2022-05-13 Lake Livingston State Park - RVW Rally

 The Heart of Dixie and Texas Ramblin' Roses Chapters of RVing Women (RVW) got together for a 5 day joint rally at Lake Livingston State Park. An event like this is always challenging for a number of reasons. First, Texas Ramblin' Roses rallies are always pretty big and then you add in the Heart of Dixie ladies. Then you add in a Texas State Park. Reservations are always a challenge at our state parks. That is why we scheduled the rally for Monday through Friday. Things were further complicated by the fact that this particular state park was closed twice for a problem with the water system. It was scheduled to open on 2 May.....our rally started 9 May so we had some tense moments waiting on the opening date. Fortunately all that went well. So well that 73 of the 80 ladies that planned to attend actually made it and checked in. The final challenge was the weather since we had no rally room. Again, fate smiled on us and we had beautiful weather all week. Yes, it was hotter than normal but the area between several of our sites was well shaded and we had a decent breeze most of the time plus evenings cooled off.  Great start, right?!

Registration started on Monday at 6:00PM with our Meet and Greet. I built an xcel spreadsheet with everyone's name, site number, and phone number on it so I checked in everyone that I recognized as I saw them and checked in everyone else as they came up to the sign in sheet. It was a lot of advance work but it sure did simplify things and save a lot of time.that night.

Instead of having everyone bring something for each event, we assigned responsibility for bringing food for each event by first names. We didn't know how that would go over but everyone seemed to like it. We had plenty of great snacks provided for the Meet and Greet.

We were lucky enough to have a very large shady space between two RVs where we could get together. Everyone brought chairs and just left them there for the duration. We also got great cooperation with everyone either walking if they were close enough or carpooling if further away as parking was really limited. We had women in every RV camping loop plus a couple in shelters.

Tuesday morning there were several events going on. Bike riding.....

Hiking......on several different days, different groups, and different trails.

Geocashing was also an event....

The intrepid kayakers kayaked in different places on different days. The Texas Ramblin' Roses have a very active kayaking group that meet weekly around San Antonio for a paddle.

Tuesday night we had a potluck with the hosts providing fried chicken and another group of ladies bringing side dishes. There was plenty of food for all. The hosts provided 5 tables and several other ladies brought tables as well plus we had the picnic table.

Wednesday morning there was a small group doing yoga. 

A couple of the hosts demonstrated techniques.

Wednesday afternoon, a lot of us headed over to Lisa's site for a card party.

This was not just an ordinary card party. We were there to learn about the Forgotten Wishes Foundation.

This foundation supports the Forget-Me-Not Friend Club for People with Disabilities. They ensure that these individuals receive cards for all important events like birthdays, Christmas, etc., plus other cards during the year. Lisa supplied card stock, stickers, colored pencils and pens, sharpies, etc., virtually anything needed to make cards.

You don't have to be a great artist to make someone's day. Everyone made several cards and Lisa will send them off to the individuals on her list.

Thursday morning at 11:00 AM sharp, we took a group photo. Almost everyone made it. Our previous TRR president set a precedent of taking the picture right as scheduled or you would have some ladies standing around for a long time waiting for the late comers to show up. You can't make everyone happy.

The picture taking was immediately followed by a Champaign Brunch. The Heart of Dixie ladies made four slow cooker breakfast casseroles. They got up in the middle of the night to get them started. The champaign tub was filled numerous times so there was plenty of champaign or mimosas for all along with orange juice.

Another group of ladies with the appropriate first names brought numerous breakfast items to share.

Everyone enjoyed a great brunch.

The brunch was followed by games and relaxation.

The last official event of the rally was the Friday morning Hitch Up Breakfast. This is a smaller event but hard to plan for as you really have no idea how many will show up. Once again the ladies assigned for food did a great job. We had apples, oranges, muffins, croissants, cream cheese, jelly, orange juice. breakfast bars, melon, etc. and lots of ladies showed up because it is for farewells even if you aren't leaving. 

