Bluegrass Revival at Salmon Lake!

So for the first time in nearly two months, things felt truly normal...  

For all that time I have been anxious to take out the camper and enjoy time in the outdoors, and that has not been possible at Texas state parks.  Private parks, however, have been open but it has not been something that we could do.

This weekend, however, was the Bluegrass Gospel Revival/Gathering at the Salmon Lake Park in Grapeland, Texas.  

We traveled down on Thursday.  We left out around lunchtime and traveled down I-45 to Fairfield, then 84, then backroads.  The road was not great and the trucks made the trip with an RV stressful.  The trip took less than 2 hours, though, so that wasn't bad.

This weekend was about music, and we set up with near Raymie, our friend Nathan, and Mom and Dad.  Out of our front door was a large field, so that made it nice and airy.

The space between the campers also made for a great place to pick and jam!

Salmon Lake Park is a quirky place.  The hallmark of the place is a large spring-fed lake with a swimming area and many, many old buildings converted into cabins.  With over 300 camping spots, it is a sizable place.

The highlight of the weekend, however, was the two Saturday concerts by Wilson Fairchild (formerly known as Grandstaff).  The duo is made up of cousins Wil Reid and Langdon Reid, sons of two of the founding members of the Statler Brothers.  It was a fantastic evening!

For anyone interested, Wilson Fairchild's signature song (and Statler Brothers Tribute) can be found here!

We left out on Sunday morning after a breakfast of steak and eggs, and would have loved to stay later were it not for a threat of severe weather from the west.  This time we traveled home via Palestine and 287.  We beat the storms and rain.

Already we have begun to plan another trip to Salmon Lake!

It feels so good to be blogging about traveling again!!!

Another novel read... The Magician's Nephew.

Movie night has become a regular tradition lately.  With Sadie's fascination with Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, along with her Harry Potter novels, we thought it was time to introduce her to The Chronicles of Narnia.  She has not seen The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe before.

With it being so long, we made it into a two-part affair. We finished it last night.  This led to a curiosity about the first novel in the series (that they never make a movie of, it seems):  The Magician's Nephew, originally published in 1955.

Since I am currently waiting for the next novel in Bernard Cromwell's The Saxon Tales (The Lords of the North), I decided to read the first Narnia book.  I started it last night and finished it today.  It is a short, somewhat weird book on the creation of Narnia and how evil entered into C.S. Lewis' fantasy world.  Interesting, but overly silly. Still worth a read with a significant religious meaning that is at the heart of Lewis' writing.  

Now if only my ordered Cromwell book will come in the mail.  I am ready to see what Uhtred is up to!

Milestones - A few books read!

In the last two months thing have been crazy with the shelter in place, and while the SIP is not pretty much over (aside from some continuing restrictions) some projects begun during quarantine are now finally getting completed.

My reading list, for example.

In the past two months, I have read three books and read bits of several others.

Two of the books have been on my bucket list for some time.  With the release of the 4th Season of The Last Kingdom, I decided it was time to read the source materials.  I already had the first two in paperback, which covers roughly Season 1.  They are very good with enough differences from the series to keep me interested.  And considering that it rained over 3 1/2 inches today, it was a good day to read.

Book 3 and 4 should arrive in the mail soon.

Book 1 can be found HERE

Book 2 can be found HERE:

Book 2 was a quicker read than Book 1, and I am anxious to get the next few in the mail!  

The other was a re-read - Book 1 of The Dresden Files since the newest book in the series is to release this summer.  Good times!

Corona Thoughts, part 47 (Conclusion)

5.7.2020.

Thursday.

Today was much less hectic but almost resulted in a trip to the hospital, which in Navarro County is the last place you want to be.  Dad needed our help to get the post-hole digger on the tractor, and a mishap resulted in me on the ground.  No lasting damage, but it did result in a sore right arm.  

We spent some time discussing summer vacation, but no decisions at this point have been made.  While Texas is opening up, many destination states are not.  A lot will hinge on those state resolutions.

