💩 Happens

16-28 February 2022

After staying in San Antonio a couple of days, I headed to the Big Chief RV and Cabin Resort in Burnet TX for Girl Camper College. Girl Camper is an organization for women with chapters all over the country. They've started doing a Camper College that teaches you how each of the systems in your RV work. Given all the problems I've had, (self inflicted ones included) I thought it would be a great thing to do and also a good way to meet people and maybe make a few friends.

It was a gorgeous day and I started setting up my campsite when the inevitable happened. I knew this day was coming because sooner or later it happens to everyone...the dreaded black tank incident. Yep, 💩 happens, and today it happened to me! It was gross, disgusting and funny at the same time. Okay, it wasn't funny then but I can laugh about it now.

When I went to hook up the sewer hose, I checked the handles on the black and gray tanks to make sure they were closed. The black handle moved just a little bit so waste had leaked into the extra gate valve on the end of the connector. What I failed to do was check the gate valve handle to make sure it was closed before I removed the cover. That is one mistake I will never make again! As soon as I opened the cover to put the hose on, 💩 poured out. All over the hose support, all over my hands and shoes, and all over the ground. UGH!!! To make matters worse, it was the ONE TIME I didn't put gloves on! So my hands are covered in yuk and I'm freaking out. I washed my hands off and did the walk of shame to the office to tell them what happened. It wasn't their first rodeo so they sent someone out to clean up the mess. I was so embarrassed. Chalk it up to another lesson learned.

Our instructors, Brenda Puckett and Dana Hext were amazing! We learned about propane systems and safety, electrical & water systems, water heater, hitching, towing & RV weight management, and life safety essentials.

Not only was the class amazing but the ladies that attended were too. Everyone was friendly, respectful and best of all, no drama! I loved every minute of it and highly recommend any new or not-so-new girl camper take the course.

Dana and Brenda, our instructors. These ladies are so inspiring. Both are certified RV inspectors and Dana is training to be an RV repair technician.

My new motto. This was in our swag bags we got at check in. I love it!

It wasn't all work and no play though. We had class from about 9-12ish, with the afternoons free. A group of us took a field trip to nearby Longhorn Cavern State Park to do the cave tour.

Once privately owned, the State of Texas purchased the land that the state park is on from D. G. Sherrard in 1932 and opened to the public in 1938.

Queen's Throne Room is a flowstone and one of the largest travertine deposits in the cave.

Queen's watchdog. This is a dolomite rock naturally formed by water. It was originally found in another part of the cave and brought the the Queen's Throne Room for display.

During the prohibition in the 1920s when the cavern was privately owned, this room was used as a dance hall, nightclub and restaurant! There was bootleg whiskey, live music and candlelight dinners. Can you imagine?

The stage where the band played.

The Hall of Marbles. The walls are made of dolomite and look otherworldly.

This little guy is a Tri-colored bat. They are solitary and one of the smallest species of bats found in North America. They weigh about the same as a quarter! They're named for their individual hairs that are brown at the tip, yellow in the middle and black at the base.

Lastly, the is the Hall of Diamonds. When the workers discovered this room they thought they had discovered a diamond mine. Alas, it was only calcite crystals which were pretty much worthless. It is pretty though!

After the 90 minute cavern tour we went to Bill's Burgers for dinner. Not only are they well known for their delicious burgers, (I highly recommend the black and blue bacon burger), they're also known for their colorful Margarita Flight. Each one is a different flavor, all of them yummy!

Since neither of us were driving, Dee and I both indulged

Girl Camper College class. These ladies were amazing!

Sunset on the lake

I had a day to spare before my reservations started at Canyon Lake so I stayed at a Harvest Host in Fredericksburg. I stayed at Messinahof Winery; however, it was closed for a private event so I went down the street to Fat Ass Winery because, come on! How could I not? Anyway, there was a band playing, so I sat there and drank my wine slushy while listening to them. It was a very windy day as you can tell by the hair.

The story behind how the winery got its name. I had to get the t-shirt!

The next day I headed out for Canyon Lake. I stayed at Potters Creek, my first Army Corp of Engineers (COE) campground. It was really nice. All COE campgrounds are on lakes. The sites were large and had a nice covered picnic table.

I'm getting much better at backing in. It only took 3 tries to get it just where I wanted it.

The fur kids enjoyed getting some fresh air and sunshine.

The view of Canyon Lake from my campsite.

I should've taken advantage of the beautiful weather the first couple of days I was there and gotten the kayak out on the lake. The psycho Texas weather turned cold and drizzly for most of the week I was there.

Kathy, one of the ladies from my camper college lives just outside Potters Creek Park and invited me to lunch one day. Denise came up for a visit and Kathy also had us over for a delicious pot roast dinner and let me do my laundry! I'm telling you, these Girl Campers are amazing people.

Denise and I had planned on kayaking while she was here but since the weather turned cold, we visited Natural Bridge Caverns instead.

On the way in you go past a wildlife refuge where we saw this beautiful Great Horned Owl right on the side of the road! He was just hanging out chillin.

Out of all the caverns I've visited, next to Carlsbad I think these are the most stunning. Pictures don't do it justice. Usually it's cooler underground but these caverns are a balmy 70 degrees with 99% humidity year-round. They were discovered in 1960 by four students from St. Mary's University in nearby San Antonio.

These formations are called Sherwood Forest.

This room is the Castle of the White Giants. It's the second largest room in the caverns and has the largest formations found in the caverns.

These "chandeliers" look like jellyfish hanging from the ceiling.

Emerald Lake

Looking down on the largest room in the caverns, Hall of the Mountain King. The formations with flat tops near the bottom of the picture are called "fried egg" stalagmites because they resemble fried eggs. Water drips slowly and deposits most of its calcite content in the center of the formation forming a dark yellow calcite crystal. What isn't deposited in the center, goes to the outside and forms an outer white ring.

Sadly, Denise was only able to stay overnight and had to leave the next day but it was wonderful seeing her again even if it was a short visit.

I only had one snafu this week! Since I have large tires on both my truck and trailer, I have a

VIAIR air compressor to inflate them. It attaches to your truck battery like jumper cables.

Well, I needed to add air to my trailer tires before I left so I hooked it up and started pumping. Half way through the second tire I noticed it slowing down, down, down, till it was about to quit. At that moment I realized my mistake...I didn't crank the truck before I started pumping!! Yep, it drained the battery. Luckily I also had a NoCo Boost Portable Lithium Jump Starter. I knew it would come in handy one day and it did. The truck cranked right up! Whew! Crisis avoided.

Thanks for joining me and let me know what you think of the blog. I'm always open to CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, suggestions, and questions. See you next time.