Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - Morning Walk; First Blackstone Meal; Food Prep; Parker's Bottom; Afternoon Nap (Unintentional); Evening Potluck

Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - Morning Walk; First Blackstone Meal; Preparing Food For Group Pot Luck; Short Trip to a Nearby Campground and River Access; Afternoon Nap (Unintentional); Evening Potluck

The temperatures when I woke this morning were in the upper 50's, not much lower than yesterday, but when we stepped outside to walk it definitely felt cooler, maybe due to the fog!

Monday seemed warm in comparison to today.  We added a few steps today going a little further north, then walking down to the campground below us nearer to the dam, then down to the river where there were a number of people fishing along the bank.  Dean told me later we walked 1.5 miles.  

Dedicated fishermen

This morning Dean used our Blackstone grill for the first time, making us breakfast burritoes.  While they were a bit drier than normal they were still very good.  We agreed all ingredients need to be ready and at his fingertips in the future as it cooks quickly.  Anything new always has a learning curve.  I have no doubt he will be a pro in no time.  I can see weekend breakfasts in our future on the Blackstone, plus many other great meals. 

Tonight we have our group pot luck meal - which is typical for our monthly casual campouts with our Ozark Chapter 17 Escapees group.  Unfortunately for this campout there are just three couples in attendance.  We miss our other Escapee friends!

After breakfast was over and dishes were done, I made deviled eggs for our meal this evening.  I am also making a dessert but I will fix that later this afternoon so it will be warm for our meal.

Dean wanted to walk back down the trail located right next to our campsite.  Here are a few pictures:

Waiting on a woman.

Entrance to the trail

Steps down - some are tricky.

It was worth the walk to see the beauty of the morning.  We saw several trout in the river, boats and a number of folks fishing along the banks, and a few who were just wading in the water.

Later we all made our way to Alvin and Linda's campsite where we visited for an hour or so.  Alvin wanted to drive to Parker's Bottoms campground on Beaver Lake not far from us.  We loaded up in his truck and headed that way.  It was a beautiful area.

Walkway down to a gravel bar where the river runs through this area.  You could see the water gets quite high here at times.

To the left

The guys - Alvin, Keith & Dean - I think they were having a contest on who was the best at skipping rocks across the water.  They never did say who won that contest!

 

After returning from "the Bottoms" we visited awhile then everyone retreated to their RV's to rest for awhile.  I offered to make dessert for our group meal this evening.  I found a new recipe I decided to try - easy fruit cobbler since I happened to have a can of cherries with me.  

Before it went in the oven

Afterwards - there's a story to this!  Dean went outside and I was sitting in my recliner waiting for the dessert to get done.  The next thing I remember I heard something beeping at me.  By the time I woke enough to realize what was going on the convection oven did not beep at me again.  Once the item is done, the oven begins beeping, a few intervals in between to let you know to shut the oven off.  I think it had completed all of the beeping intervals before I woke up.  

Everyone gathered at our site for our meal tonight.  Linda and Alvin brought sliders and cole slaw, Drena and Keith brought beans, guacamole & chips, and we added the deviled eggs and dessert, with Cool Whip.  What a great meal it was.  

We enjoyed sitting out around the Fire Genie again this evening.  We called it a night about 8:30 or so.