1997 Cartwright Family Reunion at Thousand Trails, Lake Tawakoni

Pop and Peggy bought their Thousand Trails membership sometime in the 1990s (I think). They invited the whole family to join them at the Thousand Trails at Lake Tawakoni in August of 1997. Our first visit to a Thousand Trails campground!!! We enjoyed being with family!!!

Funny story from that visit: Peggy had rented trailers for us to stay in (they may have been like the one behind Dwayne, Uncle Tommy, and Uncle Joe in the top picture). What I remember about them was: there was no soap dish, and you couldn't reach the bottom of the shower when you were standing in it. I took the first shower and, of course, almost immediately dropped the soap. That's when it became obvious that I couldn't reach the floor of the shower without getting out of the shower...

A few minutes later Dwayne came back to the trailer and prepared to take his shower. He had just cut the water on when I heard the unmistakable sound of a bar of soap hitting the floor of the shower. I got to laughing as I imagined his finding out what I had determined just a few minutes before - laughing SO hard that the trailer was shaking hard enough that Dwayne asked what was shaking the trailer!!! Our first RVing experience!!!

Top picture - Dwayne, Uncle Tommy, Uncle Joe
Bottom picture - back to camera in grey shirt is cousin Ken, to left is his brother Steve (both are Aunt Laverne's sons), Steve's wife at that time sitting at the table; by tree (behind grill) Peggy, Pop, Uncle Tommy, Aunt Laverne, Uncle Joe (back to camera close to camera)

Top picture - Ken, Steve's son and wife. Peggy is at far right.
 Bottom picture - Peggy, Pop, Uncle Tommy

Top picture - Patti and Uncle Joe
Bottom picture -Aunt Judy, Ken, Morgan(Ken's daughter), Steve's son and wife

A new kind of migrant worker?

I had not thought of workcampers being migrant workers, but... I guess they are!

http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/the-holiday-season-is-bringing-high-demand-for-work-campers-818199107928

There are a few folks that I know (or "know of" - probably our relationship is not close enough to count as "knowing" them!) who are working for Amazon this season. We also have friends who have worked the beet harvest in the past - I don't know if they did it this fall or not.

Whenever I think of migrant workers I think of John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, though I have to admit that other than being required to read it in high school, I don't recall a lot about it!

That video profiled a couple who had "responsible jobs" but are now enjoying workcamping where they don't have to bring the work home with them. I'm thankful that Dwayne and I don't have a financial need to do workcamping, but maybe we'll give it a try at some point just to do it!

Thoughts

I have been thinking a lot about how I respond to things that happen around me and what that says about me and my faith in God. I have been taking a lot of things to God and asking Him to teach me... I don't know that I'm getting it right... but here are some of my thoughts.

On social media I see a lot of people upset about protests - protests against the election, protests by sitting during the national anthem, protests about protests!

Is it right to protest? When is it right to protest? Who decides that it is ok for a particular group to protest? What way is appropriate to protest?

The only protests that I can remember being part of were (1) a "study-in" at the Swem Library when I was at College of William and Mary - we were protesting a plan to build a larger stadium that would violate the building codes of the Colonial Williamsburg area - we had chosen W&M because of its scholastic record and didn't care about having a first-class football team (yes - I was that kind of kid), and (2) twice I participated in a Right to Life March - once in DC from the White House to the Supreme Court Building and another time in Dallas, from the main Catholic church in Dallas to the courthouse where Roe v. Wade saw its first day in court. In the Right to Life March, I felt that I was protesting on behalf of someone who did not have a voice of their own - those made in God's image who never have a chance at life due, in many cases, to someone else's idolatry.

I don't think anyone cared much about our "study-in", but I suspect that there were people who were inconvenienced by the two marches I participated in - streets were legally closed and traffic diverted. People who did not agree with my point of view would have been upset that their day was disturbed by those "lunatics".

A couple of weeks ago I read a friend's entry
https://www.namb.net/flourish-blog/how-the-influence-of-others-makes-us-more-useful
and I was struck by this part of her writing:

I have a friend who is an older woman, a true prayer partner. One day we were discussing a mutual friend who was having family difficulties. She said, "Honey, she doesn't know what she doesn't know." I was puzzled; I had never heard that phrase before. After she explained, I instantly took that saying to heart and determined from that point on I would seek to "know what I don't know." I have used that bit of wisdom time and time again. For example, I don't know the Black Lives Matter experience; I haven't lived that story. I don't know the life perspective of a lonely millennial or the desperate fears of a refugee mother. I need to stop and listen to their stories before making judgments or presumptions. This phrase continues to sharpen me.

