#we later went around checking stores in another area and just goofing off

[voltrixz]

Nothing like ending off a very fun outing with oomf by eating a rlly good burger

[hannie-dul-set]

“i'll take your word for it and no one else's.” [lee jeno]

SUMMARY | maybe snooping through your friend’s phone wasn’t that much of a good idea. or maybe it was. either way, you didn’t regret it. PAIRING | lee jeno x reader GENRE | friends to something, fluff, lots of bickering JHDFJ WARNINGS | swearing, invasion of privacy (LMAO idk) WORD COUNT | 2.1k TAGLIST | @danishmiilk​ @lucyinthesunshinee​ @sehunniepot​ @nct-writers​ @czennienet​ @neowritingsnet​

a/n: i didn’t think i’d turn another one of my dreams into a fic, but here we are HAHHAHA i tweaked a few bits and pieces to make it work (setting + added some dialogue + changed the ending because i WOKE UP before it could finish hmph) but please enjoy this unscheduled fic!! <3

early summer afternoons were warm.

bright rays of the sun were showering on your skin as you lounged on the park bench, hot enough to make you feel the season but not too hot to singe your skin. it was the perfect weather to waste the day outside, and your younger brother and cousin decided to haul you outside so they can play basketball at the park.

but you didn't know why your friend jeno decided to come along.

"your brother messaged me," he grinned at you, plopping down beside you with a long, refreshed sigh. a towel was slung around his neck and he used it to wipe the sweat on his face. "what? why are you staring at me like that?"

"since when were you close with my brother?"

"am i not allowed to be friends with the little guy?" he joked, but apparently he took the unamused look on your face completely the wrong way. "oh my god, are you afraid that he'll take all my attention away from you?" to further tease, he brought his smug face closer to yours that was dumbfounded in shock, his stupidly irritating smile moving in closer.

sometimes you wondered if this was the same boy who helped you cross the street the first time you met.

but you loved him nonetheless.

"like hell i want your attention," you sneered, lightly shoving him away with a glare. he only laughed at your display of annoyance. "go back to playing with the kids or something, you goof."

the never leaving grin in his face seemed brighter against the sun, and he playfully ruffled your hair before running off to disappear into the court.

"as you wish, m'lady."

you let out a huff of air, rolling your eyes as your cheeks were involuntary tugged upwards, prompting a smile to form on your lips. you brought your hands to your hair, fixing the mess that jeno left with, and your gaze landed on the phone he left beside you. the screen flashed on. someone was calling him.

brows knitted together, you picked up the ringing phone, unable to recognize the caller id. you brought the device to your ear, standing up walking towards the court— you figured that you'd just answer whoever that was now and just pass it on to jeno once he was at reach.

"hello?"

"oh, hello there!" there was a pause from the caller "is lee jeno around, miss? would you mind giving the phone to him?"

the voice was that of a middle aged woman's, but it wasn't someone that you recognized. you assumed it was a relative of his or something because you'd know that this was his mom if it were her. "ah, give me a moment! i'll just look for him."

your feet stopped at the edge of the court, the sound of a ball bouncing into the concrete jarring against your ears. not bothering to look at the scene in front if you, you covered the mic with your hand before deciding to shout.

"jeno! someone's calling you!"

there was no usual prompt answer from your friend.

"he's not here!"

the loud voice of your brother answered instead, causing you to narrow your eyes into the court scene with a tinge of confusion masking your expression. there was indeed no mop of blue hair within the area, and you were only confused even further.

"where did he— aish, nevermind."

scratching your head, you swiveled your heels and decided to just head back to the bench. "hi, sorry. i'm not sure where he is right now. so if it's fine with you, can you call him again later? or maybe i could just tell him to call you back when he returns?"

"oh, then can you just relay this to him? it won't take that long, i promise."

you inwardly sighed, but agreed nevertheless. oh, you were definitely gonna ask him to treat you and the kids dinner later. why the fuck did he just disappear like that? now you were responsible for memorizing whatever this woman was telling you (apparently it was about an architecture summer program he was interested in— the lady was a head from his department and she was just calling to tell him that he was accepted. she says she'll be forwarding more details later through text).

"alright, thank you! i'll be sure to inform him when he gets back."

the call ended, and you groaned. you were about to close the phone, but then all of a sudden a notification appeared with a quiet ding!

[haechan 🌟 liked your retweet.]

ding!

[ohhh shit why do i feel like i know who this is.]

"huh."

you knew that you shouldn't be snooping inside your friend's phone. you knew that you shouldn't be invading his privacy no matter how enticingly juicy the bait was. you knew that it was flat out wrong. but—

"ah, just a peek," you clicked on the notification. "payback for making me deal with his stuff."

a hint of excitement rushed through you. jeno never told you his twitter. actually, you didn't even know he had one. he was always buried with studies, sports, and friends so you didn't expect him to keep up with social media— this fact enough was surprising, but the moment the screen finally loaded the tweet

you were even more surprised than you were a few seconds ago.

[@markly tweeted: "it's kind of funny how sometimes we just meet random people at the most random of moments and you don't expect it but they just end up sticking by your side until now"]

[@leejeno quoted: "yeah. a few years back, i saw this girl while i was walking. it wasn't the usual path that i took to school. i saw her having trouble crossing the street because there was a dog hanging around (she's scared of them) so i decided to help her. she couldn't even look at my face back then out of embarrassment but earlier we were calling until four in the morning. if i took a different path that day or if i didn't help her, i don't know how i'd be like right now because she's become one of the most important people in my life."]

your heart skipped a beat. two beats. three. it was running a mile a minute and you could barely even breathe to catch up.

[@do0 replied: how are you two right now?]

[@leejeno replied: "we're good haha. i'm going with her and her brother to the park later. we're still really good friends.]

[@leejeno replied: but i'm not sure if i want things to stop there."]

"hey, sorry for running off there. i went to get some— whoa. whats up?"

oh my fucking god.

you shot up, eyes wide, and you automatically turned off the phone. broken stutters left your lips, as the leaping of your heart to your throat prevented you from saying even a semblance of a coherent sentence. all you could think of when you met his worried gaze, the way he rushed to your side to check on you, was the last thing you read. your grip on his phone tightened.

but i'm not sure if i want things to stop there

you were gonna fucking lose it.

"hey, are you okay?"

quick, gentle hands landed on your cheeks, fingers brushing against your skin like a match igniting a flame. you nearly got lost and tongue-tied all over again, but you quickly slapped his hands away in a scolding fit. "jesus christ, i'm fine. you just surprised me. are you a ghost or something?" you glared at jeno, but it only lasted one second because you couldn't bear to look at him without your insides going crazy. because of that, your eyes flicked to the plastic bag he dropped onto the bench. he brought you something to eat.

"a-and before you ask—" you defended yourself indignantly when he didn't even accuse you of anything. "i wasn't snooping. the school called. it was about your summer program. you got in."

"oh? they called already?" you nodded. "ah, let's talk while walking— the kids are mad because i only got you food. they're asking me to buy the entire store for them to compensate," he released an airy laugh. you mentally scolded yourself.

keep it cool. you repeated the mantra inside your head as you strided beside jeno, your brother and cousin racing ahead of you. street lights were lighting up and the sky was fading into the night. cool cool cool cool cool. keep it cool.

the walk to the store felt way too gruelling than it normally would. it wasn't even that far. you told jeno everything the lady had told you, including the more detailed texts that she'd be sending later on. you thought that he'd be a lot more excited after hearing— he was interested, after all. but to you, he just seemed dismissive. "should i go?" he mindlessly asked.

"what are you talking about?" your brows furrowed. "yeah, of course. you wanted to, right?"

"but it's gonna last an entire month this summer," he yawed, stretching out his arms and hooking you by the neck, causing you to halt and stumble into him. you held back a squeak, and he looked at you, eyes gleaming with curious anticipation. a car sped by. "you still want me to go?"

those damned words that you read echoed inside your head again. you wondered if it resonated into the fucking nerves of your heart, as well.

"i—i mean," you stammered. "it's only one month. and it would also help you a lot in the future, right? you'd make a lot of connections during the camp. so yeah, i do want you to go."

he blinked at you. a hum sounded from his closed lips. he let go of you and resumed walking. you gaped when he left you behind.

was this karma?

"hey, what the hell?" quickly, you caught up to him, grabbing onto the sleeve of his shirt so that you could hang on to him. "why are you being sulky? i didn't do anything wrong!" technically you did do something wrong, but he didn't have to know that.

"you said you wanted me to go."

"you're a baby," you scrunched your nose is disapproval. "i only said that because you said you wanted to go."

jeno abruptly stopped. maybe you were causing a scene in front of all the passersby, but you really didn't give a fuck anymore when your head was in a looped up mess. all thanks to your extremely difficult friend who apparently doesn't want to just be your friend. you swore that he was driving you insane on purpose.

he pulled out his phone and faced the screen to you. your sweat dropped.

[@leejeno replied: but i'm not sure if i want things to stop there."]

"even after reading this," he started. "you still want me to go?"

"w-well."

he just had to be so fucking sharp. well, you weren't exactly slick either. maybe he saw a glimpse of the screen before you got to turn it off earlier. heat started to rise from your neck into your face, a grinding mixture of embarrassment and desire to be hit by a moving truck afflicting your nerves. why were you the one suffering? shouldn't it be him?

"no."

he hummed, turning off his phone and shoving the device into his pocket. arms crossed, he leaned in to your face, bearing a look of feigned innocence. "but you said i'd make a lot of useful connections."

"you can make those anywhere."

"and it's only a month, right?"

"that's thirty days too long."

"and—"

"oh, come on!" you exclaimed, balling your fists in vexation. another car sped by with an accompanied honk. jeno simply wore a look of faint amusement at your little outburst. "i don't want you to join your stupid summer program. happy now?"

"well, if you say so."

you stared at him. he patted your head, eyes disappearing into a pair of crescents with a smile.

"i'll take your word for it and no one else's."

you were left frozen and dumbfounded in the middle of the sidewalk as jeno brazenly spun his heels to chase after the runaway kids that went before you— literally leaving you behind. letting a curse slip past your breath, you also went after them. he was definitely driving you insane on purpose.

sometimes you wondered if this was the same boy who helped you cross the street the first time you met.

this was one of those times.

"you said you weren't gonna go, you asshole!"

"payback for snooping through my phone!"

but you could still love him nonetheless.

© hannie-dul-set, 2020.

[jbbarnesnnoble]

Lollipops

Summary: Trips to the grocery store are always an adventure. 

Features: Fluff, so much fluff. Allusions to sex, mentions of alcohol, jokes about Bucky being an old man

Prompt: Candy

Pairing: Sam Wilson/Bucky Barnes/Reader

Notes: For Day Four of the OTP challenge

Word Count: 1083

The store was mostly empty with the early hour. Kids were in school, people were at work. The only people out grocery shopping on a Sunday morning were the elderly and random others who had nothing else to do. You looked at Bucky and held back a laugh at the thought that you and Sam were technically shopping with the elderly by bringing him along. Sam caught your eye and you burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny, doll?” Bucky asked.

“Nothing, nothing. Would you like some help with that cart, sir?” you asked. Sam figured out quickly what you were doing. Bucky’s brow furrowed.

“I think I got it, thanks,” he said. While jabs about his age sometimes got annoying, Bucky usually played along. Besides, he’d always show the two of you later just how well he still moved for his “advanced age”. It didn’t take him long to figure out what the two of you were up to and decide to ignore the jabs. He knew he’d have his moment. 

The three of you made your way to the fruits and vegetables. Bucky went to the melons. The last time the three of you had picked up watermelon was for the Fourth of July barbecue that was a birthday party for Steve. You’d made two spiked watermelons. One for him, Steve, and Thor. Another for everyone else. You’d had to buy a few because the first two were in no way good. They had been grainy and lacked any kind of sweetness. You always tested a piece before spiking it so you didn’t waste any alcohol. 

You were planning a fruit salad to bring with you to one of the many events hosted by Tony Stark for children in the area, this time for the children who lived on the compound. Most of the core Avengers were hands off on missions these days, a new generation taking over that allowed the older Avengers to settle down a bit and have a piece of the life they deserved after fighting the evils of the world. That didn’t mean they never went on missions. They were still the ones on call for the big ones and they were responsible for training. At any time, any one of them would decide to go one a smaller mission, whether for field training with new recruits or to keep their skills in top shape.

Bucky was lost in thought as he continued looking at the fruit. He lifted a particularly large watermelon into the cart and heard Sam come up beside him.

“Let me grab that,” Sam said, plucking the watermelon from Bucky’s hands and setting it in the cart. Bucky gave him an indecipherable look before turning back to the display. He glanced at the list on the phone, checking off watermelon and moved to look at the cantaloupe. You were off looking at the smaller fruits. 

Sam walked over to where you stood examining berries, a grin on his face as he picked up a box of blueberries.

“You’re playing a dangerous game,” he said.

“But the payoff will be worth it. Remember the last time we messed with him? He can call us off whenever he wants,” you reminded him. Sam nodded. Oh, he remembered alright. Which was why he was eager to go along with it. 

The three of you continued your shopping, with you and Sam moving to be “considerate citizens” and assisting Bucky with lifting heavier items. Bucky looked at the two of you with adoration when you weren’t looking. He loved the two of you, even when, no especially when you were goofing off and joking around. It brought a warmth to him that he couldn’t begin to describe after years of feeling so cold. 

Everything went smoothly. Until you reached the candy aisle. You all had a sweet tooth, but it was usually Bucky or Sam that reigned it in. Today it was clearly going to have to be Bucky as you and Sam raced to find your favorites. 

You found the lollipops, picking up several bags. Dum-dums, Tootsie Pops, and bubble gum lollipops were among the varieties. Lollipops were one of your all time favorites. Sure, you liked chocolate bars and other candies, but lollipops were one of the ones you liked best, especially the ones with more candy in the center. The rainbow lollipops were another favorite. You remembered begging your mom as a kid to let you get one every time you saw them. 

You also picked up a couple bags of the wax bottles, another favorite childhood candy. Sam grimaced as he saw all that you had.

“Why don’t you pick some real candy?” he asked.

“Lollipops are real candy,” you argued.

“No one’s favorite candy is lollipops,” he replied. You glared at him. Bucky looked between the two of you. 

“Excuse you. Lollipops aren’t overly sweet like those bars you call chocolate,” you said gesturing toward the pile of Hershey’s bars he held.

“They’re more of a candy than those,” he replied. 

“They’re both candy. My stash is running low, leave me alone,” you half whined. Bucky chuckled at that. He watched as you and Sam continued to bicker over the intricacies of what constituted a candy before deciding to intervene.

“Children, children! Put it in the cart and let’s go. We have a schedule to keep,” Bucky said, startling to the two of you.

“Did he just…,” you said trailing off.

“We’re not children,” Sam said, crossing his arms before realizing what he’d done. Bucky raised an eyebrow at him.

“You two done or am I going to have to ground you too?” Bucky teased. He had turned the tables on both of you. You and Sam shared a look before placing your selections in the nearly full basket, heading to the checkout.

Once you were home and the groceries packed away, you wrapped your arms around Bucky, joined by Sam.

“I love you, both of you,” you said, looking at them.

“I love you too, you brats,” Bucky said, a smile on his face.

“We’re not brats. But I love you both too,” Sam said before the three of you pulled apart and headed to the couch. You arranged yourself between them, your head on Sam’s lap and your legs across Bucky’s as Sam turned on the television and found something for the three of you to watch for your lazy Sunday afternoon. You wouldn’t change any of it for the world. 

[lokilickedme]

True Story Time

Did I ever tell you guys about the time I gave Ronald Reagan the finger in front of 228 people?

In 1984 when I was in 10th grade, Reagan sent a team of “Presidential Aides” around to the schools in my state on the premise of observing small-town procedure and getting a feel for how the southern educational system was working out.  It wasn’t.  I had just moved from a suburban junior high of 8000 kids in a big city to a country school with 212 students total.  Kindergarten through 12th grade all in one building.  We had 11 classrooms, 9 teachers, and no funding.  We ate lunch outside and the bus driver doubled as the History teacher (and sometimes Science and Math...occasionally Home Ec).  The English teacher was the janitor.  There was no PE teacher, we just went outside and ran around the block (sometimes we came back, sometimes we didn’t) and in the hot months the Shop teacher brought his tools and took the doors off the building in lieu of air conditioning.  We went through five Principals in a two-year span of time and male students regularly just didn’t show up for two weeks during each semester because it was time to harvest something.  Female students regularly quit showing up halfway into 11th grade because they either got married or were too pregnant to fit into the desks anymore.  We were pretty much the school system that time forgot in a town that was more of a punchline than an actual place.

And here Ronald Reagan was, sending his representatives into our midst to “see how we’re doing”.

We weren’t doing so hot.  But if there’s one thing people in small country towns have going for them, it’s a fierce and intense pride in their own self sufficiency, and nobody - nobody - was happy about that rich bastard sticking his nose in our business.  And I, being from somewhere else and knowing what a real actual honest to god school system should be like, was pretty disgusted that this place couldn’t even get enough money to fix the roof that the last tornado had nearly taken off.  Odds were good the building was going to fall in on us before I could graduate.

So during lunch on the day of The Event I sneaked back into the school while everyone was outside eating.  The teachers were conferring with the Principal about the Big Presidential Visitation, and while they argued about which students they should hurriedly send home before the Very Important People got there, I ran through the school and wrote in 3 foot letters on every chalkboard in every classroom:

WE DON’T WANT THE PRESIDENT’S AIDS

I thought it was pretty clever, given Reagan’s shameful handling of the ongoing AIDS crisis.  Also I was a kid and it was the era when “you’ve got AIDS!!” was a commonly flung insult among idiot teenagers.  And the Reagan Administration’s other policies certainly hadn’t “trickled down” to our little town or school system, so twisting his disgusting neglect of one group while putting on a show of caring about another into a slyly juvenile joke seemed appropriate.  He was sending a highly publicized suited battallion into our economically/socially/progressively depressed town to “check on our progress” without any intention of doing anything about whatever report they might bring back.  We were a diversionary tactic to make him look good and it was obvious...well, it was obvious to me anyway.  I felt like it was a slap in the face since our area of the country had been pretty much completely left out and forgotten.  The children were the future, right?  Unfortunately the grownups in power didn’t seem to care much about that when there wasn’t a lot of money to be made or fame to be raked from it.  So we didn’t want them coming in with their clipboards and asking us questions and mucking up our day of state-sanctioned goofing around just to fuck off back to Washington and forget about us.  We had meth to be made during science class, we didn’t have time for this.

