Cold Saturday

Been a busy week at work and not much else going on so I haven't updated the blog lately. I've noticed that several of the blogs I read have been kind of slow to update this week also. Must be the winter doldrums.

Last Sunday we went up to League City to visit the kids, celebrate Chase's 12th birthday and watch the NFL playoffs. I was rooting for the Jets and Bret Favre so naturally both teams lost.

Chase's actual brthday was on Friday the 22nd but he went to a church camp for the night so the celebration was postponed until Sunday. They had a motivational speaker at the camp who inspired the kids. He is a guy who was born without arms or legs. There is a video on Youtube of his talk but I don't know his name so I guess you'll just have to search for it if you are interested. He is pretty amazing and makes my complaints about life seem very petty.

I don't know where the heck the last 12 years have gone. It wont be long before Chase will be driving. I doubt that I will still be able to get him to bring me a beer though.

We had another cold front move through so it's cold and windy out. The weather report says mid 30s for a low tonight and I'm debating draining the water lines in the rv. I guess I better play it on the safe side and do it. I kow I'm sick of winter and cold weather.

I need to get started back up on the work I have to do in the house before putting it on the market. My next room to work on is the office. I've been delaying because we stored an old tv in there and I can't carry it downstairs by myself. My son-in-law Dana stopped by this morning and helped me so now I am out of excuses. It's sitting at the end of the driveway so if any of y'all need a 32" Sony digital tv come and get it before the trash guys do. It would make a heck of a paperweight or boat anchor.

We're going out to dinner with our neighbors Chuck and Mary Anne tonight. I guess we're going to a seafood place down in Surfside called the Red Snapper Inn. We haven't been there in a couple of years. It used to be a real good resturant and I hope it hasn't changed. I hate recommending or taking someone to a resturant then having it be bad food or service.

Not much else to say so I'll just include a couple more pictures of our camping trip.
Megan being silly
Sam getting some love


Dr.Pepper campersneat old tree

Happy camper

Adios for now, enjoy the day

--Rod

A River Runs Through It

Rod worked Friday until noon. I was off all day so Jackie brought the kids down to our house in the morning. The kids helped me finish up loading up the trailer for our weekend trip. The weather wasn’t the best but we held out hope that the front would move past us by the next afternoon.

Rod stopped and picked up some burgers on his way home so everybody would be fed before we got on the road. The sky was overcast and there was a light fog when we left. The wind was probably around 20 mph out of the east. Not near as bad as the wind and rain that had been forecast.

About half way to Lake Texana we ran into rain and the roadside ditches were full to the shoulder. There had been about 5-8" of rain and everything was saturated. I drove and Rod navigated, he’s just much better at this than I am and used to using his GPS on his iPhone. We were both under the impression that regardless of the weather predictions, it could still end up to be a nasty, wet, muddy weekend but we didn’t care, we knew we’d pack it full of memories for ourselves and have fun no matter what the weather was.

We checked in and headed for our site in a light drizzle. As we pulled up to the site we noticed that the drainage had changed since last spring. The gulley used to run along the north edge of the site but now it was running right thru the middle. We thought about driving back around and switching sites but this was really the only one that was more or less in the woods. We decided to set up and see what it looked like in the morning.

That evening we ate Rod’s chili for supper and afterward played a game where you roll a die which has sayings on it such as “I am…”. All the other players write down how they would finish the sentence for you. It was a lot of fun and quite enlightening to say the least. Megan seemed to take extra delight in hammering Rod whenever it was his turn. After we finished the games we watched a movie and everyone was in bed by 10:00.

We got up around 6:30 Saturday and the kids slept in a little bit. The rain had stopped early the previous evening and the gulley had stopped flowing sometime during the night so we decided to stay put.

View from our site
As soon as we finished a hearty breakfast the kids were off and running. I swear, they “owned” the campground and all its trails last weekend. With very few campers and only a handful of little ones without bikes, Chase and Megan had the trails to themselves….mud and all.

