Lockhart State Park

We left Cleburne State Park on Tuesday, January 5. I had decided to drive about 70 miles south to a SP on the most direct route south. Which is the general direction of our travel. While we were driving, Kim asked why we were going there. I did not really have a good answer. She then began to tell me about a park she had looked at called Lockhart SP. She wanted to go there to see if she could go see her aunt that lives in New Braunfels. It sounded ok, but was way out of our way. My practical side was in charge and was resisting the additional miles. Then she said the majic words: "It has a golf course!" I said," What did you say?" She knew she had me. Yeah it has a golf course at it is only $9 per day to play all you want. SOLD!

One of my biggest weaknesses is when I have a plan, I have trouble changing it. To the point that I will go headlong into a bad situation simply because that is my plan. I am working to change that. We have no reason not to be flexible in our plans. It certainly would have made sense to discuss this prior to departure, but it all worked out.

We changed our route and headed south. We had left late because we were not going that far. Now we had to keep moving if we were going to make it by dark. That plan was going well until I saw a Texas Dairy Queen with plenty of parking for our rig. We have to stop at one each time we are in Texas. We just have to. If you are not from Texas, you just don't understand. A Texas DQ is not like one of those DQ's from up north. Totally different menu and full of food that is really bad for you. We did what we had to do and then got back on the road.

The good news is that it stays lighter longer this far south, so we made it before dark and found a nice site right on the 2nd fairway. I walked out on the course shortly after arriving and was amazed how nice the course was. This is a 9 hole course with bermuda greens and fairways. It was originally built by the CCC and it is well maintained.

It rained overnight and the course got a good watering. I got up to the office at about 10AM and there was not a misprint. I could walk and play all day for $9. I went and got my clubs and headed out. It is not too hilly, with only one significant hill. I walked, carrying my clubs and played 18+ holes. I was pretty tired by the end of the round, but I had a blast. I did not play well with a 50 on the first 18, but my swing got better and I broke 100 with a 47 on the second 9. Here are a few shots of the course:

You can rent a cart for an additional $11 per 9 holes, but I am really trying to get in better shape, so walking was just the ticket.

I know I have way too many passions, but I love to play golf. I really love to play golf on an empty golf course all by myself when I can take my time and really enjoy the day. This was just that kind of day. It brought back memories of my younger years when I could walk and play 36 holes in a day. This was a 10+ day!

The next day, Kim left to go see her aunt. I headed out to play more golf. I was walking up to the clubhouse and met a couple that told me that they were on a mission to play golf in all 50 states. How cool is that?

The course was once again empty and I decided to walk and play 9 holes and play two balls to get my 18 hole score. This started the white versus yellow ball death match. The yellow ball prevailed with a 45 to the White ball's 48. I was happy with the 93 as my swing was starting to get more consistent. The sun was out and it hit 70 on that day. After having a bite to eat, Kim was not back and Jeopardy was over. It was still daylight for about an hour. What did I do? Go back out for 6 more holes! What an awesome day.

When I retired, I thought I would play golf on a very regular basis. As it is, I have not played much at all. The last time I played was in SLC with my friend Laurie and his two sons last June. That is a bit strange. I can't really explain it. I guess the main reason is that it is not something that Kim and I do together and we have really been having fun doing things together in the past two years. This is one of the many examples of the difference between what I thought my retirement was going to be like and the reality of what it is. Not bad, not good, just different.

We were planning to stay longer, but they were full for the weekend. That turned out to be a good thing because I was pretty tired after two long days of golf. This SP certainly gets the status of "Hidden Gem". I loved this place and would love it more if I could convince some family members to join me there. How about it Richie?

We were looking for our next stop and knew we wanted to head south. To find out where we end up next, you will have to come back for the next entry. I found more really cool stuff.

Family Time in the DFW area

We arrived at Cleburne SP on December 31. We chose Cleburne SP because it is fairly close to my brothers house in Granbury and is still out in the country away from all of the hustle and bustle of the DFW Metroplex. The longer I am retired and the more we travel, the more we dislike major cities. We were able to drive from Daingerfield SP and only touch the far southeast area of Dallas on the drive in.

