We were up early this morning so we could get our walk in before we left for Fredricksburg. It was a beautiful morning with warm temps and little breeze.

After breakfast, we finished packing and loaded our things in the car. Since some of our friends would be leaving before we returned to the fort, we made a couple of stops on our way out. First stop was the RV Park to say good-bye to Lloyd and Ginny Johns. Lloyd does wood carving with John and we have gone on many of Mary Ellen's adventures with them as well as playing 31 on Tuesday evening's. Next stop was Unit 37 to bid farewell to Wallace and Becky Inge. Wallace is the head of carvers--he has the shop where the carvers meet each week. He and Becky live full time on the fort, but he was leaving Thursday or Friday for several weeks to teach a wood carving seminar in northern Texas. With our good-bye's out of the way, we headed off.

Fredricksburg is a German town about 175 northeast of Fort Clark. The ride up was beautiful with the trees turning green and wildflowers blooming in the fields and by the road. There are many shops, wineries, and museums in the area. In other words, there is much to see and do. After checking into our hotel, we headed off to the Wildseed Farms. We had visited here several years ago and John wanted to go back and buy some more wildflower seeds. He wants to put a wildflower garden on the west side of our home in Minnesota. We spent the remainder of the afternoon walking through the different flower displays and buildings.

We stopped at Wal Mart to pick up several items and then headed off to Pizza Hut for supper. The Fredricksburg RV Park is just across the road from where we are staying, so after we returned to the hotel we took a walk around the RV park. It was filled to capacity and seems like a very nice place to stay. We ended the evening watching a little TV.

This morning we awoke to the sound of big trucks rumbling past our house. The road paving was back in full swing again. Since it was such a beautiful morning we took a longer walk than usual. We went around the golf course and then walked the newly paved streets. As we headed toward home we saw many trucks lined up to drop their loads of asphalt in the new staging area. This went on the entire day.

After breakfast John headed over to Sam Lark's to start repainting his front door and putting on new weather stripping. I headed
into town to the post office and grocery store. I also made a quick stop at the library. When I got home I finished up the laundry that I had started yesterday and continued packing a couple of boxes for the trip home.

We had a quick lunch and then John went back to Sam's to finish up. After that job was completed, he and Sam went out to the airport to put a new spring on the rear wheel of Sam's plane. I made a dish to take to the RV potluck and started getting things around for our trip tomorrow. Tonight was the final dinner until next November. There were only about 25 people in attendance this evening and many of them will be pulling out the end of this week. We played two games of 31 and were out early in both games. We will really miss the Tuesday night meal and cards.

We were home in time to watch the end of American Idol. Time for bed--big travel day tomorrow.

Today was another beautiful day--we got up a little earlier and walked the golf course before the sun got higher in the sky. (It actually got hot today.) The temps were just right and there was no breeze. The only problem we had this morning was avoiding the the sprinklers on the tees and greens.

After breakfast, John got cleaned up and headed off to carvers. While he was gone, I did some cleaning and organizing--sorting through what has to go home and what can stay in the house over the summer. Even though we still have three weeks left, I like to start getting things together so we don't have to do everything at the last minute. John got back just before lunch time--said quite a few of the carvers had left to head home. More will be gone by the end of this week.

John spent the afternoon putting more Thompson's Water Seal on the deck--he does a couple of rows of boards each day. He then finished cutting the grass. The yard looks much better. Since it was so nice today, we sat out on the patio for awhile and watched the golfers. As usually happens went you sit outside, people stop to visit--several of the neighbors came bye to talk about the new houses being built across the road from us.

After supper John went over to Sam Lark's to talk about repainting his front door. John would like to get that job finished tomorrow as we will be heading out of town for a couple of days. We plan to head to Fredricksburg in the Hill Country to see the wild flowers and tour several museums. We spent a quiet evening catching up on emails and watching a little TV.

Today was a much more restful day than Saturday--nothing on the schedule. It was a little cooler when we started off on our morning walk, but the sun was shining and there was no breeze. My knee has been pain free for the past couple of days, so I have been able to really enjoy our walks. We ate breakfast and then got ready to head off to Sunday School and church. We again were saying good-bye to those who were heading north the first part of the week. The number of Winter Texans is growing smaller.

When we got home from church, John made a couple of salads for lunch and then we decided to play a round of golf to see if we could possibly improve a little over yesterday. We did play better, but not by much. John and I seem to be in some sort of golf slump right now--will just have to keep playing and try to turn it around.

On our way home we ran into our neighbor Richard who was out for a little walk. While visiting with him some former neighbors from the condos walked by, so we had a little visiting session before finally reaching our place. John was anxious to get home because he wanted to watch the Duke and Baylor NCAA game. Mary Ellen called and asked if we were home. We are storing some of their things in our place for the summer and they wanted to drop them off as they, too, are pulling out tomorrow. Our lives are certainly going to be much quieter without ME (our group's social director) planning all sorts of adventures for us. We have already started an adventure list for next winter so every one get well rested over the summer!

