I ended up inviting some of my coworkers out to my family's 200 acre spread alongside the Sabine River.
Unbeknownst to me, my father had told some of his hillbilly neighbors that they were welcome to come out as well. It soon deteriorated into a good ol' fashioned redneck soiree'.
The river was mighty low which is great for rock and arrowhead hunting (which I did not get the chance to do). This is the spot called Rocky Shoals and it is one of the few places on the river where you can walk out to the water's edge. There is also a 10' alligator that resides in the vicinity (the little girl was tied to the rock as bait):
Just like Vietnam! Actually, I'm on gator patrol:
Kim, Mudcat, Apache Chief Geronimo IV, and Amy the Underling enjoy Chief Geronimo's tales of life in the rehab clinic and as a dirt herder:
One of Dad's neighbors, Cooter Brown, instructs Beaver and Buttwheat in the fine art of POS auto maintenance:
Beaver and Buttwheat made a near tragic faux pas as they trespassed on the other neighbors' property and almost ran over their dog. Next thing we knew, Fuzzy Lumpkins was chasing them back to the campsite on his four-wheeler with a 9mm pistol strapped in a shoulder rig.
Fuzzy Lumpkins (in a voice like Carl's from "Slingblade"): "Which one of you boyz come tearin' thru my propurty and nearly killt my dog?!"
Me: "Hey, Fuzzy, those two boys are scared squatless of you. It's my fault for not telling them where the property line is. I'm very sorry and it won't happen again."
Fuzzy: "That's fine, Term. But I wanna talk to dem boyz."
So up comes Mudcat, puffing his chest out and looking at Fuzzy with severely unfocused, bloodshot eyes.
Fuzzy: "You better quit puffin' up on me, boy."
Mudcat just keeps on puffin' up more and more....so I stepped between them, told Mudcat to go back to his beer, and assured Fuzzy that we were all friends and there would be no more problems. Everybody staggered back from whence they came and the festivities resumed with nary a drop of blood spillt.
Mudcat then delighted in telling how he had intimidated Fuzzy with his "Ninja Death Touch" display:
The chilluns' enjoyed the fireworks:
Tiny Ball of Hate didn't like it when I told her it was her turn to be gator bait:
The next day, my dad went out to inspect the property to check for signs of deviltry. He was perturbed that the beavers had abandoned their pond due to lack of water:
I just rode along in the back and enjoyed having a chaueffer. Now I know how the Queen of England must feel:
Terminator