Texas

My former roommate from 1980-82 had crowned his highly successful career with the BSA a National Director at their National Headquarters in Irving, TX.

Bill, Director of Exploring, BSA and I worked together as lowly DEs in the late 70s, but he stuck with the BSA movement and made a great career of it!  Thousands of youth and leaders have Bill to thank for a great experience.  Pics were taken by professional photographer, Roger Morgan.  Thank you, Roger!

After a brief visit with him and his beautiful wife, I enjoyed several days with my Aunt PeeWee in the Houston area.

Even a truck stop can provide a beautiful sunset, Arkansas

Lewiston Lake

Lewiston Lake

By Roger Morgan

By Roger Morgan

Aunt PeeWee baked a wonderful
cake for me, "Welcome 
Capt Murph"

The Murphy Coat of Arms

One of several wild peacocks near Aunt PeeWee's home

Evansville, IN

After Kooser I drove to Ohio for the night, then on to Evansville, IN

Kim and I had a nice breakfast before
I turned the RV towards Texas

Then onward and westward!

Kooser Ski Weekend - February 3-5, 2017

For many years now, Bill has organized a group of gents for a ski weekend at Seven Springs.  We stay in a cabin at Kooser State Park, catch a meal and a beer at the Laurel Mountain Inn on Friday night, Ski at Seven Springs on Saturday and Sunday, with a huge steak cookout at the cabin on Saturday night.  We've always set up a tailgate party on the slopes but this year we added my new-to-me RV to the mix.

February 3 - I arrived at Seven Springs early Friday morning to secure a spot for the RV to host our tailgate parties as we skied on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Bill, some friends and I skied all day Friday so we were ready for the steak dinner at the Laurel Mountain Inn that evening.  More friends joined us that evening and we headed to the slopes the next morning.

February 4 - We piled into a couple cars for the short ride to Seven Springs, used the warm (generator and heater running) RV to put on our ski boots, then we hit the slopes.  Sean took a video with his GoPro mounted on his right ski.

The sun was glorious as the snow was plentiful.  In fact the snow was a pleasant surprise given how warm the weather had been all through January.  When it was time for a lunch break we all collected at the RV for some sandwiches, beverages and snacks.  Sean's facebook post highlights the success of our tailgating.

Sean's jury-rig table.  No on is surprised, as Sean is a sailor among sailors and sailors know how to jury-rig almost anything!

The tailgate party is front and center to the skiing.

Fans and newly-minted friends drop their skiis and join the fun.

This video, below, has another view of the tailgaters.

After some great ski fun we returned to the cabin at Kooser and the steaks hit the grill.  we had steak appetizers, steak salads, and of course, steak entree!  It was certainly a satisfying dinner.

February 5 - We were back on the slopes, but today was a bit cool and cloudy, plus we were working off a huge dinner and legs already beat from two full days of skiing.  We still enjoyed our continuing tailgate party, but wrapped up by mid-afternoon and made our way back to normal(?) society.

The final tailgaters share some adult beverages.