Grasslands, Halloween style

Time to camp! We have been working way too much for retired folks. We spent several weeks preparing for Erica's baby shower. At least Shelly did, while I worked on getting our 1957 shell back on the frame, so we could get it out of the barn. We sold what was left of the 2013 Keystone to a guy who wants to put a slide out on a cargo trailer. That frees up a little time and space so I don't have to disassemble it further. I burned a pile of lumber from the Keystone, and Shelly hauled a bunch of scrap aluminum to Cleburne. We sold a head gate I got free from a guy in Meridian. Damon weedeated, and I mowed all day Friday before the baby shower. All that to say we got a much needed cleanup around our place. I had also built a row of enclosed shelves in the barn, and Shelly polyurethaned them. The baby shower went great, and as dad put it, it was the best baby shower I have ever been to. Ha! The only one.

Erica opening gifts, while everyone else plays baby shower bingo.

The cake!

But I digressed, we're going camping! Thursday, we went to the dentist, then drove to Meridian to vote, and pay taxes. We loaded up the 73 and drove to Decatur. There's already 12 other campers here, so we're not lonely. We visited with friends and met several new friends. The weather is perfect so far, but the wind is supposed to be stronger on Friday. 

 I took Sadie for a two mile hike on Friday morning, and enjoyed the cool morning. The name of the place is LBJ grasslands, but where we camp is mostly wooded, with live oak, post oak, red oak, and juniper. We went into Decatur looking for garage sales, but there were only two around. We ate at Panda Express, and drove back to camp. There was a cool north wind blowing about 15 to 20 miles per hour, but it calmed about sunset, and the fire felt good. Shelly made corn salsa for the evening snack, and there was a lot of snacks to fill us up. 

 It got down to 35 degrees on Saturday morning, and was cold with the breeze in the morning. 

Early morning

More aluminum 

The campfire was popular

Janie with Sadie, and Susan

The campfire was popular on Saturday morning, with the temperature getting down to 35 last night, and the wind picking up this morning. We visited with everyone in the morning. I hiked across to the ridge west of the camp, and probably hiked about two miles. In the afternoon, Shelly brought out her chili, about 4:30 because I was hungry. Everyone who tried it liked it. We stood around the fire again on Saturday night, but left early because the smoke got pretty bad, and we were tired. Sunday morning was not as cold as Saturday, but still cool; about 40 degrees. I got up about 6:30 according to our clock, but laughed when I realized the time changed this morning, and it was really 5:30.  I'm not telling Shelly yet.