Category: Uncategorized (Page 13 of 46)

Greetings, Twenty two, yes, 22 of us, hiked a little over 3 miles in about 1.5 hours on the Onion Creek Trail.  I think this is the largest group I’ve ever hiked with. This may be a TOWN Guinness record:)  It was plenty humid but luckily, no precipitation.  I’m happy to report we all returned safely and in good spirits.  This trail is primarily asphalt making it easier and safer to navigate.  We passed by the newly renovated visitors center which I understand is wonderful.  You might want to check it out the next time you are in the park.   There were some wildlife sightings, but with so many of us, not sure who saw what.  We did see several cardinals, a deer and heard, what sounded like, wild boar.

It was great to see TOWNIES not seen in a while and meet new members!  It was just wonderful to see so many of you I haven’t seen in a while. It’s always a treat.  Thank you for your participation and patience.   Thank you, Jacque, for a great job in putting this together.

I hope to see you all again soon.  Stay safe, well and best wishes to all for 2022 and beyond!!  Jenny

Wow, what a fun five days!  And such a fantastic group of women!

Wednesday, six of us arrived sufficiently early to set up camp and then five of us (EolaL, Jacque, SusanW, Tammy, and TracyP) enjoyed Tammy’s grill work on Wagyu steaks.  To that we added: slaw, potato salads, and grilled corn-on-the cob with butter.  SandyB joined us after her own dinner at her site.  We toured Tammy’s new rv that Santa brought.  None of us were hungry when we went to bed!  Cold that night and used an electric blankie.

Thursday, very cold morning.  Several of us went birding and walked the Onion Creek.  Some ran errands.  More campers arrived and we so enjoyed a hot campfire!  Continued to be very cold.

Friday, another cold morning.  More campers arrived.  By evening we had 17 campers:  BevT (with Chico), CarrieL, CindyS, DonnaDeG, FloM, GloriaB, Jacque, KimF (with sweet kitty Shugie Babe) , LindaBW, NancyL, SandyB, SandyO, SandyS (with Silky), SusanW and EolaL, TammyM, and TracyP.  We completed the evening with another great campfire.  About 3 am, the rain arrived.  And of course, tenters had the greatest challenge trying to stay dry.

Saturday!  Hiking and Holiday Party!  Those who attended one or both of the Saturday activities included:  BevT, CarolC, CarrieL (with Aaron), CindyS, DonnaDeG, EffieK, EolaL, FloM, GloriaB, Jacque, JanetFB, JenniferM, JennyF, JulieanneA, KarolM, KathleenC (with Baby & Mamie), KimF, KobyF (with Mikayla), LindaBW, LynsieP, MarieV, MarilynF, MartyMcG, NancyL, SandyB, SandyO, SandyS, StephanieN, SummerG, SusanW, TammyM, and TracyP,

Hike!  JennyF led our hike on the Onion Creek Trail beginning at about 10:15 am.  So much fun visiting and seeing members we had not seen in forever.  Twenty-two members hiked together.  Thank you Jenny!

Holiday Party!  New members and current members completed applications for 2022 and paid their $20.

Two tables were set up for the gear exchange.  Lots of new items and plenty of used ones.  Shoes, pants, socks, head bands, shorts, sweat shirts, jackets, slacks, shirts, a lantern, magazines, hats, caps, vests, children’s outdoor clothing, etc.  Lots of choices.  Gear left on the tables was donated to Goodwill.

Everyone brought a brown bag lunch or plate of food and beverage.  Some ate outside and some inside.  Lots of laughing and talking.  Desserts were provided:  peanut brittle, toffee chocolate bars, flan with strawberries, pecan pralines, and chocolate bars.  Yea sugar!

Lunch was followed by our White Elephant Exchange which we held inside.  The laughter, smiles, groans, and applause says it all.  Gifts were stolen and exchanged, but everyone had a fun experience because that’s how it should be!

