October 31, 2011

Estero Llano Grande

Resaca de la Palma

We followed up with the geocaching today and went to Estero Llano Grande and Resaca de la Palma near Brownsville. Estero Llano Grande is fairly close and very nice except the facilities were closed so the rest rooms were not available for use and this put a strain on the trip. The cache was easy to find and we had a very nice hike around the area. The Resaca was harder to find and we had to back track a couple of times just to get to the park. They were working on the road so we went down a few more roads and finally found another way into the park but it was also closed. We just parked the car and went into the park and took a hike down the trail to the geocache. This was also an  easy find and a nice walk in the park.

October 30, 2011

Mustang Island Visitors Center

Choke Canyon

We continued our state parks geocaching quest and went to Mustang Island for a quick cache.   The earliest known inhabitants of Mustang Island were Karankawa Indians, known for their fierceness and cannibalism. The Karankawas were a hunter-gatherer people, and depended heavily on shellfish and mussels for food. Encountered first by Spanish explorers, the Karankawas survived in the region until the 19th century. The island was first named "Wild Horse Island," then "Mustang," because of the wild horses, called "Mestenos," brought to the island by the Spaniards in the 1800s.  We then drove over to Choke Canyon for our final cache on this trip. We stopped and got lunch at Subway and took it to Choke Canyon with us. This is a very pretty park with large camping areas and a nice picnic area. The hike on the trail was easy and very pretty and the geocache was easy to find. They actually warn about alligators at this park but we did not see any although we did see lots of birds and there were several boats on the lake. Established as a water supply for Corpus Christi, the reservoir is now home to roughly 200 bird species and abundant wildlife, such as white-tail deer, javelina (collared peccary), wild turkey, greater roadrunner, and golden-fronted woodpecker. American alligators are occasionally observed in the Calliham Unit's 90-acre lake, adjacent to the tent camping area.

October 29, 2011

Lake Corpus Christi

We decided to continue our state parks geocaching so took off toward Corpus Christi. We went to Corpus Christi Lake State Park thn on to Goliad  The presidio was at the crossroads of several major trade and military routes. It quickly became one of the three most important areas in Texas.  We then traveled on to Goose Island and found the caches and then stayed outside of Corpus Chisti for the night. We had a steak dinner at a local restaurant very close to the motel. 

Prisidio LaBahia in Goliad, TX

October 28, 2011

Dot Smith and Santiago in Progresso

The gang

We went to Progresso, NL, Mexico today with our group of friends.  Santiago is the bartender that we all like so well but he made the drinks very strong today so I only had half of mine and gave the rest to Hardy.  We had a large group of us there and we were all square dancers.  We left the bar and then went to the Red Snapper for lunch.  They always have good food too.  I was going to get my toenails done but decided I had better wait to find out what happened to the lady that used to do them.  Her name is Cherokee and she married a man from Mexico.  They then came over the border and he was caught and sent back so they all moved to Progresso and she set up shop.  She is still a US citizen and they sent their children to school in the US and they have all attended college at UTPA.  Just goes to show that if there is a will there is a way.

October 27, 2011

Falcon Lake

Geocache at Falcon Lake

Blanco State Park

There is a geocache trip to the area state parks that we decided would be fun so we packed a lunch and went on our road trip up the Rio Grande River. Our first stop was at Falcon State Park. We have been to this park many times and really like it. The water is fairly low right now but it is still nice there. We stopped and had our lunch at a picnic table overlooking the water and then went on the geocache hunt. We found the cache out on a trail and under a tree so Hardy was happy about that. We then took off and went to Laredo for the next cache at Blanco State Park. This one was very hard to find and was out at the edge of the lake. The coordinates were a little off but we kept looking and Hardy finally found it under the reeds about 10 feet from where we thought it should have been. The dust was really kicking up when we were ready to leave that park so we headed toward Hebbronville. We stopped and had dinner at a little hamburger joint and I believe it was one of the best burger's I have ever had. We finally arrived home around 9:00 p.m.

