Fun Times with Neighbors at Falcon State Park

Roger here...  After two weeks of figuring out the ins and outs of traveling in our new mini-Airstream, we traveled 1 1/2 hours for a three-night stay at Falcon State Park with a few of our neighbors from Retama Village.

Before leaving, 
Dianne had a blast buying tiny things to put in our tiny trailer.  I worried about installing a sway bar to prevent the wind from blowing the trailer around while towing.  It was a hassle to get it done, but we gave our new rig a true test in 30 mph winds on the way to the park.  The Airstream pulled flawlessly behind our new Toyota Highlander.

Falcon State Park is located on the banks of Falcon Lake (a reservoir of the Rio Grande 
River) near Roma, TX.  Our pull-through campsite was great.

The site had a covered picnic area and lots of private space in the back.

Dianne took us back to our camping roots as she prepared bacon and eggs outside.  Yum.

Dianne was thrilled that we could again enjoy her festive tiki lights in the evening.  (Dianne here:  I always loved these silly tiki lights, but we didn't really use them on our motor home.   They've been stored for the past 12 years, since we sold our travel trailer and quit "camping" to go full timing.  I think they will look even cuter on our tiny awning when we're at a campsite where we can open it out.)

The state park had 3 miles of hiking trails, so of course we took advantage of them.  We trekked half of the circular loop on two different days.

Sporadic views of the lake were a highlight of the hikes each day.

Our friend, Kathy, joined us on the second day of hiking.  She was accompanied by her dog, Takoda (another Cinderella Pet Rescue alum).  

Keeping busy was not an issue.  The first night we played cards with Kathy and her husband, Ken, in their fifth wheel.

The second night our friend, Shari, who organized the outing, shared some of her home-made wine with the group before showing us all   how to prepare pizzas in pie irons over an open fire.

Dianne and I had somewhat of a misadventure after dinner.  We intended to go to the first annual Falcon State Park Christmas Boat Parade.  Most of the group drove to the lake.  Dianne and I (and the dogs) wanted to walk.  Poquita, in particular, needed to work off some energy.  We walked to the boat dock in the dark (enjoying the stars), only to discover that it was deserted.  No problem.  We walked back to the main road to follow another route to the lake which was also deserted.  By that time the event was already in progress.  We did see some colorful lights in the distance.  We should have talked to a park ranger before taking off.  Oh 
well, Shari got some nice pictures.

The next morning the ladies organized omelettes in a bag for breakfast.  So good!

Our last evening was a blast as we were reintroduced to a wine-infused game of Trivial Pursuit.  I had forgotten how much fun that game is.  Unfortunately, the girls' team beat the guys in a play-off game.  They must have cheated.

Our neighbor Jim, originally from Louisiana, prepared a delicious shrimp gumbo for supper that night.  Did I mention that he was from Louisiana?

Dianne and I drove back to Retama Village the next morning so that we could get ready to fly to Los Angeles the following morning for some time with our daughter and son-in-law, Robyn and Atul.

PET PICTURE OF THE DAY...  Poquita enjoys some quiet time after playing with one of her toys.