The kids weren't the only bike riders

S'mores, they just make ya smile :)

Chase and Megan explored from sun up to sun down. I would wager a bet they put 100 miles on their bikes during the time we were there. I’m sure the security guard got to know them very well as they passed by him 30 times a day. About every half hour or so they stopped back to tell us what they had discovered on their adventure. Some of the stories were quite entertaining. Megan got spooked at the Brackenridge family cemetery and told Chase “let’s get out of here now or I’m going to use the H word.” At some point they disturbed some vultures and were sure the birds were chasing them. Then during a break back at our site, they heard the church bells ring. The little chapel at the campground had something going on. Apparently, it was a wedding. The kids told us they peeked inside the door and the bride invited them. I thought to myself, hmmm if two little redheads peeked inside the church on my wedding day I guess I would have done the same thing but jeepers. Chase handed us a business card that the minister had given him. Rod and I just shook our heads and laughed. They will remember doing that when they get older and think how silly it was. LOL

These kids are not shy by any means. Megan wasn’t too taken with the bride though. She told us that "the bride was “butt ugly”." Rod told her that wasn’t a nice thing to say so she said, “well okay, but she was a little ugly.”

Texana Presbyterian church was the earliest Presbyterian church in Jackson County. The congregation formed in 1855. They built this framed sanctuary in 1859 in Texana, Texas. The town is now a ghost town and is located under the lake I believe. The church was moved to Edna, Texas in 1884 and has been moved here to the park and serves as a reminder of the pioneer settlers of the area.

Saturday night we had burgers on the grill and sat around the campfire for a while. About 8:00 we went in and watched another movie then went to bed.

Sunday morning Rod and Megan slept in and Chase and I got up early to catch the beautiful sunrise.

After that, we went walking around the park looking for deer and taking pictures in our PJ’s. We were gone about an hour and a half. When we got back Rod had stoked up the fire and made a pot of coffee. We had such a good time sneaking through the woods searching for deer and birds.

Sam loved just relaxing!

Later in the day we played dominos. It’s been so long we forgot how to play, so we played by the rules according to me. Since I won almost all the hands Chase & Rod suspected I was cheating. Who me? ;)

After another move, we went to bed at a decent hour and both kids got up Monday morning for the sunrise and to watch for deer. Six thirty in the morning is early for kids but they were gung-ho on getting up and seeing everything one last time.

We really enjoyed our campfires every night, s’mores and telling stories and just being kids…all of us. ;)

Monday came much too soon. I wish we could pack it up and go again this next weekend, but we have work to do around here. Isn’t it too bad life can’t be all fun and games?

Have a great week everyone and thanks for reading!

-Connie

Rain on the way and a camping trip planned

I'm conducting a CPR and First Aid class today and a Crisis Intervention class tomorrow, then off on Friday and Monday. WOOHOO Rain or shine, having this opportunity to take the grandkiddos camping surely beats most anything else we love to do.

I'll shop for the groceries tonight and Rod promised to make his "award winning" chili for Friday when we arrive at our site. The grocery list changes when you bring kids and since they both enjoy cooking with me it'll be fun.

It seems to me that if I start packing little things several days before we leave I am never in a frensy when its time to hit the road. I also don't forget things as easily this way.

The kids are really excited and so are we. If it rains all day Saturday then they will get a lesson in Mexican Train and Partini games. ;)

As a kid, my fondest memories are of camping with my parents. Its a great time for bonding and one-on-one time with eachother. When it rained, we played cards, dug trenches around the tent and even though all five of us kids were stuck in a tent through thunder and lightening and torrential downpours we had the best of times. It was an old canvas army tent with what seemed to be a 4x4 to hold it up in the center. My brother always made a point to touch the canvas just above my head when it rained so I would get dripped on all night long. LOL

Right now this little mini vacation it just what we need. Wishing you a wonderful weekend too !

-Connie

A Sunday Drive

It was a pretty day so we decided to take a little road trup just south of us and check our route to Brackenridge Plantation Resort for next weekend.

The road was washed away during Hurricane Ike so we weren't sure if it was passable. Fortunately, TXDOT rebuilt it and its in great shape now. Rod also wanted to check out the toll booth to be sure there wasn't an overhang or something that would prevent us from getting through it.

It all looked good. This route will save us a little time and with two grandkiddos and a 100+ lb. chocolate lab in the back seat we need to save every second we can. ;)

Here's part of the road. Most of the road aligns itself with the beach or visa versa.

As you can see, a high tide or stiff southerly winds would easily block the road.

Currently, the dunes are forming on the opposite side of the road from the beach which is never a good thing. You can see the sand drifting across the road.

On our beaches, we waste nothing. Check out the Christmas trees lined up in the pic below to eventually form a dune on the Gulf side of the road. This works well but from what I saw, not enough is being done to protect this road.