Octpber 22, 2011

We went to Padre Island with Jan and Steve for Sand Castle Days. Unfortunately the red tide was still there so we coughed and hacked our way around the sand sculptures until we finally had to leave the area. As soon as we got away from the beach everything cleared up again. We stopped at our little favorite bay side watering hole and had something to drink and shared a plate of boiled shrimp. After the shrimp and booze we stopped at Daddy's and had dinner. I always get the shrimp salad and it is so huge but so very good.

October 21, 2011

Everything is fine when you have water. The water company came and turned on the water around 4:00 last night so we can take a shower and wash clothes and dishes again. We stopped to see Jan and Steve and let them know we were here again. They have had to live in their Texas Room as their trailer is in the shop getting the furnace and air conditioner fixed. Apparently bees had moved in and the repairs were minor compared to what they had been told in Arkansas.

October 20, 2011

We had a decent nights sleep and were off to the grocery store and to the water company to get the water turned on. We went to Angels for breakfast and to HEB to stock up for a few days. Our mail has not arrived so we are back to that problem again this year. It would not be a big deal except that we are waiting for our credit cards.

October 19, 2011

We left Gun Barrel City and headed for the valley, arriving here around 7:30 in the evening. The house was in pretty good shape when we got here except we had no water. Apparently our extra funding payment had run out so they shut off the water so that will have to be taken care of in the morning.

October 16, 2011

After saying goodbye to our square dance friends in Paris and having lunch with Jan and Steve, we left for Gun Barrel City to visit with the folks for a few days. Along the way we stopped at an old cemetery and found a geocache. This cemetery is in poor shape as they have let cows run through it. The fence is down and many of the tombstones have been knocked over. What a shame.

We arrived at the folk's for a few days stay. Hardy's mom is in good health but unable to see and it is a struggle for his dad to keep up with everything and take care of her too. They have their house for sale and when it sells they will move back to Kentucky. This will be better for all the kids and more centrally located too.

We always try to help out when we get there and do a little maintenance work. This time Hardy repaired the bathroom door and I then painted the door on both sides white. It looked pretty darn good too so then Pop wanted me to paint his door. I got that job done but the rest of the doors now need painted. The next time we go up there I will finish the rest of the doors, if the house doesn't sell first.

October 12 2011

Ken, Joe, Hardy, Harlen

We are off to Texas for the winter with a stop over to dance in Paris, TX for the weekend. This is always an exciting time for us as the dancing is great and we get to see many of our friends from the valley. The trip down was uneventful and we found our motel without any problems and I even did not miss the turn to Paris.  While in Paris we visited the Eiffel Tower.  Joe and Harlen had spotted our car with Rolla license plates and followed us to Ken and Lee's trailer then we all went to the tower.

October 11, 2011

We decided to drive to Columbia, Mo to see the kids before we leave for Texas and our winter home. Along the way we stopped at McDonalds to get our ice cream and ice tea and see Sharayah for 30 seconds. She was working and very busy so we didn't get to talk but did get a hug.

Stacie and Isaac were available and Isaac wanted to take us to his secret spot. The poor little guy has an emotional problem that the doctors are trying to help him with so I hope they can get that under control so he can live a normal life. Anyway, we walked along the river at the "secret spot" and Isaac showed me a rocked in area that he had built and we were able to find some artifacts along the banks. We had a rock throwing contest at a piece of bark floating down the river and Isaac won, of course. It is amazing how patient I can be with the grandchildren. I don't remember having that kind of patience when my kids were small.

After all the walking at the river we went to dinner, again at Isaac's favorite place to eat. We had the best hamburger and fries. Joseph and Linda were able to join us at the hamburger joint so it turned out to be quite nice being with those family members. Unfortunately, Hardy IV and Debbie were working and they had something scheduled for their kids that night so we didn't get to see them on this trip, although they informed us they were coming to Texas for Christmas. Yeah!!!!

