TOWN ladies, guests and two dogs (DJ and Red) enjoyed another great Memorial Day weekend campout! Attendees were: Cheryl, June, Carrie, Marie, Gloria, SandyB, SandyO, Margie, Susan, Eola, Janet, BarbaraW, and two guests, Flo and Donna.
We had two kayak trips — one on Friday because the weekend weather forecast was very unpredictable. For the first, we put in at the State Park and took out at Junction City Park. It was a beautiful float with clear skies and no rain! The second kayak trip was on Saturday and began at the river crossing above the upper section and ended at Boone’s crossing. Another beautiful, clear day of kayaking!
During the outing, many visited the four bird blinds (where Black Capped Vireos were sighted), and went on hikes, walks, and bike rides around the park. We took several refreshing dips in the river to cool off.
Friday night, the sky was very clear and full of stars. Even the moons of Jupiter could be seen through binoculars.
On Saturday, our evening pot luck was, of course, wonderful (so good, in fact, we did it again the next evening)! Later, some attended the park program — a herpetology talk by an interesting and distinguished Texas Tech professor. That night, although dark, ominous clouds and thunderstorms with damaging winds and hail were all around us, we again avoided all of the bad weather.
On Sunday, a few drove to Sonora to tour the Caverns and see their formations. Sunday evening, some went on a night hike and saw hundreds of lightning bugs, twinkling spider eyes, deer, a scorpion, and heard the hoots of a great horned owl. It was a different weather situation for Sunday night, as we had torrential rains and lots of lightning during the night and early morning hours. Fortunately no one floated away, and the two brave people with tents stayed dry and survived it all.
Monday was another beautiful, sunny day, although the rangers informed us that if we wanted to leave the Park that day, we should leave right away as the river was rising and would go over the low water crossing! We all scrambled and made it out with the water near the top — with no time for dumping for three of us!
Until next year,
Carrie and June
