Catching Up

It's been a long time since I have written anything, no reason other than I just have not been motivated. We have done a lot that I should have written about in this journal so I will try to catch up now.
In late October I took the kayak out to explore part of the Trinity River near our home, it was like I had left the city and was on a wilderness river until I came to this intake which I found out is for a water purification plant. About 5 miles upriver is a sanitary landfill that borders the river, You would think this might not be the best place to get water for the City of Carrollton but what do I know. I know I would not eat fish caught here even though it is beautiful from a kayak. We also took the Surveyor to Fredriksburg TX to camp out and ride our Trek Tandem in the Fall Foliage Frolic. This was a nice rally through the country side and passed through ranch country with cattle guards on the roads and cattle running free in parts that were open range with no fences. It was cold for the start but warmed up nicely and we rode 65 miles and the Hill Country Touring Club put on a great lunch.
We met our friends Gary and Lugay there and after the rally we visited Becker Vineyards for a tour and tasting and of course made a few purchases to help spur the economy. This was a really nice trip, but not nearly long enough. After a nice German food meal it was back to the house.

Michele and Lugay having barrels of fun and wine.


I also took a trip to the LBJ National Grasslands to scout for deer for the shotgun season. I did see deer and I have found this meadow on native prairie grass that is beautiful and seldom visited since you can not park close by and it's a bit of a hike to get there. This 20 thousand acres of public land is 58 miles from the house and is free to hunt, fish and camp on. We plan on taking the RV there in the spring and do some boondocking since dispersed camping is allowed.

After Thanksgiving we took the camper to Dinosaur Valley state Park where we explored the hiking trails and I spent a good bit of time riding my mountain bike on some nice but difficult trails. I also came up on a number of deer on my rides through the woods and rocks.

We met some really nice people camping next to us in a big 5th wheel that plan on living and traveling full time in the RV in about 2 years. I took some pictures of some dino tracks in the river bed, You are not supposed to get very close or walk on or near the tracks so I can't give any scale to the pictures, just think a lot bigger than they look.

Bobby and I were able to slip away for an afternoon sail on a cool breezy day and almost had the lake to ourselves, I think this recharged me as much as the red rocks of Sedona AZ did.

This weekend I was lucky enough to get invited to go on a management hunt on a 3 thousand acre Ranch and harvest a deer. No gory pictures, just a freezer that was almost bare is now well stocked with lean healthy venison that will not go to waste, and a deer herd that is healthier because of it.

Cold weather has settled on us and no trip is planned, if it changes we can be ready in just a few minutes to hook up to the trailer and explore more of this great country.

Dennis