After arrival, we headed over to my brothers house to see Alan and Denise and my Mom and Dad. The two National Championship Semifinal Football games were on and we enjoyed watching them together. Too bad they were not competitive games. We toasted midnight at 11 central. We left at halftime of the final bowl game of the night between TCU and Oregon. The score was 31-0 Oregon. TCU came back to win. Darn I hate it when I miss those kind of games. I continue to battle my addiction to football. Having the networks decide that those games would be on cable only does help me understand it is all about the money.

On Friday, January 1 we went over to see Kim's family in Bedford. We had a nice visit and enjoyed catching up with everybody. THEN... Kim for some reason decided to bring up a controversial subject and let's just say the conversation became lively, Yeah that this the word for it "Lively". I wonder if we are getting more opinionated. Has this lifestyle done that? I would say we read more and are more educated on the history of the country.

There is a significant controversy that I read about the other day. It has to do with the process of text book approval in Texas. It seems that some conservative people in Texas would like to "forget" the facts of history. I am sure the same thing happens in other states with more liberal thinking people. My only point is let's get it right and learn from history.

On January 2, we went back to Alan and Denise's house. This time we were joined by my brother Brian and his wife Julie and their two very impressive children, Matthew and Katherine. Also joining the family gathering were Alan's daughter Erin and husband Tim. Brian started off by making a very exciting announcement. He is leaving his current law firm and joining a very large firm. He will have an office on the 43rd floor of one of the high rises in downtown Dallas. Congrats Brian! I am so proud of you. Here is a shot of Brian, Julie and Mom and Dad.

We had a very enjoyable day. 

On Sunday, January 3, we went to church in Glen Rose and then returned to the campground. I decided to take the boat out on the lake in the SP and do some fishing. It was a beautiful sunny day.

This was the first time that I have taken out the boat by myself. Kim wanted to catch up on some reading and I wanted to see how the boat handled with me sitting in the center. It was a bit more difficult to get set up and launched by myself, but I managed. 

 I had a great time paddling around the lake. It was a bit windy, so I stuck to the north end of the lake and fished along the edge. I did not catch anything, but that was just fine with me. I saw a bunch of cormorants and vultures perched up in a tree.

Here is a shot of some turtles on a log. I hope you get the idea, it was just a very relaxing day.

We finished off our time in the DFW area by visiting Kim's parents again on Monday. It was just us and them and we had a very enjoyable conversation covering many of the topics that had been covered the other night with a little less emotion. We had an early dinner at our favorite local Mexican restaurant and really enjoyed the time together.

I am a bit strange. I like to discuss controversial and difficult subjects. I enjoy getting other perspectives and I learn a great deal that way. In this very emotionally charged political time it makes sense to me to discuss with an open mind and a friendly spirit. A closed mind will only cause further division.

We left the Cleburne SP on January 5. I had planned to go to a SP just about 100 miles away. Then in mid drive we changed plans. I am so glad we did. Why? I will tell that story in my next entry. I think I have found one of my all time favorite camp sites.

Heading South

I am sorry it has been a while since my last post, We have been very busy over the New Years visiting with family. I will get caught up over the next few entries.

We finally got headed south on Tuesday, December 29. We woke to freezing temps and our first snow of the year. Thankfully it was just a trace and after making a trip to town to check the road conditions, we decided that we could leave safely. We were watching the weather closely and the reports coming out of Oklahoma were concerning. The central part of the state had snow and it was unclear what the conditions along highway 69 were. The forecast for Tuesday was around freezing. We noticed that the weather in Arkansas was about 10 degrees warmer. We decided to go straight south from Mansfield and then over to Highway 65. We got a late start to wait for the weather to get a bit warmer. We had an easy trip with no adverse road conditions.

By the time we got to I 40, the temps had increased to over 45 degrees. We were watching the time and decided that we could only make it to Maumelle Park before dark, which is right on the Arkansas River by Little Rock. We do not like to park in the dark. We have determined by previous experience, that we do not do well when trying to set up in the dark.

