Clayton and Penny's Retreat » Camping

Spring Lake – Camping with family

Clayton — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 19:20:19 +0000

The 5th of July, we packed up the camper and headed to Spring Lake Campground. We met Jo Dee and Tom and Mom Van Campen, and later the kids. We had three campers set up in a row. Chris and Mikala, Steven and Brandi, Matt and Seth, and Jeffrey were all there. Tom's daughter Sydney was there with her boyfriend and her daughter. Her boyfriend proposed to her the first night. Of course she said yes. We fished (with a special wristband), could have went swimming in the pool (with another special wristband), and played Horse Shoes (no wristband needed). The place was a nice change of pace. We stayed till Sunday.

Camping at Lake Texhoma

Clayton — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:04:42 +0000

Our friends Daryl and Jenn invited us to go with them this year to Lake Texhoma. We've never been able to go with them, but this year was different. We had a blast! On our way down there (6 hour drive), we drove through Moore, Ok. That is where the really bad tornado hit the week before. The damage was unbelievable. Unfortunately, all the traffic slows to a crawl, to look at the damage. I wonder how long the traffic will be like that?

We arrived around 9 p.m. in the dark. What a pain to set up in the dark.

The next morning, Penny and I looked around the waterfront area.

Jenn's Dad, Joe, has a boat and is happy to take everyone fishing. Joe, Kim, Jerry, Daryl, and Clayton all went out for the first fishing run. Oh, and Herc, the giant Schnauzer!

Daryl caught a small one, that got thrown back. Clayton had a couple that got away.

Later, Daryl caught one from shore. A Carp. He was injured by the hooks recovering the feisty fish and asked Clayton to hold if for a picture.

Friday, we all set out for a little swimming at a beach across the lake. We took the boat on two trips to get everyone there. The beach had really nice sand, and the water temp was pretty nice.

Over the few days, lots more fishin', horse shoe throwin', and eatin'.

We had a great time.

Keystone Lake, Ok

Clayton — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 00:58:04 +0000

Last weekend we ventured south to Keystone Lake. This lake is just west of Tulsa. Our friend, Mike is going to school in Tulsa, so his sister, Jen got us all together for a long weekend. The lake is ok, but the campground was marginal. We are used to a lot better facilities, and lake access. We had a good time though, as we usually do. Jeff took his friend, Matt. We didn't catch any fish, except with a net, and then just little bitty bait fish. We did a lot of swimming and games at the campsite. We got on the jet skis for a little while as well.

First trip of the season – Lake Afton

Clayton — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:01:49 +0000

Penny and I took off to Lake Afton for one night last weekend. We just wanted to find any problems and get everything ready for the 2012 camping season. It was a nice trip. We enjoyed the time together, just the two of us. Jeff didn't want to go, so he went to the drive-in movie with his friends, and spent the night at Matt's house.

All we really did, was fish from our great campsite on the lake.

The wind was out of the south, all day, and gusty. After the sun warmed it up, it was nice.

Then, after 6 oclock, or so, it got calm and was absolutely beautiful!

First catch, was small, but a fish!

This was the biggest one. About 2lb of Drum. He was fun to catch.

Penny got some small ones too.

Wilson Lake, Last trip for the year

Clayton — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:07:26 +0000

Awesome weather for half of the weekend. We had a great time! We caught fish! We swam! We went out on the pontoon boat. We jet-ski'd. We hung out and ate some good food and company. Lots of fun! Slideshow Link

Week of July 5th at Council Grove

Clayton — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:45:54 +0000

By now I guess you've figured out that we like the camping at Council Grove. This week was no exception. The bridge in the thumbnail picture is in the center of the northeast area of the lake. It must have been there a while, as there are no roads on either side of the lake. Penny and Clayton went out on Tuesday around 4pm. Jenn and the girls arrived a couple hours later. Daryl came out Wednesday night. Jeff, Matt, Corey, and Mike came out on Friday afternoon. We spent the week swimming, fishing, checking out the town, riding jet skis, playing horse shoes, baseball, and just hanging out with friends. Clayton and Daryl caught some fish but I failed to get any pictures of them. It was hot when we arrived on Tuesday, but rained Tuesday night and Wednesday night and cooled it down nicely. Then Sunday the heat returned. We left Sunday around noon and I'm glad we did. Wichita broke the record for that day at 111 degrees! Here are a few of the pictures. All of them (not too many this time) are here. There is some video at the bottom of this post also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZdoua4GsGA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eHcw90VjxQ

Council Grove June 17

Clayton — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:23:07 +0000

Penny and I, met Jenn, Joyce, and the kids, Miranda and Katelyn, and the dog, Charlie, at Council grove for a few nights. It started a little strange when we pulled up to the ranger shack to confirm our reservation and found Jenn inside. She was coordinating a plan that would put us on a great site on the shoreline. We were 30 feet from a wonderful sandy shore, with sandy bottom out as far as you could walk in the lake. This weekend was Washunga days at Council Grove. We enjoyed the parade, carnival, car show, and craft fair. We had fun just hanging out in the quaint little town. I've never seen so many people in that town before. We ate at a couple of the restaurants there and sampled some of the festival food as well. There were storms Thursday and Friday night, but we survived without incident, except some lost sleep.

Back to Kanopolis on May 27’th

Clayton — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:13:42 +0000

We went back for another weekend in the sun, and wind. We had a great time again. This time we had Jerry, Jamie, their kids, as well as the Pontoon boat they brought. We spent some time cruising in the pontoon boat and hung out at a sandy beach on the other side of the lake. The lake was up about 5 feet from last weekend, so things were a little different. The shoreline near our campsites was a lot smaller. We couldn't play horse shoes there anymore. Jeff didn't bring any friends this time and had fun hanging out with us and Mike. Just after we returned the pontoon boat and the jet skis to the trailers, the wind kicked up in high gear. 50mph. There was a capsized boat near our campsite, and in the morning another one showed up as well. Here are the pictures.

Kanopolis Lake May 21’st

Clayton — Tue, 24 May 2011 12:06:12 +0000

We traveled north of Hutchinson, Kansas for a trip to Kanopolis Lake this time. A smallish lake west of Lindsborg out in the middle of no where. A pretty nice campground with descent bathrooms. We went with Jen, Miranda ,Katelyn and Jenn's brother, Mike. Daryl came out on Saturday evening. Jeff took his friend Tyler. We spent Saturday hanging out by the lake ,playing some horse shoes and flying kites. Sunday Daryl got the Jet Ski's out on the water and we had some fun riding them on the lake. That was a blast!

We got a little kite flying in. It was breezy, but not too bad.

Jeff and Mike had some fun with Tyler after he fell asleep in the chair.

Council Grove April 2011

Clayton — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:08:33 +0000

It was windy most of the time, but we had fun. Sunday it actually got sunny and warmed up some. We all had fun throwing horshoes and footballs. We did a lot of fishing, but Jeffrey is the only one that caught something. A 2-3lb Drum. We stayed through Easter and left on Monday. We got home to drizzle and wetness. All the pictures here.