STOP 29 TYLER STATE PARK, TEXAS - TwoOldFartsAndaDog

We have been here for a week, since Sunday and tomorrow is Sunday and we are moving to our next park, Atlanta State Park in Atlanta, Texas that is just under Arkansas. After that stop it is on to Hot Springs, Arkansas and then home with one day driving to Missouri and one day driving home. We have about 11 days left until we are back in Bloomingdale. Tomorrow is the last time for laundromat laundry until the next big trip and I can’t say I am sorry about that. Also, only 11 more days of tiny shower. Looking forward to my home shower and its regular size where I don’t hit my head on the wall when I am rising my hair. We made a big improvement on the bed this year by adding a 3-inch memory foam topper we picked up at Costco and I have to say, I am not all aches and pains as I usually am at this point of the trip. For the next 11 days we will be eating strange combinations of food. Our last grocery run was just before we got here and whatever is left is what ever is left. Tomorrow, I have a post card to mail to Theo and Penny and then the last one will come from Hot Springs. I am not sure how much they enjoyed them, but I have had a great time picking out ones I think they will like, writing a message about what we have seen and sending them. When I get home, it is back to sending them stickers in the mail.

This stop has been very relaxing. The park is very nice with a beautiful lake, great trails we have taken advantage of and everything we need right at our site. Earlier in the week my high school friend, JoAnne and her husband Bob who live near Huston came to visit. It was a long ride for them and I appreciate that they came and we had a really nice visit. This trip we got to see people we know twice and that was fun.

There is a bit of wildlife here, racoons, squirrels and many birds. I love the birds. The racoons and squirrels not so much. The day that JoAnne came we barbequed some chicken. The grease tray in the grill has some drippings. When we woke up the next day, the racoons had a party overnight. They pulled out the drip tray and then tracked their greasy feet all over my nice aluminum table. They left us an acorn in the drip tray I guess as a trade. Then they hopped off the table onto our very nice and relatively new foldable chairs. The seats as well as the little attached snack tables were covered with grease. I never thought I would get it clean. The fabric on the chairs must be treated because I had a wet cloth and they came clean. I sprayed the table with Clorox Clean Up and wiped it down and it was clean too. Then I cleaned the drip tray and left the smell of Clorox Clean Up all over the place. I am happy to say they have not returned.

The squirrels have been having a staring contest with me. There are pine trees here and oaks. They have been gathering acorns and burying them. Before they bury them, they try to scare me off, I think so I won’t know where the acorns are buried. I just sit and watch them. They are burying them about 8 to 10 feet away from where I am sitting. I have been thinking, what if it is an older squirrel with early onset memory problems and they can’t remember where they buried it. Will the acorn grow into a new tree? What if the squirrel meets with an untimely death, say from a car, again new tree? Perhaps I have been out in the woods too long.

When we were in San Antonio there were a lot of magpies. I don’t hear them here and I miss them. There are huge birds here that fish in the lake, I think they are hawks, but they have some white tail feathers so I am not sure. I saw a very light blue bird that was so pretty and a yellow one two. It will be so boring in IL with sparrows and robins. But I do love the ducks in the spring.

Here are some pictures from the park and they are renovating the buildings from the 1930’s that the CCC put up. There are about a dozen cabins they build and they looked in good shape. We have spent a lot of time here just sitting outside soaking up the sun that we know will be hiding in Chicago.