I have been thinking a lot about seeking to "know what I don't know". I don't know what it is like to live within Black skin (or any skin other than white). I have heard from friends who are white and who now have black family members through marriage or adoption that white privilege exists and that black racism exists. Since I have been praying specifically for the Black community that they would find hope in the One who brings hope, I found myself praying that God would raise up "Black" leaders - and later I became convinced that even that prayer was a racist prayer - couldn't God raise up a leader of any color who would be able to bring hope to the hopeless? I didn't intend to be racist, but I am certain that in some ways, I am.

I hadn't had a very strong conviction one way or the other over football players not standing for the national anthem. I read the concerns that many of my friends had, particularly those who have close family members in the military, and I could sympathize with them. Then protests became more violent, and other voices were raised saying, "You can be upset, but you shouldn't damage other people's property." What was the kneeling during the national anthem other than a peaceful, non-violent, non-property-damaging protest? If I didn't think they should kneel during the national anthem, what *did* I think was appropriate? Was the reality that I didn't really think that the individuals protesting had a legitimate concern? Was I judging that since I had not experienced whatever experiences they had had, that their experiences didn't exist or they misunderstood the experiences? And... I was struck on Thanksgiving day, while the football game was on, that I can't remember that I have ever stopped what I was doing and stood for the national anthem - I did on Thursday (of course, I was washing dishes and standing anyway, but... I did stop washing for a few minutes and think).

I'm asking God to cleanse me from all unrighteousness, to show me where there is filth that grieves Him and to open myself up to His cleansing. I know that part of my willingness to even go down this path is due to my Aunt Libby and her example through life; she had a huge influence on me trying to see things from someone else's point of view. I definitely don't have all the answers, but I want to be conformed to the image of Christ, and I know that only cooperating with God will accomplish that.

Enough of this deep thinking! Back to RV pictures tomorrow!!!

Our current campsite

Since we kinda "added on" this stay to our overall stay in the DFW area, we were not able to get a campsite for all of the days of our stay, so we've stayed at several campsites within Hickory Creek COE Campground. It has been nice because we've found that we like some sites and some loops better than others.

Overview of all campground campsites. The entry road comes in from the top with the county road being way over to the right side of the map. The campsites that are in the upper part to the right are primitive hike-to campsites. The campsites that are in the upper middle of the map are a group camping area - they are all designated as handicapped, I suspect so the ranger can allocate them for groups when they call in to reserve. It has a nice pavilion as well as its own bath house. The main loops for campsites are the big loop on the left center of the map and another big loop on the lower right part of the map.

There are two loops off the main road (to the right as you're driving, to the left on the map). We are currently on the outer of these two loops - which includes sites 1-41. Based on our analysis of sites, these tend to have more sloping sites. The ones on the outer part of the loop have nicer views of the lake. We have stayed in sites 13 and 34 on this loop - 13 was quite flat. 34 has a bit of a slope, but we have a better view of the lake out of our front window. We also stayed on the loop that has a round circle at the end - we stayed just at the entry of it in site 95. We liked that site 95 was very level and also easy to get to off the main road. Even though it was the first site off the main road in/out, there was a stand of trees behind the site so it didn't feel like we were getting a lot of traffic noise. And, there aren't many sites on that loop (94-104) so there isn't much traffic of people coming and going to their sites.

This was the loop we were on Tuesday-Friday. We were in one of the "early" sites in the loop - across from the playground, before the road that goes off to its own circle. Up to the bathhouse that is on the lower left of this picture, the road is two-way, but once the campsites start, it is a one-way road going counter-clockwise. Sites 42-80 are on the "main" road and 81-93 are on the offshoot road (two way road). We felt like there was a lot of traffic going past us in the front - maybe because of it being a holiday. We think that sites at the end of that circle loop would be nice - not much traffic and they have nice views of the lake - but they are a long drive in from the main gate.

 The roads that go past the campsites on the two main loops (1-41 and 42-80) are one way and the speed limit is necessarily slower along any roads where there are campsites.