So the big black car arrived while everyone was filing back into the building and the President’s Aides entered the school just as the Principal was noticing the written vandalism in the science lab.  I saw him come running out and he spotted me at the other end of the single long hallway.  He knew it was me - he’d had trouble with me before, but that’s a story for another day - and as he was raising his hand to point at me with that STOP RIGHT THERE look on his face that school principals are known for, an outburst started in the math room.

It was followed by random outbursts from other classrooms as they filled with returning students.  And since the teachers were always a good five to ten minutes late to every class after lunch because there were cigs to be smoked and why the hell not, the chalkboard diatribes were still intact as the President’s representatives entered the rooms.

I didn’t even bother denying anything.  I had chalk handprints on my jeans.

It was a glorious day.

None of the students understood the double meaning of my graffiti, they just assumed I was making a crude joke about the President having AIDS because hurr durr, funny AIDS joke.  The English teacher chastised me for incorrectly spelling “Aides” (she obviously didn’t get it either). The art teacher gave me an A for originality and artistic style (she wasn’t from there).  I was told that at least two of the five Aides laughed.  The Principal, who wasn’t from there either, shot me a sternly halfhearted threatening look the next morning but never issued any consequences.  He was outta there two weeks later anyway, replaced by yet another in a long line of people from somewhere else who thought they could turn our school around.

I forgot to mention that a camera crew arrived with the Aides and videotaped the whole thing.  I don’t know if any clips ever aired anywhere, or if it ended up in someone’s report, or if it was just taped over later and forgotten.  Maybe it was stored in Reagan’s Presidential Library.  I’d like to think it was shown to him at some point, though.  And if he did see it, I sure as hell hope he got my finely crafted middle finger embedded in six chalked words on eleven blackboards in a tiny ramshackle school in a town he likely had no clue ever existed.

Or maybe he just didn’t get it, and assumed it was just another AIDS joke.

[ohmygraysonsthighs]

Stick and Poke

A/N: holy beejezus!!! thank you all again for all the support you’ve been showing my writing I love all y'all. if you don’t know what a stick and poke is it’ll be explained in the story type thing idk what to call it lmao. sO like always I hope this isn’t too shitty!!

You and your boyfriend sat on the couch watching some old movie that was on. It was any old Saturday afternoon, but you were both content. As you began to pay less and less attention to the movie, you scanned Grayson’s face, tracing his jawline, poking his cheekbones, etc.

“Whaat are you doing.” Grayson mumbled, eyes trained on the screen as your pointer finger poked the shell of his ear.

“I’m bored.”

“Just watch the movie.” You huffed and snuggled closer to his buff body. He grabbed one of your hands as the other started tracing his thigh tattoo.

“I like this one. Pretty colors. How many tattoos do you have?” You questioned.

“Ah. A good amount.”

“Do you want more?”

“Probably.”

You pondered. “Can I give you one?”

“What?”

“Can I give you a tattoo? Like a stick and poke?”

“A stick and who?”

You rolled your eyes. “A stick and poke. You go through all these procedures to make sure you sterilize and clean a sewing or whatever needle, tie some thread around the base, tape it to a pencil, clean the area of skin you want it on, put a little Vaseline over that, dip your needle in a permanent ink, and bam! Do it yourself tattoo.” You smiled up at him and he gave you a quizzical look.

“How do you know how to do this? What if it’s not safe?”

“It’s pretty safe and I have a few you big goof. You ever seen this little guy,” you pointed to the small Saturn on the side of your pinky “he’s a stick and poke.”

“How bad does it hurt?”

“Worse than a regular tattoo. You’re literally poking the holes repeatedly into your skin with a needle, and you have to go over it a few times for it to show up. But it’s completely bearable!” You said, hoping to convince him. It’d be more interesting than the movie flashing on the television.

“I don’t know. Sounds kinda sketchy.”

“C'mon! It’ll be fun!” You pleaded with your eyes and you knew he’d give in.

“Fine. I’m picking the design though.”

“Aw, Gray, you trust me! Exactly the support needed in a relationship, love it. Now get up big boy, we gotta go to the craft store.” You slapped his thick thigh and he followed you up.

Upon returning from your local craft store, in your bag were sewing needles, thread, wooden pencils (“How on earth do you not keep wooden pencils in your home?”), and ink. The rest of the stuff needed to accomplish the stick and poke was already in the Dolan household. You did everything you had to to create a clean area and prepared the needle. Currently you and Grayson sat on the floor of his living room as you sterilized the spot he wanted (his upper right calf) and drew the design of his choice (a small ‘surfs up’ emoji-looking hand).

“You sure you’re ready?” You asked, blotting the Vaseline over where you were going to puncture his skin.

“Bro you’re the one that convinced me to do this, why are you making me second guess this?”

“Habit I guess,” you chuckled as you slapped the Vaseline-slick area, “alright, let’s do tha thang!” You joked and Grayson rolled his eyes. “Ew.”

Gray watched you as you steadied the needle over where it was going to first pierce. And then you poked an ink filled hole. And again. And again. To get your face closer to the area for better precision, you lay on your stomach across his lap.

“Ow Y/N. Ow Y/N. Ow Y/N.” Grayson complained. “This hurts a lot worse than I was expecting why would you ever want to do this.”

“For the experience I guess. And because there was no way in hell my mom was letting me get a real tattoo.” You said shrugging, all while continuing your work. The first layer was finished and any ink left on the surface of his skin was wiped off. It was pretty splotchy and not opaque at all, of course, so you applied more Vaseline to the section for layer two.

“Stop doing that. It’s making the ink bleed and I can’t see the pattern.” You said, referring to his hand that was stretching the skin, attempting to relieve the pain.

“Well where am I supposed to put my h-.” Grayson stopped mid sentence and brought both hands down on your ass cheeks, making you let out a yelp. “This is a lot better actually.” He said, squeezing and massaging both cheeks.

“Grayson!”

“What? You said not to stretch the skin and I’m not. Well, not my skin anyways. Plus I like touching your butt,” He slapped your ass, “it jiggles very nicely.” You gave him a stern look and he returned a toothy smile. Shaking your head, you returned to the task at hand. About 15 minutes later, you finished and wiped the last layer, revealing to Grayson the masterpiece.

“Wow. That’s actually really good. How do you have the patience to make and repeat all those little dots? You should be a tattoo artist.” He stated.

“I don’t know. You’re welcome by the way. And you said it was sketchy.” You said, shoving him.

“Yeah, yeah. Alright, your turn.”

“What?”

“I said, your turn.”

“No I heard you. You think you’re gonna give me one?”

“Yes, definitely. You convinced me to do this so now I have to return the favor. So teach me how to do that little thing with a new needle.” You looked at him as if he had just said the moon was turning purple and contemplated if it was worth fighting against. It wasn’t, and you sagged your shoulders in defeat.

“Fine.” You dragged. He gave another toothy smiled and you mimicked one back as he gave you a quick kiss on the lips.

“I get to pick out the design and where it is, right?” You asked after he’d finished making the makeshift tattoo gun.

“Nope.”

“Garyyyyy why I had a perfect one picked out. I was gonna do a lil 'rock on’ hand.” You pouted.

“We can do that one next. But I have the perfect idea for the first one that I’m giving you.”

“And that is?”

“A little 'G’ on the inside of your left thigh. That way, when I’m eating you out I can always be reminded of who that pussy belongs to.” He smirked as you looked at him with wide eyes. Well shit Gary you didn’t need to do me like that.

“Hm. I uh, I like the way you think.” You said as the goosebumps in your arms settled down.

“You always do.” He gestured you to lay down and he snuck up between your legs, spreading them. You got goosebumps all over again because of how close he was to your most intimate area (nothing new), but that was not the current task at hand. Gray went through the same procedures as you did with him, always checking if he was doing anything wrong (of course he wasn’t, has that boy ever done anything wrong).

“Okee, I’m going in.” He chuckled and his hot breath sent a little something to your core.

“Don’t breathe too heavily. You’re making me wet and the last thing I wanna be as your poking holes into my skin is horny.” He made eye contact with you, his eyes noticeably a little darker. He nodded as you gulped.

He punctured the first hole and repeated. This hurt a lot worse than any of the other stick and pokes you’ve gotten because of how sensitive the area was.

“Grayson. Grayson this really hurts.” You whined.

“It’s ok baby. Be good for daddy.” He mumbled as he was in deep concentration.

“You’re too kinky for this shit.”

“You right.” The first layer was over and he began the second layer.

“Fucking- it’s not hurting any less.” You groaned.

“Grab something.” Your hands traveled down to his head and grabbed his luscious brunette locks. “Mmm I love it when you grab my hair.” He hummed. He rubbed the inside of your other thigh with his thumb as he finished the second, then third, then fourth, then finally sixth layer. Grayson kissed the inside of your thigh and popped his head up.

“Ok, done! You can look now.” You took a peek at the surprisingly opaque and somewhat neat 'G’ that has now made its home on your inner left thigh. It was kinda hot honestly. You looked up at Grayson, pride shinning through his eyes and you couldn’t help but smile.

“Very impressive for your first one.”

“Thank you madame.” He bowed.

“Ya know, I don’t think I can walk much because my thighs will rub together and that’ll hurt like a bitch.” You said matter of factly.

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to be keeping your legs wide open a lot more often now.”

A/N: hi again so a couple things I wanted to say. first of all, I intentionally put Gary I thought it’d be funny. second of all, I’m sorry how short it is compared to my other (two lmao) stuff but I DID write a smut part to this I just didn’t add it because idk but if you want to read it or want it to be posted LET ME KNOW!! k thank you for reading ly!!

[cosmosogler]

i got just about everything done that needed to be done today. i need to check if i’m actually registered for specific classes yet or not and continue with ongoing studies but other than that i got a lot done.

first thing i did was get up at 9:20, which is just a bit earlier than i’ve been getting up lately. tonight i’m gonna try for bed at 11:30 to see about getting up at 8 or 8:15. right now it’s 10:35 so i’m in the clear for now.

gotta let dad know i will be accompanying eve to the vet on friday.

i showered and got the final bandages off. my bellybutton actually only has a tiny cut. not into it, but around the inside in a semi-circle. there wasn’t any extra blood or anything, it’s all closed nicely. i’m guessing there’s just a lot of blood flow through that area of your body and that’s why the bandages looked a lot more severe. i even scrubbed off ALMOST all the residue at long last. there’s a little bit left around a scab i didn’t want to irritate too much. my stomach finally looks like i was lightly injured instead of operated on. taking off the tape helped a lot honestly. none of the incisions look like they will leave a noticeable scar.

modern medicine really is impressive. when my gramma had her gallbladder out just 10 years ago or so it left a definite mark along her side.

anyway after that i looked up a lot of finance stuff and compiled a list of resources to review again later. stuff explaining, like, what investment is and how it works and why it’s preferable to just putting everything in a savings account. and what a retirement fund looks like and the differences between all the varieties. i think i am going to have to actually have someone at the bank sit me down and explain how my accounts work though. and maybe how to tone down mom’s control over my finances. definitely want to do that BEFORE i leave, as there is no open branch in gainesville.

looks like i could even bring mom along on saturday if we need, like, negotiations or something. i’ll keep looking into it.

then i went to the grocery store and got some tortilla chips, and some dog treats since you get a dollar off (which is like 20%!) if you got a membership. i got the old favorite, bacon and blueberry. i’m gonna start giving them to the dogs after eve’s surgery. i’m hoping cookies will lift her mood.

then i ate an entire bowl full of sharon’s salsa and also heated up some leftover pizza. i was really full afterward but i’m glad i didn’t overdo it with the salsa. i didn’t actually fill up the entire bowl until it overflowed. i only reasonably filled it.

the pizza made me SUPER sick afterward. i spent a while listening to music while i looked at the rest of my finance resource tabs. then i downloaded an app that tracks how long you spend each day working on individual long-term projects and helps you pace yourself with timers and scheduled breaks and stuff. i even coughed up the five dollars for no ads. 

i spent an hour giving it a try! i added a few projects to work on over the next week, and stuff i thought would probably be important to keep up with at school like “study physics.” for now i just timed myself organizing some bookmarks. it was nice actually. i got all my folders where i want them, i cleared out my “general” tab into the appropriate folders, and i started going through one of the larger folders looking for dead links or things that were sorted incorrectly back when i made the folder like five years ago.

the hope is that if i streamline my folders enough i will be encouraged to actually look in them sometimes? at least my music folder is looking fantastic. i’ve got it sorted into genre and a subfolder for things i would like to buy when i have money for it.

i hope i can make good use of this app. it seems promising so far.

then i took care of some ufl orientation stuff and a survey i found in my email. and i signed and sent off some paperwork. then i went to dinner with gramma and grampa, my brother, and the cousins. this time my brother did invite my sister but she stayed home because she and mom wanted to go to the movies. (mom flaked out on the movie. but gramma is going with her tomorrow.)

i ordered a veggie burger, and the waitress wrote it down and read it back to me correctly, but when i got my food i took a bite out of the burger and got a mouthful of Double Beef Patty. 

i always feel like i’m put in a complicated situation when this happens. and it does happen a lot. like, on one hand, i really don’t want to eat meat! and i am very out of practice with digesting meat! and now i am even more unable to digest it due to the gallbladder thing!! but on the other hand, not eating the meat isn’t going to bring the animal back to life. it feels like if i refuse to eat it the animal died for nothing. no one else is going to eat it now that it’s on my plate sitting in front of me. 

i felt bad because i really did get sick. i wanted to avoid too much more fat because of the pizza for lunch. veggie burgers are usually pretty good about that, and i got a side salad instead of fries or anything. i dunno. the waitress was nice about it and it wasn’t her fault. i hope that didn’t affect the tip grampa gave her. mom said he tips badly in general anyway though.

after that we went back to gramma’s house and i had another klondike bar and played “village idiot” with my brother and austin and thomas. i lost only once out of the four rounds even with austin very carefully explaining each turn of the game to me constantly and telling me my options when my cards were face up. i teased him about it after the first round and he let me just play. i did get a lot better at it after the second round though.

thomas did the “kill yourself” thing again but it seemed to be more that he was very enthusiastic about the game and it had become his go-to phrase at some point before the first time he told me that.

after the game my brother and thomas and i were screwing around on austin’s computer. my brother knew most of his social circle so we were just goofing off on discord.

then my brother and i came across a channel where austin had posted pictures of my sister (taken from screenshots of her snap chat a few months ago) and had received some very... inappropriate comments on her appearance. i asked who the guy was and his age and he apparently is older than even me. that made me REALLY upset. when austin got back my brother looked at him and was all “what the hell is this?” and i told him not to show them pictures of us any more. he seemed confused? but he also said “ok.” 

i talked it over with asher when grampa was driving me and my brother home. asher was real nice about it at least. when we got home i took wiley on another lap around the neighborhood in 100-degree heat, and then i told my sister what happened. she thanked me for telling her and said i did everything i could already. 

it was actually kind of nice that she thanked me for once. i usually get a response more along the lines of “o....k....????” when i try to talk with my sister. or “that’s just how she is” when i talk about mom. i recognize that my sister has a very different (but just as complicated and stressful) relationship with my mother than i do.

what did i do after that... it looks like i just checked some comics and watched an episode of nostalgia critic and folding ideas. and watched another physics video. i’m kind of relieved that it’s coming back to me fairly easily. i’ll try to keep up with it tomorrow. tomorrow evening we are entertaining jamey and her kids (part 2!) it looks like the oldest one just got pokemon moon so i can finally give her the espeon i spent that one evening training up haha. hopefully in exchange for transferring all her pokemon up to the new game she will help me evolve my machoke. 

i’m a little nervous about how much i should really... talk to her or ask her about herself. she’s ten years younger than me. like what’s polite and what’s too much? will she think i’m being patronizing if i start explaining too much about pokemon or whatever? should i ask what kinds of tv shows she likes? would it be weird if we talked about steven universe or something?

i know i was just a kid a few years ago but i already don’t remember how they work. this is weird. i seem to remember telling myself i would never not understand someone my age but i don’t remember when that was. probably when i was like nine. i have a lot of “shower thoughts” style wisdom chunks to impart on a younger generation but i always figured it would be, like, my brother’s kids at some point in the far future. 

god. i’m babysitting my old babysitter’s kids. i want to treat them with the respect i would give an adult but at the same time there is a difference in how kids work compared to adults. i don’t know where i’d be overestimating or underestimating. underestimating kids is insulting to them, of course, i remember that, but i feel like overestimating is a lot more... stressful and dangerous.

i guess i’ll figure it out as i go. 

i’m worried about eve... she seems like she’s about ready to give up. she just seems so exhausted when i come over to pet her. she barely lifts her head. she doesn’t greet me at the door since she doesn’t spend time with the other dogs when i’m not home. so she doesn’t hear the front door open or close.

i need her to hang on for just one more day. i wish i could tell her that. one day before she can exchange this problem for a set of less insurmountable problems. i really hope that the amputation is helpful for her. even if she only lives a couple more months, if she’s able to “live” again, it will have been worth it. by “live” i mean stuff like getting around when she wants to. eating. wagging her tail. thinking a little more clearly. not being irritable and frustrated and confused all the time.

she’s sleeping right now. at least it passes the time i guess. i still get the feeling that she’s the one taking care of me instead of the other way around. i check on her a lot but when she’s not sleeping she’s usually watching me. she almost never leaves the room i’m in and almost always follows me as soon as i leave. she has gotten better at “stay, i will be right back” at least. i wish there was more i could do for her right now. 

[kenziechance94]

About Last Night

I am currently sitting in the airport waiting to board my flight and I’m going on two hours of sleep, so I’m pretty tired (but it’s worth it). I’m reminiscing about the last 24 hours of my life, and I am in complete awe. As a writer, you would think that I would know just what to say, but alas, even writers are at a loss for words sometimes. I don’t know how this is going to come out, but I am going to try my best.

