Rather out of sorts today as slept from 10-midnightish and then 6-9 am, so just feeling ugh! LOL. Anyway, decided to go back to Erwin Park as it was so peaceful and it was even more so being a working day. Drove around and stopped lots to walk a bit and get physical munzees. Noticed that there were lots of munzee feathers appearing on the map and then had a rendezvous with Theo, whom Helen & met in Berlin several years ago. He and Doris are also here for the Bash and we did a little virtual puppy swapping. From there came back for lunch and a nap, and couldn’t even fall asleep then!!! So went off for a drive to finish off the crossbow munzees form last night and popped into Walmart for a few more supplies, especially water.

Had a frustrating time in that the atm’s there wouldn’t recognise my savings account attached to my credit card, so couldn’t get any cash. Will have to find a proper bank tomorrow and get that sorted!!

As a treat I bought a small individual pumpkin pie, which is not something seen at home, and it was very nice. All the Halloween paraphernalia is out for sale and look great in all those autumnal colours.

Going to try to have an early night and see if that helps!!

There was obviously something dead in the field as there were lots of vultures circling around, one with something dangling from it’s beak before it flew off.

A pecan tree in fruit or is that nut, LOL

Well, I must be getting into holiday mode, staying up late and staying in bed a bit longer in the mornings. Still not sleeping well, but that’s nothing new, LOL

I had a 10 am appointment to visit the new Munzee Headquarters. It’s open house on Friday evening for the first event of the MHQ 4th Bash, but I wanted to see it in it’s normal state, and my request was granted. Had a good time there, chatting and scanning munzees, a HQ eventzee scavenger hunt and a wander round looking at the huge open area they have. The old HQ was in a great old building with character, but this one has lots of room to move (and dance) and lots of parking spots.

From there I wandered off down the roads, nothing particular in mind and just carried on capping the seemingly inexhaustible supply of virtual munzees. Back home for a quick bite, and note, no nap or book reading, before heading out again on the endless trail, LOL. About 4 I decided to tackle the crossbow garden and with endless side tracks still had not finished it at 8, but decided it was time for dinner & bed. But it was great fun traversing the streets and lane ways around this old part of McKinney. There are some beautiful old style houses, lovely cared for gardens, and not much traffic.

BTW, I once again bumped into the lady and her great dane, only to find she has 2 of them and a son. If their room is the same size as mine, which it probably is, no idea how they all fit in!!!!! It seems to me that this is one of those hotels where people live in. One man, down smoking in the car park, said he’d just seen his wife off to work and it was his turn soon.

On the road again…..

McKinney houses & gardens

Started today a bit late, well it was Sunday after all! Had a great day with an extra special highlight at the end of it.

Headed to Erwin Park, which is where the Saturday morning event is being held. I wanted to get as many of the munzees there as possible early so that I don’t have to worry about them and all the rest on Saturday and can do some socializing, LOL. Well it’s a beautiful park, well maintained, with some wilderness areas, along with a few camping spots and picnic areas. It has many mountain bike trails running through the grasslands, which apparently evolved along with the sport, and is quite obviously a favourite spot. Dog walking, jogging, normal cycling, it’s a great spot for all, and what was even better no background traffic hum.

Listened to the birds, watched the squirrels, and just generally enjoyed the area. Not sure if it’s a cricket or a cicada, but some insect sounds just like a water sprinkler, complete with the tick tick tick as the nozzle resets itself. It was uncanny, I did look for the sprinklers to begin with, LOL.

Back for a late lunch and a book read, and then headed out to just find a car park or 2 under munzees. Anyway, just about to pull out onto a side street when who should appear in the vehicle beside me but Rob (Munzee pres) and Louise (Events coordinator). It was brilliant to see them again, so we parked the cars and chatted until the mossies appeared.

The road to Erwin Park and a tiny little bit of it.

There were lots of trees with these big webs in, not sure if caterpillar, spider or ants, and no one I asked seemed to know, Will ask again on Saturday.

Well I knew this hotel was going to be a little different from the reviews, but I took out my own rubbish to the outside bin, and I shared the elevator with a great dane. He was lovely, but far more interested in the chicken bones in my rubbish than me, LOL.

Had a dreadful nights sleep! Whether because I had had an afternoon nap, or the fact that the a/c goes all night (can’t open the window) or that I might have caught something on the plane, I don’t know. I suppose tomorrow will tell me if I have a cold or not!

Anyway, headed out to Wylie, about 40 minutes north-east of McKinney, where a fund raising munzee paw-print garden was located. Got there to find the park it was next to has been closed for 2 years, so it was hard to get to the munzees everyone had added, and the paw print itself was in a very large, harvested corn field that was not very walkable!

Did a bit of driving around and a bit of walking before heading back across country for Frisco, which is south of McKinney. There was located another fund-raising garden, this time breast cancer awareness ribbons. Mostly located over the BCA Society HQ building and car park, this nevertheless had a beautiful park between it and the motorway. I assume people are used to the constant hum of traffic, but getting back into the car and shutting the door on the noise was lovely!

