texas

More Visitors & Murmurations

November 13, 2011

Today, Jim's sister, Melinda and her husband, Chris, were coming out for the day to visit. They arrived about one and we all sat outside visiting. It's wonderful being in Texas and being able to sit outside comfortably the week before Thanksgiving.





We enjoyed happy hour and then went back to the rocky ledge to see the murmuration. There was also a beautiful sunset.





















We returned to the rv for dessert and more fun conversation!
Here's a video of the murmuration.

Owl Prowl & Murmuration

November 11, 2011
Today, my brother, Gary, and my sister-in-law, Lisa, will be coming here to spend the weekend. Jim went down to the campground office to pay for their site in order for them to get the site next to us. Texas state parks operate on a reservattion system of first come first served. You can make reservations, but you cannot reserve a particular site.

They arrived around one and got set up.

Lisa called us about 4:30 to say they were going to the owl prowl up at the amphitheater at 5:00. We made plans to join them there.

We arrived at the office to begin the "prowl". A park ranger discussed owls. We weren't sure if we would see or hear any owls since there were probably about 25 people including quite a few young children.



However, the highlight of the evening was to find out about and see murmuration. No one isquite sure why this happens, but it happensin the fall. Starlings fly in amazing patterns and formations before they roost in the evening. We had an amazing spot on the rocks to watch. I have some video on itthat I will post when we get back to the land of high speed internet.








We then hiked back into the woods. The ranger was able to make screech owl calls and a couple of screech owls did answer. The kids were amazingly quiet. It was a fun evening!


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Location:Inks Lake State Park, Texas

Inks Lake

November 10, 2011

We left Austin today heading to Inks Lake State Park which is approximately 80 miles west of Austin. We have been coming to Inks Lake for almost 30 years. We started camping when the kids were little. At that time, we had a tent and then moved up to a popup camper that did not have air conditioning. We stopped camping in 1981 when we got busy with work and our kids' other activities. We didn't get back to the campgrounds until 2005.

Jim went ahead of me while I stopped at HEB in Burnet for groceries. I have my car now, so we will see how it works out . We're still trying to decide if we will keep the car and I will follow Jim when he's pulling the fifth wheel. Then, we'll have the car to run around.

I got to the park and Jim had already parked the Camping House in its spot. We'll be here 12 days.







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Location:Inks Lake State Park Burnet, Texas

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Catching Up With Family

November 7-10, 2011

We returned to catch up with the kids and grandkids. Our youngest granddaughter had just had her fourth birthday, so we also had to have a post celebration with her. We stayed at Oak Forest RV Park. It's in north Austin and a little further from the kids, but it is a wonderful park as well as being a Passport America park. Passport America is a membership organization with a number of participating campgrounds that you can stay for half price. We liked this rv park so much we decided to stay there for a month during the Christmas holidays. The dogs enjoyed it too. There were three dog parks divided so big and little dogs could be separated.












We enjoyed our time with all our family!


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Location:Austin, Texas

Boot Camp


November 2-6
We arrived at the Escapees' Rainbow Park in Livingston. Escapees is a wonderful organization dedicated to rving and especially to people who fulltime rv. We met lots of wonderful people who love to travel and many stories were shared.

We took a tour of the park knowing the park was big, but had no idea of the scope of the organization. Escapees provides a mail service to fulltimers big enough to have their own zip code.



There is even an extended care facility for members to park their rv and receive meals and medical services for an extended time.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were spent in sessions dealing with many safety aspects of our rvs. There were sessions on rv systems, tire safety, weight management, and fire safety. It was a wonderful learning experience and we would recommend it for everyone interested in rving whether it is part time, weekends, or full time.

Before we left, we were weighed and thankfully we were 750 pounds under our maximum limit.










Location:Livingston, Texas

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Lake O' The Pines

October 28 - November 2, 2011

Well, we have gone full circle, we're back in Texas. This time, we stayed in site 118 at the Buckhorn Campground at the Lake O' The Pines. The site overlooked the lake with spectacular views from our window.

























We also had colorful sunsets out our back window







As well as the mystfying vapors coming off the water in the morning






We spent Saturday visiting with Jim's brother Tommy and his wife Susan who live in a neat house in the Piney. We had a great time visiting, playing games and beginning a new puzzle.












They also have a very well behaved and sweet dog, Mocha.






Tommy and Susan came out to the rv on Sunday and we continued our fun. We spent the next day shopping in Longview. Tuesday, Jim played golf. Wednesday, we are going to Livingston, Texas to the Escapees Rainbow's End Park and will be attending the RV Bootcamp.

Location:Jefferson, Texas