She travels with us and has been to Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. She stays in our hotel room with us as well as in the Hiker Trailer. She travels well because she gets the entire back seat to herself and she sleeps most of the time, unless we are in town where she must have her head out of the window.
During our latest trip to Colorado we were returning home when in the middle of northern New Mexico she decided it was time for a potty break. During this roadside stop, Aspen and I both encountered her first rattle snake. Good thing she was on her leash...
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I spent the snow apocalypse installing a new wench on my truck. I hit a deer back in November on my way to the cabin at McAlester and it did some minor damage to my grill. The wench bumper replaced the section of grill that was damaged so this project was a two for...
I have missed my wench since I sold my Jeep so this has been a project that I have been looking forward too for a while. It wasn't to difficult but as with most projects the manufactures instructions were not great... 2020 continues it's memory creating march through time... Ice is the first sign that Fall has arrived at my home...
My game camera told me that our hunting area in SE Oklahoma was being over run with feral hogs.We knew we had a hog problem but until I moved my cell based trail camera to the feeder we didn't realizes how bad the problem was getting. To help control the population I decided I would use the camera to pattern the hogs and then go spend some time taking care of the problem. After looking at a few weeks worth of pictures from the trail camera it became obvious that patterning the hogs was going to be a problem. Answer? A hog trap placed around the feeder. I did my research and decided a Figure-C feral hog trap was the way to go. I purchased the materials I needed and on April 2nd I made the trip to the cabin and in no time had the trap constructed. I decided to spend the night so I could monitor the trap. Over night I only had a two hogs visit the feeder but I was successful in getting one of the hogs to work his way into the trap. (SUCCESS) One less hog to deal with. I blocked the trap door open and I will let the hogs get use to the trap while the feeder provides a daily dose of corn. I will monitor the camera from home and then select a couple of days to go back and set the trap so I can eliminate more of our problem. UPDATE: On April 26, 2020. I went to the cabin and trapped four more hogs. This makes five total. Also my neighbor has set a hog trap just up the hill from mine. Maybe between the two us we can make a dent in the population... UPDATE: October 2020. Because of other obligations I have not been trapping hogs this summer. To help manage my trapping I built a cell activated gate release for my pin. It has worked extremely well. It lets me select when I want to close the gate which has resulted in more hogs per trip to the trap. (6-hour round trip)
The pork loin has been plentiful and taste great. As everyone else did Terri and I made our own Covid-19 mask. Terri sewed the mask and I designed and made the nose strips out of Bud Light aluminum bottles.
It was a great sacrifice for me to drink the beer before I could use the bottles but some how I found the strength to empty enough bottles so Terri could make both our families the mask they needed.... I did not put my nose strip idea on social media because I was afraid it would cause a beer shortage........ LOL It has been a while since I posted anything on my retirement site. That does not mean that I have not traveled or worked on any of my many projects. In November I was diagnosed with skin cancer (Lentigo Maligna Melanoma). It was malignant and after two surgeries on the side of my face, I am told they got it all. I have had a mole on the left side of my face for as long as I can remember. Last Fall my eyes kept focusing on that mole, so I went to a Dermatologist to get it checked. Good thing I did because the news was not good but I did catch it early. After two surgeries I am told they were able to remove all of it. I guess the lesson that I learned is to wear a hat and sunscreen to protect your skin. A rule that I did not do a good job of following during all my years of hunting, fishing, hiking and working outside. Also, listen to your body and take care of yourself.
I will not attempt to go back and post about every trip and project I have done this winter but I will say I have taken advantage of the mild weather we have had. I will be posting more frequently now that travel and projects are returning as a priority in my retirement journey. Terri and I picked up some KFC and drove out to American Horse Lake and enjoyed the afternoon. We stopped by Jesse Chisholm's grave site on Chief Left Hands property NE of Geary on the way back home.... Great afternoon...
Well another Deer Season has come and gone... Because of personal issues with some of the hunting buddies we skipped Primitive Fire Arm's Season and we went to the Hunting Cabin at McAlester this week for Rifle Season.. Mo, Dick and I met up Sunday at Dick's Hunting Cabin to scare the hell out of the wild game in the area...
We spent a few very cold morning trying to bag a deer for the freezer for the coming year... We did see a few deer but none of the shooter deer offered up a shot. It really didn't matter as we all enjoyed our time in the woods and we enjoyed our time together... The Cabin is winterized and we look forward to April's Turkey Season... To you who don't agree with killing wild game, you should know that I am writing this as I enjoy venison stew made from the deer that I shot last year... It taste very good and none of the meat went to waste.... I don't tell you how to live your life and I don't need your guidance on how to live mine.... I have been invited to Thanksgiving Dinner by several friends and relatives but I will be spending Thanksgiving Day at home by myself... I will enjoy the blessings that I have... Have a very enjoyable and Happy Thanksgiving.... Took a trip to Southeastern Oklahoma's Beavers Bend State park this week to get away and celebrate Terri's Birthday.
We stayed in one of the cabins that are next to the Lower Mountain Fork River. We enjoyed playing with the local squirrel population, including the ones that lived in our attic... We took hikes and geocached while we were in the park. We saw all kinds of wildlife including a bald eagle, deer, water fowl and birds of all types.... We cooked out and had a bonfire one evening. The battery powered chainsaw I was getting for the Hiker has now moved up on my priority list and has been ordered.... after all I am retired and I should not have to work that hard to enjoy a nice fire... On our way home we stopped by Robbers Cave State Park and cooked hamburgers and then climbed to the "Cave".... More adventures to come.... |
AuthorSteve Chapman (68 yoa) Welcome to my Retirement Journal. A little about myself: I was married to my high school sweetheart for almost 29 years. I have been a widower since 2008.
I worked for the City of Chickasha for over 38 years and held a variety of jobs for them during that time. I retired as the Parks and Recreation Director on January 6, 2017. Now that I have retired I will be working on the many projects that I have been putting off. I will also be deciding where I will live in retirement. I am not sure I want to stay in Chickasha. I do plan on traveling and doing a lot of hiking, kayaking, backpacking, camping, hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities as well as volunteer work during my retirement... ![]() New Hiking Buddy!
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