If you want to take a better look at the campground, this is a link to their website:
http://www.recreation.gov/camping/map_of_Hickory_Creek/r/campgroundMap.do?page=map&search=site&contractCode=NRSO&parkId=71200

We like site 95 that is just off the main road, and we are thinking we would like 90 or 91 that are on that other circle though they may not be very convenient if we were having to come and go each day (like for doctor appointments).

Here is today's site (we moved here Friday):

Here's the current site 34. We could have backed into the site a little deeper, but then the back end would have been over top of the concrete parking bumper, and, since we knew the back of the site was higher than the front we were concerned that the bus might rest on the concrete parking bumper. You might not be able to see it, but Miss Doozie's front tires are a little off the ground. This was one of the sites that we judged as "sloping" on our evaluation of the sites in the park - but we can get level enough to be comfortable.

The RV across the camp road from us left earlier this afternoon and no one has arrived yet (check in is 3pm and it is almost 4pm now - but they could come in anytime up until the gate closes at 10pm) - so we have a nice view of the lake out the front with no one impeding the view at this time!

A house in our "neighborhood"

When we were returning to the rig a couple of days ago, Waze took us along a different route and we noticed a "mansion" that is pretty near to the campground where we're staying. We drove back by to take another look and got a couple of pictures.

The entry off the street...

There's the house way back there!

I found the house listed on Zillow - it lists the value at $7.6M but the most recent listings of it for sale have been for significantly more than that (from $69.9M to $17.5M most recently - it is currently not on the market).

Go to the listing and look at the pictures - wow!
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1851-Turbeville-Rd-Hickory-Creek-TX-75065/2138981683_zpid/
But, 14 (!!!) bathrooms to have to clean? Good thing it has "Staff Quarters"!

It has a wikipedia listing too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champ_d%27Or_Estate
Gotta love this from Wikipedia:

Because of its size, soaring price tag, and what critics see as a gaudy interior, Champ d'Or has been depicted as one of the region's most glaring displays of wealth-driven foppery. In April 2009, D Magazine named the property "The Biggest Little Teardown in Texas", scathingly writing:

In the distance, you’ll see something so huge and so incongruous in its French-baroque-meets-Plano-McMansion mashup that it seems more hallucination than house.

It seems it sold in 2012 at auction.

An exhausting day of SHOPPING followed by a WONDERFUL ThanksGiving!

We decided to get a jump on the Black Friday shopping and spent most Wednesday shopping - getting some things taken care of that we've needed to get done. Along the way, we saw some "interesting" things that I figured I had to take pictures of or y'all wouldn't believe it...

A "Cranky Kitties" calendar available at Sprouts - how in the world did they get Tabitha's picture on it?!?!?!?

"Goats in Trees" - yes, there is a calendar of that. It's at Sprouts if anyone needs one!

Had to take a picture of this for cousin Susie and friends Marilyn, Dick, and Susan... "Dachsund Through The Snow"... It's at Penney's, y'all, in case you can't live without it!!!

Today for Thanksgiving we joined with Dwayne's family at Peggy's house and had delicious food - more than twice as many folks could have eaten! I should have taken pictures but didn't get any!!!

Since we braved the malls and streets Wednesday, we're planning to take it easy on Black Friday. Y'all have fun, now, hear?

Sparkle Magic

When we were in Hickory Creek before, one evening we were out walking after dark (the night that a church had chili over in another part of the campground - usually we would not be out walking after dark!). We saw a tree that appeared to have small green lights decorating it. We couldn't imagine that someone had gotten up in a tree and decorated it - and discovered that there was a small light on the ground that was lighting the tree with lots and lots of tiny lights.

We did an online search and found a couple of possible products. I walked over to the campsite a few times during the day and never found anyone at home. I finally noticed that they were packing up and hurried over there. They had already packed the light, but the lady said that it was something "sparkle".

We found "Sparkle Magic" lights on Amazon.
https://smile.amazon.com/Sparkle-Magic-Illuminator-GLI4-Landscape/dp/B00ZFG0JKU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479861998&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=sparkle+magic&psc=1&smid=A18ML916VWWRG

They were a bit pricey, but we thought about different places that we would be staying and that we would enjoy it, so ordered and got them from a friend's house (thank you, Chuck and Dorothy!) on Tuesday.

We tried them out on a tree at our campsite in Hickory Creek starting last night.