I have been listening to East of Eli’s music since his first EP, “Nothing Ordinary,” came out in 2014 (if you haven’t heard it, check it out). I was lucky enough to see EOE at The Troubadour in LA in March, and seeing him live for the first time was like a dream. Nathan was absolutely amazing, and I knew that I wanted to see him again. So when he announced a concert in New York, I wanted to go. I had never been to New York, and what better excuse to go than to see an artist that has impacted you so much, am I right? Anyway, I looked at the date and realized that it was going to be during my spring break (I’m a writing student at the Vancouver Film School), and I was already planning on going home to KC to visit family and friends. I immediately thought of my sister, and figured that maybe we could make a little sister trip out of it. Unfortunately, the concert was a 21+ venue and my sister is only 15, so that wouldn’t work. Luckily, EOE was able to sell out that venue, so that allowed them to set up another concert the same week for all ages. At that moment, I was like, “I don’t know how I’m going to make this happen, but I am going to get my sister and I to that show if it’s the last thing I do!” And I did! After lots of negotiating with my parents, they finally agreed to let us go. So the week of my spring break came around, and I got to catch up with family and friends. Yesterday morning, my sister and I got up at 4am to make our flight to New York. After a layover and a grounded plane in Milwaukee, we finally made it to New York. I love cities, they just amaze me, so as soon as we were outside of the airport, I was ready to explore. My poor sister on the other hand is a country girl at heart. She lives for trap shooting and riding dirt bikes (we are the complete opposite in every way, but we are really great friends), so she was not as thrilled about being in the big city. After getting lost with our cab driver, and an hour drive to our hotel took us three hours, we were tired, but we knew we should try and see some of the city. So of course, me being the pizza lover that I am (I even brought my PJ pants that have pizza hearts all over them with me), told my sister we had to try authentic NY pizza while we were there, so we did. I was stuffed by the end of it, but it was definitely delicious. We then decided to embark on an adventure and take the subway to Central Park (luckily I’ve had experience with subways in Vancouver and in Berlin, so it wasn’t that difficult to figure out). Central Park was really pretty, but we didn’t get to stay long because we had to get back to our hotel to get ready for the concert.

Now, the concert. The concert is where the real magic began. We get to the venue and the line is insane to get in which just fills my heart with such joy to see so many people coming out to support Nathan and Chyler. We finally get inside and it’s about 15 minutes or so before EOE comes out. Now, for those who don’t know, this past week has been a rocky road for Nathan and his family. Last Monday, he got a call telling him that his father was losing his battle with cancer. He spent that next week by his side, and he wanted to cancel the shows (rightfully so), but his dad said no. His dad’s wish for him was to “carry on” (from “The Siege,” which according to Nathan is his dad’s favorite song) and play these shows in New York. I can only imagine how difficult it was for Nathan to have to make that choice, knowing that at any moment, his dad could no longer be on this earth. But Nathan made the choice, and he chose to follow his father’s wishes and continue on to NY. That only made me admire Nathan more than I already did because that kind of choice takes an enormous amount of strength. This just showed more clearly the depth of his character and the size of his heart. I have such respect for him. Then on top of that, yesterday, T-Mobile shut of Nathan and Chyler’s phone numbers, so they had no way of contacting each other. Luckily, Nathan and Chyler have some of the most amazing fans out there, and they were able to get the attention of the CEO of T-Mobile. Because of all of this, they got their phone numbers back. There is power in numbers, and when you set your mind to something, there really is nothing you can’t do. This was such a great example of that. You would think that this was enough adversity for one family in one week, but sadly this was not the last part of sad news. Nathan announced when he got on stage that there were some issues with Chyler’s flight and she was currently grounded in Toronto. Chyler was of course upset because she had missed Tuesdays’s concert to be with her kids and family in LA, and so she wanted to be here. Of course, everyone was sad, but it was understandable. Things happen, they suck, but we have to make the most of the situation and just keep going. Nathan and Chyler, being the awesome humans that they are, said that they were going to do everything in their power to get Chyler there and to make sure she got to meet every single person. Nathan continued on with the show, adding in some fun things to try and drag out the time, especially when we found out that Chyler was finally in the air and so she was on her way. Like always, he was amazing! His voice is incredible, and his lyrics are beyond compare. I have to say, EOE at The Troubadour was great, but there was something extra special about last night. Nathan brought multiple fans onto the stage, he goofed off, and he even tried singing a song from his first EP. The last one was the best because he’s only human, and so he was having a hard time remembering all of the words. The concert eventually ended, but he wanted us to hang out until Chyler could get there. We went to the front room, and I went with my sister towards the bar area and sat. Chyler showed up like 30 minutes later, and everyone was so excited. Chyler is a trooper. She was going on maybe two hours of sleep after finishing up her last scene of the season on Supergirl, and yet she was still here for her fans. Nathan and Chyler performed two songs together acoustically, and it was beautiful. After that, they made their way to an area of the room to do meet and greets. I stayed with my sister at the bar because: 1. just being in super large crowds in enclosed spaces makes be kind of anxious and 2. I had met Chyler briefly before, so I wanted to make sure everyone else got their chance. If I did’ t get to say hi, it wasn’t as big of a deal. So I was at the bar, and I started talking with the bartenders. John and Eric were so much fun! They offered up so awesome conversation, and they were great company while I was there with my sister. My sister and I had a blast chatting with them, and then Dre, the security guard, when he came and joined us (Dre actually thought I was an undercover cop, so that was both funny and awesome at the same time). I want to take a quick moment to thank all of the people working last night at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn because they went above and beyond for us. This definitely includes John and Eric. John was sweet and he gave me a RedBull for free since I was tired, and then when he went to the store, he got my sister a banana. It was nice to make a friend in NY that said that if we were ever there again, they have an extra bed that we could crash in. I also got a sweet fox mask thing from Dre as a souvenir, so that’s pretty cool. Nathan came over at one point to thank John and Eric himself. He told them about everything that had happened that day, and how much it meant to him that they were doing this for us. John and Eric continued to keep my sister and I company until we ended up having to move outside because the bar was closing. My sister and I got in line outside and began waiting our turn. Nathan, again, being the amazing human he is, decided to give each of us still waiting a t-shirt for free. My sister and I were at the end of the line, so when he got to us, he stayed and talked for a minute. The first words out of my sister’s mouth were, “Brr it’s cold out here,” so Nathan so properly responded with, “There must be some Torros in the atmosphere.” My sister, whom I’ve been trying for a while to get to watch Bring It On, just stood there. I high-fived Nathan of course, because the reference was just beautiful. Gotta love some Jan the man. He then gave my sister a giant hug because she was absolutely exhausted. He was like a dad comforting his daughter, and it was such an amazing sight to see. He is just so genuine, and I can’t believe I’ve had the honor of meeting him. We eventually made it up to the front of the line to talk to Chyler, and Chyler gave my sister the biggest hug in the world. Like I said before, I have had the incredible pleasure of meeting Chyler before, but the only thing I’ve gotten to say to her was hi and that’s about it, so I was looking forward to a hug (my friend, Dened, has gotten many from her and she likes to say how great they are). I finally got my hug, and it was great. She’s just so sweet, gentle and kind, so of course her hug was very comforting. There was so much that I wanted to say, but I didn’t want to keep my sister out any longer. She had already came all the way to NY just for me, and was out at 5am when she had only gotten three hours of sleep the night before. My sister is a rockstar, and I am pretty lucky to have her (even if we disagree on 90% of things).

Last night, only proceeded to reaffirm all of my beliefs about Nathan and Chyler. I love what they are doing. They are using their power of influence to not only impact and change the community around them, but also the global community. They are such amazing people with huge hearts. They believe in family, and putting family first. Even though we aren’t their direct family, they treated us like family last night. They took their time, as tired as they were, to speak to each and every one of us. I admire them so much for that. What I love about them, is that they are open about their old baggage and dirty laundry, letting it be known, so that they can hopefully inspire others. They don’t try and hide their faults or their downfalls (we are all human after all). Along with that, I love the representation they are for the Christian community. Too many times nowadays, when people hear you are a Christian, they automatically assume you are going to be judgmental and rude, which sadly is not too far off for a lot of them. Chyler and Nathan on the other hand, are great embodiments of what it truly means to be a Christian (in my opinion). They show so much love to everyone, and Chyler is such an example, especially as she is playing the character of Alex Danvers on The CW’s, Supergirl. On the show, Alex recently realized that she was gay when Detective Maggie Sawyer entered her life. They are now together and are so cutely named, Sanvers. I think that this is one of the greatest things she could be doing for many reasons. One, her relationship on the show is such a healthy example of a relationship (especially for a queer couple). Then, I feel like this is a great thing because she is a Christian. She is showing that love is love, and it shouldn’t matter as long as you love each other. I think that that is a beautiful thing. I admired her so much more when this storyline came to be because of the impact I knew it would have. I struggle with being a Christian and supporting the LGBTQ community because so many Christians are so against it. I just don’t understand how a God who loves all (even the murderers), could hate someone who happens to fall in love with someone of the same sex. And Chyler has been outspoken about this as well. I remember watching an interview where she talked about this, and I cried. I cried because it was great to see someone with such influence who has the same beliefs as me. I am so grateful that Nathan and Chyler are in this world, spreading love and kindness with all that they do. Thank you for being prime examples of what it means to be human, and to love your neighbor. Thank you for taking so much time out of your day last night (and this morning) to meet each and every one of your fans. Most people wouldn’t do something like that, so thank you. You two are true heroes, and I pray that God blesses you immensely. I also pray that as your family is going through this difficult time, that you are able to find solace in him and in each other. Thank you again for everything. Thank you for being the role models this world needs. Thank you for inspiring others with your music and your words. Thank you for being superheroes to us all. Thank you.

Wow! This was a lot more than I thought I was going to say, but I wanted to get this all out. The past 24 hours truly has been magical, and I will never forget it. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I can’t wait until I get to see this amazing band again in July when they perform at The Roxy along with City of Sound and State to State (both of whom are amazing and deserve your attention as well). Thank you for taking your time to read this, it means a lot. I hope everyone has a great day!

[modellecitizen]

good. god.  im tired.

Vegas was amazing.  I can seriously rest easy if I never go there again, knowing this most recent trip was SO. EPIC.

We got in Thursday night (Katie at 3, graciously checked us into our GORGEOUS, HUGE suite at The Venetian!) and then by 7:30p the rest of our 'fantastic five' was there, and ready to go!

Grabbed dinner down the strip at Gillys (aka apps and booze) where we discovered that shots of tequila with pineapple chasers is so unheard of that a vegas bar tender completely botched the order? smh.

Afterward, we stopped by a store and got drinks to bring home, went back to the hotel and got drunk, did these ridiculous facemasks, and played drunken 'what do you meme' which may now be my favorite game haha.

Friday we woke up and got brunch at Sugar Factory (their menu is the most heavenly thing in the world).  We got giant fishbowl drinks to share, some eggs benne, red velvet pancakes, omelets, and essentially engorged.

and of course what do we do next?  POOL PARTY!!  Cindy had a great idea to see if we could get into Encore Beach Club at the Wynn.  Cinched that deal in about an hour - got ready at the room, and walked into the best party I've ever been to at a pool!  DIPLO was DJing!

We got in, bought a shot and a drink each, then wandered into the pool.  We found ourselves asking people to take our group's photo and getting to know some of their friends.  We met two [wasted] girls from Canada who LOVED that we were from Minnesota :) Too cute.  We also hug out with a group of promoters for a UK football team, they were promoting their game against Manchester United.  One guy, who we fondly refer to as Tiny Tom Hardy is just that; a 5'6 replica of the guy.

Man I could have talked to them ALL day.  English accents kill me.  They were kind enough to share their bottle service they didn't have to pay for, and we goofed around for a few hours!

Afterwards we realized that if we were going to be at all productive that night, we should probably head home, get some actual dinner, then get ready for our main event.  We bid the Englishmen adieu and hopped back to the venetian.

Once we got a little cleaned up, we wandered through our hotel and found this open-air (ish) area that looked JUST like the canals and streets of Venice, Italy.  It really was pretty spot on!  We ate (LOTS OF CARBS) at this Italian restaurant, then went back to the hotel, gussied up, and got in a cab for...

MAGIC MIKE LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my god, you DO NOT UNDERSTAND how amazing that show was.  There are no words.  I will post a video instead.  I strongly suggest every person interested in men GO SEE IT.  It did not disappoint, exceeded everyone's expectations I'm pretty sure.

After mm, we wanted to go to Omnia to see Calvin Harris but it was already almost 1am so we decided it'd be alright to call it a night and prep for the next day.  It's a good thing we did - it was A LONG DAY.

Woke up in the morning for breakfast at grand luxe café in the sister hotel, The Pallazzo.  AMAZING food and a yummy sangria/champagne breakfast drink :).  After replenishing, we planned to go to another pool party at Wet Republic (were hoping to see Steve Aoki but our hookup vanished) so we met another promoter who set us up in VIP at Tao Beach.  I didn't know the house DJ but man his set was PERFECT.  Also, it was a cool switch up from Encore yesterday; encore is really big and long - but Tao Beach is like 1/4 the size with only one small pool and is much more intimate. 

The VIP section had a few people in it, and of course we got to chatting.  Met a girl who is a pro snowboarder!  Missy something?  She was incredibly nice, and it was fun to hear someone appreciate and talk up Minnesota winters hahaha.  We also met a few Pilots from... somewhere, I forget.  But two of them grew up in LAKEVILLE MN - small world, they knew my fiancé's littlest sister!  I took a snap with them to say hi to her, haha.  Nice guys, some fckboys but that's to be expected.  I also stole a Tao Beach beachball... because I could.

We stayed out again until 'sundown' when Tao closed and kicked everyone out.  For good reason, we needed water.  We went back to the room and this time decided to do a swanky dinner out for Katie's birthday before we went to some nightclubs!

We went to Lakeside in the Wynn hotel, because we wanted to be close to XS where we wanted to see David Guetta later that night.  OMG the sides, the steaks, and the crab cakes were amazing.  My CC statement?  That will not be, ahahaha.

After a scrumptious dinner, we met our promoter outside Intrigue, another Wynn club, and got some drink tickets and were lead into this amazing corridor of dark hallways and neon lights.  The bar also had an outdoor area where shapes and lights were projected onto a giant waterfall we all had views of.  It was gorgeous, and not yet busy, so it was really relaxing!  At first ;)

Then, our promoter grabs us and takes us to a VIP booth right in front of the dance floor.  Perfect.  He brings us some champagne and the DJ (who Lexi pointed out looked like a total 45yo dad) played THE BEST MUSIC I SWEAR.  The mashups were perfect.  We were all dancing and having such a good time!  The pilots from earlier found their way to our booth too, so we caught up and goofed around.  I'm very happy that all of the people we've met have been so chill.  No tension and just a lot of fun!  I was also appreciative that when I made it slightly known I was engaged, no one was a bag of dicks about it :).  Anyone we hung out with knew they were basically hanging out with 5 wifed-up women, but didn't seem to matter much!

We stayed at Intrigue, dancing our ASSES off for hours, until about 2am when we realized we should hop over to XS to see David Guetta.

We got into the club and it was packed!! Luckily not shoulder to shoulder, though.  We found a booth for 3 of us to chill in while Lexi and Katie wandered down to the dance floor and had the time of their lives getting sprayed with confetti and screaming along to "Titanium".  OH GOD it was so fun!  Another group of people shared their drinks with Cin, Em and me, so we relaxed a little and rubbed our sore feet while we waited for Katie and Lexi to finally expend their energy! haha.

We made it home around 3:30am and hilariously enough, Katie had to leave for the airport 2 hours later.  She. Was. A. Trooper.  She made her (delayed) flight, Cindy left around 9a and I don't even remember either girl leaving.  I was dead to the world until 10am, when I woke up, took a drunk shower (where I literally lie on the floor of the shower in fetal position for 20 mins) then crawled back into bed.  Lexi Em and I slept in til almost 11:30 but we did decided to clean our hotel room a little, pack up, and get some grub.

Dropped our bags off at the front desk and checked out, got the best iced coffee and strawberry/nutella crepes in the world, and then went back to Tao just to lay by the pool for about 2 hours.  Relaxed, got some color, reminisced about our amazing trip, and mentally prepped to get on the plane home.

Lex. Em and I made it home at 11p and said our goodbyes.  I feel like this was such an important trip for all the girls :) like, it couldn't have gone better.  I knew this fivesome would be fantastic to party with.  Everyone just loves everyone.

This is all I wanted out of the trip.  It was such a success.  I love my friends so much <3

[travelingtheusa]

TEXAS

18 Jan 2019 (Fri) – First stop was at the Dallas Diner for breakfast next door to the Elks Lodge.  We both got senior breakfast meals – 2 eggs, bacon or sausage, hash browns, and a biscuit.  It was good. Then we did the laundry so I could have some clean socks and underwear to take with me on my trip.  While the laundry was drying, we drove to the nearest Navy FCU 17 miles away.  I deposited 3 checks and asked if they could cash a $20 check I had made out to me. For some reason, it would not photograph for mobile deposit to USAA.  The clerk said it was the background on the check that was preventing the picture (apparently, it is a common problem).  Since I don’t have a personal account at Navy FCU (just the SMART Nomads business account), she had me deposit the check in that account and withdraw $20.  It was an in-and-out transaction.

     After we brought the laundry back to the RV and put everything away, we grabbed Bonnie and drove to the park at White Rock Lake. There was a large dog park there and we wanted to give Bonnie some social time with other dogs.  There were at least 20 dogs running around the large dog park, and another 20 in the little dog park.  Bonnie wasn’t interested in interacting with anyone. She sniffed, peed, and pooped but did not play.  We took her out of the park and went for a walk along the lake front.  There were many birds on the water and in the trees. The sky was heavily overcast and the temp was in the low 50s.  The forecast for today was 68 degrees but we did not see it get that high.

     I am feeling a little anxious about my trip to New York.  Winter Storm Harper is headed to the northeast this weekend.  Temps are projected to be in the single digits with snow and sleet and flash-freeze conditions.  Why am I going back to New York in January???  We will have to adjust these visits back home for more temperate times of the year.

 17 Jan 2019 (Thu) - We went to the mall so I could pick up a few things for my trip to New York then went to AMC Movie Theater to watch “Replicas” with Keanu Reeves.  It was OK. Keanu just couldn’t pull off acting like a scientist.  We stopped at PetCo to pick up a few cans of food for the animals, and stopped for lunch at Saltgrass Steak House.  We were back home by 5:00 p.m.

16 Jan 2019 (Wed) – We packed up, made a stop at the dump station, and headed out from Caddo to Dallas.  It looked like some kind of stevedore had worked around the campground last night.  A lot of grass was dug up.  We figured it was either (or both) possums and javelinas.  They like to root in the ground for grubs and worms.  We never saw any wildlife other than deer during the 9 days we’ve been here.

     We stopped for lunch at McDonald’s.  Paul pulled into a WalMart parking lot and I walked across the street to get the food.  Of course, we had to include a burger for Bonnie and Sheba.  

     Traffic was pretty good most of the way.  When we got to the last few miles, the GPS goofed up. There is construction in that area and we guessed the GPS was trying to put us on a road that wasn’t there any more. At any rate, we managed to find our way to the Elks Lodge.