With the recent warmer weather and some moisture, our "grass" has grown and John decided that this evening would be a good time to cut the grass. He uses a little battery operated lawn mower that he picked up at a yard sale on the fort several years ago. The lawn is mainly made up of weeds and wild flowers. Right now the Texas wild flowers are blooming and add nice splashes of color around the fort and countryside
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We ended up the day watching The Amazing Race" and a couple of other favorite Sunday night TV shows. It was rather nice to have a break from college basketball.

Today was a very busy one. We were off early for our morning walk and were back home a little after eight o'clock. It was then eat breakfast, get cleaned up, and head off to the annual Fort Clark Springs Member's meeting which was held at the Post Theater. At this meeting they have the board of directors go over all the financial information for the year, update the members on what the different committees are doing, and announce the results of the annual election.

After the meeting, everyone headed down to the Service Club where they served a free lunch of brisket, beans, and coleslaw along with bread and a drink. We sat and ate with some of our friends. Someone asked what was happening in the afternoon and before we knew it, we had six couples playing golf on the Par 3 course. We played a best ball scramble. It was so much fun even though everyone played rather poorly. We decided to reward our poor play by heading down to Pico's for some of their delicious ice cream. By now everyone was feeling pretty tired and headed home for some rest before we all had to head back out to the theater for the annual Variety Show.

John and I took a little rest after the golf game and then got cleaned up again and headed off to the Post Theater for the Annual Variety Show. It was a very good show. There are many very talented people living here on the fort. Our friend, Sam Lark, even did a comedy routine with one of John's carving friends. After the show we headed over to the RV Park to say good-bye to Gene and Jeannie Bevins. They are leaving tomorrow morning for their home in northern Indiana. We have had a lot of fun with the Bevins this winter--Gene always has some new adventure he wants to share. Have a safe trip home and see you next year!!

We were up and out for our morning walk a little earlier than usual. Our thoughts were if we got out early enough we could get our walk finished before the road paving started again. It was a beautiful morning with cool temps and no wind--perfect! We just returned home when we heard the large machines start running.

After breakfast and getting cleaned up, we headed off to Del Rio to wash the car and do some shopping. Our first stop was Wal Mart to pick up some weed killer. With the recent rains and warm weather, grass and weeds are growing up among the stones in our driveway and John wants to clear them out. Wal Mart had all their summer flowers on display--makes us anxious to get home and start our garden. However, no sense getting anxious about it because we won't be able to do anything in the garden until at least the end of May. We headed off to Wendy's for lunch and then searched out the SAS shoe factory and outlet store where John purchased a new pair of walking shoes. The final stop was HEB to replenish the groceries and pick up something to take to the Condo party.

We got home with just enough time to put the groceries away and head over to the condos. There will probably be only one more condo gathering this year as most of the folks are heading back home next week. We had a nice time visiting with everyone and saying good-bye to some. Mary Ellen was still hungry, so we went out to Pico's for some of their delicious ice cream and pizza. We spent the rest of the evening playing the card game "Hand and Foot". Tim and John continued their winning ways beating us girls in both games. Those guys are just so lucky at cards--believe me, it isn't skill.

This morning was sunny and clear but there was a strong wind from the northwest. We started our walk heading into the wind but when we got to the back of the golf course the trees and houses blocked the worst of it. They are still busy paving our roads--the machines were running by seven this morning. We have had to change our walking route several times to avoid getting in the way of the workers.

We returned home and had a leisurely breakfast. John then headed off to the post office while I cleaned up the kitchen and did some organizing and getting boxes ready for the trip home. Even though it was very windy, we decided to head down to the Par 3 for a round of golf. BIG MISTAKE! John had a fair round, but I was horrible. For some reason I just don't play well when there's a strong wind--the noise of the wind in my ears just seems to distract me. Even though I didn't play well, I at least got in more exercise.

While on the way home from golf, Valada Sandwick called and invited us to John Carlson's to hear a historical talk by one of the fort's history buffs. Brian, who is from Great Britain, shared some interesting information about a man who did some of the first boring of iron for cannons and rifles. This was revolutionary in developing accuracy in cannons. While John and Tim went off to wood carvers for the evening, Mary Ellen and I got together with the other "carving widows" and played a couple of games of 31. It was really a lot of fun having a "girls' night out".

After returning home, we spent the rest evening watching the NCAA tournament and catching up on some email and blogs.

This morning was overcast with a slight mist and a temp of around 50 degrees when we headed off on our walk around the golf course. When we reached the other side of the course, we decided to get off of that and walk on the newly repaved street. It was wonderful to walk without having to worry about small potholes and rocks under foot. We caught up to where they were paving and had to cut through some yards to get back on the golf course to make our way back home.

Wednesday means Weight Watchers, so after breakfast I got ready to head off to Del Rio for my meeting. After the meeting I headed out for a quick lunch and then to Wal Mart and the mall to pick up some things that were needed. John spent the morning spraying the foundation with insecticide and trying to get rid of some weeds growing in the driveway. We are starting the jobs that need to be done before we head north again. However, he spent most of his time watching the workers resurface the road in front of our house and talking to the man from the fort who is heading up the project.