The pictures with my phone weren't all that stellar, or "sparkle" or "magic"...

lint on the camera lens?

really?

Oooohhhh - I see something!

A little more...

Well, ok... but...

So, my sweet husband got out the nice SLR with tripod to give it a "shot":

A little better than the phone!

And even better...

Wow - that's nice!!! - you can even see Miss Doozie over to the right side - she is getting a few of the lights on her also. Sparkle! Magic! Wow!!!

Moving day

Today was moving day - from Pilot Knoll back to Hickory Creek.

We were down under 1/2 tank of diesel on Miss Doozie - when she gets down to only 1/4 tank, the generator will not get fuel, and I'm not sure about the AquaHot. We had checked out a local fuel station that looked like we could get in/out reasonably easily - it is a lot easier for us if the pumps are parallel to the front of the building than if they are perpendicular. If you start noticing that, it is interesting how few are configured this way. The Murphy USA stations are particularly challenging - even in a passenger vehicle they can be difficult to get in/out of if someone is parked at the end of the lane.

Total charge of $287.99 for 134.013 gallons of diesel

at $2.149/gallon

 People often ask us what "gas mileage" we get (we don't get any gas mileage, only diesel mileage). The ProDriver tells us that we get about 6 miles per gallon of diesel fuel. Since we also use diesel for the generator and Aquahot at times, we probably get a little less than what the ProDriver calculates.

Eventually we ended up back at Hickory Creek COE campground. We are in site 52 for 3 nights, then will move to site 34 for 3 nights, then 95 for 4 nights, before returning to Pilot Knoll for the first weekend in December. We are going to an event on December 3 that is scheduled for 7-10pm. The Hickory Creek campground has a gate that closes at 10pm and there is no entry until the next morning, and probably about a 2 mile hike to the campsite. So... we decided to stay at Pilot Knoll, which also has a gate, but a gate code will get us in!

Miss Doozie settled in at site 52 in Hickory Creek COE.

A couple more pictures from our Epic Journey around Texas (1992)

In 1992, Dwayne and I took our two dads and Dwayne's stepmom, Peggy, and we made a 2800 mile, 10 day journey along the "back roads" of Texas. We had a wonderful time and made some memories that we still cherish.

Patti's dad and Dwayne's pop taking a walk along the beach together.

The caption for this page says, "We stopped at Mustang Island State Park for a look at the Gulf and some beach walking."

I *think* I have finished scanning the two HUGE boxes of photos, albums, and random pictures. Tomorrow I'm going to check back through and make sure I haven't missed anything, and then determine which pictures go to Virginia and which go to Dwayne's sister, Sherry.

Last evening of "Back to Genesis"

Tonight was the last evening of the "Back to Genesis" series - finishing up with Dr Lisle presenting on "The Ultimate Proof of Creation". It was such a good series, and tonight's lecture was a great ending. The net of tonight was Proverbs 26:4-5, "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes." If you want to know more, check out the sermon archives http://www.macarthurblvd.org/resources/sermon-archives/ - tonight's session should be posted soon.

Q&A time at the end - Pastor Rickey on the left and Dr Lisle on the right.

Dr Lisle answering one of the questions that were raised.

Attending a launch party!!!

Today was the launch party for our friend's, Charles Sanger's, book, Gilligan Meets Google. It was great to get to see Charles again and to meet his wife, Elaine, and other folks involved in Charles' life and/or the book.

Charles (with his Gilligan hat on!) sharing some of the book-writing journey with us.

 

With some of the other folks who were also there for the launch party.

Yard decoration in one of the neighbor's yards that I liked so much I had to take a picture of it! The sign says, "Dear God, Thank you for sending your Son & for loving us. Love, The Simpsons"

Note that Charles' book is still available on Amazon in the Kindle edition for $0.99 - I don't know how long it will be available at that price: https://smile.amazon.com/Gilligan-Meets-Google-Boomers-Survival-ebook/dp/B01MF4UG0P/ref=sr_tnr_p_1_16645_1_twi_kin_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1479595142&sr=8-1&keywords=gilligan+meets+google

Because it is really impossible to have TOO many pictures of Miss Kitty...

Miss Kitty has been really enjoying the out-of-doors at our campsites around Lake Lewisville.

Making sure that she knows exactly how far the door of the bus is away so she can plan for her return.

