Saturday, January 13, 2018 - Cool Morning; Bentson RGV State Park; Meeting Our Neighbors; Comfort Food for Dinner

Saturday, January 13, 2018 - Cool Morning; Bentson RGV State Park; Meeting Our Neighbors; Comfort Food for Dinner

It was almost 6:30 when I got up this morning.  It was pretty cool and I do think I sleep better when I'm snuggled down in the covers where it's nice and warm.  Dean got up before me and the coffee was almost done by the time I crawled out of bed.  

It was 8:30 or later before we finished our coffee and I was done reading my emails.  We had a little breakfast. I did the dishes, made the bed, and picked things up a bit.  My back was bothering me a little this morning, so I got out the ice pack Dr. Whitaker gave me and I laid on it for almost 20 minutes - the recommended time.  Dean laid down and talked to me while I was laying on the ice pack, and we decided we would go buy our park pass today at Bentson RGV State Park.  We ate a sandwich and the last of the pineapple we bought at Don-Wes last week.  It sure was good.  We are still waiting for our oranges to ripen - and they are getting close.

It still felt cool in Bentley, so I pulled on a sweatshirt and Dean pulled on a long sleeved shirt before we headed to the State Park.  We purchased our pass at the Park Office, got our wristbands and then headed out to walk into the park.  From the Office you walk about a quarter of a mile before entering into the park, crossing an irrigation canal on the way.  Shortly into the park, you pass the ranger station, where we stopped and visited with the lady ranger on duty.  I noticed there were several feeders out and while we were talking to her these beautiful birds started flying in - it was the green jay we had heard about.  What a beautiful bird.  Unfortunately, my pictures did not come out so I'll take some others next week to share with you. 

We found out from the ranger that Dean should not only carry his park pass with him but also the receipt.  We will put these two items together and leave them in the truck so we are sure to have them with us when we go walk each morning.

The park was quite nice and has a number of trails, as well as a tram that we can catch if needed to return to the park office.  Here are several pictures I took as we walked approximately a mile in today and then back to the main park office.  

We are walking into the park from the Park Office (looking back towards the office).

It was much warmer outside that we realized and we were soon wishing we had not worn heavy shirts and jeans.  

We also talked about trying to find a couple of good, used bicycles that we can use to ride in both our RV park and the state park.  All together there are about 10 miles of trails within the park.  It would be nice to walk some days and bicycle on other days.  At least with the tram we can walk as much as we want and then catch a ride on it, if needed.  

We wished we had remembered to bring our binoculars with us, and definitely need to make sure we get them in the truck with us before we come back.

We walked a little over 2 miles this afternoon before returning to Bentley.  I noticed our neighbor was outside so I told Dean I was going to go over and ask her where she found her clothesline.  He walked over with me and about an hour later, we were still visiting when her husband returned from a shopping trip he made.  They found their clothesline in a local hardware store and while they couldn't remember the name of it they gave us an idea where it was located so we'll be on the lookout for it.  They did tell us it was locally owned and not tied to a chain store of any kind.

We had planned to drive over and visit our Heartland friends at the park next door to us, so once we left our neighbors, we loaded up our trash to drop off at the dumpsters.  As we drove by we checked to see if they were outside...and no one was, so we came back home.  We'll plan to do that after lunch tomorrow if they are around.

While we were talking to our neighbor Kim, she mentioned Gary had asked us to attend church.  I told her yes and I was waiting to see if Dean would go with me....and while we were there Dean said he would go too.  Kim and her husband David also attend.  Gary, the gentlemen I met yesterday, borrows the van from the church and takes people here from the RV Park.  On our way to the dumpster, we also stopped at his site to let him know we would be going with them tomorrow.  We will walk over to his trailer a little before 10:30 tomorrow and leave from there.  Afterwards everyone goes to Dairy Queen for lunch.  This will be a great opportunity for us to meet more folks here in the park.

By now it was getting close to dinner.  At first I was ready to go find somewhere to eat, but since we are going to DQ tomorrow, I decided I would cook.  I made chicken and noodles in the Instapot.  This is a very easy recipe I found on Pinterest, that I adapted slightly.

I used 2 cups of frozen, chopped rotisserie chicken (from chickens I had purchased at Sam's), 16 oz. of frozen noodles, 32 oz. chicken broth, 1 t. salt, 1 t. pepper, 1 t. thyme and 2 T butter.  I made sure the broth covered everything and then manually set the Instapot for 8 minutes.  Once the 8 minutes were up, I let it naturally release for 5 minutes, and then I released the rest of the pressure.  I thought the noodles needed a little more time, so I just put the lid back on and let them set another 5 minutes (no further cooking).  That was just about perfect.  They were quite good and we will definitely use the recipe again.  The recipe also called for a bag of frozen vegetables (peas, carrots) but I didn't have those.  I think next time I'll try adding those and we'll decide if we prefer it that way or the way I made it today.

While I was working on our dinner, I glanced out our window and noticed the sunset.  It's not as pretty as the sunrise we see here in the park each morning, but it is still worth sharing.

Dean has settled into watch TV. I want to get this posted tonight.  I hope you've had a wonderful day.  I enjoy hearing from you...hint...hint!