Sadie went to play for a while with her cousin, so Stephanie and I went to town to Aldi for a few groceries for the next week or so.  Once home we had supper and spent about an hour with the instruments (Sadie on her Madolele - lent by Pearl Bluegrass; Stephanie with her bass; and myself on the Guitar).  I hope this becomes a family tradition!

Tomorrow is a day to clean the house since we will have company tomorrow evening.  So, with normally scheduled summer break now on us and what is practically a reopened state, I am concluding these daily logs until there is something to write about. 

Fin.

Corona Thoughts, Part 46 (Wednesday Wings)

5.6.2020

Wednesday.

More work from home today.  Grades due.  I had them in by mid-morning, Otherwise, it was a quiet day with very little to report.  

After much soul-searching, we canceled the reservations at Lake Murray and instead, contacted Salmon Lake for Memorial Day's Bluegrass Gospel Festival.  It will be nice to pick and play with folks again.

Supper was wings at Bottlecap Alley again.  We met Michael and Valerie and had a nice visit.  Quarantine at the Movies was the original Love Bug.  Sadie didn't know who (or what) Herbie was.  It was great fun!

I have a feeling that these daily logs are coming to a close. Today would have been the last day that I would have gone to the office in a normal Spring semester, but of course, Stephanie should still be in the classroom for a few weeks.   The shelter-in-place is over, barber shops are reopening in Friday, and restaurants are seating customers again.  All told, as far as I am concern, this crisis is over.  

Hopefully, future installments will be travel or issue-related, which is what I had started it to be.

Corona Thoughts, Part 46 (Truck problems and veterinarians)

5.5.2020

Tuesday.

Today was intended to be an occasion to finish my grades and wrap up the semester.  That was not to be.

Fergus needed his Parvo booster and all of our cats are at the end of their Rabies shots, so I told Stephanie I would take them in because she had even more work to do than me.

It wouldn't take long, right?

Our vet's office is open but doing curbside, so I took the truck to get our bbq propane tanks filled first.  After getting the tanks filled, however, the truck wouldn't start.  It seemed to be the battery, but even booster cables didn't work.  It was still the factory battery and the truck is almost 5 years old.  Guess I got my money worth.  Jarrod from Moore Tire and Auto came out and replaced the battery; I cannot recommend them enough!

Already frustrated, I took in Fergus and Shadow.  It took them over 20 minutes to see us (You had to pull up, call them, and wait) but finally, they came out for Shadow and quickly gave him his shot and returned him.  Then they took in Fergus but kept him for near 45 minutes.  It turned out that they didn't know Shadow had been brought out.  They thought they lost the cat!

After that, I drove to Moore's to pay for the battery.  He said it is about the most expensive battery made, and it is the one required for the Chevys.  

In honor of Cinco de Mayo (and Taco Tuesday), I picked up tacos from Taco Shop. Sadie loves that.

The afternoon was calm, and I worked on Wild Montana Skies on the guitar.  After supper (Korean-style Oxtail), I worked with Sadie on her "mandolele" (Ukelele tuned like a mandolin) and Stephanie worked through a lesson for her base.

 Meanwhile, I spoke to Raymie who told us about a bluegrass gospel festival at Salmon Lake.  I think we may try to take the RV rather than journey to Oklahoma to Lake Murray this time.  It is closer and works better with our work-at-home situation.

The governor made another statement today and the barbershops open Friday.  Still no word on the state parks.

Corona Thoughts, Part 46: (May the Fourth be with You)

5.4.2020

Monday.  Star Wars Day.  May the Fourth be with You!

I think that we are beginning to see the start of the wrap up of this Covid 19 thing.  More and more people are out and about and, at least according to social media posts, life is returning to normal.  The schools won't be opening until fall, for sure, but the retail stores seem to be opening up, and there seems to be more questioning what all of this is doing or has done, to our freedoms.  It is good that these questions are being asked.