This picnic table looks like it is a good place to take a bit of a rest...

But I still want to explore the trees and leaves that are around...

C'mon Mom, it is time to get back to the bus, let's move it!

 The above shots were at our campsite at Hickory Creek - she really got comfortable there and wanted to go out multiple times each day. Usually she likes going out right at dusk and there aren't very good picture opportunities...

This morning here at Pilot Knoll - it turned out very chilly today - maybe got into the 60s but nothing warmer than that. She enjoyed being on my lap this morning, but when I put her on the ground, she immediately headed for the door of the bus!

She did enjoy looking outside when it got a little warmer in the afternoon and the sun coming through the window was warm. I opened the window a little and she liked experiencing the sights and smells and sounds.

She was at "full attention" when I took this picture. I'm not certain what she saw, but she was VERY interested in it! There were a number of grackles around - I don't know whether they had her interest or whether it was something else.

I have been trying to get a video of her rolling in the dust... the spot we had in Hickory Creek had a wonderful dust "bowl" that she would writhe in pleasure on - maybe I'll get a video there when we're back at that spot in a couple of weeks.

Another day, another beautiful site on Lake Lewisville

If Lake Lewisville was paranoid human, it would be getting worried as we move from a campsite on one side to one on another side to one on yet another side, thinking that we are evaluating its weaknesses or something!

Today we moved to Pilot Knoll Park and Campground. It is run by the town of Highland Village, so only 20% discount for seniors - taking the rate from $30/night down to $24/night for 50A and water hookups and a dump station down the way.

The site is really nice - very shady, the lake is right out the "public" side of the bus, nice flat patio area with picnic table, fire ring and grill.

Thank you, Karen, for recommending this park!!!

The lake is right down there past Miss Doozie and the Jee-rage

Actually it is to our side and behind us too! And the site is really well manicured with 6x6 wood outlining the site. When we got here, the maintenance folks were just getting to the site to blow the leaves off and asked us to wait about 30 seconds while they got it all cleaned up. I figure it will be covered again in 4 hours...

Dwayne and Miss Kitty enjoying the patio space

The view of and from our patio space

We are here until Tuesday and then move back to Hickory Creek. The sites aren't quite as nice, but at $14/night at Hickory Creek, they are a nice compromise between here (Pilot Knoll, $24/night) and Lake Park at $9/night.

Visiting friends!

James and Joyce, friends from MacArthur Boulevard Baptist, moved to Denton earlier this year. We had not seen their new place, though several other friends had. The campground where we are staying is very near Denton, so we made arrangements to visit them today and had a grand time!

James, Joyce, and Dwayne in their apartment

James, Joyce, and Patti in their apartment

We had lunch with them and they gave us a tour of the facility. It is really very nice, and lunch was delicious. Thank you, James and Joyce!!!

Participating on a Launch Crew!

I have been privileged to be on the launch crew for a book that is releasing this week... a little background...

When Dwayne and I were at the Escapade in Essex Junction in July, we participated in the Christian Fellowship BOF (Birds of a Feather) Bible Study time each morning - actually, we were in charge of "leading" the time each morning (and the Sunday service on the opening day). We used a Bible study that emphasized seeking how God was speaking to us in His Word and responding with obedience.

One evening as we were walking back to Miss Doozie, we were talking about our discouragement because we had not followed through on the commitment to obedience that we had made earlier in the day. Each of us had felt that God wanted us to talk with someone we might meet along the way about Jesus. Just at that time, we noticed a fellow walking by himself near us and greeted him. We talked for a little while, talked with him about Jesus, found out that he was also a Christ-follower, and invited him to the Bible Study the next day. Thus we met Charles Sanger.

Charles came to Bible study, and we got to know him a little bit better. He was going to be presenting a couple of talks at the Escapade and I was able to attend them. I signed up to get his weekly emails and enjoyed hearing about what was going on with his life. I knew that he was writing a book, and, in fact, got to vote on the cover design (the one I liked won!!!).

A couple of weeks ago, Charles sent out a note to a group list that I was part of asking if any of us would like to be on the "launch crew" for his book, Gilligan Meets Google, A Baby Boomer's Survival Guide to the Digital Age. I read the requirements and thought, "Hey, that's something I would like to do!" I got a pre-release copy of the book and read it.