When we arrived, we were told that the river was rising, but it would be 3 days before the river would be flooding the river side campsites. We did not choose a riverside campsite, but we were just across the road. I decided to put a stick in the water at the waters edge, so that I could monitor the river rise during the evening. I checked on the stick throughout the evening. The river was rising, but it had a ways to go to be a problem.

Here is a shot of our site along the river:

We didn't even unhook the truck. The site was level enough and we were only staying one night. It seems we are always in a hurry when we leave or are coming back to Missouri. We really wanted to get south before more freezing weather came in. 

Next we made the drive to Daingerfield, Texas. This is a small town in east Texas. We like to drive rural routes especially in Texas. The roads are nice and we enjoy the scenery. We stayed at Daingerfield SP. Our Texas State Park pass is still good from our visit last year. We like Texas SP's for many reasons, but the main two are:

1. You can fish in the parks without a fishing license. That makes fishing affordable for me in Texas. Unlike any other state I know of. 

2. If you have the pass, the rates are very good. usually between 18 and 21 dollars with Water and Electric. (The pass costs $70 per year)

East Texas had also seen flooding over the past week, but the water had been receding for a few days and everything was returning to normal. 

Here is a shot of the lake at Daingerfield SP:

The park is OK, but the sites are pretty short. We got one of the few that a large rig would fit in. 

I went into town to get Diesel in the truck and did a bit of exploring. I found a cool old theater in downtown. It is open and was showing first run movies. All seats were $1.50. I found out later that the theater had been built in the 1920's. When I returned and told Kim about it and that the new Star Wars was showing. We had seen it once, but Kim is a Star Wars freak, so we decided to see it again. The theater did not disappoint. It was frozen in time back in the 60's when I first went to the movies. The popcorn was fresh and good. We had a great time.

The next day we moved again. We headed to Cleburne State Park. That would be our base camp for our time in the DFW area. I will pick up the story from there in my next entry. 

High Water at HHR

This entry will only mean something to my friends and family that have been to the ranch.

We are still in Missouri waiting for this massive storm to clear the Midwest. We have measured almost 6 inches of rain here at the ranch. We had one last line of thunderstorms come through this morning and now it is turning colder. It looks like things are winding down.

Kim and I took a ride down to the creek to see how high the water was. I have seen it higher once before when we got hit with the remnants of hurricane Ike, but this is pretty impressive.

The pics are a little fuzzy, but the video is pretty clear.

The crossing at Big Rock:

Looking down on the Lava Area:

This is the end of Lava, looking over the falls:

Here is a short video I made of the creek:

It looks like we are going to be able to depart on Tuesday and get headed south. We are so glad that we stayed through Christmas. It was great to have all of our kids together. That is getting more rare as we get older and they get busier with their own lives.

The Anticipation is Growing...

We are getting very excited about the coming days. Yeah, there is that Christmas thing, but what we are really looking forward to is getting back on the road. Don't get me wrong, we really enjoy our time at the ranch, and we love to be around the family, but we really love traveling and seeing new places.

The last few weeks, like elsewhere around the eastern half of the US, has been abnormally warm. Most days have been in the 50's and 60's. We even hit 70 the other day. The nice weather has really inspired me to get out and hike and ride. I have also been busy getting projects done that I have had on the to-do list for some time.

While we were eating the other day, a bird flew into one of our windows. Kim heard it hit the rail on the back of the trailer. I went out to see if it was still alive. It was very stunned, but still alive. I picked it up and held it for a while. Slowly it came back to its senses. I can relate to the feeling the bird had. Here is a picture of my little friend, the tufted titmouse.

After about a half hour he just flew away into one of the large oak trees.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a visit from Michael and Audrey and the two boys. Connor went for his first ride on the 50. It brought back great memories to see Michael running around behind Connor.

Here is a short video of Michael getting his exercise.

We decided to hit a movie and visit the grand kids in Ozark. This is how it is for retired people when you go to the movies at 2:00 in the afternoon on a Tuesday:

By the time the movie started there we about 3 other couples in the theater. Later we got some cuddle time in with little Amelia. She is soo sweet. I love it when she falls fast asleep on my chest.