Have a great start to your week, and

today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day. :)

-Connie

Preparations and a New Lunch Spot

Yesterday we awoke to a crisp 20 degrees. The sun was shinning brightly and the wind was still blowing but only in the 10 to 20 mph range. We did our usual Saturday morning ritual, me reading the paper & her on the computer while drinking our coffee. Sam was doing his best to see who he could bother into giving him a treat.

We had not planned on anything due to the weather. Connie went down to the RV to make a list of needed supplies for our trip next weekend. I decided we needed to make a trip to the mainland to get firewood so when she had finished her list we locked up Sam and headed out.

I buy our camping firewood from a place on SH 6 in Santa Fe. It's kind of out of the way so I try to get it on the weekend. Instead of heading back home we decided to go to League City to buy some coffee. We grind our own beans and used to buy them at the grocery but there is a little shop called Nana's in LC that has about 15 different flavors so we stock up every couple of weeks. We used to order Jamaican Blue Mountain beans from the internet but at about $40 a pound we only do that once in awhile now. Nana's charges $11 a pound and has a club deal where you get every 11th pound free.

No trip to the mainland & League City would be complete without a stop to see the kids. They were surprised and happy to see us. Megan was still loafing in her pj's watching TV and Chase was playing a game with a friend. Jackie was in the shower when we got there and as usual Dana was working. We visited with them for a while them headed out to get lunch before returning home.

As usual I headed for La Brisa but Connie started making noises about going somewhere, anywhere else for something different. I'm a creature of habit and sometimes she has to prod me a little. We talked about a few alternatives before deciding on a hole in the wall on the water in San Leon called Noah's Ark. We had been there a couple of times before the storm hit and they had pretty good hamburgers.

When we pulled up I knew the new owner had greatly improved the place. They had expanded and added an outside seating area as well as rooftop seating. It was too cold for outside dinning but we will be back when it warms up.

The place still looks like the bar it has evolved from. The interior is rustic and there are old license plates, Harley Davidson signs and beer ad signs and dollar bills lining the walls and ceiling.

The menu has been expanded as well. We split an appetizer called "Hot Mermaids". It consisted of shrimp wrapped in bacon and jalapenos then breaded and deep fried. They were delicious and the shrimp was really fresh. You could tell they weren't a frozen pre-packaged deal like you get in a lot of places. Connie had a shrimp/oyster po-boy and I had a turkey melt and we both had fries. All of the food was fresh & delicious.

We were even treated to some "entertainment". A few tables away from us sat two men and a woman who were obviously having a liquid lunch. They got a little loud but not annoyingly so. It was hard not to eavesdrop on their conversation. It seems that one of the men, Larry, had gone there for the breakfast buffet. He was telling his friend that he wanted to run his tab to $100.00. The woman told him he was almost there. She had looked at the ticket. Larry seemed to take offense at something she said and all of a sudden we heard her in a loud voice say "Larry sit your a$$ down and shut up right now". Ole Larry did as he was told and things were going smoothly again when we heard her tell him that he had had 12 Bloody Mary's, she & the buddy had had seven beers and they had eaten oysters and an appetizer. Their tab still wasn't $100.00. They ordered another round. When the waitress brought it she informed Larry that it was his last because "you're starting to slur Larry". He protested a little but seemed to resign himself to his dry fate. Those must be some cheap bloody mary's is all I can say. Connie and I were doing all we could not to bust out laughing at the antics of those three.

All in all I really liked the place. The food and service were excellant and the crowd was a good mix of people. From the locals like the 3 amigos above to well-to-do folks who probably had expensive homes in the area. We will definitely be back and it may be a while before I get any more Mexican food.

When we got home we noticed the seagulls seemed starved so Connie fed them some dog food (much to Sam's dismay) while I played with the camera. Here's a few pics we took yesterday...
Connie took some pics of plants in her garden

 Cold Gulls looking for a hand out

Move over boy's I'm landing

Free for all at the water's surface. That dog food must be good.

I filled the feeder so we got some visitors there too. I haven't looked this morning but I'll bet it's empty.

Waiting his turn.

Today we're going to make a quick trip to Surfside to make sure the road is OK for next weekend and then spend the rest of the day packing the outside stuff for the trip.

Adios for now, enjoy the day.

--Rod

Damn Cold Weather

It’s Friday and I’m freezing my butt off. I saw something this morning that I haven’t seen in the 19 years we have lived in Galveston, ice in the roadside ditches. Even in 2004 when we had 5” of snow the ditch water didn’t freeze up. Not only was it 25 degrees this morning but the wind was blowing 25 to 35 mph with gusts over 40. I sure wish I could have stayed home. I bet Sam is curled up in his bed all nice and toasty. He didn’t even walk down to get the paper with me this morning. Smart dog.