Members helped fold and replace the tables, plus stack the chairs.  Plenty of trash to take out to the bins.

And a huge thank you to each of you who helped set up and take down.  I do enjoy the Dining Hall!  Looking forward to the Holiday Party in 2023!

Jacque

President

Hi all,  We had a small group of TOWNIES today,  Kim,  Carolyn with Patchy, CPT, ( Canine Protection Team) and Marsha, that braved the wind and cold to wander in the woods for a nice hike.  But then, Jody couldn’t miss and joined us as we circled back to pick her up at an entrance.  Ol’ Job was correct:  Out of the South comes the storm, and out of the North comes the cold.  We had our first taste of winter as the wind whipped among the trees, creating a symphony of creaking and cracking branches and whistling wind amidst a cloudy backdrop of cedar pollen that danced frantically in the wind. The few leaves that were left on the trees pelted us as if missiles sent by the wind.  My early morning quiet time was punctuated by the ding of texts that came through from TOWNIES canceling their RSVPs for the hike.  These smart women,  I am sure, had to suffer from a second cup of coffee at a leisurely pace, while the hikers kept a fast pace in the cold and wind for a nice 4.15 mile hike.  Actually,  it was very pleasant.

Until next time….  Happy Trails,  Marsha

It was the day after Christmas and all through the trees,

Seven Townies were hiking carefully so not to slip to our knees.

The fog left the rocks slippery and wet,

Who was to be the first to fall,  was the bet.

Alas, we all stayed on our feet for 4.4 miles,

Our time peppered with laughter and smiles!

I led the way to hear laughter, stories and tales with the usual chatter,

When suddenly silence caused me to turn and to see what was the matter!

Why Carolyn and Debbie had left the trail to climb a hill,

As Effie, Leigh, Janice, Kim and I struggled to not take a spill

The two had left to go to the house to start cooking for a magical feast,

Celebrating friendship and surviving another year of the COVID beast.

We all have so much to celebrate and to be,

We are all part of TOWN as you can see.

So my apologies to Clement C. Moore as I am giving him a fright,

As I offer you this with a bid of good day and safe night.

Until next time…  Happy Trails, Marsha

Well, we had such a good visit Wednesday, talking and walking and talking.  The creek water was a bit higher and moving rapidly.  Seven of us met at 8:30:  DawnK, Jacque (& Sheba), KathleenC (& Baby and Mamie), KobyF, Lisa, PegG, and StephanieN.  Lisa is a friend of Koby’s and Stephanie and fit in just fine.  One of the group fell on the second creek crossing and reported the water was wet and cold and the rock hard.  Cannot recall who that was.  Conversation topics ranged from:  the Austin School for the Deaf and how masks make American Sign Language more difficult, retirement, sharing a car with your husband, traveling to California for the holidays, geocaching and travel bugs and sizes of caches from micros to camo boxes and caching in Amsterdam, birding in Port Aransas, kayaking and kayak car lifts and folding kayaks, drinking coffee versus hot tea, the TOWN Holiday Party on Jan. 8^th, day passes for the state parks, dog treats and how some dogs eat them and some don’t and will dogs eat wet treats, how Baby is getting used to being out with you, how Mamie loves the water, and I guess that’s all for that hike.

The next hike will be Wednesday, Dec. 29^th at 8:30 am.  KathleenC will be leading.  Contact Kathleen at 512- 626-3163 or to RSVP.  Please do so by 5 pm Tuesday.  Jacque

Hi All,  We had 5 hikers today, Effie, Kim, Carolyn, Jody and Marsha, who all gathered after the rain to hike 3.9 miles in a brisk morning.  Although it started out cool, it was a very nice hike as the weather was perfect with very little mud.  Carolyn brought Christmas cookies for us to munch, some of her beautifully decorated sugar cookies shaped as Christmas trees.  We included a few hills today so we felt worthy of the cookie. Nary a crumb was left.  Since the Canine Protection Team was sleeping in today, I tried to locate a previous trail that I had bushwhacked that was filled with deer, but alas, no luck today although that took us through some meadows and cacti.  No injuries today, but we all were taking turns ducking under branches.  A new branch crossed our path and I turned and made sure the hikers knew that there was a change in the path.  Of course, I then impaled myself on a different  new branch.  Alas, the adventures never end with the Sunday Hikers.  Holiday plans were discussed and visions of sugar plums danced in our heads.   Actually, it was the thought of coffee that propelled us back home.

