June started with an anniversary (actually, 2)! May 31, 2011 – 3 years ago – was the last day of my real job as a legal secretary! June 1, 2011 – 3 years ago – was our first day of full-time RVing! Best decision we ever made and no regrets!
We met another person who we had only known previously from Facebook – Peggy Krepelka! Peggy first contacted me on Facebook a few months ago when she and David were considering becoming gate guards. Recently, she posted that they were nearby (after gate guarding for the last few months) and, after exchanging posts, she and David came to the park last Sunday, June 1st, for an overnight stay. We had a great visit and, then, met David later in the afternoon when we picked them up for dinner. Naturally, we returned to our new favorite restaurant – The Cedar Tree in Jasper, TX, which is just a few miles from Martin S. Dies, Jr. State Park. It was just as yummy as always, and David and Peggy were pleased with their meals, too!
On Monday. June 2nd, while traveling to Houston for surgery on my left hand – both carpal tunnel and trigger thumb – we booked our first 10 days of our month-long motor home vacation - 3 days near Crater of Diamonds State Park in AR (7/8-7/11) (they had no vacancies, but we save lots of $$$ at Corps of Engineers parks) and 7 days near Mountain Home, AR at COE Dam Quarry Campground on the Norfolk River (7/11-7/18). Our 13-year-old grandson Logan will be with us, and we will be getting out of TX for the first time in almost 2 years. Getting excited - and more on this trip later!
We were glad we left early for our drive to Houston, and glad that we do not have to deal with Houston traffic every day! This was the scene as we neared downtown at 9:00 a.m. We had to arrive by 10:30 for surgery at 11:30.
Surgery was delayed about an hour due to a surgery that took my doctor longer than expected. I told her to take all the time she needed! All went well, and I had to keep my left hand elevated for 2-3 days and use an ice pack every 20 minutes – both to keep the swelling down and have less pain, which worked. Fortunately, I only had to take a pain pill once or twice a day, and I could use my right hand to hold a cell phone and peck the keys on my iPad Mini. Unfortunately for Dick, I am unable to get the hand wet, including washing dishes, for a week. I know he is hoping that. after our visit tomorrow, I can again wash dishes and write with my left hand – although I am now able to use the fingers of both hands to type this blog. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes!
A couple days later, Dick saw that the park had chosen his photo as its new cover photo! How awesome!!
To see more of Dick’s photos of the park, check out the following site:
For more information on the park, check out following site:
Thursday, June 5th, was our middle grandson Colby’s last day as a first grader. Second grade, here he comes! Life should be smoother for our DIL April, as she will have both Ben, who will be in kindergarten, and Colby at the same school for the next few years.
Our friends - Michael and Olivia and their 3 kids from Plano, TX - came to the park for a few days and stayed in one of the shelters with AC, which was very smart, especially with a 7-week-old (Max), 2-year-old (Sarah) and 4-year-old (Jackson). We first met them when we hosted at Mary’s Lake Campground in Estes Park, CO almost 2 years ago, and they have come to visit us at each of the 3 state parks where we have hosted (Fort Parker State Park, Brazos Bend State Park and, now, Martin S. Dies, Jr. State Park). Friday afternoon, they came by the Nature Center while I was volunteering for a few hours!
Yesterday (Saturday, June 7th), the park had a very successful fishing tournament for kids through 12 years old – “Fish Flop” - with lots of goody bags, door prizes, trophies and great prizes for those catching fish. These were the kids fishing from the pier closest to our motor home, plus 2 girls who came to us with their Mom to measure and record the fish they caught. At the awards ceremony back at the Nature Center, Dick also got a great picture of Max and Olivia!
Then, we had another visit with our friends Michael, Olivia and their kids before they left this morning. See ya soon!
With our volunteer duties at the park, we were unable to travel to Katy yesterday for the 50th wedding anniversary celebration of Jay and Sue – the parents of our DIL April and her sister Charli. I want to wish them many more years of happiness from Dick and I!
It was a pretty busy week, so I will close for now and hope you enjoyed traveling with Dick and I. See ya soon!
~judy~
