Twenty-seven outstanding women (with their seven super pups) gathered at Fort Parker State Park to visit, hike, eat, bike, cook, eat, talk, bird, kayak, fish, and eat.

And what a group it was! AdelaR (with Annie), AllisonG (Dallas TOWNie with Juliette), BarbaraW (from Fort Worth TOWN), BeverlyT (with Chico), CaroleeD (from Dallas), CarrieL, CherylC (with Red), DarleneY, DonnaT (a friend of MargieS), FloM, GailW, GloriaB, JacqueA, JanB, JaneS (Adela’s friend from OK!), JanetFB (with Barney), JennyF, JudyD, KayS, LindaBW (and friend Gerrie from Bryan), MargieS, MarilynF, SandyO (with DJ), SandyS (with Silky), SharonR, and SusanW all hugged long-time  friends, made new friends, and tried new dishes. Having Gail, Judy, and Sharon (who drove over from Corsicana) join us for the afternoon and dinner was a special treat.

A most surprising episode involved the appearance of Bigfoot! We can verify that this Sasquatch is indeed a simian-like creature that inhabits forests because that’s where we saw him. Usually Bigfoot lives mainly in the Pacific Northwest; however he is a snow bird this winter due to the intense cold and snow. First, he visited the treed area behind Linda’s Mother Ship and then headed to Jan’s A-Frame and was seen knocking on her door. Jan shocked Bigfoot by answering the door in her nightie. Jenny witnessed Bigfoot’s departure for the forest. He did leave large prints and a strange odor!

And eating? Yes, we managed to avoid leftovers! The cast iron dish chefs ruled this weekend! Among our dishes were:

Thursday: brownies, salad, chips, brisket nachos, and Dr. Pepper chocolate cake;

Friday: lentil soup, lemon cake, brownies, chili, salad, bread;

Saturday: stuffed mushrooms, King Ranch chicken, chicken enchiladas, a good healthy salad, Spanish rice, oatmeal cranberry cookies, ice cream, peach cobbler, apple cobbler; and

Sunday: 2 big cast iron dishes of Mountain Man Breakfast.

No one went hungry this weekend. In fact, we shared desserts several times with the park rangers. Not bribing of course, just making friends.

And hiking/biking? Yes indeed, we took lots of steps:

Thursday: Kay and Darlene biked a portion of Baines Creek Trail;

Friday am: (46 degrees upon waking) Darlene, Jacque, Jan, Jenny, Kay, and Marilyn hiked the Navasota River Trail, about 3.76 miles round trip, visited with two fishing folks, found a geocache, and saw a Great Blue Heron;

Friday afternoon: Jacque, Jan, Jenny, and Linda hiked the Springfield Trail (about 3 miles round trip) to the Springfield Cemetery;

Friday afternoon later: Jacque, Jan, and Jenny hiked the Bur Oak Nature Trail, found a geocache, then continued walking the Springfield Trail to the dam and back to camp – about 5 miles roundtrip; and

Saturday am (it was hot): Darlene, Flo, Gloria, Jacque, Jan, Janet (with Barney), Jenny, Kay, Linda, Marilyn, and Sandy (with Silky) hiked the Baines Creek Trail for about 5.6 miles round trip, and we found 2 geocaches. Rumor was someone got lost, but then found the group. It was even warmer when we finished.

Nerdy birders identified the following: kingfisher, great blue heron, red-bellied woodpecker, American robin, red-tailed hawk, northern cardinals, yellow-rumped warblers, mourning doves, crows, white pelicans, cormorants, Carolina chickadee, eastern phoebe, bard owl heard, caracara, tern, snowy egret, black vulture, titmouse, downy woodpecker, Carolina wren.

Mammals we identified — or thought we did: red-eared slider turtles, fox squirrel; with evidence of feral pigs (lots of disturbed soil plus a capture cage), coyote (scat), and a rather large cat (scat samples); plus Flo’s alleged evidence of ‘gators. Now Flo was the only TOWNie claiming to have seen ‘gator evidence, so we cannot disavow or confirm!

Fisher-women included: Barbara, Darlene, Kay, Sandy, and Susan. All large catches were returned to the lake we heard!

Kayakers included: Allie, Carolee, Janet (with Barney in his first water trip), Linda, and Marilyn.

Trips we made to various locations away from the park:

Confederate Reunion Grounds, Fort Parker Restoration, True Value Hardware, Dairy Queen (only once).

AND we have three new members with a possibly of several more as a result of this gathering!!

Such an enjoyable weekend and comaraderie with TOWNie friends. Such is a good life.

LindaBW & JacqueA