More and more are now thinking like me and questioning the CDC's numbers.  How do the numbers go from over 60K in deaths to around 37K overnight, unless someone has figured how to raise the dead.  I know what it is - they have revised the numbers and until now, been counting suspected cases, and now when under scrutiny are only reporting the confirmed, tested cases.

Steph went to BG today and reported back home that they are still working on the road, and even appear to be recruiting some of the completed portions.  I spent a good portion of the day building a summer class.  It is just about ready to go. And Sadie finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.  This is the second novel she has finished.

Sadie is a big fan of ST: TNG, and the episode we watched last evening left with a cliffhanger, so we finished it today.  Pollen is bad and Steph's allergies are giving her fits, so not much time was spent outside today.

The evening was a few chapters from Sadie's new book - These Happy Golden Years, which is a Little House book - and Steph started some online lessons for her double bass.  I had an online game scheduled that went a bit later than usual...  

Final exams close tonight, so a lot of work will need to be done in the next day or so.  I will be glad when this odd, odd semester is done.

Corona Thoughts, part 45 (Sunday again)

5.3.2020

Sunday, again.

The morning involved church online through Facebook Watch, and leftover breakfast burritos on the porch. The grass pollen is high, and it is affecting Stephanie a lot today.  She took Benedryl, which has given her medicine-head.

Mom and Dad invited us up for leftover hot dogs from last night. Sadie stayed to play a while with Emma. Came home and took a nap.

Not much else to tell.  I had several things that I had intended to do, such as weed-eating the front flower bed and cleaning out the interior of the truck.  

I intended to grill tenderized round steak, but the gas was left on the grill last time apparently, so I cooked on the Foreman Grill and Stephanie made sweet potato fries (at my request).  They were very good.

The next few days are going to be busy.  Both Stephanie and I have a lot of work to do tomorrow.  It should slow down for me soon, but probably not for a few weeks with her.

And thus, another week of abnormal begins.

Corona Thoughts, part 44 (To market, to market...)

5.2.2020

Saturday.  Day 44 of this chronicle, so that means 47 or 48 days since the shelter-in-place began, and day two since Gov. Abbott issued an executive order to begin to open the economy up.  I went to town today, and aside from taped lines on the floor marking 6 feet, protective screens at the checker's kiosks, and a smattering of masks, you would not be able to tell that anything was out of the ordinary.

People were everywhere, and many vehicles were on the roads.  HEB, Atwoods, Harbor Freight, and TSC all were full of customers. I braved the flood for some supplies for both the pantry and the chicken runs.

Mom and Dad worked on their deck fences today and Brandon and I went to help for awhile.  This evening we had a family gathering, and Sadie, Stephanie, Mom and I played the short version of LOTR Monopoly.  Sadie has become very taken with the game. 

We got home around 9 pm, got showers and settled in.  But things seem to be returning to normal.  I am hoping that the economy will be unleashed soon and summer will be some semblance of the way it usually has been.

Corona Thoughts, part 43 (Onward!)

5.1.2020

Friday.

We got up early upon hearing a catfight on the porch.  Not much sleeping after that, especially when about the same time came the sound of a little white terrier puking.

I had intended to work on the front flowerbeds with the weedwacker, but other things came up.  Mom and Dad had concrete workers come to lay a deck so Sadie and I went up to see what was going on.  Sadie stayed behind to play and ended up going into the pool for the first time this year.

 I was offered a couple of summer classes today and I accepted them, so that helped up narrow down our summer vacation plans.  With the need for internet connection, the Rocky Mountains isn't really an option, but Gatlingburg, Fort Robinson, Branson, or some as yet unknown destination are all possibilities. It is nice to be able to start trying to plan after all of the shelter in place of the spring.

And, after all of the time unable to camp (Texas parks are still closed to camping) we set reservations at Lake Murray State Park in Oklahoma.  It will be nice to take the RV out again.

Restaurants are opening up with restrictions.  Hopefully, Texas state parks will follow suit.

Anyway, tonight's Quarantine at the Movies:  Pixar's Onward!