An April Fool…And He’s All Mine!!

    Today is Den”s 68th birthday…He IS my April Fool. What a nice place to be for a birthday party.  However, there will be no balloons, prizes, cake or ice cream, but there will be a quiet toast at the campfire tonight. (OK, maybe not a quiet toast!) Like Dennis said this morning when I mentioned what a great place to be for a birthday…”Anyplace is a great place to be for a birthday!”

  Last night was perfect for sitting outside.  The wind was virtually non-existent and the sun was going down behind the tall pines.

 

 

 

Den was just taking down our American Flag when we heard a voice say..”Don’t take that down!”..The man from the camper across from us walked over to talk to Den.  He was just kidding around, but surely loves to see the “Old Glory” unfurled…He is a Vietnam Veteran, and it means lots to him to see the flag flown.  Thank you for serving, sir.

There were a few more people leaving the campground today.  We see by the posts at lots of the campsites that more reservations are due in Thursday and Friday for Easter weekend.  This place will smell like smoked BBQ wherever you go by then. 

 

  This morning I actually did make Den a birthday breakfast of pancakes and sausage. ( Does it count if I just nuked some leftovers from breakfast past, which I found conveniently in our freezer?? I don’t think it matters…it was the thought.)  Since McGuyver doesn’t care so much for cake or ice cream, I figured a decent breakfast was in order.  The birthday dinner is beef ribs , but Mr. Birthday Boy/Grillmaster will be cooking at the grill…and he says he doesn’t mind.

  We took our walk around the park and guess who was sitting out by his fire with a cup of coffee when we rounded the turn…

It was the infamous Jimmy “Catfish” Jones, parked close to the fire with his little dog, Dog.  (Yes, that is Dog’s name.) We chatted a bit and, as usual, Jimmy tried to give us something….potatoes..”No,but thanks anyway, Jimmy”.  Then he tried to give us a bunch of bottled water..” No, you may need that by Sunday, Jimmy”. This guy would share anything!  Do you notice the pile of wood in the back of the picture.  There is a place just down the road where they cut trusses for houses and everybody who camps goes there and gets the scrap wood..And by everybody, I mean Dennis and I, too.  We have been know to dig through the wood pile behind the place…

Also, notice what “Catfish” is using for a fire…That, my friends, is an old drum  from a washing machine…with legs welded onto it.

Ya just gotta love the people down here.  They can make something out of nothing..That little pooch warming himself by the fire is Dog..He is 13 years old..

Dog can’t see very well and he has a little trouble walking…I can certainly identify, Dog.  Isn’t he just too cute??  We continued on our walk around the park and when we got back we headed into town for groceries.  We had to go to Texarkana, Arkansas so we could buy beer.  This is a dry county on the Texas side..I have to mention here that the construction on I-30 through Texarkana is nothing short of horrific, not to mention that it has been going on for almost 5 years!!

  The weather is 80 degrees this afternoon, and after unpacking our bounty of food, I decided to find “a place in the sun”…and yes, that is a tattoo on my right leg..What can I say? I though turning 50 was the right age to get one. 

Dennis was busy taking “Happy Birthday” phone calls from fans, friends and family.  We will be getting “skyped” later this evening, I am sure. ..I pulled up the weather forecast and they are predicting some severe storms for tomorrow night…I hate when that happens.  I really don’t relish the thought of waking with a tall pine tree on top the HitchHiker..But it could be interesting if we end up in the shower house with all the locals like we did last year…We were the only people there who said “you guys” and not “y’all”….You meet some really crazy people in the shower house when being threatened with tornadoes!! Down here, it’s just another excuse for a party.

  As I said, the Dogwood is blossoming everywhere around us…I did get a photo that actually turned out….

…It doesn’t get much better than this…Pollen be damned, I still like Spring in Texarkana!! See y’all tomorrow!!