After supper this evening we took the golf cart and drove over the new roads. They look so nice and make for a very smooth ride. After checking them out, we took a quick jaunt into the brush where we saw some Axis deer. Since it was still early, we decided to head over to the driving range and hit some golf balls. We were just loading up the clubs when Chuck Endris stopped by. He said he just wanted to see what was happening with the paving. While we were standing out front talking, Betty and Harlan Wright stopped by in their golf cart. They were followed by John and Lois Carlson in their new car. There was much traffic tonight. Golf carts all over the place--everyone wanting to check on the progress and drive on the nice smooth roads. We never did make it to the driving range. We watched Survivor and then John listened to Rush on the computer while I finished up my latest mystery novel from the library.

This morning we were awakened by the noise of heavy equipment right in front of our house. The fort is resurfacing many of the roads and the work started before the sun was up. The weather has warmed up and the past two days have been sunny and warm. We actually wore shorts for our walk around the golf course. About half way home we veered off our regular path to check out some of the road construction. We had big dump trucks going past all day--we had to keep the windows closed to keep out all the dust.

John went off to the post office bright and early and then did a couple of other errands in town. As tonight was the RV potluck, I started preparations for the dish we were taking. Since it was such a beautiful day, we decided to head down to the Par 3 course for a round of golf. Have to say both John and I played pretty good rounds. We ate a late lunch and then Gene and John went out "metal detecting" again. Our pastor loaned John his metal detector, so both guys were armed and ready to make some major fines--they found nothing today.

Tim and Mary Ellen picked us up for the potluck. The numbers were low tonight as there was a pancake feed at the Methodist Church and many of the folks ate there. Some of the regulars came in later to play our usual game of 31. Tim, Mary Ellen, John and I were all losers tonight.

We are now getting into the time of year that I really don't care for. Many of our friends are starting to leave and head back north. When you first come down in the fall, everyone asks "When did you arrive?". Now the big question is, "When are you leaving". This winter has been so much fun and we will certainly miss seeing everyone and getting together to share a meal or just good conversation.

This morning was still chilly but not as cold as yesterday. I put on my knee brace, bundled up, and headed off for a walk around the golf course. John was eager to walk the course and look for more golf balls. Sure enough, he found about 5 more this morning.

John headed off to carvers after breakfast. I spent the morning changing sheets, doing laundry, and catching up with some bill paying. Before I knew it, John was back home. He made a couple of salads for lunch and then spent some time out in the yard planting his new Oleander and a new cactus he picked up yesterday from Billie. Ralph Ramsey stopped by for a visit and before long our neighbor Richard was here along with our pastor, who was out riding his bike. In the middle of all this visiting, Gene stopped by to pick up John and they were off to do some more "metal detecting". They found a piece of old chain, a belt buckle, and an old square headed nail. They considered it a successful hunt.

This evening after supper, John and I hopped in the golf cart and drove way out in the brush. There are many trails that wind their way all over the back of the fort. There is nothing out there but cactus and thick brush. In the midst of all this dreary land I found a piece of ground with pretty yellow flowers in bloom. It was very dusty riding out there, we'll have to hose off the golf cart before we use it again.

We closed out the evening watching some of the NIT basketball games and a new movie we hadn't had a chance to see yet.

This morning we woke up to a big surprise--a temperature of 28 degrees. John forgot to look at the weather last night before heading off to bed and, as a result, his tomato plant has bit the dust. Thank goodness the Oleander plant he picked up at Home Depot was still sitting in the car. Since it was so cold this morning, we again skipped our morning walk.

Earlier in the week we had made plans with Gene and Jeannie Bevins to visit a ranch in Quamado which is a small town south of Brackettville and very close to the border. After church we picked the Bevins up and headed south. Our first stop was a little country cafe where we had a very delicious lunch. After eating we headed off to the ranch. This ranch is owned by Doc, a retired vet, and his wife, Billie. They raise goats and horses, a couple of which are thoroughbreds being trained for racing. They took us into the pens to see the little goats, or kids. While we were standing there talking and looking at everything, we found the kids chewing on our shoe laces. One little guy enjoyed trying to chew on John's long pants. From there we went to look at their horses--they have some beautiful animals. We then went into their home for some refreshments. Doc and Billie we very gracious hosts and we enjoyed spending the afternoon with them.

Gene took us on a different road back to Brackettville. While heading home we saw some elk, cattle, and blooming cactus. We ended the adventure at Burger and Shake where we ran into several folks from the fort. Upon returning home, John headed off for the golf course and driving range to look for balls--the big tournament just ended up, so he was hoping to find some good ones. He found 12.

We ended the busy day watching The Amazing Race and a couple of other shows.

After several days of warm, sunny weather, today started off cloudy and much cooler with very strong winds. It felt like winter had returned once again. We decided to skip the walk today. After breakfast, John headed off for the fort's monthly board meeting. While he was gone I did some work on the laptop, answered some emails, and caught up with the blogs I read.