All in all, the rally went really well and everyone said they had a wonderful time. The 4 hosts breathed a big sigh of relief.  Did I mention that the sunsets were magnificent?

2021-08-17 Relaxing in Louisiana

Woohoo, headed out to join the Heart of Dixie chapter for a rally in Bogue Chitto State Park near Franklinton, Louisiana. First a trip to the storage building in the backyard. Not a good surprise, hubby got rid of my tub of summer RV things and the small lawn chair I saved for sitting in the river. So the water shoes and canvas floats are gone because they were in the tub. Someone is in big trouble. Of course, no one has water shoes now as they have moved on to fall and winter things.

Picked up the RV on Thursday and headed out Friday morning (5 August). No big rush as my plan was to drive only as far as Beaumont TX and stay at Gulf Coast RV Resort, a Passport America park. Saturday I headed east to Butte LaRose to my friend Carolyn's house. One night there and then off to Bogue Chitto State Park for a Heart of Dixie Rally (RVW). 

This is a nice state park. I have been to about 5 different Louisiana state parks and they have all been nice. And, what is even nicer, is that you can actually get reservations at them unlike Texas where you need to be on the computer 5 months in advance. The rally was Sunday through Thursday and the park was about 1/3 full. Seniors camp for half price and others can get the "Welcome Back" 15% off price. Sweet deal.  A little trip around the park. First my site. It was a pull-through along the creek across from a pond. Far from the best site in the park but it was close to the others attending the rally and I reserved last minute.

Lots of hiking trails in the park. It's a big park with two different camping areas each with several loops. We were in Bottomland area with Electric and Water. The Upland loops have full hookups.

They have horses for rent and equestrian trails.

Looks like they also have yurts for rent with nice outside patios.

It looks like the horses are only available Friday through Monday.

A trail just for kids.

Mountain bike trails too.

Frisbee Golf.

The Interpretive Center.

Sunday night we all got together for a Meet and Greet. Everyone brought nibbles. There were 9 RVW members and one guest in 7 RVs. Three of the RVW members joined Heart of Dixie chapter during the rally. Monday, 4 of us decided to go Tubing on the Bogue Chitto  River.

Here we are ready to go. The nice young man pulled us in a trailer down to the start of the run. He said he would look for us to arrive back at the tubing stand area in two hours.

Off we go.

The river was a little lower than normal so there were a lot of snags from the flood earlier this summer. Carolyn was headed into the limbs here but she made it out okay after getting off the tube and swimming it out. The current was pretty strong so we all got a good workout. 

We saw three tubes on the shore and found out after we got back that those tubers called for a boat ride out but we tuffed it out. The current was so strong when I got off my tube at the end, it pushed me forward onto my knees. Getting up was real fun. Some of the ladies thought they might try kayaking it the next day as it would be easier. That evening we heard that two tubers drowned the day before further down the river. They had small tubes and no life jackets but we passed on the kayaking.

We opted for sitting in the creek instead.

This was Carolyn's site.

Mary was right in front of Carolyn and that is where we all gathered.

Viola loves to fish. She tried several different kinds of fish but they just weren't biting so no fish for dinner.  She did catch and release a good sized turtle. The resident alligator also swam past her.

Viola and her little dog also put a few miles on her bicycle. 

We had a grill night and a potluck night. One night Carolyn and Mary, the hosts for the rally, made Shrimp Creole with Rice and the rest of us provided sides.

All in all, it was a great rally. Texas Ramblin' Roses rallies are usually at least three times this size but there is also something very special about small rallies.

I got up Thursday morning to find a flat on my toad. Fortunately, we didn't have to leave until 1:00PM so I called Roadside Assistance. Once they changed the tire, I took the toad into town and had the tire repaired and put back on the car and we were off back to Carolyn's.

I stayed at Carolyn's for several days. One morning I fixed breakfast for us in my RV. Another day we drove into Lafayette and met two friends for lunch. It was really great to see them.

If you ever see this RV going down the road, be sure you wave. It's Carolyn, my Cajun friend  and president of the Heart of Dixie chapter.