Lake of the Pines 38 years later

It was 38 years ago when Sherri and I first camped at Lake of the Pines. Sherri's mom and dad volunteered to keep the kids so we could get away for a while. We started out in Arkansas and slowly worked our way down to Lake of the Pines in East Texas.
The lake itself has not changed that much since we camped there in a tent. I tried to find the exact camp site that we used but after 38 years one forgets some of the details.
We have a real nice site and I have launched my boat to go fishing this morning.
We got up early and made coffee in our outside kitchen. It was nice being able to make our coffee outside and not have to go back and forth inside to get the next cup.
Fishing turned out to be quite lucrative. I bagged 4 nice size catfish and soon had them cleaned and bagged for the freezer.
Having never used my boat for fishing I learned a lot about what to take and what not to. I don't have much room to move around or stow things so I have to be very particular on what I bring along.
Drift fishing is my favorite form of fishing and this little inflatable is idea for just that.
After returning to the camp site I made everyone a big breakfast of bacon and eggs with toast. It was about 9:30 and this would do us until after noon. We skipped lunch and spent the rest of the day sitting under the patio cover watching it rain. Yes we had rain the rest of the day and it cooled things down to the 70's.
Our first day was all we could have hoped for...

Somewhere in Time

Our adventure begins

The alarm going off took me out of my slumber. I was dreaming about going on an adventure somewhere far away from all the projects. 
This was not only a dream but soon to be a reality. Yes we were getting loaded up for our first real trip in the RV. 
I know for all of you that are still full timing, your saying your adventure never ends and you are so right! We did that for 7 years and it was great but all good things must come to an end.
We have grounded ourselves here in our new home and don't take this wrong we love it! We still have our lake lot and we still can have many adventures. 
The biggest difference for us is that we have to plan and load all our needs prior to leaving out. Unlike living in our RV we had everything that we needed already loaded so all we had to do was drive off.
Having the travel trailer is a little bit harder to manage everything but it is more like camping out than ever before! Going and staying now reminds us of the early years when I was working and we planned our trip for weeks. Planning and getting ready was part of the excitement we had.
OK we were up early and put the last few things in the truck for the journey to the lake. This is where we store the RV. We hooked up and headed over to the State Park to dump our tanks. 
That being done we drove down to our house and parked out front where we loaded our clothes food and everything else we needed. 
Then we were off! We had a 2 hour drive ahead of us which was uneventful and pleasant.

We arrived just at check in time and the site was everything that we had hoped it would be. We had lake front access and a great place for me to launch my boat and tie it up at night. 
We made ready the patio area and soon were enjoying the great out doors...again...

Somewhere in Time

Yard Sale is on

Today is Yard Sale Day! We put everything out that we could live without.
This reminded me of our days at First Monday Canton Sales Day. We did that Flea Market for 18 years. Sherri sold doll clothes and I sold doll furniture. We did really well for all those years but then decided to hang it up and retire.
Retire we did not but we did not have to drive to Canton Texas every first Monday and set up our booth. Come rain or shine we were there. Through snow...hail...rain and wind we were there religiously.
Sitting here in the garage we spent time visiting with each other and soon with the neighbors we had not had the privilege of meeting yet. If you want to meet all your neighbors have a yard sale.
This evening after we close I have to mow the front and back yard. several things that have to be done before we pack all the left over sales items to the lake. What ever is left will be for the Fall sale we are planning. More money for our later adventures...

Somewhere in Time

Back fence is done

We were up early Saturday morning to start on the back fence. It gets hot here earlier now so we had to hurry through our coffee and drag out all the tools to get started.

Our back yard is the city ball fields

Looking the other direction you can see that we have open spaces 

Sherri loads the truck with the old fence material 

This is the back side of the fence looking from the city side

Some used and new fence is up and looking much better than the rotting wood we had 

We finished up just in time. The temps hit high 80's soon after. We have some other areas that we plan on redoing in the near future. Some more mulched areas and new fence for the side of the house.

New mulched areas in the corner of the yard

Our front fence needs to be replaced

All this keeps me out of trouble and in shape for my upcoming fishing trip...

Somewhere in Time 

Many things to do

Monday I have to get our yard sale permit and then put an add in the paper.
Then I have to stop by the City Hall and get the water turned on to our sprinkling system. It is on a separate bill than our other water. We have to pay a sewage bill with it but not with the irrigation system.
Back home again to finish up some projects in the back yard and then nap time.
We finished our fence and planted our new shrubs. All is coming together here. The new shrubs are going through a little shock but I read where they will be OK in a couple of weeks.
Our house is coming together now and we love how everything looks. We are so lucky to have the best of both worlds. Our RV at the lake and a nice home to come back to. Now all I need is a boat! LOL.
I do have the inflatable which works great for me when we are on the road. I can throw it in the back and blow it up where ever I have a place to launch it.
I really need to post some pictures of all so everyone can see what we have been up to...

