Happy Thanksgiving - Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation

campermom · 11-18-2006, 06:52 AM

It has been prretty quiet on the site lately. Guess most folks are so busy with their regular life getting ready for the holidays, they don't have much fun time for camping. So, be thankful the busy season isn't all year and you will all be back in a tent ( or RV) soon enough.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turn Key · 11-18-2006, 09:37 AM

Quote:

...and you will all be back in a tent ( or RV) soon enough.

Yep! Next Sunday or Monday at the latest

Happy Thanksgiving right back atcha'!

ploddinTod · 11-18-2006, 12:48 PM

Just got back from a backpacking trip to the Ouachitas in Arkansas. Fabulous fall color even though it was past prime. We'll never see that kind of color down here this year.

Yes, back to reality for sure.

Shannon · 11-18-2006, 01:53 PM

Where'd you stay in the Ouachitas, Todd? We looooove that area and celebrated our honeymoon and 5th wedding anniversary there. Beautiful, unspoiled (in some ways) country... and so uncrowded!

Do tell! I need more trip reports to live through vicariously!

And, let me echo the subject of this post, and wish each and every one of you (and your families) a very SAFE, SANE and ENJOYABLE Thanksgiving Day holiday! Justin and I will be heading up to Dallas with his family to celebrate the holiday with his brother's family (niece & new nephew). We figure we need to hang out with more infants/toddlers now that we have one on the way (20 weeks last week -- halfway through the pregnancy!)

copuswalker · 11-19-2006, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ploddinTod

Just got back from a backpacking trip to the Ouachitas in Arkansas. Fabulous fall color even though it was past prime. We'll never see that kind of color down here this year.

Yes, back to reality for sure.

Braved the hunters heh???

ploddinTod · 11-19-2006, 10:03 AM

Actually, Copuswalker, for some reason I don't feel as big a threat with the hunters up in AR as I do in East TX. Whether that's real or imagined, I'm not sure.
This is the second year in a row we've hiked up there at this time of year. No problems either year. We have heard distant gun shots early in the morning and towards sunset.
As Shannon said, it's a lovely area. And if I lived in the Dallas area or points east of there, I'd be up in the Ouachitas all the time.

When I get a little more time, I'll post a mini-trip report. There was a group from the Ozark Society gathering at the trailhead for a dayhike as we took off on our backpacking trip.

WoodKayakGuy · 11-19-2006, 11:38 AM

I just got back from two weeks of glorious fly fishing on the San Saba River, and strangely enough, never heard a single rifle crack the whole time. Saw tons of turkey and deer... and mobs of hunters in town on weekend days. But even though in prime deer hunting territory, never heard a single shot. Cool!

I was "camping" in style... staying at the ranch of a friend who's a temporary bachelor at the moment, just two overgrown boys and a big ol' dog. The spread is situated right on the very headwaters of the spring-fed San Saba, which sports beautiful clear water and is loaded with fish. This is between Junction and San Angelo, very remote and peaceful. And since he's an astronomy buddy, we had a 22-inch telescope for night time fun, and an h-alpha solar rig for observing the transit of Mercury. The birding was fantastic too, tons of Green Kingfishers and Vermillion Flycatchers on the river.

Yeah, Tod, back to reality... you ain't whistlin' dixie!

Shannon · 11-27-2006, 02:56 PM

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent Wednesday through Friday morning with family in Dallas -- the drive up there took an excruciating 7.5 hours due to traffic, but thankfully the drive home took the usual 4 hours 45 minutes.

We had a great time, and that's officially my last long road trip before the baby's born... it's not comfortable sitting in a vehicle for 7.5 hours, even with periodic rest stops to stretch. I wasn't even driving, yet I couldn't get comfortable for any length of time.

Justin pulled out all our Christmas decor from a storage area under our stairs at home yesterday, and in the process we both started missing our camping trips... every other item he pulled out from the crawl space storage area was camping-related: tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, daypacks and full-on backpacks, battery powered camp light, and even his snowshoes. {sigh} As uncomfortable as I am sleeping in a bed, I'm afraid I missed my window of opportunity to camp in our tent one last time between now and April 1!

Hope everyone's well, and if you took a Thanksgiving camping outing/trip, do share your trip reports! I know I'm not the only one reading them, taking notes and enjoying them!

WoodKayakGuy · 11-27-2006, 06:26 PM

Poor Shannon!

In contrast...

My drive to be with family covered some 0.42 miles, took about five minutes. For the return trip later that evening, traffic was pretty light and I was able to make it in the usual three.

Being a bachelor guy, I was not pregnant, so the ride there was comfortable enough. But I did get a bit of a feel for how you fared on the way back, if that helps at all...

We fried two turkeys and smoked one (yeah, it was hard to keep lit, lol). My sis-in-law's oyster dressing was the best I've had in two or three centuries, and everyone just had a spectactularly wonderful time in general.

I love Thanksgiving. I have more to be grateful for than I can inventory in a month.

Shannon · 11-27-2006, 06:36 PM

Heheh... I do have to say there is ONE plus to being pregnant around Thanksgiving and Christmas -- this was the first time ever that I have walked away from the holiday feast without feeling like the waistline of my pants had somehow shrunk several inches over the course of the meal. YAY for maternity pants!

WoodKayakGuy · 11-27-2006, 07:05 PM

That dog'll hunt. Why, you even get the "built-in" luxury of rightly noting that you're eating for two, thankyouverymuch... or three... or four... hey, it could be QUINTS on the way, why don't you mind yer own bizness!

I like it, and may have to try it for myself someday... Although I get the sneaking suspicion it'll fly about as well as any of my other genuine lies do. And people wonder why I'm honest. It's 'cuz I ain't smart enough to keep a halfway decent falsehood alive, that's why.

PS: This is a super cool forum, and seems to need nourishing too, lately. So please excuse me if I respond to anything and everything in an attempt to liven things up a bit.

Shannon · 11-27-2006, 07:10 PM

Oh yeaaaah... I have never eaten so good in my life. Folks seem to be offering me food at every turn, especially around the holidays.

As for feeding the forum, please do so! I feel that this baby, that is WildTexas.com, needs some serious TLC lately.

campermom · 11-27-2006, 08:28 PM

what ever happened to "If you post it, they will come...."?

rockhill · 11-27-2006, 08:44 PM

If you post it they will come...on the other hand some of us just wait out in the corn! The holiday season kinda gets in the way of folks camping activities. We will all muddle through the slow times till SPRING when the camping gets back in high gear. Except for our leader who will be busy being a MOM.