We spent the last few days getting ready to go. We are all packed up and have all of our toys put away. We will spend Christmas day with all of our kids in Ozark and then hit the road. The weather looks ugly this weekend, so we may not be able to go until early next week. We will not travel in bad weather. The DFW area will be our first destination. We are really looking forward to seeing family and warm weather.

It has been a while since I posted a sunset shot. I got this nice one the other night. The big oak trees create an interesting foreground in this shot.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday season. Hopefully my next entry will be from a campground in who knows where...

Going to the Gym

As we all know, one of the keys to feeling well as you get older is regular exercise. Most people do not enjoy working out. Many go to a gym, some try to run or ride a bicycle. I have tried each of these, but because I don’t enjoy them, I have trouble sustaining that activity over time.
Exercise became more important to me after I had a heart attack in 2010 at age 51. I know that the main factor was stress. I have done a good job of eliminating stress in my life. Getting rid of my job was the perfect answer.

I have found that working out just for the workout is only sustainable if I am working out with a goal in mind. What works better for me is actually doing something that I like to do. I have found very few activities that are both enjoyable and accomplish the goal of getting my heart rate into the target zone and sustaining it for an hour or more. My favorite over the years is riding my dirt bike.
You may think that riding a motorized bike would not be a workout, but you would be wrong. I have worn a heart monitor while riding. My heart rate will settle in at about 140 and will spike to over 160 when I have a problem and am working to get out of trouble. I usually ride for 2 hours or more. Not only do I get a good cardio workout, but the repeated use of all of the muscles in my body provide an excellent muscle building session.

My weapon of choice is a 2007 KTM 400 XCW.

This bike is not the latest technology, but I just love the way it works. One of the reasons I like to hang out at the ranch for a few months each year is to go for rides with other members and hit the 30+ miles of singletrack trails. This past week I got a message from a local rider. He had an afternoon off work and was looking to get some riding in. Corey is just getting over a broken leg ( yes, this sport can be dangerous) and is working on getting his conditioning back. Did I mention that Corey is 21 years old? How cool is that? I am now 56 and I get to go riding with this great young guy.
We rode over 30 miles of wet, tough trails at a good pace. It was a blast and I was totally spent when we were done. My kind of a workout. Here is a little video I put together. I was wearing my GoPro for the ride.  Click on the link below to see the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEN-e-qt23U



What a great way to get exercise and have fun at the same time. This is what my bike looked like after the ride:

The Ozark 100 Miler

We are still at the ranch in Missouri. We have been busy with family gatherings and enjoying the fall in the Ozarks.
In 2014, the ranch hosted the 7th annual Ozark 100 Miler extreme motorcycle race. The original 4 were held here and then they moved to another venue. Last year went very well, so the 8th annual was back here at Hardwood Hills Ranch. The race has started to get national attention. We have had a number of national riders come out for the large cash purse and the top industry photographer/reporter from Dirt Rider Magazine, Shan Moore provided some national press.

This year we had a number of top National Riders commit to riding the event and Shan was returning. The purse was also increased to $7500, which is a lot for an off road race. The format of the race is a 50 mile race starting at 9:30 AM, then a 25 mile race in the afternoon. Then after dark, the top 25 riders put lights on their bikes and go take on the toughest the ranch has to offer. Two of the toughest spots are lit up to provide the spectators an awesome view of the action.
Everything was looking good until mother nature decided to intervene and place her stamp on this years event. You have to understand that the riders that choose to ride this event are some of the toughest people I know and they love to get tested. The weather forecast was calling for rain both Friday and Saturday. Not just a little rain, but upwards of 4 inches of the wet stuff. Thankfully no snow, but the temps were expected to be in the 30’s.
The weather was going to take this years event from a very tough event into a true epic test of man and machine.
The event organizers had worked very hard for many months to put this event together. All the preparations were made and contingencies were discussed. The biggest concern is a large creek in the middle of the property. If the creek got too high, we would have to cut the event short.
I was working the gate on Friday evening and was amazed to see the rigs keep on coming in. The only problem is the parking area was looking a little wet.

