First Camping Trip 2009

We found this cool fossil in the cliff at the edge of the lake A.J. is there to show how big it was

Christa is the pool shark at the lodge!

Nothing like a rousing game of miniature golf!

Breakfast preparations at the campsite

Mike and Jessica Gill called us January 2 about 1:00 in the afternoon and asked us if we wanted to go camping. We briefly discussed Dinosaur Valley and then we suggested Lake Whitney Thousand Trails. We ended up there since it wouldnt cost anything for the campsites. The only problem was that the camper was still at Daryl's sister's house so he went to get it and we didnt get away until about 5:30. We had the traditional camping meal of pizza from the Whitney Pizza Inn for dinnner and we sat up and played spades until 3am!!! Saturday was a beautiful day and we played miniature golf and went fishing. The kids also enjoyed the clubhouse where they played ping pong and pool. We werent much for cooking on this campout. The Gills cooked breakfast and served sandwiches for lunch and the Worleys proudly drove to town and got Sonic and chicken for dinner. We stayed up until about midnight playing spades. Then after we had been asleep about three hours it happened. Christa heard a noise. So she sent Daryl to check it out. It turned out to be a band of racoons. One was swinging from the trash bag that we had hung on the awning to keep them out of it and two more were on the table cheering the acrobat on. When they saw Daryl they didnt run like normal wild animals they growled and fluffed their fur up! These were not little racoons they were the size of a cocker spaniel and they meant business they wanted those chicken bones in that bag. Daryl retreated and sought the help of Christa. He was concerned, because he knew from watching RV that you really need an umbrella to fight with a racoon. He didnt have anything, but a spatula and that wouldnt get him very far! By the time they got back outside the coons were gone, but they had shredded the bag and strung trash all over the place. Christa helped Daryl clean it up and then went back to bed. The next morning the Gill's didnt know anything about it and none of the kids had heard the commotion. It should be mentioned that a very cold front had come through in the middle of the night and during all of the commotion the heater had tripped the breaker in the camper and no one noticed, so we were all a little cold when we woke up. It was about 35 degrees and windy. We ate waffles in the camper and then went to the lodge to play games. They have a new Wii and we all bowled with it. Then we packed up and came home. It was a fun trip, but ended on a very cold note!