     The Lodge is on the outskirts of town near Garland. There are 7 sites lined up along the back fence with water and electric hookups.  I had called two days ago and made a reservation for the one and only empty site.  When we arrived, there was a motor coach in our site.  The guy didn’t know it was reserved.  There is a sign on the front door of the lodge that says the sites are first come, first served.  It is a confusing system.  They were gracious, however, and moved over to park by the fence.  We pulled in and set up.

     Once set up, we drove into town.  It seems like all the stores we shop at are close by on the main road.  Kroger is two buildings over.  U-Haul (where we get propane) is a mile and a half down the road.  Between here and there, there is a PetCo and a Lowe’s along with dozens of other stores and restaurants.  Very different from the last place we camped.  lol.

     We got the propane tank refilled, refueled the truck, and picked up groceries at Kroger.  We also picked up dinner and took it back to the RV.  After we ate, we went into the lodge.  The parking area is gated and we needed to get a key card for the gate.  We also asked about extending for an additional 3 days.  We had reservations through to January 25.  I will be in New York from the 19th to the 24th.  The weather forecast is for a fierce winter storm to hit the northeast.  We figured we should extend a few days to the 28th just in case my return flight gets delayed by the storm.  There was a little confusion as to who had reserved the site, but the gal finally said they hadn’t paid so we were set.

    The lodge cooks dinner every Wednesday night. Tonight’s meal was tomato soup and grill cheese.  We had already eaten so we passed.  Next Wednesday Paul will be able to enjoy a meatball sandwich if he wants.  They are also having a steak dinner on Saturday.  I called and made a reservation for him. We had a drink and returned to the camper.

15 Jan 2019 (Tue) – Again, we stayed in the campground.  Temps never got over 50 today and the sun never showed its face.  We have been using a 30’ leash to walk Bonnie.  She has been enjoying the extra freedom very much. It’s also given us a better walk. We don’t have to stop all the time so she can sniff at something.  She has room to walk ahead, stop to sniff, then catch up to us without getting pulled on the 6’ leash.  Everyone is happier with the walk.

 14 Jan 2019 (Mon) – We stayed around the campground today.  Temps still cold and skies overcast.  A second camper showed up overnight.  Now there are four of us in the campground.  The tenters left.

 13 Jan 2019 (Sun) – We stayed around the campground today. The temperatures remained in the 30s all day.  A new camper showed up and the motor home left.  I spotted a campfire on the point where the tenters had been.  Guess more tenters are staying here for the weekend.

12 Jan 2019 (Sat) – We drove 45 minutes north to Graham today.  The Post Office Museum and Fine Arts Center was closed.  There wasn’t anything else to see in the town.  We drove around looking at the buildings and homes.  It looked very much like a western town – not rich, not poor although there were some very run down areas.  

     We stopped at the number one rated restaurant (according to Trip Advisor) for lunch.  Neri’s on the Square was housed in an old historical building that has served as a mortuary, an antique stop, a hardware store, and a restaurant.  The building was large and very open.  There were paintings right on the walls and a set of stairs going to the second floor.  The waitress was a little weird.  Paul thought she was mentally challenged.  I thought she was a young kid who was just given the job, was coached to be upbeat and smile all the time, and then was let loose.  She was extremely enthusiastic, gesticulated a lot, and ended every sentence with a breathless smile.  The food was good and we enjoyed the meal.

     On the way back to the campground, we took time to drive around Possum Kingdom Lake.  We drove through neighborhoods and summer retreats that were pretty deserted.  We found the Brazos River Authority Observation Point and Possum Kingdom Reservoir created by the Morris Sheppard Dam.  The dam was built as a flood control and water conservation project in 1941.  It is over 2,700 feet long and 190 feet high. A very cold wind was blowing so we did not walk around the observation point for very long.  

     We stopped at WalMart to pick up some nice crusty French bread to have with the potato soup I made yesterday.  They had French bread but it wasn’t crusty.  They need to come to New York to see what REAL French and Italian bread is like.  We settled for a frozen loaf of garlic bread.  It was OK but didn’t hit the mark.

11 Jan 2019 (Fri) – It rained during the night and intermittently all day today.  We drove south to the town of Breckenridge.  First stop was at the Swenson Memorial Museum.  The museum was all about Stephens County.  It consisted of two floors located in the former First National Bank building.  The place was packed with artifacts and photos.  There was a resident of the town who was an amateur photographer who took pictures of everything.  Because of that, they have pictures of every aspect of life in the late 1880s through the early 1900s.  It was a very interesting museum.  We spent about two hours wandering among the exhibits, followed (most of the time) by the curator who kept up a rambling story about the town’s history and its colorful occupants.  The curator recommended two restaurants for lunch and also suggested we go to the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center after the Swenson Museum.  We thanked her and left.

     We had lunch at the L&L Family Restaurant. It was very local.  Paul and I both got fried chicken with mashed potatoes and cole slaw.  The potatoes automatically came with gravy without the waitress even asking if we wanted it. We were able to bring home enough left-overs to have supper later.

     After lunch, we drove to the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center.  What a great stop!  The ladies of the town compete in the Festival parades in San Antonio and Tyler. They donate their beautiful gowns to the museum for display.  The curator brought us back into the exhibit room where we could see the gowns close up.  The gowns are worth thousands of dollars and reminded us of the costumes they create for Mardi Gras.  Another room had a doll collection on display, and another had the most beautiful and stunning water colors we have ever seen.  A temporary exhibit had paintings by an impressionist artist who actually came in to get her pictures just after we finished viewing them.  Talk about timing!

     When we got back to the campground, we did the laundry in the campground’s two washers and two dryers.  An RV was just pulling in.  The other two that were here left yesterday.  It is pretty deserted in the campground now.  The distance the park is from main routes might have something to do with the lack of campers.  We are enjoying the beauty of the park and the lack of crowded facilities.  The weather has been more in the normal range – high 60s in the day; 40s at night.  The weather forecast for the weekend is for lows in the 30s.  Looks like we will have to turn off the water at night again.

 10 Jan 2019 (Thu) – We drove into the town of Mineral Wells today, 51 miles northeast from here.  It took almost an hour just to drive the park road to get to the main route.  There wasn’t much to see in town.  It is obvious the town is barely hanging on.  There were many stores closed up and dilapidated buildings with broken windows lined the streets.  The Baker Hotel, which opened two weeks after the great crash in 1929, was boarded up and the inside gutted.  We walked around it.  Then we drove to the original Mineral Water Company.  They produced Crazy Water in both liquid and crystal form.  The water from wells in the area had several elements in it, to include lithium.  Early settlers found the water made sick people better.  Soon, in combination with the oil boom, Mineral Wells swelled to a population of 30,000 people.  People came from all over to drink and bathe in the water.  Then the FDA was formed and better medical treatments were discovered and the town kind of faded away.  We stopped to eat at the Mesquite Pit.  The food was good.

     We got back to the campground a little after four. Paul said we drove 117 miles for lunch.

 9 Jan 2019 (Wed) – We spent the day relaxing. Just stayed in the campground and enjoyed the day.  There are only two other RVs in the park.  Paul spotted a couple of tents on another point.  They had a campfire going.  We agreed we needed to get some firewood.

 8 Jan 2019 (Tue) – We packed up, used the dump station, and hit the road at 9:20 a.m.  It was a long drive from San Angelo to Caddo (5 hours).  We stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch.  The food was good as always.

     We pulled in the Possum Kingdom State Park campground at quarter after two.  The campground is very far off the main route and away from any local towns.  It was 17 miles on the park road from the main route to the campground.  The town of Caddo was very small and Trip Advisor has nothing listed for it.  We might explore some of the small towns around the area but there isn’t much here in this part of Texas.

     Our campsite is right on Possum Kingdom Lake. So far, we have not seen any opossums but there are lots of deer in the area.  There are only 2 or 3 other campers here.  It is pretty isolated.  We have electric and water hookups and will have to find a dump station when we leave.

 7 Jan 2019 (Mon) – We went out to get fuel and groceries in preparation for our move tomorrow.  We stopped at the Pack Saddle for lunch.  Their ribs were so good last time but not this time.  The meat was tough and less flavorable.  That was very disappointing.

 6 Jan 2019 (Sun) – We spent the day hanging around the campground today.  Made a reservation at our next campground – Possum Kingdom State Park in Caddo, TX. I wonder if there are a lot of opossums in that park?

5 Jan 2019 (Sat) – We went to the Railway Museum of San Angelo this morning.  It was a small museum located in an old depot.  There were several train setups but only one worked.  The most interesting thing was the list of depots between the start of the line in Kansas City to its terminus in Mexico. Almost every station had its name changed over time, which seemed unfair to earlier settlers.  Stations would be named after a family member or someone who settled the town then years later it would be changed to honor someone who served on the railway board or donated money.  Outside were five rail cars – two engines, one caboose, and two cars.  

      After the museum, we went to the Cork & Pig Tavern for lunch.  It was odd to have a place with such a name and there was very little pork offered on the menu.  Paul and I wound up sharing a pizza.

    Following lunch, we went to the Chicken Farm Art Center.  It was a former chicken farm that has been converted to an artists’ compound.  Some artists live on the property; two of the chicken coops were divided into small shops.  Most of the wares were handmade items – soap, jewelry, ceramics, clothing, etc. There was a group of musicians sitting around in chairs in the courtyard.  It was more like a jam than a performance.  

     On the way back to the campground, we stopped at PetCo and WalMart.

4 Jan 2015 (Fri) – We went to lunch at the Pack Saddle BBQ at noon.  The ribs were excellent!  Paul had a brisket dish, which was also very good.  We returned to the campground where Paul continued to insulate all the cabinets in the RV.  

     I got a notice from USPS that our forwarded mail would arrive on Monday.  I had asked for it on Saturday thinking they would send it out on Monday and it would arrive on Friday or Saturday.  Escapees didn’t send the mail out until yesterday so it won’t arrive until Monday. Consequently, I had to go to the office and extend our stay here for one more day.  We were planning to leave on Monday but now our departure date is Tuesday.

     The weather was soooooo much nicer today.  It was 33 degrees when Paul got up this morning and it climbed all the way into the high 60s today.  Hopefully, the cold front has passed and the weather is returning to normal.    

3 Jan 2019 (Thu) – We drove into town and had lunch at Miss Hattie’s Café and Cathouse Lounge.  It was in an old bank building built around the late 1800s.  It had the original tin stamped ceiling and red brick walls.  I had pot roast and Paul had fried shrimp.  The food was good.

      After lunch, we walked down the street to Legend Jewelers where we bought tickets to see Miss Hattie’s Bordello Museum.  Three more people joined the tour and we all walked up a double flight of stairs over the jewelry store to where Miss Hattie ran her bordello.  There were some original pieces from the actual bordello, and the rest was furniture and artifacts from that time period.  We looked into bedrooms where there were story boards recounting the tale of each of five mistresses.  It was a very interesting tour.

     We then drove to San Angelo State Park on the outskirts of town.  It was a very large park with two separate entrances.  First, we went through the south entrance.  There are long horn steers and bison kept in this area.  Unfortunately, neither were near the road.  There were some pens in the distance and it looked like several bison laying on the ground nearby.

     We then drove back out onto the main road over to the north entrance.  There were campgrounds on either side of a creek but not many people camping.  We poked around then left.

2 Jan 2019 (Wed) – It was 30 degrees when we went to bed and it was 30 degrees when we got up this morning. Brrrrrrr.  WTH???  It’s not supposed to be this cold way down south here in Texas!  There have been all kinds of winter advisories and storm warnings for the past two days.  The weatherman reported today that temperatures across the nation are 20 to 30 degrees below normal.

     We went back to Lowe’s today and picked up half-inch pipe insulation tubes and stuffed them under the edge of the kitchen slide. There is no insulation under that slide and it is noticeably colder in the kitchen area.  Paul completed insulation of all the cabinets and closets today.  We’ve had to disconnect the water hose for the last two days.  The water pump is an on-again, off-again, affair.  When the weather gets warmer, Paul will try to figure out why it keeps shutting off.

     I looked up the number one restaurant on Trip Adviser and we went there for lunch.  What a weird experience!  The name of the place was listed as Peasant Valley Restaurant but the sign outside said PV Deli.  It was an old house-turned-restaurant.  We walked through the main door into a large dining area.  To the left was another room with a couple reading a menu on a chalkboard.  We assumed it was the lunch menu, so we walked over and read it, too.  Then a mentally challenged young man told us that was the dinner menu (it was just 11:45 a.m.) and he handed us some photocopied menus to choose from.  We walked back into the main dining room, took a table, and reviewed the menu.  The young man tried to answer questions but he was extremely difficult to understand.  Every time I asked him to repeat himself, he said something different. I tried to order a chicken salad sandwich but he said there was no chicken.

     I was beginning to feel really uncomfortable and somewhat annoyed about the whole place and told the young man we were leaving because I wanted chicken but they were out of it.  Then a young woman came into the room, stated that the young man was her brother and sometimes talked too fast, and said there was plenty of chicken; just not chicken salad.  Too embarrassed to leave, we sat back down to look over the menu again.  She told us when we decided what we wanted, we should walk down the hall and place our order at the counter.  We got up and walked down the hall to place our order.  There was a sign on the wall that said if you didn’t know what you wanted, get out of the line and don’t come back until you know what you want.  I wound up ordering a Rueben sandwich.  The whole thing was just weird.

     When we got back to the campground, we packed up the dirty clothes and did the laundry at the campground.  They have two washers and two dryers, which is enough for us. While the clothes washed and dried, we tried to put together a puzzle.  There was a shelf in the room with books and puzzles.  We didn’t have much luck.  Neither one of us had our glasses and got a headache after a while.

     The temps never got out of the low 30s today. Paul spread cat litter on the steps because they were slick with ice.  Hope this cold spell passes soon.

 1 Jan 2019 (Tue-New Year’s Day) – It was very cold today.  We went to Lowe’s and picked up some silver insulation sheeting to put in the windows. I worked on the caravan book for May; Paul measured and fit the insulation in the windows.  It’s a little disturbing not to be able to see out the windows.  One of the best things about this RV is the panoramic views out the windows.  Oh, well.  If it keeps us warmer, I guess it’s a good thing.

31 Dec 2018 (Mon) – It started raining last night around 8 or 9.  Some times we had thunder and lightning; sometimes there was just a gentle rain. The ground was pretty wet this morning.

     We drove into town to the post office and got the address to have our mail forwarded.  Then we drove to Fort Concho.  It is the most intact Indian Wars Fort in the U.S.  There were about 20 buildings arrayed in a horseshoe around a large parade field.  A couple of the buildings were open to tour but most were closed up.  There were more than 40 buildings on the fort at one time but many were torn down over the years.  Like many frontier posts, it was only in service for 23 years then abandoned by the military.  We walked around the fort, looking in the few buildings that were open.  There was also the Museum of Telefony located in one of the old buildings.  It was quite interesting to see all the very old phones back from a time when telephones were first invented.  Today’s kids wouldn’t know what to do with them.

     After exploring Fort Concho, we went to lunch at the Angry Cactus.  It was a bar and grill decorated in some very unusual ways.  There were pots turned upside down hanging from the ceiling as lights. They used old fashioned light bulbs to give an old look to the place.  They had a special - $5 margaritas all day along with tacos or taco salad.  We found the food very good.

     On the way back to the campground, we stopped in the San Angelo Nature Center.  It was a parking lot fronting on a lake.  Not much wildlife to look at.  We stopped at the Hotel Concho.  It is now out of business.  The first two floors are used by local businesses.  They were setting up for a wedding at 5 p.m. today.  It was a beautiful old building.

     We also stopped at H.E.B. and picked up groceries then ran to PetCo to pick up pet food.  The town of San Angelo has almost 96,000 people, yet much of the town is run down with many broken windows and boarded up buildings.  It feels like they are struggling to keep the town going.  Hope they make it.

 30 Dec 2018 (Sun) – We took Bonnie on a long walk around the campground.  It was 37 this morning and never got warmer than 45 degrees.  When done, we drove into town to the San Angelo Visitor Center. It was a very fancy building with a small office.  There were two elderly gentlemen there who were very happy to tell us everything there was to know about the town.  After getting a handful of brochures and flyers, we walked down by the Concho River. There were Christmas light displays set up.  We decided to come back after dark to see the light show.

     We had lunch at Zero One Ale House.  It was an old building with a tin ceiling and brick walls.  I had roast chicken with seared asparagus and deep fried potato balls.  Paul got a signature sandwich.  Everything was delicious.  We brought a pint of potato soup and left-overs home for dinner.  

     At 6 p.m. we drove back into town and drove through the Christmas lights display.  It was especially nice because they were set up along the river and the lights reflected in the water.  It was like a two-for-one show.  Bonnie seemed to enjoy the ride.

29 Dec 2018 (Sat) – We packed up and pulled out of Fredericksburg at 10 a.m. The weather was cold – in the 30s all day.  We drove three hours to arrive at Goodfellow AFB Recreation Area a little more than three hours later.  There are two parts to this campground – a new part and an old part.  The old part has full hookups and looks like it’s full of long-termers.  That area has lots of trees.  The new part is in a parking lot with just electric and water hookups.  There are no trees and no wifi either.  After set up, we drove to the office and checked in.  Then we drove over to the base (the campground is five miles off base), and shopped for a few things in the base exchange. We returned and just tried to hunker down and stay warm.  WTH?? This is Texas!

28 Dec 2018 (Fri) – After Bonnie’s walk, we went next door to Nury’s for breakfast.  I tried something called Divorced Eggs and Paul had biscuits and gravy. The food was good (again).  Sorry we discovered this place so late in our stay. We would have eaten a few more meals there.

     At around 1:00 PM, there came a banging on the door.  A campground employee was asking when we were leaving.  Apparently, the schedule said we were leaving today when we thought we were leaving tomorrow.  We walked up to the office and found conflicting information in the files – one item said we were leaving today; another said we were leaving tomorrow.  The clerk told us the winter Texans were coming in today and the campground was full.  After some discussion, we had to move from site 80 to site 1.  We called and made a reservation at our next place arriving tomorrow so we needed to stay here one more night.  Luckily, they had a spot.

27 Dec 2018 (Thu) – We spent the day taking down the Christmas tree.  We sure do have a lot of ornaments!  We also went next door to Nury’s International Restaurant for lunch.  It turned out to be something like a Mexican restaurant but with an eclectic menu.  There were the usual tacos, enchiladas, and quesadillas, but there were also some other more exotic offerings – coconut shrimp, egg rolls, etc.  The food was good and the staff was super friendly.