We parked people everywhere we could find a dry place and everyone got ready for the big race on Saturday.
We checked the creek on Saturday morning and it was decided that we could cross safely. The full race was on!
We had 130+ souls that started the event. They all started in dry clean gear. That lasted about 30 seconds. Here is a shot of the starting grid:

Photo by: Tayler Bonecutter
Then they were off! This is literally 50 yards from the start. Look at the mud on the riders already.

Photo by: Tayler Bonecutter
The person in the foreground of this shot is my wife Kim. The rider on the far left is local Pro, Zach Neil. Zach went on to finish 4th on the day.

Photo by: Tayler Bonecutter
After about a mile and a half the riders hit the creek for the first time. It was deep, but passable. All of the riders made it without falling down in the cold water. National Pro, Jason Thomas was leading at the creek. He is from England, but races in the US full time.

Photo by: Linda Fuerst
Some guys took it easy through the creek, others went for a pass. This in 2015 OMA Champ Steward Baylor, closely followed by other pros. He had fallen down in the grass tracks, but went on to win the first 50 mile race by almost 5 minutes.

Photo by: Linda Fuerst
I will take a minute here and talk about Steward Baylor. Stew is a great guy. He came to HHR a week before the event to put on a riding school and do some hunting. Bad weather killed the attendance at the school, but instead of cancelling it, he did an almost private 2 days class with 2 of our best up and coming riders. They were both really excited to get the one on one attention and they both did well at this event. The most amazing thing happened on Thanksgiving. He fixed a full Thanksgiving dinner for a large group. It was all awesome. On top of being an incredible rider and I really cool guy, he is an excellent cook. Who knew??
The bad news is that Stew had a bike issue mid way through the second race and did not finish. I would say my biggest disappointment of the weekend was not being able to see Stew take on the obstacles at night. He promised to be back next year.
Here is a shot of Mickey Silger doing his best submarine impression:

Photo by: Linda Fuerst
The riders then rode about 20 miles on the other side of the creek. The trails are tight and rocky and today were wet. Then they had to cross the creek again. This looked like an easier crossing, but it was tricky with one deep spot. A few bikes went down and had to be pulled out of the frigid water. Here is a shot of one of my favorite local pros. Ryan Henslee is an awesome young man on top of being an excellent rider. Ryan finished 5th overall.

Photo by: Linda Fuerst
Here is a shot of National Pro, Nick Fahringer. He would go on to finish 2nd on the day.

Photo by: Shan Moore
Here is Nick in another part of the course that has huge rocks we call VW:

Photo by: Shan Moore
After a day of hard riding, the top 25 get invited to take on the most difficult parts of the ranch in the dark of night. All of the spectators find a good place to watch and it gets a bit crazy. I think it is my favorite thing I do each year. Jordan Ashburn made the obstacles look easy and went on to the win and the $2500 first prize. Here are a few shots that were taken of the night race:
This is Caleb Haynes from Rogersville, Missouri. He is a local pro and an awesome young man. He fought hard and finished 3rd for the day.

Photo by: Linda Fuerst
This is an awesome shot of the carnage on an element called “Something Special”.

Photo by: Shan Moore
Another shot with the big crowd getting into it. The spectators may not help the riders even if they want to.

Photo by: Shan Moore
We spent much of the rest of the evening helping people get out of the parking area with the Kawasaki Mule and the Tractor. I even spent another round on Sunday morning for the folks that decided to stay another night. We got everybody on their way by 3 in the afternoon.
You may ask, “Why do people do this?” My answer is always the same. If you don’t understand why people do this, you probably don’t understand why people climb mountains or run triathlons or anything else that tests ones capability and endurance to the maximum. It just takes a special kind of person and I am proud to be part of this awesome sport.

I have added a video that I took and edited of the night show at Something Special.

It is always surreal when everyone leaves and we are the only ones left at the ranch. The quiet is nice, but now the work starts to flatten the field and clean up the ruts. The good news is this place heals as well as any land I have ever seen. We should be riding again by the end of the week.
How was your Thanksgiving Weekend? I hope it was as much fun as mine was.

Now that the race is over, our preparations will get pushed into high gear to get moving south for the winter. We are still purging and organizing all of our worldly possessions. We will stick around until Christmas and then head to Texas.