Since the weather was so cold and windy, we decided to head to Del Rio and Home Depot where John needed to exchange some spray paint--he had picked up the wrong color for painting Sam's door. From Home Depot we went to Burger King and then to HEB for some fresh vegetables and fruit. After we got home, we spent much of the afternoon watching college basketball TV and the golfers playing in the tournament drive by the house. They were all bundled up in winter coats and hats. Don't know how they could swing a golf club with such big, bulky coats on. I think it must have been very difficult playing in such high winds. The tournament ends up tomorrow afternoon.

After supper John took a quick walk on the golf course. He thought there would be plenty of lost balls because of the wind today. He only found a couple--said these players must be pretty good to stay in bounds on such a day. He also took a walk in the brush area by our house and found another deer shed. John was excited about this find as it was the mate to the shed he had picked up last week.

It was a very cloudy and overcast morning with temps around 50 degrees. My knee felt much better, so I decided to try walking with John this morning. We walked a shorter route than normal but at least I was able to get some exercise. When I returned home, I elevated my knee and used an ice pack for about half an hour. Still hurts when I walk, but is tolerable.

After breakfast, John went over to the driving range to look for golf balls (he found 7). When he was returning home he ran into Sam Lark who told him to come down to the airfield and see his new plane. We jumped in the golf cart and off we went on our next adventure. There were several other friends there to see Sam's newest toy and to watch his maiden flight over the fort. It was fun to watch Larry (with over 20 years of experience servicing planes) check over the little aircraft before they took off. It was even more fun watching these two big men squeeze into such a little cockpit. Sam made several passes over the airfield before making what he called "controlled crash landings".


Our original plan for the day, since it was so cool and cloudy, was to head over to Uvalde and pick up the copies of my x-rays. When we got home from watching Sam, we decided to keep with that plan, so we headed right out. Since it was way past lunch time by the time we reached Uvalde, our first stop was Wendy's. John had his usual chili and baked potato and I had the grilled chicken. It was then a quick hop over to the hospital to pick up the copy of the x-rays. Everything was on a CD disc--no large bulky films to take home. From there we went to Wal Mart to pick some milk and a few groceries. When we walked out of Wal Mart, we found the sky was clear and the sun shining.

After returning to the fort, we went to the RV park to talk to Gene about our Sunday outing. His wife said he was over in Unit 37 so we headed that way. We ended up visiting with Gene's sisters and their husbands. We never got to finalize Sunday's plans. John will have to talk to him on Saturday.

The fort was very busy today with preparing for the big golf tournament to be held this weekend. Today was the practice round and we have seen many golfers go by our place. After supper John walked a couple of holes checking for golf balls--he found 7 more. Should be good hunting tomorrow evening after the first round. We ended up the evening watching the NCAA Tournament--is there anything else to watch on TV this time of year??

John went off alone for a walk this morning. I decided it was best to rest my knee and not try walking any distance for a couple of days. I really miss taking a walk in the morning and getting out in the fresh air and sunshine.

After breakfast John went over to Metcalf's to hang some towel bars in their bathroom and to give a final try to solving their outdoor electrical problem. The towel bars were a success, but he conceded defeat with the electric. Stan needs to call in an electrician. While John was gone, I did a couple of loads of laundry and sorted out some photos on the laptop. I also received a phone call with the results of the x-rays I had taken on Tuesday. The nurse told me I have bone spurring in the knee along with joint degeneration. The spurs can also cause tendon inflammation. She told me to keep wearing the brace and to take Tylenol. I would have to go to an orthopedic doctor in San Antonio for injections into the knee. I called my own doctor up north and the plan is to make an appointment with him, bring him a copy of the x-rays, and he will determine what needs to be done. The only bad part of this is that we will need to leave Texas about 2 weeks earlier than we normally would leave. I need to get this resolved as we are heading off to California the later part of May.

This afternoon was visitor time. Dave and Valada dropped in for a visit. We haven't seen them for a couple of weeks so it was fun to catch up on what they have been doing and all the latest news from Unit 37. We were outside just seeing them off, when Stan stopped in for a chat. While Stan was here, our neighbor Richard came over needing to use a telephone. Seems his cell phone went bad and he needed to contact his provider and also needed to contact his sister concerning a family emergency. It was like a three ringed circus around here for a bit.

Tonight was wood carvers again. John went off to pick up Tim and I settled down in the recliner to rest my knee with an ice pack. When John got home we finished up the evening watching the NCAA Basketball games. March Madness is in full swing and I'm sure we will be viewing every game we can.

Today the warm, sunny weather returned--it turned out to be one beautiful day. This morning I gave walking a try. I put on the knee brace and John and I headed out along the golf course. I didn't walk very far before the knee pain returned and I knew I would have to stop. I returned to the house and John continued on with his morning workout. While John was walking, I made up a fresh fruit salad to take to a noon meal we were attending. After breakfast, John headed into town to get a haircut and I got ready to head off to Del Rio for Weight Watchers.