I can’t take the cold weather anymore. I don’t know if it’s bad circulation or the blood thinners I’ve been on but I really am sensitive to cold. My fingertips actually hurt and my toes are numb. I got cold on the way in to work but I’ve been inside my office all morning. Once I get cold it stays with me.

I guess most of the country is suffering from cold temperatures along with snow & ice so I shouldn’t complain. Mexico sure does sound good to me though.

I was sick on Wed. with some kind of stomach thing. Last night Megan called me and asked if I was better. She told me she had been praying for me since her mom told her I didn’t feel good. That sweet little voice made me feel better than I had all week.

We’re taking her & Chase camping next weekend so I hope it warms up. We all have a 3 day weekend for Dr. King’s birthday so Connie & I figured it would be a good time to head to Lake Texana. We had them there for spring break last year and they seemed to enjoy it.

Connie is all excited about finally getting a permanent place to set up her training classes. It’s been three years coming. Now she just has to get the powers that be to fork over the cash for a few modifications and furniture. If her company’s past performance is an indication I expect she will be disappointed. They haven’t treated her program very well and I know it frustrates her.

We are supposed to be going out to dinner tonight with our part time neighbors Chuck & Mary Ann. We’re going to take them to Clarey’s. It’s a Cajun seafood restaurant on Offat’s Bayou. It’s Connie & my favorite “nice” restaurant. We only go there a couple of times a year and it has been a while because they only recently reopened after the hurricane. In September I saw an advertisement so I thought they were open. We tried to go there for our anniversary but the only people there were Mexican drywall guys. Hope we have better luck tonight.

A fishin sunset. Took this two years ago. Sure hope we get back to it soon.

Stay warm everyone and be careful if you’re driving in bad conditions.

Adios for now, enjoy the day.

--Rod

Off To Camping World

New Year's Eve was pretty laid back for us. We used to go out or go to house parties but the last few years have stayed home. The number of police and drunks on the road have made us realize that it's just not worth it. The original plan was for us to have a party for the grandkids and a couple of their friends. Jackie and Dana have a tradition of inviting a few friends over for New Year"s Eve and serving a lobster & steak dinner. We figured we would host the kids to keep them out of their parents hair. I guess the kids decided to have their party upstairs in the family room at home and leave their parents downstairs. We ended up having our friend Sean and his two sons over for some snacks. Sean's wife Zena is a nurse and had to work so they weren't doing anything either.

Yesterday we thought about taking a ride down the coast just to get out of the house. We figured we might be able to experiment with the new camera and get some beach shots. I also wanted to check out the repairs to the road between here and Surfside. Ike wiped out the road in several places and TxDOT has finally fixed it. If the road is in good shape we will probably head that way when we go camping at Lake Texana later this month.

As it turned out thinking about it and discussing it was as close as we ever got to actually getting in the truck. Connie spent the afternoon watching a marathon of "Ice Road Truckers" on television and I spent most of the afternoon downloading and resizing the 150 pictures I took at Christmas.

The camera takes great pictures but they are about 3MB. I know I could change the camera setting to make it smaller but for right now I want to leave it alone because I don't want to change the quality of the pictures. It took me awhile to find a program to resize for emailing but I finally got it done. I got to use ViewNX that came with the camera as well as Picassa and Corell Paint Shop Pro for the first time. We've always just downloaded the pictures off our old camera and called it good. It's amazing what you can do with these computer programs and I can see a lot of my future spent playing on the computer.

Connie made a nice ham dinner with garlic mashed potatoes and the necessary cabbage and blackeyed peas. We watched a couple of movies and went to bed about midnight.

Here's a few pics from Christmas:

Chase & Megan. Looks like Megan is planning on drinking LOL.

Jackie & Dana

Sam in the middle of the mess of presents and people

The kid's dog Abbey

Time got away from the chef so everyone had to pitch in and help to get all the sides done before the roast was ready.

Today we are making our first ever trip to Camping World. It is way on the other side of Houston so we have never gone before. I want to pick up a few things before our Texana trip and it is a pretty day so we decided to take the drive.

We will stop on the way back at our favorite Mexican resturant. It's La Brisa on SH 146 just south of Kemah. Best Mexican food I have ever had and very reasonable. They have opened a second one in League City but the food and atmosphere can't compare with the original place. I would highly reccomend it to anyone.

Adios for now. Enjoy the day.

--Rod