2016~Indiana, Part 1

On Memorial Day weekend, we RV'd up to Indiana to take Sue and Randy camping and to visit with family. We weren't scheduled to camp until Tuesday so Geo spent time with his brother Jim, and I visited with Jeanne and Sue.

Jeanne, me & Sue

Jeanne and George

My sisters and I stopped by for a little 

visit with Jim but I forgot to take a pic.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On Tuesday, we headed out to camp at

Tipsaw Lake in the Hoosier National Forest. 

It was not an uneventful drive!

After taking a wrong turn, we ended 

up a good way down this dirt road.

Hind sight is 20/20, right?

Looking back, there were clues that 

we were not on the right road.

Clue #1

The road was only narrow 

enough for the motorhome 

Clue #2

We've never been to a state park 

that took us down any dirt road.

Clue #3

The road curved, became narrower, 

and a few trees were too close to the 

roadside for us to curve past them

so we could not go any farther!

We had to unhook the jeep, 

and back down the road.

Randy stood behind the RV and 

guided Geo back to where we 

were able to turn around.

At last,

Tipsaw Lake

It's a small lake, only 131 acres 

but it has a cute little beach.

The first night, we discovered 
that ticks were everywhere!

Not long after that, we were told 
that it's called TICKsaw Lake.
How appropriate!

One reason we picked this area to camp 

is because it's only 30 minutes to the 

town of French Lick. 

Also, we would have preferred 

Patoka Lake 

which is closer and bigger 

but we decided to take this 

trip too late and it was booked. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We started our first full day at 

Indoor Karting. 

Sue, Randy and George had a 

good time driving the track.

 I took blurry pics and vids with the iPad.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Next, we self-toured the 

historic West Baden Springs Hotel

which is part of the French Lick Resort.

It was captivating!

We were inspired to look up.

and look down...

and all around.

Photobomber!

These stained glass doors were very pretty.

The cool, spacious and lovely balcony!

We sat and rocked for a short time.

The view from the balcony.

Delightful greenery and 
flowers are everywhere!

We really enjoyed breezing 

through the West Baden.

It's a neat place!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We finished off the day by playing

  Foot Golf at the Valley Links 

course which is also part of the 

French Lick Resort!

Kick offs!

Randy was the only one 

wearing sturdy shoes.

Sue wore decent tennis shoes 
but not the best for foot golf.

I was wearing Sketcher's canvas Go Walks.

Somewhat flimsy.

Worst of all though, 

Geo was sporting sandals!

In the beginning of the game, 

(and more than once), 

Sue and I could be heard saying, 
"Ouch, my toe!" 

My ankle was stiff,

and my legs sore for days after, 

but I loved it and would have 

played again in a couple days 

if it had worked out.

Note George's sandal is completely 

broken on the left side in the back!

Foot golf was lots of laughs! 

A total blast!

Part 2 soon.

Smiles,

D~~~~

The Good, Bad & Ugly Birdhouse Story

THE GOOD

As I mentioned in an earlier post, 

spring sprung and the Bradford Pears 
in our backyard were gorgeous!

A bird built her nest in a birdhouse 

attached to the second tree 

from this end in the above photo.

Here's the birdhouse.

If you enlarge the pic below, 

you can see the cute little Mama inside.
She's watching me!

Here's a glimpse of the pastel blue eggs.
Four of these beauties were nestled within.

The bird house is mounted at eye level allowing me to watch the Mama bird come and go each day. I peeked in on the eggs when Mama wasn't around just for fun. I was very much looking forward to the arrival of her little fledglings!

At dusk, I often walked 

outside with our little man Chewy. 

Mama bird always kept a

 watchful eye on us as we passed. 

She was always ready to 

fly out and away 

so I kept my distance.

THE BAD AND UGLY

After about 10 days of observing, 

I looked out the bedroom window 

and saw this horrifying view!

UGH!

   A snake in the birdhouse!

Very bad!

In a panic and ticked off, 

I ran to the door and headed outside.

My mind was racing!

Thought #1: 

What do I do?!

Answer:

Get it out!!!

Thought #2

How do I get it out?!

Before I couldn't answer thought #2 though, 

I was promptly bombarded by 

Thought #3 

Take a pic for FB and the blog!

After all, it was the 

easiest, 

and

quickest 

thing to do!

Darting back into the house, 

I grabbed the nearby iPad 

and completed that task.