There is a group of people who get together and walk every morning. Gene Bevins decided to have the "walkers" get together for a meal. He provided venison and hamburgers, and everyone else bought a dish to share and a chair to sit on. The meal was held outside at Chuck and Lois's place in Unit 37. (John and I don't walk with this group. We were invited because Gene wanted us to come. Thanks Gene!) John drove the golf cart over to 37 and I joined him there after I got back from WW. The day was just beautiful and everyone enjoyed sitting outside in the warm sunshine and cool breezes.

After we returned home, Mary Ellen stopped over for a little visit--we sat out on our deck and again enjoyed the beautiful afternoon. John and I were suppose to be going on a little get away with Tim and Mary Ellen this weekend, but with my knee being so painful and me unable to do much walking, we had to cancel out. She stopped by to let us know that she was able to cancel our hotel rooms without having to pay a penalty. We were very glad to hear about that.

When supper was done, John asked if I wanted to try and take a little walk. I rested my knee quite a bit after we got home this afternoon, so I put the knee brace back on and we started off at a very slow pace. The knee was still painful, but we managed to take a short walk around the block. It felt good to get in a little exercise. We ended up the evening watching some TV and working on the computer. Hope to get the results of my knee x-ray tomorrow.

This morning was very cool and cloudy--almost felt like winter had returned to our area. John decided to skip his morning walk as I had to be in Uvalde for a doctor's appointment at 10:45 a.m. Tonight was the RV potluck, so I made a casserole before we left. All I had to do was pop it into oven when we got home and it would be ready to take.

I feel my appointment went very well and that I now have some ideas on what to do. The doctor told me she thinks the pain in my knee is from inflammation--the cushioning in the knee is wearing out and possibly there is also some bone on bone. She ordered an x-ray just to check things out and to make sure there is no new damage in the knee. John and I went over to the hospital where they took me in right away and got the x-ray. Hopefully I'll get the results tomorrow or Thursday. I was told to wear a knee brace when walking and take Tylenol. Before we head home to Minnesota, I am going to make an appointment to see my knee surgeon in Bemidji. There is a new synthetic drug they can inject into the knee that will help form a new cushioning in the knee. He had told me about this before and I think now the time has come to look into it further. I was told that it can buy you more time before having major knee surgery.

After leaving the hospital, we headed to Wal Mart and picked up a knee brace along with a few groceries. We got home in plenty of time to bake the casserole and get ready for the potluck. Tim and Mary Ellen picked us up and we headed off to the RV park. As usual there was plenty of good food with most of us eating more than we should. A good crowd stayed after dinner to play our regular game of 31. Both John and I made it to the final hand in two games, but lost. John spent the remainder of the evening catching up with Rush while I started my new mystery from the library.

After a beautiful day yesterday we woke to gray skies and cooler temperatures. My knee was still a little sore, so John headed off alone for his morning walk. Because of early morning darkness, John was a little later taking his walk, so when he got home, he had to hustle through breakfast so he would be on time to pick up Tim for carvers. John has finished his hummingbird and is now starting to carve a face on a block of wood. He said carving a face is much harder to do because you have layers of carving and the steps to doing it have to be done in the proper order.

Even though my knee was feeling better today, I called over to Uvalde and got a doctor's appointment for tomorrow morning. I just want to check things out and see if I can learn just what is happening with the knee. By mid-morning it was clear we were going to have a cool, rainy day. John went to the post office and found we had two Bagley newspapers. We spent some time this afternoon catching up on the hometown news. John also picked up the Kinney Country Post and we were surprised to see our photo on the front page as "Good Neighbors of the Week". We had no idea that we were being considered for the "good neighbor" this week.

Mary Ellen dropped by for a quick visit this afternoon to get an update on how my knee was doing and we talked again about the treasure hunt and great party she threw for Tim. Everyone really had a good time. Since the weather remained cool and misty there was no evening walk. We just spent a quiet evening at home watching a new movie.

When we started off on our morning walk, the sun was just starting to come up. That's one of the problems when daylight savings time first returns--walking in the semi-darkness. We were just about half way through our route when my knee suddenly became very painful and I was unable to walk. John continued on home, got the golf cart, and gave me a ride back to the house. Once home, I applied heat to my knee and after resting it for a while, was able to limp around. While John was getting cleaned up, I put the finishing touches on a salad for Tim's birthday party, and then got myself ready for Sunday School and church.

Tim's party was held on the patio of the golf course's club house. Mary Ellen supplied the main course while everyone brought a dish to share. There was a lot of good food and good conversation. After the meal, we were divided into teams for a treasure hunt. Everyone was given their first clue and then headed off in golf carts to find their other clues that would lead them to their treasure. The members of our team really knew their way around the fort, so we had no trouble finding our clues and were the first to return with the treasure. I have posted some photos of our treasure hunt--looking for a clue, reading the clues, and finding the treasure. It was a great time and everyone had a lot of fun.