Came home for a bite of lunch and a rest and then headed out once more to Celebration Park in Allen, just south of McKinney as well. Maria and I cleaned up the munzees there last year, but it had had lots more added. Walked the 4 kms around the park and then headed back to Walmart for some more supplies. Got some throat lozenges for just in case, LOL.  Funny thing was when I went in it was daylight outside and when I came out it was completely dark, had even missed the sunset! I was told it gets dark very quickly, so felt better and I hadn’t been wandering aimlessly forever!

hmm locked gates at Wylie

but the lake beyond would have been lovely to see!

jack-rabbit statues in Frisco and a lovely park
with lots of turtles in the ponds
then Celebration Park in Allen along with its ducks!
 

Well last night I had to call Reception to ask how to change the bath to a shower. With this one you had to pull the bath nozzle down, it’s amazing how many different fixtures there are for this simple task! Anyway it was worth it, the shower was lovely after such a long day!

Didn’t sleep well, but isn’t that always the case in a strange bed, hopefully better tonight. Was awake at the usual time, so played a few games and read a bit before making breakfast. It’s dark in the mornings until about 7 and gets dark around 8 in the evening.

There were a lot of munzees all along the highway outside the hotel, so took an early walk down, then back past the hotel, and then up. No footpath, I don’t think pedestrians are normal as I had 3 people stop to ask if I was OK. Took the road at the back of the hotel, which runs past the school bus depot, so buses everywhere, LOL.

Hopped into the car and headed out to Inspiration Park and the munzee garden there. Started off by driving around the houses, pulling over every so often. The houses were all double storey and new looking, it was also rubbish day (have been told it’s trash not rubbish, LOL) and quite a few lawn mower men working away.

Then down to the park itself, which is lovely and green. There’s a creek running down one side of it where the vegetation is quite wild. Not many birds, but lots of insects and maybe frogs. Walked around the park and got muddy shoes, though not sure how as it was grassed, anyway thought I cleaned it all off until I got out of the car. The shoes are currently waiting for the mud to dry!

Had a bite of lunch and a rest, not really a nap, read a bit, a proper paper book, lol, thanks Rachell, it’s going well! Then headed down the expressway to the multitude of shops where there was also a multitude of munzees. Discovered that if one needs to practice the four-way-stop-sign traffic controller, then that was the place to be!!!

Got home just in time to catch a sunset photo.

Might be a bit small to see, but a panorama of Inspiration Park
A denizen of the park. Mum, the background looks just like that jigsaw but without the yellow flowers, lol

The park from the other end

Don’t know what this fruit is, but obviously neither man nor beast eats them
 
I think these are boat-tailed grackles, but several young without tails. They kept standing with their heads pointed straight up and then moving on to repeat it. Some ritual greeting maybe?

On the way home on Wednesday 13th, stopped in at Mum’s for a roast pork dinner, lovely, thanks Mum. Then home and started the packing. Not too bad with a list, got to bed about 21.30, but didn’t sleep well.
Up at 2.45, and Dad picked me up at 3.30 and at the airport about 4.10. Thanks heaps Dad. I had managed to upgrade to business using points, so it is nice to use the quicker lanes to get through check in and security. A little bit of breakfast in the lounge and then on the plane. It left about 15 minutes late. Managed a little nap. Sydney airport was experiencing strong winds so there was only one runway open for all traffic. This meant a little circling until time for us to land. Then a bus to the international terminal, where the flight boarding was delayed half an hour, but it was an hour later we actually took off. I had a seat near the back of the plane, but I also had an empty seat next to me which was good.

Anyway, 14+ hours later arrived in Dallas, actually 15 minutes before we took off from Sydney, LOL, this date line stuff is weird! And isn’t it lovely and warm, so nice after chilly Perth!!! Had to catch a bus to the hire car terminal, sorted out the car and GPS and got on to the highway eventually, heading for McKinney. As the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car, so are the windscreen wipers and the indicators on different sides as well. I bet a lot of people wondered why I was using wipers on a dry windscreen, LOL.

Found the accommodation and unpacked, then popped out to do some grocery shopping at Walmart. The room has a fridge & microwave, which is why I picked it. Anyway, it’s time for bed, even if it is 9 am tomorrow morning at home!

New South Wales from the air

Woodspring Suites, home for the next 11 nights

Well, here I go again, LOL.
Fly out early on Thursday 14th, Perth-Sydney-Dallas, Texas. 11 nights in Texas, then a flight to Orlando Florida. 6 nights in Florida and then boarding a cruise ship on the 1st October and doing 2 weeks in the Caribbean. Gong to be a bit traumatic I reckon, with all the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma. Here’s hoping Hurricane Lee (next on the list) is very very shy!