26 Dec 2018 (Wed) – At noon, we rode into town for lunch.  We wanted to go to a barbecue place but it was closed for Christmas vacation.  That was disappointing.  So we stopped at Hilda’s Tortillas.  The parking lot was full, which is always a clue that the food is good.  And it was. We took a quart of chicken tortilla soup home for dinner.

    Thunderstorms rolled in tonight. There was also some hail.  The TV news reporters were all warning about heavy hail and tornados.  It was a little scary.  

25 Dec 2018 (Tue-Christmas Day) – We stayed in the campground today working on putting together the caravan book for next May.  At 12:15 p.m.  I prepared green beans for the potluck luncheon and at 1:00 p.m. we went to the community center for the campground Christmas meal.  I think everyone in the campground must have been there along with a few family members.  The hall was full!  We haven’t seen that many people at the other two events we have been at.  I would have made more beans.  As it was, the meal was delicious.  The choices were very plentiful.  The dessert table was laden with goodies.  We came home stuffed.

24 Dec 2018 (Mon) – We did the laundry today. At 6:30 p.m. we went to the Fredericksburg United Methodist Church for their traditional candlelight service. It was similar to home with a few minor differences.  The minister went on a little too long with his sermon but it was a good message.  I always loved the Christmas Eve candlelight service.  It became especially important to me as my children grew up and left.  Our daughter would come back and attend the service occasionally.  At those rare times, I would feel close to her again as we sang “Silent Night” and hugged one another.  There is no more closeness with my children today.  Not like it was when they were bound to me as children.  Now they have families of their own and that special parent-child closeness is gone, only to be recaptured in rare moments like the Christmas Eve service.  I miss my babies.

 23 Dec 2018 (Sun) – We stayed around the campground today.  At 5 p.m. we went to a Christmas Eve Eve party.  Everyone was supposed to bring an appetizer and grab bag gift.  Unfortunately, the “bag” was supposed to include a gift bag to put your gift in.  We just wrapped our pathetic little gifts and they were the last ones to be chosen. Now I know.  The appetizers were all good and included a couple of dessert items.  We both got wine for our gifts.

 22 Dec 2018 (Sat) – We went to Becker Vineyards at 11 a.m. for a wine and food pairing.  It was very nice.  There was just one other couple and us in the “special room” where we had our tasting. A young woman gave us samples of five wines, each with a special tidbit to eat with it.  It was all very good.  Afterward, we went into the general tasting area and bought a glass of wine to drink out on the patio.  We also picked up some water crackers, fig jam, and truffle honey as well as three bottles of wine.

     We then drove to the grocery store and picked up some items.  This time we remembered to pick up some meat to put Bonnie’s pills in.  We also drove down the road to find the United Methodist Church in town.  Now that it’s located, we will attend service on Christmas Eve.  We stopped for lunch at a very German restaurant – Friedhelm’s Bavarian Inn.  The food was very good.

     I started a diet on December 10th.  I had a great initial start – lost 8 pounds in 4 days.  Then I lost not an ounce for the next 7 days despite strict adherence to the program.  When you don’t see any progress like that, you feel like giving up.  Who starts a diet just before the holidays any way? Unless you deliberately want to sabotage your efforts.  Yesterday’s appetizer event followed by last night’s outing to the Airport lounge was the final straw.  That break with the diet was cemented by today’s exotic food samplings.  Guess I’ll have to get back on the diet train as a New Year’s resolution.  *sigh*

21 Dec 2018 (Fri) – We drove into town and picked up a few items at WalMart.  Then we drove out to the Old Tunnel State Park, about 12 miles out of town.  There was a short hike down the trail and back.  They have benches where people can sit and watch the bats emerge from the tunnel at night.  Just like they do at Carlsbad Caverns.

     The 920-foot tunnel was originally built in the 1910s by the townspeople themselves.  They needed a route from Fredericksburg to San Antonio.  It ran for three years then was scrapped in the 1940s.  Now the tunnel is home to 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats from May to October each year.

      We discovered a café next door.  When we checked Trip Advisor, the café was rated 5 out of 89 restaurants in Fredericksburg.  It was a small café with yellowed signs on the walls.  There was a wood burning stove sitting in the middle of the room and a column supporting the main support beam with signatures all over the column.  I ordered chili and Paul got a ham sandwich. His sandwich was huge.  My chili was very spicy and I could only eat little more than half of the bowl.

     At 5 p.m. we went to the community center in the campground for social hour.  We made prosciutto and melon for our contribution to the appetizers.  We met an interesting couple from Iowa.  They invited us to join them at the Officer’s lounge at the airport for drinks later.  At 6 p.m. there was a golf cart parade.  It consisted of six carts decorated with lights and other items that slowly wound their way back and forth among the RVs.

     After the parade, we took Bonnie for a quick walk then drove to the Airport lounge.  A man who has been blind since birth was playing the grand piano in the lounge.  He was very good.  We stayed for about two hours.

20 Dec 2018 (Thu) – After Bonnie’s long walk this morning, we drove into town.  First stop was at WalMart to pick up a few items.  Unfortunately, we forgot to get something to give Bonnie her pills with so we’ll have to go back tomorrow.  After WalMart, we walked up and down the Main Street looking for gifts. We will be attending a Christmas party here at the campground and everyone is supposed to bring a grab bag gift. We also stopped by UPS to mail off the last of our Christmas packages.

     For lunch, we went to The Auslander.  It was an old historical building built of stone. Inside were several cuckoo clocks on the wall.  None of them chimed on the hour so I guess they were turned off.  There were animals heads mounted around the restaurant – a moose, an elk, a deer, and a long horn cow.  I cannot understand the need to cut the head off something and stick it up on a wall.

     As we’ve been driving around town, we are discovering there are many lodges, inns, hotels, motels, and B&Bs.  I guess this really is a destination place.  Last year, someone told us that they have a big population of college students here during spring break.

19 Dec 2018 (Wed) – We’ve fallen into the habit of taking Bonnie for a long walk each morning.  She eats.  We have our breakfast.  Then around 9:30/10:00 a.m. we go for a 20-30 minute walk.  She looks forward to them very much.  She’ll start barking at us when she’s decided it’s time to go.  It’s funny.

     We spent the day in the campground.  At 4:30 p.m. we brought Bonnie to the vet.  He found she has a UTI and put her on antibiotics. We dropped Bonnie off back at the campground, then drove into town for dinner and the show.  There are not that many restaurants on Main Street, as we discovered when we went looking for one.  We finally wound up at The Rathskeller, a basement eatery in what used to be a hospital back in the 1800s.  There wasn’t much of a menu choice but we managed.  When done, we went to the Rockbox Theater where we spent two watching a musician who looked like John Denver play those great songs from the 70s.

 18 Dec 2018 (Tue) – We drove to Fredericksburg today and are staying at the Fredericksburg RV Park.  It is a higher-end campground.  The nightly fee is normally $49.  We got a weekly rate that equals $45 a night, and then a daily rate of $49 for three nights.  We wanted to stay through until the beginning of January but they only had a site available until December 29.  Guess we’ll spend New Year’s somewhere else.  This campground is pretty nice.  They have excellent wifi (we haven’t see THAT in a long time), and a good selection of cable TV channels.  We have full hook-ups.  There is a dog run in the campground.  The place is neat, clean, and orderly.

     While thumbing through some of the literature we picked up in the office, Paul spotted an ad for a John Denver Musical Tribute tomorrow night.  We drove into town, bought propane, then went to the theater to buy tickets.  They weren’t open.  We got the website address then went back to the camper and ordered two tickets online.  It sounds like a great show.

 17 Dec 2018 (Mon) – Bonnie has a urinary infection.  She paced, didn’t seem able to sit still for long, and whined to go out every hour or two last night.  She kept us going all night long.  We pulled up stakes today and drove to Luling.  It was a one night stay on the way back to Fredericksburg for the holiday.  Bonnie was better this morning.  Now I think she might have had a kidney stone that she passed.

16 Dec 2018 (Sun) – I called the next campground and made a reservation for tomorrow night.  We still need to decide where we are going to stay after that. We drove into town to make a deposit at Navy FCU.  I got two checks for dues to the Nomads in yesterday’s mail delivery. Unfortunately, the bank would not accept the deposit through the ATM because I did not have the ATM card with me. Aaarrrgggghhhh!  We then drove to Pet Smart and picked up about ten days worth of food. Fredericksburg (where we are ultimately headed) does not have a Pet Smart or PetCo close by.  We then got fuel and stopped for lunch at the Long Horn Steakhouse.  The food was just as good as it was the other day.  We both took leftovers home to enjoy again.  We returned to the camper and began to make preparations to move on tomorrow.  Yay!!!  It will be fun to be on the move again.

 15 Dec 2018 (Sat) – We hung around the camper all day.  I worked on the books for the Utah caravan.  Paul did some work on the computer and around the RV.  We got our forwarded mail from Escapees.  There was a delightful ornament from our dear friend, Jan, back home in New York.  It made us both happy to be remembered and sad to be apart.  We also got some towels and placemats from Paul’s sister, Joan. They are so “us” with an Americana theme.

14 Dec 2018 (Fri) – We went shopping today for jeans and shoes.  Their “shopping mall” was nothing like it is back home.  It seems to be stores that were separately built and slowly connected over time by additions, overhead bridges, and tunnels.  We turned into Dillard’s parking lot thinking it was the anchor store for the mall.  We walked through the store only to come out into the parking garage.  No other stores.  WTH?  Across the street was a 25 story building titled Galleria tower (as in administration). We crossed the street and walked behind the tower and found the mall in buildings that interconnected in back. The mall itself was four stories high. There was an ice rink on the lowest level.  We wandered around trying to find shoe stores.  The mall is billed as an upscale mixed-use urban development retail complex. Most of the stores were higher end (Dillard’s, Nordstrom, Neiman-Marcus).  We stopped in several shops before we got what we wanted.

     On the way back to the RV, we stopped at Saltgrass Steak House for lunch.  Everything was delicious.  When we got back, we fed the animals then went into the Elks Lodge to get our mail and pay for another three nights here.  We had planned to leave on December 13th but we have been held up waiting for all our packages to arrive.  All that’s left is our forwarded mail, due to arrive tomorrow.  We’ll move on Monday.  

13 Dec 2018 (Thu) – It rained on and off all night.  At 2:00 AM, the skies opened and came down in buckets.  At 4:30 AM, the water sensor alarm in the basement went off.  Paul put on his swim suit and rain jacket and ran out to reset it.  He no sooner stepped back in the RV when the alarm when off again.  He went back out into the deluge and pulled the alarm out. He was soaked.  The entryway was soaked.  The towels to dry everything off were soaked.  What a mess!  It finally stopped raining around 6:00 AM.

     Paul replaced the water pump this morning.  It went on a kind of strike.  When we were hooked up to a water source, the pump worked. When we were not hooked up, it would not work.  It seemed to forget that its whole purpose in life is to pump water from our onboard tanks when we don’t have a water source.  Paul also tried to find out where water was leaking into the basement.  The basement door has shifted downward a bit. Apparently just enough to let a heavy rain drive through it.  

     I got a text from Best Buy that the laptop was ready for pickup.  That was unexpected (but welcome).  We drove over and picked it up.  Also stopped at the post office to mail off the additional Christmas cards I wrote out, and at the UPS customer center to mail off a package to our other grandson. I also picked up some lottery tickets to mail as a gift.

     Now, the weather forecast is for winds coming down from Montana.  Wind speed projected to be between 10 and 25 mph with occasional gusts up to 40 mph.  

 12 Dec 2018 (Wed) – It was a busy day today! I finished most of the Christmas cards and we went to the post office to mail them off along with a package to our grandsons.  We then stopped at Pet Smart, Kroger, and Total Wine where Paul finally found 43 (he loves that stuff).  I needed to pick up more Christmas cards so we made a stop at Dollar Store.  There was a pleasant stop at Long Horn Steakhouse where the food was exquisite.  We also dropped the laptop off at Best Buy and asked them to clean it up – remove viruses and malware.  The tech said they were busy and wouldn’t have it done until Saturday.  

     The weather forecast is for rain tonight going right into tomorrow morning.  The ground around here is already so soaked.  Guess they’ll have more flash flooding.  Hope things don’t get too bad.

 11 Dec 2018 (Tue) – We spent the day at the camper today.  I spent it working on Christmas cards.  Paul worked around the RV.  We got our new laptop computer this afternoon and now Paul is working on getting that set up.

10 Dec 2018 (Mon) – We went out to get propane today.  There was also a stop at the post office to mail a card, then a stop at Office Depot to pick up ink and labels.  Then I spent the day working on Christmas cards.

9 Dec 2018 (Sun) – We drove 45 minutes to Tomball to go to the German Fest. It was a street fair with a Christmas theme.  There were elves, a Santa, and a snow queen.  Musicians dressed in colorful costumes roamed the walk playing Christmas music on accordions.  There were also five tent areas with musicians and dancers entertaining the crowd.  The festival was set up on Cherry Street and ran for about 4 or 5 blocks.  The booths were interspersed with vendors and food.  There was a good mix of items.  The people who coordinated the festival made sure there were very few duplicates.  That made it very interesting.  There was lots of food – I think a food vendor was in every fourth or fifth booth. We stopped in Brautigams Barn Grill for lunch.  It was an old building decked out in western style.  We tried mulled wine at one booth and sampled delicious tarts at another booth.

8 Dec 2018 (Sat) – It really poured most of the night.  The rain was thrumming on the roof and there was thunder cracking every so often.  The ground was good and soaked this morning with lots of puddles around.  Some areas around Houston experienced flooding.   The news showed pictures of cars and streets underwater.

     It didn’t rain today but it was heavily overcast and chilly.  The temperature was in the high 40s with a crisp cold wind blowing in from the west. We went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch. That is such a great place.  I hope they expand to Long Island soon.  I think everybody back home would like them very much.  

     After lunch we went to the movies to see “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.”  The plot was hard to follow and the English(?) accents made it hard to understand some of what was being said.  The graphics were very good but overall, we didn’t really enjoy the show.

     We stopped at WalMart to pick up a few groceries. After we put them away, we stopped in the lodge for a nightcap.  They had a steak dinner last night and about 25 people showed up for it.  We didn’t want to leave the camper in that rain so kudos to those guys!

 7 Dec 2018 (Fri) – Paul picked up a few items at Home Depot in order to clear clogs in the bathroom and kitchen sinks. At noon, we went to Best Burger for lunch.  It was like a Chinese restaurant that wasn’t making it so they added burgers and tacos to the menu.  We both got burgers but we could just as easily have ordered goo gai pan or chicken chow mein or any one of a dozen other Chinese or Mexican dishes.  

     We drove to the UPS distribution center to pick up packages.  They were Christmas gifts we ordered and had to put a hold on.  There were three packages to pick up.  We will get two more packages but they’re going to be delivered to the lodge.  Had we known the lodge accepted mail, we would have sent everything there.  This will teach us to ask first before placing orders.

     We drove to the BAPS Shri Swaminariyana Mandir Hindu Temple.  They open the niches where the religious statues are kept at specific times during the day.  We were not there at those times.  The temple was absolutely striking.  The inner or bottom portion of the temple is made of Italian marble.  The outer portion of the temple is made of Indian sandstone.  The carvings were exquisite.  The docent told us the marble was sent to India for carving by craftsmen.  It took two or three years for the work then the temple was shipped in pieces to Texas where it was put together.  We had to remove our shoes before entering the building. There was a separate room for men and for women.  You took your shoes off and then had to walk back outside and up the temple steps before entering the building.  It was raining when we came out and we had to walk on the wet cement in our stocking feet. We were not allowed to take pictures inside.  There was a separate building that housed a gift shop that was full of food items, incense, and other items from India.

      Thunderstorms rolled in at night and it was pouring when we went to bed.  There were many warnings coming over the TV and phone warning about flash flooding.

 6 Dec 2018 (Thu) – The day started out drizzly and overcast but cleared up in the afternoon.  We took Bonnie for a walk and wandered through the Chung Mei Buddhist Temple across the street.  It looks like it started out really nice but they just didn’t have the money to keep up with things.  It is neat and attractive with a large tiled roof and a tea house inside.  Across the street from that is a columbaria.  It is an ornate building with a tiled roof and lots of terra cotta animals.  There is a nice garden walk with statues in concentric circles.  There were several concrete pads with no statues on them. Guess they’re waiting for people to buy the space.  It looked like the statues opened up and you could put an urn in.

     At 6:30 PM, we drove to the Houston Zoo for the Zoo Lights display.  It got warmer and the walk was pleasant.  The place was pretty full but not packed like it would be on the weekend.  The zoo collects used lights and refurbishes them (I guess) to put around the walkways for the holidays.  We bought a spiked chocolate for me and a Christmas for Paul and we sipped while we walked along the pathways.  It was all very pretty.  We even took a ride on the carousel.

 5 Dec 2018 (Wed) – I had an appointment with Dr. Ahmed at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center this afternoon.  The results of the bone marrow biopsy will not be back until next week so we made a date for a telephone appointment.  The doctor didn’t want me to have to pay a co-pay just to hear those results.  That was very thoughtful of her.  The bloodwork was mostly within normal limits.  No problem there.  The CT scan showed one particular lymph node in the abdomen has been growing.  It is now 7cm x 5cm.  It is starting to press on my bladder and left ovary.  The one that was supposed to be 8cm turned out to be maybe 1.8cm.  Looks like a typo.  The doctor wants me to have another scan in three months.  She gave me a list of symptoms to watch for.

     Paul and I finally figured out the shuttle bus system. We park in an open lot at the Texas Medical Center.  They run shuttles on a blue and a white route.  One stops in the back of the hospital; the other stops at the main entrance. We take the blue bus to get in the entrance easily, then take the white bus because it has a shorter route and we get back to the parking lot faster.  There is a pay-for-parking machine where you put in a poker chip called a SMART chip, pay with cash or credit card, then take the chip to the gate. The machine did not cooperate with me and wouldn’t accept my credit cards (I tried 3 different ones and a debit card).  Paul was able to get the machine to work.  Technology can be very frustrating.

      On the way home, we stopped at Corelli’s Italian Café for dinner.  I have not eaten pasta is a very long time.  I gave in and had lasagna.  We had to ask for Italian bread.  It was not the nice crusty type but more like a white bread.  It was still good.

4 Dec 2018 (Tue) – We went to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center this morning.  I had a bone marrow biopsy/aspiration at 8:30 a.m.  After that, I had a CT scan.  The doctor wants to verify the size of the nodes.  My last PET scan states that one node is 8 cm.  She thought that was very large and should be prominent, but it’s not.