Shortly after we got home late this afternoon, Ralph Ramsey called and invited us over for a camp fire along with Dave and Valada and their guests. I needed to put heat on my knee and keep it elevated for a while, so I decided to stay home. John went over and visited for an hour or so. My knee is feeling much better--can't figure out what is causing such pain and then it suddenly goes away. I think I might try to get an appointment with our family doctor in Uvalde to see if she has any suggestions as to what I should do. Time to get to bed and try to make up for that lost hour of sleep.

It seemed like we were on the go the entire day. We walked our usual path around the golf course. The sun was shining and you could hear the many different birds singing in the trees and bushes. After breakfast, John did some yard work while I straightened up the house a little and made some macaroni salad for tonight's supper. We then headed into Brackettville to return books to the library, pick up the mail, and get a few groceries at Super S.

After lunch, Bruce and Marilyn Nelson picked us up for a trip to see the holey rocks. These are not spiritual rocks, but rocks with holes in them. We traveled approximately 20 miles northeast of town to a large gulch filled with rocks. John and Bruce came prepared with 5 gallon buckets and found some really nice rocks with holes. I spent time looking for smaller rocks and taking some photos of of our adventure. When we got back to town, Bruce persuaded us to stop at Pico's for some of their delicious ice cream--he didn't have a hard time getting us to agree with his idea. The Nelson's are leaving the fort tomorrow and heading back up into the hill country for a couple of more weeks before heading home to Minnesota. We really enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them better. We'll miss having them around.

We had only been home for a little while when Tim and Mary Ellen went by. They pulled in the driveway and John asked them if they would like to see the snake down by the river. They said "Yes"--I said "No!!"--so off they went. John invited them to stay for supper, so we had a spur of the moment meal of hamburgers, macaroni salad, and chips. It is amazing how much fun you have doing things without any planning. I am learning more and more how to fly by the seat of my pants (thank you, Mary Ellen). While John watched college basketball, I started on a jello salad to take to Tim's birthday party which is being held tomorrow afternoon. Sunday promises to be another busy day. Don't forget to turn your clocks ahead tonight!!

Today was just perfect weather wise--bright blue sky, warm temps (upper 70's), and a nice breeze. I took my camera along on our morning walk and was able to snap a couple of nice photos of the Mountain Laurel and a Yucca plant blossom. The grass is growing so fast with the warm weather. John charged up the lawn mower batteries, so he will be ready to cut grass sometime over the next couple of days. It is amazing how quickly the leaves on the trees are coming out--much faster than at home. Everywhere you look, you see trees and flowers blooming. It is such a beautiful time of year.

We decided to play a round of golf this morning while it was still cool and the winds weren't quite so strong. I never played a better round. I bogeyed six out of eleven holes. Now I know that probably doesn't sound like such a good thing, but that was really good for me. I have really cut down on the number of strokes needed to reach the greens. John doesn't want me to talk about his game today. ENOUGH SAID!

For lunch John made us a couple of delicious salads--he is quite the salad chef. Mid-afternoon Bruce and Marilyn Nelson picked us up and we headed off to Uvalde to explore some antique shops. They treated us to supper at Applebee's as a "thank you" for letting them use our golf cart while they were staying on the fort. Since we went to Uvalde this afternoon, we missed the Condo Party. After we got home, we took a quick run over to the condos to see if the party was still going on--only a couple of people were still around. We visited with Sam Lark and he shared the news that he just purchased an airplane--he wants to take us for a ride after he picks up the plane next week. John said "No thanks"--I'm still thinking about it.

We finished up the evening watching some college basketball and finishing up a library book.

This morning we were up and about bright and early for our walk. Today we saw more signs that spring has arrived--the Mountain Laurel bushes along the golf course are starting to show their pretty purple blossoms. Over the last couple of days we have noticed different birds showing up at our feeders. The hummingbirds have returned to the fort for a brief stop before continuing their northern trek. Someone said their saw a robin the other day. It is interesting to see the different species of birds that come here for a few weeks before continuing their migration north.

After breakfast I headed off for a haircut. While I was gone, John did some of the household chores and then worked on his next carving project. When I got home, John was sitting out on the patio putting the finishing touches on his hummingbird carving and we sat out for a bit just enjoying the warm sunshine. Tom, a resident of the Condos, stopped by to ask John to take a look at a water leak on the roof. John said he would try to get to it early next week. John is becoming the Condo Repairman.

It was very windy today, so we decided not to play golf. Instead we took a trip to Home Depot to pick up the paint supplies John needed to repaint Sam's front door. While there, we had lunch and browsed through some shops in the mall.

This evening, John and Tim headed off to wood carvers. I taped the next episode of Survivor which we watched after John got home. Now that March Madness is getting into full swing, we will be watching wall to wall basketball over the next couple of weeks.

Sunny skies and warm temps--it was a perfect day. When I got up this morning, my knee felt so much better that I decided to join John on our morning walk. I am glad to say that the knee held up just fine with just a little bit of stiffness. Don't know what caused the pain, but will get it checked out when we return home to Minnesota.

