Please RSVP for this camp the week of March 16, whether or not you intend to participate.

Gentlemen, we will be heading to Hickory Creek Campground on Lake Lewisville.  Here is a link from Mater Dei to the exact location in the park that we will be camping:  https://goo.gl/maps/8y8zucszykb7nF2U7

We will access the primitive campsites thru Maint Rd 1 (accessible only to us and not the public, where the vehicles will be parked), and will be camping in the red circled area in the image below (at dedicated camp sites located about 100-200 feet from the parking area) and rebuild benches and apply linseed oil to the deck and benches at the amphitheater located in the image.  Note that the scale of the image is in the lower right corner.  Sorry for the poor penmanship, but I don’t write with a mouse very well.

What will we be doing?  Rebuilding benches and coating the new benches and the amphitheater deck with linseed oil at the amphitheater.  The amphitheater consists of 6 benches, each 8 foot long with 2 2×6 for seats.  The amphitheater has a deck that is about 11′ square.  We will replace the bench seat lumber and the brackets that the bench boards are screwed into.  We will set up a cut off saw at the campsite nearest the amphitheater so we can cut the lumber.  Everything gets screwed together using Torkx (T25) coated deck screws.   Once rebuilt, we will smooth the bench seat edges with belt sanders and then coat the bench boards and deck boards using linseed oil.  Hopefully using a sprayer to apply the linseed oil.  The park (Corps of Engineers) will provide the materials, but we need to provide our own tools, except that they will also provide paint brushes or the sprayer.  This means that we will need Dads to bring screw guns and T-25 screw tips.  If you have a 3×21 belt sander (corded or cordless), please also bring that.  I will bring a miter saw (cut off saw) so we can cut the boards to length if we need to and to cut all new bench brackets.  In this case, each boy should be able to cut a board or two, and all can participate in fixing the new boards with cordless drills with torx bits  and coating the boards with linseed oil.  I doubt seriously that it will take more than about 3 hours to complete this project, so there will be ample time for fishing, hiking, and exploring.  Yes, you can bring your canoe or boat.  Check the park website for info on boats.