     After all that stuff, we stopped at Pappas Bar-B-Q. It is a very old looking restaurant with lots of cars in the parking lot.  There was a female guard standing outside the restaurant.  I was curious as to why they had a guard.  Was the area dangerous?  When we came out, I asked her: “Do you stand security here all day?” She pointed at some tables on the patio behind her and said that she sits down when she gets tired.  Paul thought her answer was so funny that he had to walk away without laughing in her face.  I spoke further with her and explained that I was curious about why there was a guard in the parking lot.  She said she was responsible for watching over the parking to make sure people didn’t back into each other as the lane between the rows is narrow.  I didn’t ask her why she needed a gun to do that. There is a large number of homeless people around.  They hang out around the intersections with their cardboard signs and down trodden eyes. You can see where they sleep up under the bridges.  Paul has taken to giving them a bottle of water.  Soon, he’ll be known as the Water Man.

      The Elks Lodge had dinner tonight.  They were serving red beans and rice.  It was pretty good.  They had cornbread with it instead of the one slice of white bread all the other barbecue places give you.  That seems kind of dumb because you can’t even make a sandwich with the one slice of bread.

 3 Dec 2018 (Mon) – We went to the National Museum of Funeral History.  We didn’t know what to expect but it turned out to be quite interesting.  It was a large museum with many exhibits.  There were hearses, stories about burials, coffins, mourning clothes, urns, and storyboards.  A crematory was set up to look at and placards explained how cremation works.  It takes the human body two to three hours to be reduced to ashes.  The bones are then put in a pulverizer and everything is reduced to a fine, sand like texture.  In Japan, after the body is reduced to ashes they are given to the family with the bones. The family uses chopsticks to pick out the bones to transfer to an urn.  They make sure the feet go in the urn first and the head goes into the urn last. This is so the dead doesn’t go into the urn upside down.

      There were some of the most beautiful urns on display as well as the many ways people display the ashes of loved ones.  There was jewelry, and hair ornaments, and monochrome photos made from ash.  There was a section named Thanks for the Memories.  Inside were videos, photos, and storyboards dedicated to famous people who have passed on – Marilyn Monroe, Adam West, Bob Hope, etc.  Another section discussed the burials of popes and another addressed the treatment of presidents.  A bunting that has hung at the White House in the past had been borrowed for display at President George H.W. Bush’s coffin tomorrow.  The whole museum addressed the culture of death and burial/cremation with respect and professionalism.  It was very informative.

2 Dec 2018 (Sun) – We stayed around the camper today.  Paul tried to place an order for a laptop with Dell.  What an aggravating experience!  He tried to place the order online but there was a technical error. So we called Dell.  Of course, the rep we spoke with had very poor English skills (that always drives Paul crazy).  They needed to verify our information on file so they wanted to send a code to our email on file.  We no longer have that email address.  They wanted to send a text message to the phone number of file.  We have a different number now.   The agent then suggested sending the code – by mail – to the address on record.  Of course, we no longer live in New York.  It was maddening.  I told him to cancel the order and hung up.  

     A few minutes later the phone rang.  It was the salesman we had initially placed the order with over the phone.  He was appalled to hear of the problems we were having and suggested we open a preferred account in my name.  That would give us a year to pay for the computer with no interest charge and gave us additional discounts off the price.  It was a creative solution.  There’s nothing like a hungry salesman!

     We placed other orders online.  And I spent some time corresponding with our new tailgunners.  We went for a walk this afternoon.  While walking, we found a bunch of mail on the ground.  It looked like someone had stolen it then dumped it, or a postal worker had decided not to deliver it and just threw it out the window.  There were some advertisements but also statements from various companies.  It was all addressed to different people who live on the same street.  We collected it and will try to notify the post office about what we found.  There were some red ants crawling on the mail and I got bit several times.  Ouch!

1 Dec 2018 (Sat) – We did laundry today.  That was quite an experience!  We were driving along, looking for a laundromat and saw “Washateria.”  We stopped and went it.  It was a large facility and entirely Spanish.  The signs were Spanish; all the people in there were Spanish; the only language being spoken was Spanish.  We found two washers open and put our clothes in.  The laundromat was in a small strip mall on a corner.  We walked down to a café next door and got lunch.  The menu consisted of a large batch of pictures on the wall with descriptions in Spanish.  Paul got a quesadilla and I got something with corn tortillas, beef, beans, rice, lettuce and tomato.  

     We made several other stops  - RV store, groceries, vitamins, fuel, and pet food. It was a pretty busy day.

 30 Nov 2018 (Fri) – We spent the day again restricted to the RV.  Finally, Ford called at 3:30 p.m. to say the truck was done.  The shuttle service stopped running at 3 p.m. and there was none over the weekend.  We pressed Ford on the topic and the agent relented and sent a mechanic to pick Paul up. There was a hose and clamp that needed replacing and a bad sensor.  Total repair cost = $780.

     The Elks Lodge had a dinner tonight.  It turned out to be a hamburger and fries. Wasn’t that good but it was a meal.

     I got an email from Jon & Nancy, volunteering to be the tail gunners on our caravan.  They have led three caravans – two to the Maritimes and one to Calgary – and offer great experience.  We gladly accepted.  We will have to figure out when we can get together.  They agreed to take on the responsibilities for the campgrounds. Carl & Gwen have all that information so they’ll have to figure out how to get that info from them.

29 Nov 2018 (Thu) – Paul dropped the truck off at the Ford dealer this morning at 7:30 a.m.  A shuttle brought him back.  We spent the day in the RV, having no transportation to go anywhere.  Also, it started raining in the afternoon.  The weather app is warning about thunderstorms, hail, and tornadoes tonight and tomorrow.  Oh, boy.

     The tail gunner on our Utah caravan called tonight to say they had to step down.  Gwen’s mother has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and has been given 6-9 months to live.  That would be about the time our caravan is scheduled to go.  We wished them our best.  I’m starting to think this caravan is cursed.

 28 Nov 2018 (Wed) – We drove into Houston proper today to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.  We pulled into the parking garage that was posted at 7’0” clearance.  Three floors up, it changed to 6’10”.  We couldn’t fit under that so we had to turn around and go back down.  We stopped at the office and got a map taking us to an open parking lot a couple of blocks away.  After we parked, we caught a shuttle on the Texas University Medical Center bus that dropped us off near the main building entrance to the cancer center.

      We found our way up to the sixth floor and the Lymphoma/Myeloma Center.  I checked in at 9:25 a.m. (appointment was for 9:30 a.m.).  I didn’t get called into the registration office until 10:00 a.m. I grabbed the wrong purse and did not have my driver’s license or insurance cards with me.  I felt so stupid!!  Instead of turning me out on my ear, the nurse checked me in and let me use my Army ID. After registration, I went back to my seat.  Then I was called in for weighing, height measurement, temp, oxygen measurement, and blood pressure.  Then it was back to my seat again.  Finally, even though my doctor’s appointment was for 10 a.m., I was called into the exam room at 11:30 a.m.  

     A soft spoken Vietnamese young man with an accent and a face mask checked my records.  He was hard to understand but we got through it.  That was followed by a young female P.A. who reviewed my medical history then did a perfunctory physical exam.  A doctor from the research department came in and asked if I would consent to donating my bodily fluids and left over blood for research. I said yes; she recorded my answers; then left.  Finally! The doctor arrived.  It was a middle aged woman who was impressed with our lifestyle.  After talking about how she and her husband would like to explore the country, we got down to brass tacks.  She wants to do a CT scan to verify the results of the last scan I had. She is also ordering a bone marrow biopsy in order to see what kind of cancer I have.  Apparently, there are some markers that indicate whether a cancer can be cured or if it will come back after treatment.  I made the appointments for next week.

     After navigating our way out of the building, we boarded a shuttle and got a ride back to the parking lot.  When we pulled in, we got a SMART chip (which looks just like a cheap plastic poker chip).  When we left, we put the chip in a machine, paid with our credit card, and received the SMART chip back.  We used that to exit the parking lot.  It was all quite an experience.

     We stopped at La Gallitas for lunch.  It was a Mexican restaurant with excellent margaritas. The food was good, too.  Then we drove to a local U-Haul and got our propane tank refilled.  After that, we stopped at a Ford dealership to make an appointment to get the truck repaired.  The CHECK ENGINE light has been on for about a month.  Also, we are still getting a coolant leak from the radiator.  The Ford rep told us we did not need to make an appointment.  Just bring the truck in and drop it off in the morning.

27 Nov 2018 (Tue) – We packed up and pulled out of our campsite at 9:30 a.m.  After a stop at the dump station to empty the tanks, we left Fort Hood Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area and headed out to Houston.  It was a long drive – five and a half hours!  We stopped once to use the restroom and once to pick up lunch at Checkers.  The weather was clear and the traffic was good until we hit the outskirts of Houston. As with all big cities (and this is the third most populated in the U.S.), the traffic was slogging along.  We arrived at the Elks Lodge in Stafford (a suburb of Houston) at 3:00 p.m.

     After set up, we went into the lodge to pay for our site.  They have a daily rate of $25, a half-month rate of $250 (number of days are dubious), and a monthly rate of $500.  We paid for half a month.  We’re guessing that’s 16 days.

     Next, we drove to MD Anderson Cancer Center to see where it is.  Oh. My. God. The number of medical buildings in the one area is humongous!  I had to find Parking Garage 10.  We saw signs indicating there were over 23 entrances.  We found the garage but the height is too low for the truck.  It looks like we’ll have to use the valet tomorrow.

     The lodge hosted a chicken and dumplings dinner tonight.  It was pretty good.  Everybody was very friendly.

26 Nov 2018 (Mon) – We drove into Temple today to see the museums but they were all closed.  That just didn’t seem fair.  They were already closed for the Thanksgiving holiday – Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Why should they be closed on Monday, too?

     We finally gave up and went to H-E-B.  They have a counter where they serve a lunch meal. We had something to eat before shopping, and then picked up some groceries.  Afterward, we got fuel and headed back to the campground.  Paul got a campfire going and we enjoyed the heat as the temperatures have dropped in the last two days.  After it was dark, we took a last drive through the Christmas light display around the lake.  It was all very pretty. With Christmas music playing on the radio, I think we are getting into the seasonal mood.

25 Nov 2018 (Sun) – Many of the RVs left today.  After they were gone, Paul walked around the campsites and collected firewood people left behind.  He brought it back to our site and we enjoyed a campfire all afternoon.  We spent the day in the campground.  We walked Bonnie down by the lake to see how much the water has receded.  Part of the roadway are still underwater.  Some of the picnic tables and barbecues are starting to come out of the water.  The water level is dropping about four or five feet a day.  They have quite a while before everything resurfaces.

 24 Nov 2018 (Sat) – We went out at lunch time to the Dead Fish Grill for lunch.  After sunset, we walked out around the campground to look at the Christmas lights.  A lot of cars were driving through the route.  We watched “A Christmas Story” tonight.  That was a pretty funny movie.  We enjoyed another campfire.

 23 Nov 2018 (Fri) – We went out for lunch at Benny’s Ristorante.  We tried going to two museums in the area but they are closed for the holiday weekend. Bummer.  We drove around Belton Lake and checked out the two campgrounds around the Belton Dam before returning to the campground.  The campfire was so nice last night that Paul bought more firewood and we had another fire tonight.

22 Nov 2018 (Thu-Thanksgiving Day) – We stayed in the campground today.  I cooked a turkey breast, mashed potatoes, green beans, and gravy.  I tried some desserts ketogenic style but they didn’t turn out very good – blueberry pie and chocolate coconut milk ice cream.  Yuk.

      We went for a walk at sunset.  The light show was just coming on.  We were surprised at the number of cars driving through.  We thought nobody would come on a holiday.  We were wrong!  When we walked down by the lake, we saw signs of recent flooding.  The road is actually underwater by the lakefront so we can see why the lights down by there have not been turned on.  It looks like they either started putting up the light show when the flood started or it was set up when the flooding happened.  Either way, the roadway leading down that way is cordoned off.  It was pretty to look at the lights that are on.  They have miles and miles of Christmas lights lining the road and then loads of lighted figures.  It is all very nice.  We could hear the kids excitedly exclaiming about the things they were seeing as they drove by. 

      We had a campfire tonight.  It was so pleasant.  When we camped during our work years, it was such a pleasure to disconnect from the TV and radio and just enjoy nature.  Now, since we are living on the road full-time, campfires are rare.  And we use the Internet every day to check on the weather, to explore campgrounds, to find out news, to see what’s happening back home, etc.  Things are very different between full-time and just camping.

      We watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” tonight.  That’s my favorite Thanksgiving movie. 

 21 Nov 2018 (Wed) – Last night, we took a ride through the Christmas lights display.  It was pretty awesome.  LEDs have sure made for brighter and better light shows as well as making the cost so much cheaper.   There were some, but not many, cars driving the course.  We suspect it will be really busy over the weekend.  There is a part down by the beach with trucks set up to sell food that was closed.  It is probably only open on the weekend.  We’ll see.

     We drove over to Fort Hood today.  That base is huge!  It has to be the largest military base we have ever been.  We drove in and out of gates on different segments of the base. We finally found the campground we wanted to stay at but couldn’t because they were full.  The clerk in the office gave us a base map and showed us where Club Hood was as well as the PX, commissary, and museums.  We drove over to the Museum of the 1st Cavalry Division. The museum was small but comprehensive. Outside were dozens of tanks, APCs, trucks, cars, and helicopters.  We strolled around the concourse reading the descriptions of the displays.

     When done, we found our way to Club Hood. That was also very large!  After wandering around the halls and peeking into ballrooms set up for banquets, we got to the office and asked about Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.  They have 80 tables set up and will have two servings – one at 11 a.m. and the other at 2 p.m.  Unfortunately, they were full and no reservations were available.  They told us we could go to any of the mess halls to eat as they do a nice meal set-up, too.

     We left the base and found a barbecue place to have lunch.  It was small and was one of those places where you order by the pound at a counter. Paul got pulled pork and I got ribs. The food was OK.  The clerk taking orders was an Asian woman who barely spoke English.  She was very hard to understand.  There were also religious pictures hanging in the bathrooms.  It was all just weird.

      Next stop was at H-E-B. for groceries.  The place was so packed.  It seemed like everyone was doing their Thanksgiving shopping. We returned to the campground. They had closed part of the roadway for the light show and it bypassed the entrance to the area of the campground where our rig is parked.  We had to drive around a bunch of cones then drive the wrong way on a one-way road to get home.  Ugh.

20 Nov 2018 (Tue) – We left Fredericksburg at 9:30 a.m.  The temperatures were in the low 40s.  The sky was clear.  Traffic was easy.  Three hours later we arrived at Fort Hood Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Annex. The campground is not on the actual military base.  The road into the camp area is decorated with Christmas lights.  Apparently, they use the road into and within the campground to do a drive through the lights like many other places do.  It is open to military and civilian alike.

     Our campsite is a back-in on a concrete pad. Trees are heavy around the area and we had to adjust entry to avoid overhanging branches.  We only have 30-amp electric and water hookup – no sewer. According to Trip Adviser, there really isn’t anything to see in Killeen.  And we’re here for a week!  Oh, boy. Priority for now is to find out where the dining facility is so we can enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.

 19 Nov 2018 (Mon) – We drove to the Texas Ranger Heritage Center expecting to tour a museum about Texas Rangers.  It is something in the process of being developed but there was no museum to tour.  There was a large open area where a band was playing music too loudly.  We left there and drove to the Pioneer Museum. This is a 4 acre complex that has several original buildings to the town.  Two are sited on their original places.  We read a plaque that said over 6,000 Germans came to America to start a new life.  They didn’t get picked up and taken to their new land as was agreed, and many died of starvation and illness at the port.  Finally, some pioneers decided to go to their new land on their own rather than waiting to be picked up.  They made their way to Fredericksburg and created a new settlement.  

     We then decided to explore some of the wineries in the area.  There are about 30 to 40 vineyards on Route 290 coming into the town of Fredericksburg. We went to three of them and bought several bottles of wine.  We also enjoyed a cheese and meat board for lunch.  It was a pleasant day.

     We stopped to get our propane tank filled and then at the gas station to top off for tomorrow’s move.  We also went to Tractor Supply to try and find some food for Bonnie.  There is no PetCo or Pet Smart in town and her being on this special diet makes it difficult to find food for her.  We picked up two cans of fish and potato, hoping that there will be a better supply in Killeen.

 18 Nov 2018 (Sun) – We went back to the National Museum of the Pacific War to finish touring the exhibits.  Again, there were people hanging around all over the sidewalk waiting for the tour buses to go to the wineries. 

      After wandering around the museum for two hours, we walked uptown to the main street.  We looked in the many storefronts and restaurant windows finally stopping at the Auslander Restaurant for lunch.  The food was authentic German fare and was very good. 

      We drove out to Enchanted Rock.  This is a large monolith dome that second only to Stone Mountain in Georgia.  The tail up to the dome was very steep so we did not climb it.  We came.  We saw.  We left. 

17 Nov 2018 (Sat) – We went to breakfast at the Airport Diner.  Right across the street from our camp area (you can’t really call it a campground), is a small regional airfield with two old hangers converted to lodging and entertainment venues.  The diner was at the end of the hanger facing the airfield.  We watched some planes come and go.  A P38 Mustang was giving a ride to a customer.  When we were done eating, we walked over to the Airport Hotel to look at it.  The Officer’s Club was a delightful room with small intimate areas for playing cards, having a cigar, or sharing a drink.  There was a balcony on the second floor where we went out and watched the planes.

     We drove to the Museum of the Pacific War where they were doing a reenactment of a battle.  There were between 50 and 60 actors dressed in period uniforms.  The session began with an explanation of the gear soldiers wore followed by a demonstration of each of the rifles and pistols marines and soldiers used during World War II.  They also paid tribute to the women who participated in the war.  Once all the descriptions of equipment, uniforms, and personnel were done, the actors engaged in a very realistic battle.  There were tanks, a trench, a bunker, a “cave,” and lots of weapons fire.  The entire demonstration took about an hour and a half and was great!  We enjoyed it so much.

     After the battle, we walked back and began to tour the museum.  It is huge with tons of story boards, equipment, artifacts, videos, and recordings. We walked for about two hours and were only half way through the museum when we called it quits for the day.  We walked down to the main street and had lunch at the Fredericksburg Brewing Company.  The beer cheese soup was so good that I took a quart of it home for supper tonight.  We left the restaurant and strolled down the street, popping in and out of stores to see interesting displays.  In the MarktPlatz, the town already has their Christmas tree and giant German figure candle erected.  We looked through the Vereins Kirche – the oldest social structure in Fredericksburg.  