October 9, 2011

Baby Tristan slept in until 11:00 AM. I went in to check on him several times and he was just snuggled down in his quilt. After we finally got him up, dressed and fed we took off to St. James for the yard sales. They were having huge sales all along the road leading to Meremac Park. I had a chance to spend some money on baby clothes for Tristan. He took it all in stride and was such a good baby. We went out to eat and Debbie, Salem and Tristan left to go back home to Jefferson City. I sure had a great time loving that baby.

October 8, 2011

Trying to walk

Loving that bath

 Debbie and Salam came down to spend the weekend with us and they brought baby Tristan. He is just the sweetest baby and so darn good. I had finished his baby quilt that originally started with a quilt given to Sharayah by my mother, her great grandmother. The back was totally worn out so I put a new back on it and retied it with yarn. Tristan loved it too and it was nice and warm for him.

We left to go to Old Iron Works Days in St James, MO. These are held each year at the Meremac Park. This are was a huge mining area during the civil war and each year they put on displays for the public with old equipment and booths depicting the food and music of the times. The spring is a great attraction as there is a fish hatchery and you get a chance to feed the fish, The spring is beautiful and comes out of the ground in a huge pool that empties into the Meremac River. There were sure lots of people there this year. We stopped to listen to the Blue Grass music and kept Tristan with us so Debbie and Salam could wander around and look at the displays.
We stopped at a Chinese restaurant for dinner that night and the waitresses were quite taken with Tristan and he was putting on a good act for them too.

October 3, 2011

Jan on the Current

Hardy on the Current

Hardy at the Cave

My son turned 48 today so how did this happen when I only feel 40 myself.

Steve on the Current

Jan and Steve came for breakfast and we went down to Acker's Ferry and rented canoe's to float the Current River. The weather was just perfect for this trip with a high in the mid 70's and no wind. All was going well on the river when suddenly Steve hit a log and their canoe flipped them into the river and all their stuff went floating down the river. No one was hurt, thank goodness but Hardy and I chased down the life jackets and other stuff. Hardy and Steve finally got the canoe turned over to empty the water and we stayed put on a sand bar for about an hour so we could dry out a bit. They lost their camera in the flip so we were out looking for it in the area where they turned over. I finally spotted the camera and Steve was able to fish it out. I lost my footing and into the water I went so I was also wet. We had dry clothes packed so I was able to get out of my shirt at least. They had lost their water sealed bag that had Jan's wallet so when we finally took off again we looked along the shore line and there it was! It had only leaked a little bit of water so all was well. The rest of the trip went just fine except we ended up paddling more than we wanted because we were trying to make up a little time. We did stop at Cave Springs on the river and ate a snack and took some pictures. We pulled into Pulltite around 4:00 p.m. and changed clothes and cleaned up a bit. Jan and Steve took off for Arkansas and Hardy and I waited for our ride on the bus back to our truck at Acker's Ferry. We met another couple that were from Kansas City and had a nice visit with them on the bus ride. We stopped at McDonald's for a burger and fries and made it home around 8:00 p.m.

October 2, 2011

We went out to breakfast at Zeno's with Jan and Steve, CE and Joanie.  We left CE and Joanie and Jan and Steve, Hardy and I all went to Laurie to square dance.  The caller was late getting in but we sure had a great dance after he arrived.  We did not stay for the BBQ joint but drove into Lebanon and ate at Doud's Catfish.

October 1, 2011

Jan and Steve came here for breakfast and then we took a drive down to Montauk State Park which is near us.  We stopped and got a sandwich and took it to the park.  We took them to the springs and just spent some time in the area.  We then took the scenic route back through Steelville and on to Peaceful Bend Winery where we met up with CE and Joanie Thomes,  We had to sample the wine and even bought several bottles to bring home.  When we left the winery we all came to our house where we made kraut and brats along with potato salad and baked beans.  We also started a bonfire and did a little sky watching.