Today was Weight Watchers--Lois Carlson stopped by around 10:00 a.m. to pick me up and we headed off to Del Rio. We both had a little shopping to do, so our first stop was Wal Mart. After the meeting we decided to treat ourselves to a nice lunch and a trip to the mall. While I was out enjoying myself, John spent the morning installing a new screen door for Sam Lark. Sam also wants his front door repainted, but John will have to get the right paint before that job can be completed.

This afternoon, Gene Bevans took John treasure hunting along the back trails of the fort. Gene has a metal detector and the guys found several "treasures". Among the findings was an old whiskey bottle. We Googled the company name and found it was an old brewery that was located in Philadelphia. There are several antique stores in Uvalde and the next time we go over there, we will take the bottle and see what we can find out about its history. The guys also found an old sign, broken pottery, and old bullets and spent shells. They really had a good time and plan to do some more "hunting".

We spent a quiet evening at home--John catching up with Rush Limbaugh on the internet, watching "American Idol" and, of course, college basket ball.

We had our first thunderstorm of the year last night--it started around 12:30 a.m. in the morning. The severe weather warning siren went off and we got up to check the weather on the TV. There was a severe thunderstorm warning until 1:15 a.m. There were very heavy rains, but the wind was not strong, so we just went back to bed.

This morning was bright and sunny. John went off on his own for a walk. After our walk the previous evening, my right knee was very painful. This is the knee I had scoped last May and I not sure if it is just my arthritis flaring up or some other problem. I decided to take a couple of days off from walking and see if the knee will recover. Today I rested it quite a bit and it is feeling much better. I really would rather wait until we return home and see the surgeon who operated on it rather than start seeing someone down here.

John spent the day working at Metcalf's installing a new microwave and finishing up the jobs Jan had for him. Tonight was potluck at the RV park. There was another big crowd with more new folks who have just arrived at the fort. We played 31 and, once again, John and I almost made it to the end. Hope we can win at least one more time before we head north. Ended up the evening watching some college basketball. March Madness will soon be upon us--John's most favorite time of year.

This morning when we looked out the window all we saw were heavy gray clouds and mist. There were large puddles on the streets so we knew it must have rained overnight. Since our morning walk was canceled once again, we went back to bed for a little more rest. It seemed strange to sleep in two days in a row--we're used to being up and out pretty early. After breakfast, John left to pick up Tim and headed off to wood carvers. I did some laundry, changed sheets on the bed, and started a new book I got from the library.

Late this morning the sky started to clear off and the temps and humidity started to rise. It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon. We decided to take a run into Del Rio to wash the car and pick up some groceries. The car was very dirty and muddy from the rain over the past two or three days. We had a quick supper and decided since it was such a nice evening, we would take a walk around the course. It is unbelievable how green the grass is getting. As we walked home, we could hear some of the night sounds. It is truly Spring! I have posted another photo of John's cranes. He did a great job.

Looking out the window this morning, we saw the cloudy skies and rain and knew our morning walk was off. We just had a leisurely morning eating breakfast and getting ready for church. Since the rain lasted most of the day, we just spent a lazy day watching golf, reading, and taking a short nap. After supper, the rains finally stopped, so we took a nice brisk walk around the golf course. It felt good to get outside and get some exercise after a day of inactivity. We were just ending our walk when we saw Sam Lark sitting out on his deck. We stopped for a short visit and then headed home where we found Mary Ellen pulling into our driveway. She just stopped to let us know about Tim's birthday party next Sunday. We ended the evening watching The Amazing Race and some news. Since there was not much happening today, I decided to post some more of the photos I took at the festival yesterday.

Even though the day was cloudy and cool with a few sprinkles of rain, it did not put a damper on our Fort Clark Festival. Tim picked up John around 7:15 a.m. and they headed off to help set up the wood carvers display. They certainly did a good job and many people enjoyed seeing some of the beautiful work done by the carvers. Several of the members took turns sitting around the display tables and actually doing some carving while talking to people and answering their questions.


When John returned home from setting up, we had breakfast and then headed out to spend the day at the festival. Our first stop after checking in with the carvers, was to visit a family who had set up a chuck wagon camp. This wagon was totally original, down to the paint. The only thing restored on it were the brake pads. In their "real" life, these people run a 22,000 acre cattle ranch with over 700 head of cattle. They attend different festivals around the state showing people a piece of "living history"

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From the chuck wagon we headed off to see the camels. That's right--camels. We learned that the US Army did an experiment with camels to see if they would work out better than horses and mules in the arid southwest. This trial only lasted a short time, but it is an interesting part of the west's history.



Today we also saw demonstrations of a cannon and Gatling gun being fired as well as many other "living history" folks. It was very interesting hearing them talk about how things were done in the past and especially how the US Army operated and the Texas Rangers maintained law and order. It was a very tough justice system.