16 Nov 2018 (Fri) – We packed up and left Austin at 9:30 a.m.  After a short stop at the dump station to empty the tanks, we drove for two hours to Fredericksburg.  We are camped at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds.  There are 20 sites lined in a row along the road with a large open field in back facing a race track with bleachers.  There are no trees but we do have full hook up with 50-amp service.  I hate when we have 30-amp because I forget and wind up blowing the breaker.  The temperature has been getting warmer each day and today it was 41 when we got up and reached 70.  

     After set up, we drove into town to do some laundry. We drove around to look at some of the older buildings.  This town, like so many others we’ve been to, was settled by German immigrants.  They seem to like stone very much as most of the buildings and homes are built with it.  We had lunch at the Backwoods BBQ.  It was a large barn like structure where you ordered the meat by the pound at a counter with some sides.  The food was excellent.  All the sides were outstanding, too.  They had creamed corn, cheesy green beans, and loaded potato salad.  There were pinto beans on the side board.  

     We stopped at the visitor center to see what is happening in town.  The agent gave us a whole schedule of events for the week as well as a map of everything in the area.  We watched a video about the town.  Their depiction of the Christmas holidays was compelling and we are going to come back here for the holidays.

 15 Nov 2018 (Thu) – We went out for lunch to Kerby Lane Café.  Afterward, we stopped at WalMart to pick up a few grocery items.  When we got back, we took Bonnie with us and hiked a trail around the McKinney Falls.  It was not easy to get near the river since a lot of the area was either fenced off or fallen in.  There was a very interesting rock ledge overhanging the trail.  It was big enough that someone could live under it.

 14 Nov 2018 (Wed) – We toured the Capitol today.  Standing outside and counting the floors, the building is ten floors high.  We discovered that they outgrew the building (which, by the way, was the tallest in the U.S. at one time), they decided to go down rather than up or out and change the shape of the original building.  They dug down 62’ and built another huge area underground.  The original building was erected in 1853.  It burned down like so many buildings of that time period.  A temporary capitol was built across the street from Capitol Square.  The new capitol building was completed in 1888.  In 1993, the underground Capitol Extension was completed which added two lower levels.

     After the Capitol, we went to the Scholz Biergarten for lunch.  The hall is supposed to be the oldest biergarten in Texas(?).  We’re not exactly sure where.  We shared a sausage platter.  There were three kinds of sausage, three kinds of mustard, sauerkraut, red cabbage, and potato pancakes.  It was all very good.

     We then drove to the Texas Military Forces Museum.  There was no charge for admission.  The museum was housed in an old hangar and was located on Camp Mabry, home of the Texas National Guard Headquarters.  It was an excellent museum.  There were storyboards, equipment, and artifacts that told the story of Texans involvement in all the armed conflicts around the world. There was excellent coverage of the war between Mexico, Texas and the United States.  Texas has flown six different flags – Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America.  Inside the museum was also the French Gratitude train car (Merci Boxcar).  It was sitting at an American Legion post for years before it was restored and moved to the museum.  

     When we were finished touring the museum (I think we walked around for about 4 hours), we drove to the Texas State Cemetery.  There were three buses parked outside and groups of school children touring the cemetery.  It seemed like a strange field trip.  We parked and walked around the cemetery.  There are many famous Texans buried there, including Stephen Austin who’s considered the Father of Texas.  It was he who convinced the Mexican government to allow American citizens to settle in the territory.  Austin died at the battle of the Alamo.

 13 Nov 2018 (Tue) – Gremlins are certainly in the works.  The furnace stopped working overnight.  When Paul got up, he turned it on, it ran for two minutes, then shut off.  He turned it on again and it ran most of the afternoon.  It again shut off on us a few more times.  It was 35 degrees outside and 55 in here when he got up.  Brrrrrrr.  We’ll have to make sure we put out the ceramic heater tonight.  We have to be careful with the electric since we only have 30 amp.

     We ran to the post office this morning to check on our forwarded mail. The mail clerk told me there was nothing.  I pushed back, saying the two packages had been mailed a week ago from Livingston. He went back and looked again and found the packages.  They had been put in the wrong place.

       We packed up and left Canyon Lake a little after noon.  Aside from the cold, the weather was good and the drive was about an hour and a half to Austin.  We pulled into McKinney Falls State Park around 1:30 p.m.  When we checked in, the clerk asked us if we wanted a pull through or back in.  We said a pull through would be convenient so she assigned campsite #59.  We also bought a Texas State annual pass for $70. That gave us a discount on the fee and paid the daily entrance fee of $6 per person.  

     We got to site #59 only to find out that it was sharply curved and we couldn’t fit in it.  The campsite next to that one, #60, was a back in but would fit our rig. So we pulled in there and tried to call the office to see if we could change.  After trying to get through for half an hour, we dropped the trailer and drove back to the office.  There were now two clerks at the counter.  It was apparent the second girl is full time because she knew right away that #59 wouldn’t fit our size rig.  The other clerk is a volunteer and doesn’t know the campground that well. At any rate, we got reassigned to #60. We returned to the campsite, Paul sawed off an overhanging branch, and we set up.  It was really cold so we stayed in the rest of the day.  We had to turn off the water again tonight because of a freeze warning.  The temperature is supposed to drop down to 29 degrees.

12 Nov 2018 (Mon) – The day was cool – overcast and misty. There was a freeze warning in effect but it never got below 40 degrees.  Paul turned off the water overnight just in case.

     We’ve been having problems with the water pump.  Paul thinks it is a loose wire in the pump.  It’s buried deep inside the bowels of the RV so it will be a major job to repair or replace it.  That’s a job left for when I fly back to New York.

     At 11:30 a.m. we drove into New Braunfels and I got a haircut.  The girl did it just right!  I get so many bad haircuts that it is delightful when I get a good one.  We then drove over to Gruene.  We walked through some of the stores then went to the Gristmill to await Jim & Theda. They arrived and we had a wonderful meal together.  They were the tailgunners on the Canadian Maritimes caravan this year and they will be the tailgunners on the Alaska caravan next year.  Lots of exciting trips for them.  They are full timers, like us, and are wintering in San Antonio near their kids and grandkids.

 11 Nov 2018 (Sun) – We spent the day hanging around the campground. At 4:30 p.m. we drove into town and had dinner at Gennaro’s Trattoria.  The waiter was great.  Zach started out by describing the specials in such a way that your mouth was watering by the time he was finished.  He was attentive, efficient, and funny.  Paul had a lamb chop and I had a grilled fish.  Everything was excellent.  The evening was delightful.

     I got a call from Jim & Theda.  We met them on our Alaska caravan in 2015.  They winter in San Antonio and invited us to meet them for lunch tomorrow.

 10 Nov 2018 (Sat) – It was in the low 40s this morning.  We brought out the electric heater last night. It will soon be time to put the flannel sheets on the bed.  We went to Willie’s Grill & Icehouse for lunch.  The restaurant was in a large, newly built mall.  It looked like the typical restaurant-in-an-old-warehouse with the customers ordering their food at the counter.  But at least they had regular items to order; not the meat by the pound option.

     After lunch, we decided to go to the movies but had to wander around for over an hour until the film started.  We went to Hobby Lobby where Paul decided they are rally a craft store; not a hobby store.  We watched the new Disney movie Nutcracker & the Four Realms.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t fully enjoy it because the seats in the theater were in such bad condition.  They were ripped and taped and worn and the back of the seat was broken so that if you tried to lean back, it was like falling over.  We stopped at the UPS Store to fax off some medical records to MD Anderson Cancer Center.  I am trying to get bloodwork done and they want me to see a doctor and review my case. It’s all about the money!

     We returned to the campground and stopped at the camp store to get our propane tank refilled (we ran out of propane overnight).  It was 3:45 p.m.  The clerk told Paul they stopped filling tanks at 3 p.m.  He just didn’t want to get up and walk outside.  The lazy bum!

9 Nov 2018 (Fri) – It rained pretty hard last night.  We had thunder, lightning, and hail.  A cold front has moved in and the temperatures are now down to the 50s in the daytime and low 40s at night.  We spent most of the day just hanging around the campground.

     At 4:30 p.m. we drove to San Antonio for dinner.  We ate at Saltgrass Steak House right on the San Antonio Riverwalk.  We were on the patio with the heaters going.  The boats riding by on the canal had all different kinds of colored lights. The walkway was very busy with all kinds of people walking by.  All the restaurants were very busy.  Our meal was delicious.  Afterward we walked along the Riverwalk with all the other tourists.  It was a very pleasant evening.  

 8 Nov 2018 (Thu) – It was a cold, gray day today.  We spent most of the day hanging around the camper with the fireplace on.  We brought our laundry over to the Fort Houston Army campground.  There are two washers and two dryers in our campground but the washers are out of order.  The laundry room in the other campground has five washers and five dryers.  We put the wash in and sat in the rec room watching TV or playing around with the stationary bikes.  When the wash was done, we put the clothes in the dryer then drove to the Post Office to pick up our mail that was forwarded here.  I got the birth and baptism certificates for my grandmother.  That was exciting to get.  I now know my great grandmother’s name!  She and great granddad both emigrated from Ireland (not together).  Now I need to work backwards in Ireland.  I hope I can find the information.  We got our laundry and returned to the campground where I spent the evening exploring Ancestry.com.

 7 Nov 2018 (Wed) – We went to Granny D’s for breakfast this morning. The food was so good.  Paul got biscuit and sausage gravy.  It had loads of meat!  I had a bacon omelet.  It was full of chopped bacon.  It was cute to hear the waitress addressing us a y’all.  Paul saw corn chowder on the menu so we ordered a quart to take home. It turned out to be a roux that we would have to add milk to.

     We ran back to the camper to drop off the chowder then drove to the Texas Heritage Museum of the Texas Hill Country.  The website said it was open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  When we arrived, a sign strung across the fence said it was open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.  Bummer!

     We then drove into New Braunfels to the Sophienburg Museum.  It told the story of how a prince brought 202 royal families from Germany to America.  Prince Carl of Solms and his group of colonists came to escape war, taxes, and religious persecution.  They were deeded half acre town lots and 10 acre farm lots by the Mexicans in 1845. Mexico was trying to bring settlers to the area to prevent the new America from attacking if its own citizens lived there.  That didn’t work.  lol. At any rate, over 7,300 Germans emigrated to Texas over a 3-year period.  The museum displayed lots of artifacts from the royal families.  Storyboards told how they formed new societies here.  It was very interesting.

     After the museum, we decided to drive the Devil’s Backbone Scenic Drive.  While it looked nice driving over the hills, it was nothing like the views we’ve seen elsewhere.  If hard pressed, I could buy a house on one of the hills overlooking Canyon Lake.  

     At 2 p.m. we stopped at the Heritage Museum of the Texas Hill Country. It was a tiny little house telling mostly the story of how they found fossil footprints on the property in the early 1980s.  When the owners realized what they had, they stopped clearing the land and contacted the local college.  Archeologists have been coming to the museum on a regular basis with their classes to teach their students about the animal prints found there.  In 2008 a pavilion was built over a portion of the track bed to protect it from the effects of the elements.  A walkway built all around the area allows visitors to get different views of the track bed.

     We got back to the campground around 3:30 p.m. and let the babies out to play.  I feel like we are living in the middle of a deer sanctuary.  Wherever you look, there are white tail deer.  It’s ridiculous!  I hope we won’t have any tick problems.

6 Nov 2018 (Tue-Paul’s Birthday) – There was a nice, thick fog this morning.  We left at 8:45 a.m. for a 10:00 a.m. appointment in San Antonio.  It was over an hour to get there – the traffic was heavy. I had a lymphatic drainage massage at Oak Haven Massage.  I endure these massages because it (hopefully) cleans out the lymph nodes and robs the cancer of a place to live.  I got completely undressed and lay on a heated table covered with a sheet and blanket.  The massage therapist methodically worked on each limb and my head, each time moving the covers over so she could work on my skin.  When it came time to work on the underarms (the groin, neck, and underarms are concentration points for lymph nodes), she left the sheet in place and massaged the skin through the sheet.  She did the same thing with my stomach.  All other therapists I have been to work the entire body with direct contact.  This experience was weird.

     After the massage, I got a chiropractic adjustment.  Oak Haven Massage not only has 60 therapists on staff, but they also have a chiropractor.  And the first appointment is free! The doctor was from Iowa, moved to Minnesota, and now lives in Texas.  We talked about the Midwest and Minnesota in particular. Since we just toured that state this summer, it was fresh and delightful to talk about.

     When I was all done with the workup, we were going to go to San Antonio to the Riverwalk but Paul decided he wanted to go to a town we passed yesterday.  It looked like it had a historic area with several old buildings.  When I put the name of the town in Trip Advisor – Gruene – nothing came up.  It turned out that the City of Gruene is no more.  It became part of New Brunfels and now it is just a tourist area called the Gruene Historical District.  There are a couple of blocks with old style buildings; some built new to look old and some original from the late 1800s.  We ate in a restaurant that looked like a renovated and converted barn but turned out to be newly built.  It was like some kind of sham!  We walked along the main street, stopping at a winery for a tasting.  It was an enjoyable day.

5 Nov 2018 (Mon) – We went to the office to extend for three nights. Looking at the calendar, we realized that this coming weekend is Veterans Day.  A three-day weekend down here will surely make it hard to find a campsite so we want to stay here through Tuesday.  The woman in the office told us we had to go to the other campsite where the manager works.  He is the only one who can change campsites.  Someone is scheduled to come into our site this weekend.  But the person in Site #9 left early so they could put that person in #9 and leave us in site #7.  So we drove over to the camp store and spoke with the manager.  He said that he will not change people’s campsites unless under extremely dire circumstances.  It was done in the past and people got very upset.  However, he told us we could move into site #9 if we wanted to and we could do it today, why wait?  So we went back, packed up, and moved over two spaces.

     After lunch, we drove to New Braunfels to the Wurstfest.  We got there at 3 p.m. only to find it didn’t open until 5 p.m.  There was a nearby park with a natural spring, a swimming pool, a volleyball court, and a small scale train that circled the park.  It was quite large and we spent an hour strolling around it.  At 4 p.m. we returned to the gate, took a seat on the bench, and waited until they opened.  The line started to grow until it was all the way down the block.  The gate opened at 5 p.m. and we entered. First thing was to buy drink tickets. Then we found our way to biergarten to get a beer and glass of wine.  Then we sat in the great hall and listened to the German band and watch people moving about the large dance floor.  When our drinks were done, we went out to the concessions stands and bought a dinner to potato pancakes and sausage.  We went back into the great hall to eat and listen to the band.

     The Wurstfest is the biggest Octoberfest we’ve ever seen.  There were dozens of concessionaires – many of them run by nonprofits (Boy Scouts, Elks, Masons, Children’s Hospital, etc.).  We found a place selling Christmas ornaments and was able to buy one for Wurstfest 2018. We wandered around and listened to the different bands playing around the facility – there were six of them.  It was a delightful evening.  We left at 6:30 p.m.

4 Nov 2018 (Sun) – We let the animals play outside this morning. Every once in a while, a deer would run by and both the dog and cat would freeze and watch them.  It was funny to see.  At noon, we tucked them safely in the trailer and went out for lunch. First stop was at Granny D’s but it was so crowded and we could see people waiting outside (we forgot about Sunday brunches) so we passed on it.  We then continued on to Alpine Haus Restaurant.  It was an old house converted to restaurant.  The walls, inside and out, were all brick.  The place was small but exquisite.  The menu was very German and our meal was delicious. We made sure to take left-overs home for dinner.

     After lunch, we drove around New Braunfels.  They are having a Wurstfest this week.  From what we could read online, it is an annual festival that is like an Octoberfest but bigger.  There is free parking Monday through Wednesday so we decided to go tomorrow or Tuesday.  

     We drove to the overlook on Canyon Lake.  They built two dams.  We looked at one and then walked across the point to look at the other one.  There is a huge earthen dam on one side and a spill way going down into a gorge on the other side.  We drove past the gorge and weren’t impressed at all.  We’ve seen much better in many places.  

     While we were out, we stopped at a Buc-EE’s.  Several people have told us that they love the place. It was like a gas station on steroids. Outside were about 120 gas points. There were two long rows with two gas pumps at each column and about 30 columns in each row.  Inside the store, it looked like a WalMart.  There were loads of snacks, many cashiers, about a dozen coffee dispensers, refrigerators with drinks and food, clothing, shoes, souvenirs, and tons of “stuff.”  It was a department store at the gas station. And the place was buzzing with people everywhere!

     When we got back to the campground, we took Bonnie for a long walk along the lakefront and through the other campgrounds.  It looks like they used to have trailers but pulled them out and built cabins.  There are a bunch of trailers stacked in the woods at one corner.  It was a nice and easy day.

 3 Nov 2018 (Sat) – We packed up and left Kingsville at 10:00 a.m. It was five and a half hours to our next campground – Joint Base San Antonio Sunnyside Park in Canyon Lake. It was a long drive on back roads through small towns and past many farms and ranches.  Randolph AFB and Fort Sam Houston Army Base were joined.  They both had campgrounds out on Canyon Lake. Now they are JBSA-Sunnyside Park (8 spaces belonging to the old Air Force Base) and JBSA-Hancock Cove Park (60+ campsites belonging to the Army).  It appears that the Army Corps of Engineers built two dams creating Canyon Lake. They then gave the land down the center to the military and the land on either side to the civilians.

     When we arrived at the gate, a lady checked us in.  The Sunnyside Park only has 9 campsites.  We got the last one as they are fully booked for the weekend. It is an old campground and the sites are narrow and close together.  There are loads of bushy trees in the area and deer are everywhere. Four were grazing next to us as we set up.  They have absolutely no fear of people.  That’s bad for the deer.

      After set up, we walked around the campground.  We are right next to the lake.  There is a marina with about two dozen boats docked at a pier but you can’t get to them.  The walkway out to the dock fell into the water.  You would have to swim to get out to your boat.

2 Nov 2018 (Fri) – We drove to the Big House BBQ for lunch.  It was not their usual order-by-the-pound place. We actually got to sit down at a table and order from a menu.  The tortilla soup was so good that I ordered a quart to take home for dinner.  Paul had roast chicken and I had ribs.  There was so much food that we took leftovers home to go with the soup.  Everything was delicious.

     After lunch, we drove to the King Museum Henrietta Memorial Center. It used to be an ice house and was donated by the King family.  It was a huge building!  We spent about an hour and a half wandering around the place, looking at the displays, watching videos, and reading storyboards.

