CAMPING AT EISENHOWER STATE PARK

Angie, Eric, the girls and I went tent camping at Eisenhower State Park over Memorial weekend. We stayed in a tenting area with "screened" pavilion. It was great. If you'll notice, you CANNOT see the portable toilet from the street view of our camp. We had running water, electricity, steps down to the cliffs overlooking the lake, a hiking trail close by, and a bathroom with showers about 3 city blocks away. What more could we ask for?

Angie wasted no time getting the screened pavilion set up as a kitchen/living room. The first night, the girls and I slept on a blow-up queen sized mattress on the floor of the pavilion. The next two nights, we just put it in the car and slept really well. The weather was so fantastic. No mosquitoes, warm days, and cool nights. The only problem with the lake was Texoma is 11 feet above flood stage. That closed the boat rentals, boat ramps, and swimming area. That didn't stop us and a few dozen other people from tearing down the "closed" banners and going "floating" in the swim beach area. There were only two injuries. Chloe tried to pick up a beer bottle cap from the fire..... yup....burned finger. Eric ignored Angie's advise on putting on sunscreen, and he got severely burned feet and legs from the knees down. He ended up missing work because he had such severe burns, and that caused cellulitis (sp?) on his feet. The trip to the emergency room was cool..... steroids and diuretic pills. Here's Chloe's bo-bo.

I don't have the pix of the fishing, the swimming, or the card playing..... but we did it all. We even went shopping. When Joyce is down to visit, I'll give everyone a little Nick-knack that I got for everyone. Guess we'll have to do a wine tasting party while she's here.

It really helped that Gary drove up everyday to bring us the stuff we forgot. We did develop a good list of things to remember next time. One funny thing... he brought Dad up with him a couple of times. Dad had a ball.... he called everyone he knew and talked to them... telling them that he, Gary, and "Gary's wife" were at the lake. I guess I'm no longer "his daughter"...... I'm now just "Gary's wife". Oh well!

We also met a great guy, John P., and his two sons, Christian (6 yrs) and Johnathan (9 yrs). It worked out great for both of our families. The girls and the boys got along great. I taught the boys how to play "Pass the ace" for money. I am not sure I impressed their Dad, but hey..... the girls are the ones that wanted to play it. No, we didn't take their money.... they each won one game. They were ecstatic with their $.24 winnings. We'll probably go camping with the three of them again soon. They were new to camping, and we ended up sharing goodies with them.

I did take some Costa Rican Coffee with me that Sheila gave me, and it was fabulous. It really impressed John.... he thinks I do things like that normally. Great fun.... It was something that we'll all definitely do again. Next time, MAYBE Gary will spend the night also, but I doubt it.