John and I spent the whole day walking around the festival enjoying the live music, visiting with friends, and eating the good food that seems to be part of any festival. When we reached home, we just took some time to rest and relax. This evening the Old Quarry Theater group put on an old fashioned melodrama entitled "The Inventor's Daughter". The audience participated by cheering the hero and booing the villain. It was a lot of fun and everyone seemed to enjoy the play. We ended the evening watching a little TV before heading off to bed. I took many other photos of today's activities and will post more next week. Good night!
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Cool weather returned today. The temp was 56 degrees with cloudy skies and a strong breeze when we started out on our morning walk. The weather did not improve much beyond that the entire day.

Bruce and Marilyn Nelson picked us up mid-morning and we headed off for a tour of the Del Rio area. We took them past the new Port of Entry facility that we toured last week and from there we headed west out of Del Rio so they could see Amistad Lake where ESPN holds it professional bass tournament. That was followed by a some shopping at Wal Mart and a very nice lunch at I HOP.

After we arrived home John headed off to the post office to pick up our mail and to send off a late birthday card. Stan then called and asked John to give him a hand with a little job over at the Condo's. That pretty much used up the afternoon. We were just getting ready for a quiet evening in front of the TV when Tim and Mary Ellen dropped by asking if we wanted to play cards. As we are always ready for a good card game we welcomed them in and played a game of "Golf", the new game we recently learned. We have several new card games that we will have to teach the folks back home. Tomorrow promises to be a busy day with all the Fort Clark Festival activities. We will be up and out pretty early. Better call it a night and get to bed.

Today we got proof positive that spring is officially here. The Mesquite trees in our yard are starting to bud. Native Texans tell us that these trees do not bud until after the last frost of the winter. So it looks like we won't be having anymore 32 degree mornings. We took our walk bright and early this morning and saw many deer on the golf course munching on the nice green grass.

John headed over to Sam Lark's after breakfast to help him insulate his front window against the summer heat. After finishing up that job, he spent the rest of the morning putting the finishing touches on the cranes he has been carving. They will be ready to display at the festival this weekend along with a couple of other projects he completed this winter.

The morning seemed to fly by and before we knew it lunch time was upon us. After a quick lunch of leftovers, we headed to the Par 3 for another round of golf. Neither one of us had a very good game. It seems like that's the way it is with golf--one good day followed by several bad ones. On our way home, we saw the Nelson's cruising around in their golf cart. We made plans to meet tomorrow morning and take a trip to Del Rio to show them the town and go out for lunch. We also stopped in to see the Sandwick's and to check up on Dave who has been under the weather.

When we finally returned home, it was almost time for supper. Tonight was carvers, so after eating John packed up his gear and left to pick up Tim. I got the kitchen cleaned up, watched the news, and then taped Survivor so John could watch it later in the evening. It was a great episode with such a surprise ending. Hope all you Survivor fans enjoyed it as much as I did. Ended the evening watching the show with John--was worth watching a second time.

Today was another beautiful Texas spring day. When we walked early this morning the sun was shining and there was only a slight breeze. You can really tell spring is on the way--we noticed today that some of the trees are starting to bud.

This morning John and Wallace went over to Metcalf's to see if they could find the source of their electrical problem. After testing many different outlets they still had no luck in finding the source of the problem. John will have to go back another day and try to find the answer. Today was Weight Watchers for me, so I took off for Del Rio early this morning and did some shopping at Wal Mart before the meeting. Afterward, I stopped for a little lunch before heading home.

This weekend is the Fort Clark Springs Festival and everyone at the fort is busy getting ready for the big weekend. The carvers will have a booth in one of the buildings where they will display their work for people to see. They all have been busy trying to get some of their projects completed. John went over to Wallace's this afternoon to do more work on his crane project. I think it will be very nice when finished.

Since the day was so great, we decided to head down to the Par 3 for a quick round of golf. Many other folks had the same idea. We finished up late in the afternoon and headed home for supper. Sam Lark stopped over this evening to talk to John about a little project he would like help with tomorrow and stayed to visit for a while. After he left I watched a little TV while John was on the computer listening to Rush Limbaugh. It's getting late--time for bed.

The strong winds of yesterday died down over night and this morning was bright and sunny though a little colder than yesterday--temp was 35 degrees when we started off on our walk around the golf course. John spent much of his time during the walk looking for golf balls. He found several really nice ones to add to his collection. We noticed that the grass on the course is really starting to green up and there seemed to be more birds singing in the trees.

Today was John's day to finish up all the little jobs he had lined up. First he went over to Dee and Jerry's and fixed their plumbing problem. From there he went to Metcalf's and finished hanging the shelves they wanted, and lastly, over to Sam Lark's to finish up with his little job. As tonight was the RV potluck, I prepared a hot dish to take and continued catching up with the laundry.

Tim and Mary Ellen stopped to pick us up for the ride over to the RV park. There was a smaller group tonight as many of the regulars were absent. However, there was quite a new group of people from Minnesota, including the Nelson's from Clearbrook. After the meal, we played our usual card game of 31. Both John and I were among the winnners this evening. This was my 4th win this year and John's first. Tim was also a winner tonight--his 1st of this year. It was a very happy ride home. We ended up the evening with a little TV before heading off to bed.