Here's the review I posted on Amazon:

Even for a techie boomer, there are things to learn!

I just finished reading Gilligan Meets Google and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would have said before reading the book that, after 33 years working for a large technology company, I was pretty technology and information savvy, but I learned quite a bit from this book.

One of the biggest take-aways for me was reading about the changes from the agrarian to industrial to information economies - within that chapter I gained a new realization for why the company that I retired from made so many changes that made it "not the company I loved" anymore. Gilligan Meets Google gave me a new perspective on why those changes were necessary.

I also appreciated how Charles Sanger interwove concepts from his sailing experiences and from his faith within the book.

I am on the "launch crew" so was reading a pre-release copy of the book. My rating is based on the pre-release version which had a few minor formatting errors which lowered the rating slightly. I am certain that the formatting issues will be fixed in the final product.

I look forward to getting my Kindle version and reading it again, this time taking the time to complete the to-do's that are provided at the end of each chapter.

I wanted to let my blog readers know about this book - especially since the Kindle version will be just $.99 from now until its release day, Thursday, this week, 11/17. Even if you don't have a Kindle, you can still read the Kindle version on your computer or smartphone (there's an app for that! if you need help getting the app, just let me know - but buy the book on Thursday!).

Check out more information at http://gilliganmeetsgoogle.com/

Some pointers to other peoples' thoughts (or should it be "other people's thoughts"?)

I mentioned a few weeks ago finding out about the Denison Forum - I really liked today's post:
https://www.denisonforum.org/columns/cultural-commentary/stranded-cows-and-bruce-springsteen/
and especially this quote:

When a newspaper posed the question, “What’s wrong with the world?”, the Catholic thinker G. K. Chesterton reputedly replied: “Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely Yours, G. K. Chesterton.”

I found this post this morning:
http://www.challies.com/articles/how-to-pray-for-unbelievers
Dwayne and I have been purposely praying for leaders, friends, and family members who are "far from God". This gives some practical words to help us with more effectual prayers!


And, finally, a take off on Paul Harvey's "So, God Made A Farmer" (read or listen to that talk here), an article on "So, God Mad a Farmer's Daughter":
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/so-god-made-farmers-daughter
I have to admit that I didn't see myself so much in that article - but I definitely pictured my niece, Ginny, and niece-by-love-and-marriage, Kendra, while reading it. (I'll look forward to hearing from friend Celesta on her opinion of this article!)

Around and about

Some pictures from yesterday afternoon and today...

The supermoon over our church's parking lot last night.

 Models of fossils that were on display in the church lobby in advance of the evening presentation on "Dinosaurs and the Bible".

Fossil model of a Tyrannosaurus

Fossil model of Triceratops

Fossil model of Velociraptor (one of our fellow church members in front gives scale).

Another view of the Velociraptor fossil model.

 Behind the Velociraptor is the area of the lobby that's affected by the building addition. We don't always have plastic hanging to separate the parts of the lobby!

The lecture on "Dinosaurs and the Bible" from Brian Thomas of Institute for Creation Research (ICR) was quite interesting! He was a non-believer in creationism until a friend of his challenged him on the way that the age of rocks and fossils is determined. The friend said that paleontologists say that fossils are "x" many years old because the rocks they are found in are claimed to be "x" many years old; the geologists say that the rocks are "x" many years old because the fossils found in them are claimed to be "x" many years old. He denied that to his friend and set out (unsuccessfully) to prove the friend wrong. Once that crack in his logic was exposed, he started looking at other information and came to believe that the Biblical record of creation and the flood fit with the data, for example: the fossil record is laid down in a rock layer that is consistent across all continents, a characteristic that would argue for a worldwide cataclysmic event such as the flood. Art in many cultures (China, European) illustrate "dragons" that bear quite a resemblance to dinosaurs (providing an argument that the dinosaurs existed at the same time as man). There are substances in the fossils (collagen) that should have disintegrated by now if the fossils were as old as scientists identify them to be.

I think what has been most frustrating to me, a science-girl, physics major from way back last century, is that I don't understand why scientists are so willing to put a theory on these things that doesn't fit the facts - and then present it as fact! I'm disappointed in secular scientists!!!

Ok, off my soapbox... today while walking around the campground...

I think that's a hawk up on the light pole. My niece could probably do a good job of identifying him if I had a clearer picture!