It’s been awhile since my last entry, so I reckon I better make quota huh? ~lol~ Well, let’s seeeee…what’s been goin on…

At long last, the camping trip is a “go”. We’re going to be camping on scenic Lake DeGray for the July 4th weekend. We’ll be leaving out this coming Friday to meet our friends down at the camp site. We’re doing the tent-thing and they’re bringing their tag along camper. I found out rather quickly that mid to early-70’s campers were NOT designed for 6’-7” hillbillies… the ceiling is at about neck level for me. So, if I go in there, there’ll be a lot of stooping going on.

I’m sure most of our time will be spent outside in lawn chairs or at the water. The only things that historically drive people inside their RV’s or campers are swarms of bugs, intense heat, or thunderstorms. I’m hoping we don’t experience any of the above.

This weekend was all about visiting our friends, setting plans in place, and getting their camper spiffy for the trip. I volunteered to help, but there wasn’t enough room for everyone to be inside the camper cleaning. My wife’s pretty short, so it was easier for her to get around inside the camper… and Chris pretty much had the outside covered, as far as a bleach-wash on any mildew.

I busied the kiddos with some ATV rides and video games. I worked on some of my Genealogy and grilled some hotdogs for supper. It was a good weekend. This week I have to concentrate on getting a fishing license and getting my truck’s tags renewed. Wouldn’t make for a very good camping trip if I got pulled over for expired tags….now would it?

Speaking of my Genealogy hobby… I’ve got several things in the fire at the moment. One of my ancestors supposedly owned a mobile sawmill and cut lumber for a local lumber company back in the 1920’s. I’ve asked a lady at the local historical museum if she’d look through some of her old photographs of that time period and see if (by some chance) my ancestor might be featured with that mobile sawmill. I’m sure I’ll be hearing back from her around mid-week… so I have my fingers crossed. I have a picture of his wife…but not one of him. He’d be my great-great-grandfather.

I also have trips planned to two southern Arkansas towns in the near future. I need to do some microfilm searches and land record searches on the earliest ancestor I have on record, to date. He was born in Tennessee around 1789. That would put his father’s lifetime right in the period of the American Revolutionary War. I’m hoping to get past this “data roadblock” I’ve been experiencing…and hopefully gain some information on his parents. I wonder if they were immigrants from the Old Country at that point, or if my lineage can be dated back to the pilgrims? These are the kinds of possibilities that keep me searching. It’s like a mystery novel…and each chapter holds new clues, and new discoveries. All I have to do is be persistent, dedicated, and crafty. Oh, and there’s the whole “extremely lucky” aspect that tends to help out at times when there’s nothing to go on.

I guess I’d better take a break from writing for now…. I have some work to get done. Gotta pay bills, ya know. As always… more later.