The aftermath continues

Today is Sunday, February 20th. Wow! I just realized 8 more days and we will be in March already!! I hope we are both leaving the cold weather behind us and it will be smooth sailing from here on out!! Please!! 🤞🙏

When I last wrote, I had one more evening to get through with below freezing temperatures . Well of course, my propane tank decided to go empty at 11:30 p.m. ( I was still up). The furnace ran with just cold air and then shut itself off. So I bundled up,went outside with the flashlight and hooked up the second LP tank. Well I could not turn it on no matter what I tried!! Frustrating! So, electric heater use for the night, one at a time. I was warm in the bedroom but it was 50° in the living room when I opened the door and came out. After I turned on the electric fireplace, within an hour it warmed up to 60°. That has been a lifesaver!!

After breakfast, I loaded up the empty tank and the full tank ( 40#!!) And drove down to an actual propane dealer in Orange Grove, Texas. Small town about 15 mi away.

So many places were without propane that my best bet was with the propane dealer. And indeed it was. The probably 30ish guy working, checked my full tank. He was able to crank it open! The flow of propane came out well. I gave him the history of the tank and he thought perhaps it was overfilled but no vapor lock. After he cranked it shut again, I had a hard time turning it open so he didn’t do it as tightly!! 😂 Then he filled my other one and I was good to go. He was really a friendly and pleasant guy.

I went inside to pay, and ended up talking with the owner. He explained that the refineries lost electricity. When they lost power they could no longer heat the gas/oil (??) to make propane. Once they lose heat it takes four to five days to get back up to full capacity again. My full tank was the cheapest yet! Something like $17.50 while before I paid $24 at Tractor Supply!! I asked if the scarcity of propane had raised the prices, as I knew they had double the price down in Brownsville, Texas. He said his prices had gone up a little but he did not think it was fair to pass that on to the customers yet. 💖 He had propane probably for a day and a half yet, but once he was empty, he would not be able to get any propane until Monday or Tuesday!! So again, I’m glad I was able to top off my tank 👍 Then I came back and put them both in and hooked them up. I started with my problem tank. It’s been running fine ever since!! 👍

The difficulties now, are finding produce, milk, bread and eggs. I went into Mathis, Texas today to get some supplies at an HEB store. Before I left home, a camper told me they had just come back from that store and they were out of milk. 😬 I still had some on hand, but since I’m going to the Padre islands, I wanted to get a little more. I got to the store around 1:30. I went directly to dairy and they had about 20 half gallons of milk on the shelves!! One per customer. So I grabbed one… not caring what percent it was!! Only fat free and 1% were left. ( I’m hoping fat free is 2%? I have no idea but I’ll find out!) I walked by the bakery, and they had just put out warm packages of French bread that they must have just finished baking! Score! 💃 I was able to get a couple frozen skillet dinners and my popcorn! But no bananas, berries, grapes, peppers, vegetables of any kind. I think they got some lettuce or cabbage heads in. Couldn’t tell from the distance. I’m glad I still have my blueberries. They were starting to shelve some ground hamburger, pork chops and other cuts of meats so the trucks are coming in again. It is still hit or miss when it comes to those types of groceries that are usually brought in nearly every day. I went to Sonic to eat and they had no sodas or drinks at all. Unless you wanted juice bags!! 😂 No thanks!! But at least they seem to have a pretty substantial menu, now. Someone else told me before, that they had a limited menu as they didn’t have the supplies. I never know for sure because I always order the same thing!!

The Park

I’ve had to move sites for the last 2 days, so I’ve been busy. The weather has been in the low 70s° yesterday and probably hit 80° today with sun. I actually had to run my circulating fan! Good grief! The extremes are unreal!

I was able to see, finally, the javelinas of Texas!! This Campground is named the Javelina Campground but that doesn’t always mean anything. My friends pointed them out to me in a field and I was able to get relatively close. I stayed put and they gradually came closer to get the grass they wanted. Looks like a mother and her two youngins. I was told by my friend, Neil, who has seen them often, that you will smell them if the wind is right, before you see them! 🤪 Thank goodness they were too far away to smell. And I must have been up wind because they could not get a bead on me. They kept checking me out but they kept coming closer because I was frozen in my spot taking pictures!! 😂

After standing still for about 15 minutes, I had enough. I started backing up slowly and then a little faster and they gradually trotted off into the tall grass. It was really neat to finally see them, and I saw them again in the same place the following night. I did not remember if these are the types of hogs that will attack you, but I guess not. Thank goodness!! There are also a small herd of deer that populate this area too and we’ll see them right in broad daylight. They are definitely used to people!!

Sometimes you can hear the coyotes. They have a high-pitched bark and yip. Since it’s warm enough to keep my door open, I heard them going at it tonight!! I managed to get a recording. I hope I can include a link to it. No. ☹️ Sorry! Does not come up as an option.

I’ve had a chance to bike around a bit and walk to the lake numerous times. It has its own fishing pier that rides right on the water.

This park also has a pavilion that was built by the CCC. They really did excellent work with stone and brick!

I can just imagine how beautiful these grounds will be, when everything is green. There was also another section that was built on the ledge that overlooked the lake. There’s quite a drop off to the lake from here. One wall is gone, so that tells me there may have been a patio type area to overlook the lake. This whole area was built with a much bigger and heavier stone, as you can see.

The tall wall that you see up above, (#3) has a space that you step down into and can look over the wall at everything. The low wall to my left in picture #1 is the top of this tall wall. I was looking at the lake when I came to that area and did not know there was a step down! ( The step to the right in picture #1) So I stumbled a few feet forward and caught myself before I got to that low wall. That wall was just thigh high! If I would have kept stumbling I would have flipped right over that wall! There was nothing to stop me or to grab onto. That would not have been a happy ending but it would have been quick!! 😵 Thank you for your prayers for my safety!! 🙏📿

According to the framed information earlier, at one time there were steps that continued down to the lake to a beautiful boat house and dock. Sometime after all of this was built, the lake level was raised. That is now all underwater! ☹️😱

Well I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of the park. It’s nice to be able to focus again on the things that you can see and do around this part of Texas instead of the weather!!!

It’s always enjoyable to hear from you. 🤗 Be safe. Stay healthy.