Somewhere in Time

Weather getting warmer

We were up early this morning. Coffee on the patio and now it is time to get going on today's project. 

We are working on the backyard and getting it ready for the summer. 

The fence needs to be replaced and and shrubs planted along the back. We have no neighbors behind us but we still want to block the view of the Rodeo grounds that are a 1/4 of a mile behind us. 

We leave in 10 days and between now and then we have this project and a yard sale that needs to be done. Who said they get board after retiring?? Not us we stay busier now than we did when we were working. 

It is good for us and we still have time to relax...

Somewhere in Time 

May is almost gone

Kris gets out of school in May and we get out of town shortly there after.
Sherri and I were up bright and early this morning. Drank our coffee and then took Kris to school. From there we headed out to the lake to clean up some stowed away items that will be in our yard sale next week.
The money we generate from this sale will fuel us on our up coming adventure. It has been about a month since our last trip and we are more than ready to head out once more.
Projects around the house have kept our minds occupied for some time now but they are coming to a close and hitch itch has taken over.
We have several things to get done before we head out so we will be hard at work getting those items accomplished before we can say jacks up roll-em out...

Somewhere in Time

Started a new project

Kris shows off his trophy for soccer

I have been waiting to have a project for the shop...now that I have it ready to use. Sherri wanted a cabinet for our entry. This old piece came from my Great Grandmothers house. It has to be well over 100 years old and has about 15 coats of paint and stain on it.

This is what I will be working on for the next few weeks. We are stripping it down to the original wood.

We also planted a tree on Mother's Day.

Kris made breakfast for his Mom and then decided to eat in bed with her.
Sherri had a great day...

Somewhere in Time

Things around here are shaping up

We have been working diligently on fixing up the house. We have lived here now for almost 5 months and things are coming together.

The house was really move in ready but we had certain things that we wanted to change to our own liking. Sherri loves the open concept in houses so we cut a opening between the kitchen and the living room so we could see what was going on when we were preparing meals.

The doors in the house were the slab doors that were so common in the 60's and the 70's. We changed those out for raise panel and added the dark bronze hardware to set it off.

The entire house was painted in a peach color which Sherri changed to a sand color in most of the rooms and left the peach in the master bedroom and bath.

The garage was not large enough to park the truck in so I converted it to my shop. I have a wood working shop that is the envy of many men. I have made the garage my dream shop and can't wait for the furniture projects to come around. One of my first will be the medicine cabinet for the RV. Next Sherri wants an entry table for the front door. So I will have plenty of time to work in my shop now that it is complete.

We have landscaped the front of the house and will soon work on the back yard. We have plans for a new fence and a patio for the outdoor grill. Some flower beds thrown in here and there.

Over all everything is coming together day by day. 

We are getting hitch itch on top of all that we have done around the house so soon we will be loading up and heading out on some new adventures...

Somewhere in Time   

Thunder storms rumble through

We got up early as usual and noticed that it was overcast outside. I poured me some coffee and sat down at the computer to check out what the weather was going to be. Partly cloudy and the chance of rain sometime in the afternoon. They gave a time that it would start but lately they have had us anticipating rain that never comes.
I decided to just finish my coffee and fix me some breakfast and not worry about fertilizing the lawn as I had previously planned. Being the conscientious home owner that I am now I have been trying to green up the lawn and make it look good. Fertilizing was one of the things that I felt was the most important for the lawn. We have a good stand of St Augustine grass with a bit of Bermuda mixed in. With such a good start I would hate to see it die under my watch.
Well about 1:00 pm Sherri came out to the shop and told me that there was a thunder storm approaching and I should think about fertilizing. Well I guess the weather guys had got this one right so I went into low gear to get the yard done before the rain hit.
I finished up while it was raining and glad I did because it rained like there was no tomorrow! I have not checked the rain gauge but it has to be well over an inch.
With the rain came winds in excess of 50 mph. We lost a section of fence and some pickets here and there. I will be busy getting that all repaired...

Somewhere in Time

Our first home repair

We had to use our home owners insurance that we got at the time of closing. We have the 1 year warranty which I used to have our AC looked at yesterday. We had turned it on the other day to cool it down some and when I went out to the garage there was water all over the floor.
I was pretty sure it was the condensate drain line stopped up and I could have fixed that but I thought this would give me an opportunity to have a professional look the unit over and be sure all was well with it before the summer heat got here.
I had the incorrect thermostat installed for the heat pump and they fixed that. Everything else except the clogged drain line looked good so I was pleased even though I had to pay the service call.
I know this year we will have to stay at home during the warmer times...No Rocky Mountain High!
So far all has been well with the new house. We are enjoying our time at home. We have many short adventures planned for this summer and are looking forward to going...

Somewhere in Time