Until next time…. Happy Trails, Marsha

Hi All,  We had 6 brave TOWNIES today, Kim, Effie (also known as Nanook of the North), Leigh, Carolyn, Debbie and Marsha, who braved the 28 degree temperature to hike 5 great miles, following trails that had yet to be explored by man or woman or beast. The temperature was brisk, but even Nanook warmed up.  We finished at a nice 41 degrees.  We had little time by the creek which was filled with water, but very still.  We spent the time instead hiking unknown trails.  Carolyn was asked, due to her outstanding sense of direction in the woods (her story of getting lost with her 2 children, leaving her hiking for hours to find the lost waifs is for another time) which trail to take and we abided by her inspired directions.  We left Kim behind when she had a shoe blowout, but we waited after we realized that we were one short.  We liked Kim so we waited.  We had no canine protection which was very scary, considering that we were traveling on trails unknown.  We did have very little time on the creek. but the water was so still, we were able to see reflections of trees and leaves in the mirror-like images.  I hesitated getting too close to the mirror-like water as I needed no extra reminders of the gray hair and wrinkles that are visiting me now.  I see enough at home. We heard a few sounds in the brush, possible bears or lion, but probably birds and heard a few chirps in the sky.  Being with friends in the beautiful outdoors helped lift the pall, a little,  that had draped over my heart this week as I had lost my little Rat Terrier Millie. TOWN is a great group to share adventures and to hold hands during tough times. The beauty of nature pales in comparison to the beauty of the friendship that is shared.

Until next time… Happy Trails, Marsha

Hey Hikers!  It was chilly when we started at 8:30 this morning and quite pleasant as we finished our hike.  Four members & 3 dogs attended:  AnnaE, Fiona (with Pepper & Saffy), Jacque (with Sheba), and KimW.  Our conversation topic was pretty much limited to Covid – vaccinations – Pfizer, Moderna, J & J, which is a better choice, boosters, continuing to wear masks, and safely avoiding folks.

Come join us next Wednesday, Dec. 15^th at 8:30!  Jacque

Hi All,   We had a nice 4.44 mile hike today that started overcast but quickly gave way to brilliant sunshine.  Junko protected 8 women today, Janice, Kim, Effie, Carolyn, Leigh,  Jody, Lisa and Marsha. There were unwarranted concerns about mud after all the rain and although our boots got tacky with mud, it proved to be a needless worry, as most usually are.  We were entertained by the sound of the creek rushing over stones as we compared Thanksgiving stories and mishaps.  Carolyn won the prize with a family member breaking 3 teeth and a punctured lip. Over the dessert? The cooler weather reminded us that we certainly are in a delightful time if year.

Until next time….  Happy Trails, Marsha

Hi All,  We had 9 hikers today, Jody, Carolyn,  Leigh, Effie, Kim, Lisa, Debbie, Janice and Marsha,  who were rescued from possible lions, tigers and bears, oh my!, by canine protectors Junko and Patchy.  Patchy had another case of the zommies, chasing whatever and running crazily about. Junko was the only one that maintained dignity today.  We covered 4 miles  in one hour and 45 minutes, with a few hills towards the end.  We kept a face pace today with visions of pumpkin pie dancing through our dreams.  It is possible that we ran into a batch of poison ivy again, but hopefully not.  I raced to church and wanted to pray for Effie, but after dropping the body of Christ,  I forgot to pray.  So, here’s hoping it was not poison ivy.

Until next time…. Happy Trails, Marsha