Monday, December 19, 2016

Pie Time!

It's Christmas week and I always try to share my family's recipe for the best Eggnog Pie you'll ever eat.  You can find my original post with the recipe here:  Eggnog Pie Recipe .


You're looking at about 10,000 calories!
Other than fruit I'm not a big dessert consumer but I make an exception for eggnog pie.  I especially like eating a piece in the morning with a cup of coffee for breakfast.

Breakfast of Champions!
It's a simple recipe if I can make it, you can too!

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for reading!

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Silverado Birthday

Five years ago this week I purchased a used two year old Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD.  The main reason was that the SUV I HAD been driving developed major transmission issues and rather than put a new transmission into an old vehicle I bought a "new" (to me) pickup.

The Chevy Silverado and camper that together comprise the Tank.
I now have over 108,000 miles on the truck and have to say that with the exception of one flat tire and a worn out battery, it has never given me a problem and faithfully hauled what is probably a load that exceeds it's Manufacturer's Gross Vehicle Weight limit any crazy place I've asked it.  I know Ford pickup owners who are dedicated to that truck line, and no doubt rightfully so, but if you are considering the purchase of a pickup I'd strongly recommend you consider a Chevy Silverado, it's sure served me well.

Thanks for reading!

Friday, December 9, 2016

Campground Review: Chamber Park Bay City, TX

It's not that often I find new places to camp for free which aren't listed on Freecampsites.com or other websites that list places to camp.  What was more surprising was that the two campgrounds I found were in my old stomping grounds of South Texas and only about an hour and a half south of Houston.  Chamber Park is a very small city park just off the Gulf beach between the Gulf and a barge canal with picnic tables and a bathroom facility.

The Tank's site at Chamber Park, yellow building is the bathroom facility.
Another website that mentions camping at Chamber Park said that you are limited to only one overnight although there is nothing posted at the park regarding stay duration so I'm uncertain how that writer determined this.  I stayed two nights and nothing happened although I never saw and law enforcement whatsoever during my stay there.

Here's the Chamber Park data sheet:


Hookups:                                             None                                                                          
Fire ring:                                              No                                                                              
Water Access:                                     Yes                                                                 
Fresh Water:                                        Yes (from sinks in the bathroom)                              
Trash Service:                                      Yes                                                     
Toilets:                                                Yes (flush)                                                     
Showers:                                             No                                                                  
Dump station:                                      No                                                      
WiFi:                                                   No                                                      
Level sites:                                          Yes                                         
Laundry:                                              No                                                                  
Store:                                                  No                                                                              
Pool:                                                    No                                                      
Shade:                                                 No                                                      
Verizon reception:                                4G, 3 bars                                           
Internet reception:                                3 bars                          
Cost:                                                  Free for at least one night

The beach quality near the park isn't quite as "foot friendly" as the beach at other spots on the Gulf with a lot of driftwood that has washed up and quite a bit of gravel mixed into the sand.

The beach near the park.
 The only thing I can think about why the one other reviewer thought that there was on day only camping permitted at Chamber Park is that there is another park about a mile away called West Moring Dock Park that DOES have camping rules posted and does limit camping to 24 hour stays.

"Overnight camping limited to 24 hrs."
The West Moring Dock Park has a lot more traffic as it appears to be a favorite fishing spot for the locals.  It's about twice the size of Chamber Park and because of the traffic I didn't stay there.  I guess if there really WAS a 24 hour restriction at Chamber Park a guy could stay there one night then move down the road a mile and spend 24 hours at West Moring Dock Park.  Like I said I stayed longer than 24 hours at Chamber Park without a problem but your mileage may vary.

I would definitely camp again at Chamber Park.  If you're in the Sargent, TX area check it out.

Thanks for reading!