Oh, but now it was time to actually deal with thought #2.

My mind was still on the run, yet devoid of solutions although I was pretty sure of several facts:

1) It was probably a bull/rat snake because they climb;

2) We've had them in the yard before so that made it even more likely; and 

3) Rat snakes are not poisonous.

It's still a big, ugly snake though!

On the heels of the above analysis, 

I did what any frantic woman would do:  

I swiftly grabbed the iPad and

face-timed my sister Linda!

Linda's first words: 

Oh no!!!!

Can you get it out of there?

Gee, wish I'd have thought of that.  

My mind was jumping around 

but mostly stuck on:

How?

How?

How?

I looked to the right and, 

laying over near the side of the house, 

there just so happened to be a long piece of 

PVC pipe 

with a hook thingy 

(a detailed technical term) 

on the end of it. 

PVC with Hook Thingy

I threw Linda down to go for it.

NOT REALLY.

I informed her of my plan 

and, gently but quickly, 

placed her hard little iPad body 

on a soft chair.

As I was about to go retrieve the 

PVC with Hook Thingy, 

the serpent, 

with his neck 

(if they have one), 

kinked like a hose 

and still in the birdhouse, 

had turned his head completely around.

  

About five feet away, 

he was very still, 

and staring me, 

right square in the eye! 

(I'm pretty sure it was my right eye.)

Yikes!

Ever been eyeball to eyeball with a snake?

It seemed evil, 

was super creepy,

and made my blood run cold! 

With support from Linda, I ran to the PVC with Hook Thingy, grabbed it, and returned in no time, yet he was already sliding his ugly butt up the tree!  

Even though he was out of the birdhouse and it was probably too late, I was not happy and wanted to yank him down while I could still reach him. 

After one lunge and poke, 

I changed my mind because:

1) A snake's body is rock hard making it difficult to maneuver or kill, especially with a long, not too sturdy, PVC with Hook Thingy. 

How do I know?

See #2.

2) Memories of the time I went all Lizzy Borden on a snake with a post hole digger came flooding back. It took at least 40 very wild whacks to kill that hard, slithering sucker. It was an awful experience! 

You can view that post here.

Please note:

I 

WILL NEVER 

undertake a snake killin' again.

3) I was also reminded of the time we drove 13 miles to Home Depot, and when Geo opened the car door, there was a rat snake standing vertically in the crack of the door.  

You can view that post here.

4) After not-so-fondly reminiscing about the above, it occurred to me that if I did indeed succeed in yanking him out of the tree, he could accidentally... 

Land right on my head! 

NOPE!

That's not happening!

That thought gives me 

The Willies!

Mission aborted.

After he slinked his way up the tree, I was a bit scared to look into the birdhouse for the eggs. I had to get right up under the tree to do it, and the snake was up there which means directly above my head. 

Linda said, 

"Let me look."

So I did.

Holding the iPad up to the birdhouse hole so Linda could look in, I stood as far back as I could and stretched out my arms so that the iPad camera was at the hole and guess what? 

It worked!

I did not like the outcome 

though and neither did Linda! 

All four eggs were gone!

VERY SAD & DISTURBING!

If there is any good news it is that the snake didn't get the Mama because I saw her going into the birdhouse later so she was out and about. Poor thing, losing her babies like that!

Sometimes, I don't like nature!

Not Smiling,

D~~~~

Lovely Lake Catherine Again

Obviously, I'm still catching up. The beginning of April, we ventured back up to Lake Catherine State Park in southern Arkansas where family met up with us for a couple days -- my sister Sue and her husband Randy, my sister Jeanne and her friend Cyndi (all from Indiana), my sister Linda and her hubby David as well as a couple of friends, Donnie and Joy (they all live not too far from us in Texas).

It's not a very big lake but it's very nice!

 

The campsites are spacious and cozy.

 

 This was taken on the back deck of a neat little duplex cabin. 

Sue and Randy rented one side, and 

Linda and David rented the other.

Cyndi, Sue, Me, Linda, Joy, Jeanne

 

We're holding Flossie's Peanut Brittle. The guys went to the store and it caught their eyes. Flossie was Mom's name so the guys bought it. Very sweet of them!

We shopped a bit in Hot Springs.

 

Hiked like a pro!

 

 

And washed windows!

 

Visited and other camping stuff.

 

 

 

 

Our time together was short but very enjoyable!

 

 

Smiles,

D~~~~