     When we got back to the campground, I tried calling Fort Sam Houston and Lackland AFB to get a campsite but they were both booked.  There were three Joint Base campgrounds on a lake but they closed at 4 p.m.  I’ll have to call on the way there tomorrow.

 1 Nov 2018 (Thu) – We drove to IHOP for breakfast.  The place was terrible.  We were seated quickly and got our menus right away.  Then it took a while to give our orders and it was about 20 or 30 minutes before we got our food.  One waiter walked around with one hand in his pocket all the time.  I thought he was holding his phone to see is he got a message or call.  Paul thought he was holding up his pants.  lol.  Whichever it was, it was weird to see a waiter with his hand always in his pocket. While waiting, I looked around and realized that the place was filthy.  An overhead beam and fans had dust and dirt dripping over the edges, a light was out, windows were filthy, the baseboard near our table had all kinds of stains on it including ketchup (at least I HOPE it was ketchup).  When Paul unrolled his silverware from his neatly wrapped napkin, he found the spoon and fork to be filthy.   I ordered corned beef hash, eggs, and hash browns.  My meal arrived with a big serving of hash browns covered with corned beef hash and the eggs on top.  This came with a side order of hash browns.  Why?  Were they trying to empty the potato pantry?  The food was OK but I felt skeevy eating it.  What kind of dirt was in my food?  We waited for the bill and after a while, the manager ran over with the bill and included a military discount.  Paul thinks his frown was what brought the manager running.  Apparently, the entire restaurant staff is under threat.  They were nervous and asked if we enjoyed our meal. I thought our waitress was going to cry.

     After breakfast, we drove to the King Ranch.  The ranch is comprised of more than 825,000 acres. That’s bigger than the state of Rhode Island!  The King family started the ranch in 1853.  They grew to have businesses in many states and foreign countries at the peak of their ownership.  Today, their income is derived from four primary sources:  raising, training, and selling quarter horses; growing corn and sorghum crops; providing hunting areas for sportsmen; and oil operations.  They bred thoroughbred race horses until 1989, and had one Triple Crown winner (Assault) and one horse that won two of the three key races.  They gave that up and now just breed horses for ranch operations.  We took a one and a half hour bus tour of the ranch.  We saw the Santa Gertrudis cows, which are a breed that was developed by the King family.  They also have wildlife areas on their property.  One such property is a major stop along the migration flyway. The business is now run by seventh generation descendants of the Kings.

     We left the ranch and drove into town to look at the King Saddle Shop. It was a small shop that sells many leather items, cowboy outfits, and other items with the running W brand embossed on them.  I thought everything was expensive.  After wandering around the store, we drove around town for a little bit than stopped at the King Museum.  It was 3:00 pm and the museum closed at 4:00 pm.  So we decided to return tomorrow.  

     We got back to the campground and did the laundry.

31 Oct 2018 (Wed) – We packed up and hit the road at 10 a.m. The drive was only two hours.  The weather was good and the traffic wasn’t bad at all.  On the way, I called a couple of campgrounds only to be told they were all full.  As we were casting about for a place to go, we happened to pass a campground with a sign outside that read NOW OPEN.  Paul turned at the next road and we went around the block to get back to it.  There is a Valero gas station in front, a Mexican restaurant, a hotel, and a campground in back.  We parked and wandered around the place trying to find the check in point.  We finally wound up in the restaurant where the on-site manager had to call the owner to see what the rate was.  We went back out to set up while they made contact.  There are 58 sites; three were taken right up front. We backed into a site in the center of the campground but found out the electric was not on yet.  The place is so new that they haven’t even finished all the hookups.  We pulled out and parked in front near the other RVs.

     After set up, we went back into the restaurant and ordered lunch.  I had tacos and Paul had enchiladas.  The manager came over and said the rate was $30 a night.  We paid and left.  First stop was at the Naval Air Station to see if they really were full.  There was only one open space and it was too small for us so they were right.  Then we drove into town where I mailed off some cards at the post office.  Next, we wandered around the historic district and main roads.  The I-77 (like in so many other places) bypassed the main street and there were many closed stores.  I guess they’ll try to bring the district back in a few years.

 30 Oct 2018 (Tue) – Hank & Brenda picked us up at noon and we went to Smoke Texas BBQ for lunch.  It was a large warehouse converted to a restaurant.  You ordered at the counter: meat by the pound and small, medium, or large sides.  That style restaurant seems to be popular down here.  There was a counter serving the food along the back wall.  In the center of the room was a square bar with beer and liquor.  We had a great time visiting with each other.

     After they dropped us off at the lodge, we drove to H.E.B. and picked up a few items.  Then we dropped off letters at the post office and got fuel for tomorrow’s drive.  We had planned to head southwest to Laredo but that migrant caravan is headed toward the border.  President Trump is sending 5,000 troops to join the DHS and Border Patrol forces. We don’t want to get caught in that mix up so we’re heading back north to Kingsville.

29 Oct 2018 (Mon) – We drove to the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Park in Brownsville.  It was the site of the decisive battle of the Mexican-American War in 1846.  We walked along the battle trail, envisioning the bloody battle that took place there almost 200 years ago.  The result of that battle was that the U.S. doubled in size and Mexico lost half its territory.  We got 7 states out of that conflict.

     After the battlefield, we went to lunch.  We were following a suggestion by Siri when we passed McCarthy’s Irish Pub.  Being lovers of Irish food, we did a quick turn around and pulled into the restaurant. When we walked in the door, the first thing I noticed was that everyone in there was Mexican.  Few people were speaking English.  The menu didn’t have a single traditional Irish meal on it. There was a soup billed as Irish Soup but it was “delicious onion soup with garlic, served with bread croutons (is there any other kind?) and gouda smoked cheese.”  There was a large display case on one wall that had “Luck of the Irish” posted above it.  Nothing in the case had anything to do with Ireland or the Irish.  There was a Norman Rockwell picture (maybe he was Irish?), a doll dressed in Mardi Gras costume, a lamp with flowers in the base, an Antiques sign, etc.  It was so funny.

     We went back to the Marine Military Academy and toured their small museum. It was tiny but jam packed with all things Marine.  Many historical pictures covered the walls and artifacts were stuffed into display cases.

     At 6 p.m. Hank & Brenda picked us up and we went to La Playa for dinner.  It was a Mexican restaurant with a large menu.  Everything was very good.  We got margaritas and there were olives in the drinks.  When we returned to the RV, we all went into the Elks Lodge for drinks. It was a pleasant end to a pleasant evening.

 28 Oct 2018 (Sun) – We went to the Koffee Klatch for breakfast. It was a little house with the porch walled in.  Cute. And the food was OK.  We then drove over to the Marine Military Academy.  It is a private high school with a military focus. On the parade field across the street is a large statue of marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima.  This model was used as the basis for the monument in Washington, D.C.  We arrived at 12:30 p.m. but a sign on the door said they were open from 1 to 4 on Sunday. So we drove around the school grounds. Also, the airport is adjacent to the property so we took a quick swing through there (it is a very small facility). We walked around the monument and read some of the memorial plaques around the area.  At 1:05 p.m. the museum still was not open.  I went on the website to double check the opening time and it said they were closed on Sunday.  Somebody needs to fix the sign on the door!

     We stopped at H.E.B. for groceries and Pet Smart to pick up pet food. At 4 p.m. we drove to Hank & Brenda’s home for steak on the barbecue.  They have a lovely home in a 55+ community.  It was a delightful evening.

27 Oct 2018 (Sat) – Hank & Brenda picked us up at 11:00 a.m. and we drove to South Padre Island.  First stop was at the Padre Island Brewing Company for lunch.  I ordered fried flounder and got a plate piled high with two large filets, a crab cake, and three large shrimp – all accompanied by a Caesar salad and grilled vegetables.  It was enough for three people! I took most of it home.

     After lunch, we drove down the Beach Blvd to a parking area with access to the beach.  Three of us took our shoes off (Hank had compression socks and couldn’t take them off) and we walked up the beach wading in the warm Gulf of Mexico waters.  We watched dogs and people cavorting in the water, saw pelicans diving into the water for fish, and searched for shells. We topped the day off with ice cream at one of the local parlors.  A gift shop was attached to the ice cream parlor and I was able to pick up a Christmas ornament while Brenda found that perfect pair of flip flops.  It was a very enjoyable day.

26 Oct 2018 (Fri) – We packed up and left Corpus Christi at 10 a.m. Wouldn’t you know it?  The sun was out and shining brightly!  The drive was three and a half hours past many acres of ranches, farms and refineries.  It was mostly two lane highway that passed through occasional towns but there’s not a lot of population down this way.

                                           sunrise this morning 

    We pulled into the Elks Lodge in Harlingen about 1:30 p.m.  We are about 20 miles north of the Mexican border. There is a caravan of 7,000 to 10,000 South Americans headed toward the border right now.  President Trump has called out the military to join the Border Patrol and National Guard.  All this on the eve of Election Day.  I just hope no one gets killed in the fray.  It is tense!

     We went into the lodge to pay for five nights lodging.  It was $60 ($12 a night).  The “campsites” are composed of a row of hookups aligned along the edge of the parking lot in the back of the lodge.  We have 30 amp and water hookups.  There’s no worry about a sewer dump.  There are dozens of campgrounds down here along the border. This is where the Winter Texans come from December through April (they don’t call them Snowbirds, like we do on the east coast).

            There’s only us and one other RV.  The rest are in storage.

     At 6:30 p.m. we went into the lodge for their fish fry.  The Bush Riders (a local band) was playing cowboy music. Our friends, Hank & Brenda, joined us.  They live in Harlingen and offered the names of places to see and eat at.  They will go to South Padre Island with us tomorrow. We met Hank & Brenda on the Maritimes Caravan and reunited during the National Muster in Mineola this year.

     As I sat there and watched the couples dancing, I was struck by how people’s bodies change but their spirits remain the same.  Almost all the folks on the dance floor were in their 60s and 70s (maybe even 80s).  Everyone held their dance partner and moved around the floor – some quite lively and some just scuffing along due to stiff joints and other elderly ailments.  There was one really rocking mama who looked like the typical grandma – short, gray curly hair; glasses; pointy chin and wrinkled face.  Yet she wore white jeans and boots and was gleefully dancing away with her more reserved partner.  She was 16 years old inside!  When a group of folks got up and did some line dancing, a rather grumpy looking old man with a paunch joined them.  He was very adept at the steps and was singing along with the band.  I would have imagined him just sitting in a corner grouching about the world at large if I hadn’t seen that.  It was another reminder not to judge people by the way they look.  Especially older folks!

25 Oct 2018 (Thu) – The day was warmer – in the high 60s.  It was also drier but still overcast.  The forecast predicted sunshine this afternoon but it never happened.  At 2:30 p.m. we drove over to Mustang Island and had lunch at Fin’s Grill & Icehouse. We sat out on the deck and watched barges moving up and down the canal.  Afterward we drove around the area.  The ferries at Port Aransas were incredibly busy.  Cars were coming in non-stop from both sides.  They had six ferries working at the same time.

     On the way back to the campground, we stopped at WalMart to pick up a few items then fueled up in preparation for tomorrow’s move to Harlingen.

24 Oct 2018 (Wed) – We toured the U.S.S. Lexington today.  It was an aircraft carrier built during WWII and decommissioned in 1976.  They had several TVs around the ship at strategic places with someone telling a story about that part of the ship.  There was also a 25-minute 3D movie that showed a joint naval training venture of the U.S. with other countries in the Pacific.  I was blown away by all the technology and mission operations depicted on the screen.  We spent four hours exploring the ship.

    Before we went to the U.S.S. Lexington, we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  It was like coming home.  I love eating at that place!  The day was foggy and overcast and it started to rain softly in the late afternoon. There is a hurricane that hit Mexico on the Pacific Coast and will be crossing South America and coming up into Texas.  The forecast is for rain the next two days.

    Before we went to the U.S.S. Lexington, we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  It was like coming home.  I love eating at that place!  The day was foggy and overcast and it started to rain softly in the late afternoon. There is a hurricane that hit Mexico on the Pacific Coast and will be crossing South America and coming up into Texas.  The forecast is for rain the next two days.

23 Oct 2018 (Tue) – The day was overcast, windy, damp, and cold. We hunkered down inside our nice and cozy trailer until 2 p.m.  We drove over to the post office on base and mailed off Halloween packages to the boys and a birthday package to Caiden.  We then went next door to the Navy Exchange (NEX) and bought another external storage device.  Now when we save our pictures, we will save to two external storage devices.  The laptop will also be backed up by Carbonite, an online storage system in the cloud.  If all that back up doesn’t work, we’re in big trouble.

     When we were finished at the NEX, we drove into town to Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q.  It was a gas station with a restaurant.  The restaurant was like a big barn with long picnic tables covered with white and red checked tablecloths.  Everything was ala carte.  You ordered the meat and whatever sides you wanted and a drink to go with it.  The food was pretty good.  You then took your food from the counter and sat down at a table in the dining room.  Signs all over the place said “Your Momma Does Not Work Here – Clean Up Your Own Mess.”

     We had been hoping the weather would get better.  When we first got here, the forecast was for the weather to clear up on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We left our visit to the USS Lexington for the nice weather.  Unfortunately, things have not cleared up.  In addition, there is now a hurricane hitting the coast of Mexico that will move up and right into our area in the next day or two.  The weather is only going to get worse. Guess we’ll have to tour the USS Lexington despite the bad weather.

22 Oct 2018 (Mon) – We went to the Texas State Aquarium this morning.  There was a dolphin show and we got splashed several times.  We spent the rest of the time drying out.  It was chilly!

      After the aquarium, we drove over Padre Island to Mustang Island. The water and sky were gray and the waves were very rough.  There is evidence that they got hit with a big storm – I think it was Hurricane Harvey in September of last year.  There were a couple of resorts that were closed and undergoing some repairs.  Some houses had blue tarps on the roof.  Some buildings were destroyed and simply closed.  We stopped at a restaurant right on the beach – Mikel Mays – and had an early dinner.  A long pier ran about a half mile out into the water but there was a charge to walk on it.  That ticked me off.  I refuse to pay to just walk out on a pier so we didn’t go.  Everywhere we look it is obvious that Texas has gotten more rain than it needs.  Besides getting occasional warnings about flooding on my cell phone, many places have water overflowing their area.  

      We stopped at H.E.B. Plus on the way home to pick up some groceries. That place is huge!  It is a combination giant supermarket with a giant department store.  We found every single thing we wanted.

21 Oct 2018 (Sun) – We didn’t do much today.  At 11:30 a.m. we ran to the commissary and picked up some groceries.  We also shopped at the Navy Exchange (NEX).  I got a fitbit and Paul picked up a grill.  The day was overcast and drizzly all day.  The weather is a real disappointment.  We are in some of the most beautiful coastal areas in the U.S. and the crappy weather is degrading the experience.

 20 Oct 2018 (Sat) – We went to the Art Museum of Texas at 12:30 p.m. after doing laundry this morning.  I can never figure out why art museums have so much wasted space.  The art is displayed on walls in big halls. Most of it was head scratching kind of stuff.  A few pictures were nice but most of the artwork made no sense to us.  Guess we’re just not artsy types.

     We had lunch in the café of the art museum.  They were hosting a wedding there today so a couple of the floors were closed to the general public.  When I complained about having half the museum cut off, the clerk let us in at no cost.

    After the museum, we drove across the channel to Padre Island.  It was ten miles over undeveloped land to the visitor’s center.  We got there at 4:45 p.m. and they were closing at 5 p.m.  We did a quick walk around the gift shop, picked up an ornament and patch, then walked out on the deck and admired the water. We then drove through two campgrounds on the island.  They were pretty rustic.

19 Oct 2018 (Fri) – We packed up and left Galveston at 9:05 a.m. It was 220 miles to our next destination.  The route was mostly two lane highway past miles of open grassland, grazing cattle, crops, farrow land, and occasional small towns.  There was high water everywhere and some roads were threatened by flooding.  There were many oil refineries.  They are such a maze of pipes and columns that they look very sci-fi.  I bet when they film movies like Mad Max, they use old oil refineries as their setting.  The weather went through sunshine, clouds, and bouts of rain during the six hour drive to Corpus Christi Naval Air Station.

     We checked in at the RV Office and the gal told us we could choose from five open sites.  When we got to the campground, we saw that one was undergoing some kind of construction project, two were under water, and one had a very narrow driveway.  The one that was left had a low hanging tree.  We pulled in at an angle to avoid the tree and are on the grass and not the hard pack.  Since the ground is soggy from lots of rain, Paul put boards under the levelers.  There is more rain in the forecast and I hope that won’t cause us any problems.  Our campsite looks out at a bay.  It looks like there used to be a runway that was used by water planes that landed and drove up concrete ramps onto the former runway. There is a laundry room with free washers and dryers.  The wifi is excellent!  We will be here for a week.

 18 Oct 2018 (Thu) – We drove to the Bryan Museum this morning. It was a former orphanage-turned-museum. The building was gorgeous.  It had originally been built as a non-denominational orphanage (there were two Catholic homes in Galveston).  The museum showcased the history of Galveston and the American West.  It was a beautiful house.

     After the museum, we drove to The Moody Mansion.  The Moody family was among the wealthy citizens of Galveston. They owned many businesses around town – banks, hotels, etc.  The 32-room mansion was built in the late 1800s.  The last of the family left the home in 1984 when the home was donated to the historical society.  The house was gorgeous.  There was silk wallpaper and exotic woods everywhere.

     The next stop was at the Bishop’s Palace.  The 19,000 sf house was made of stone and was able to withstand the hurricane of 1900 that wiped out most of Galveston. It was sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese in 1923 before it opened to the public in 1963.  It cost $250,000 to build the house and today’s value is over $5.5 million.  You pay the admission fee and get a hand held player with numbers on the screen that match numbers posted in the various rooms.  You press the appropriate number and a narrator tells you someone about the history of the family and diocese.  It was OK but we really wanted to hear about the house and its architecture, not the comings and goings of the original owners.  The Moody Mansion used the same system to tour that house as well.

     It was now mid-afternoon so we stopped at Willie G’s at Pier 21 for drinks and appetizers.  We sat out on the patio.  Although the sky has been overcast and threatening for the two days we’ve been in Galveston, the wind was balmy and our seat on the patio was pleasant.  Paul ordered Story Point Cab-Sauv.  The waiter brought Story Point Chardonnay instead. It turned out they were out of the Cab-Sauv and the bartender just chose the other wine.  The waiter replaced the wine but in the meantime, I sampled the wine and found I liked it.  I now have another favorite wine.

      Before we returned to the truck, we walked The Strand.  That is their historical main street with many warehouses converted to restaurants and shops.  In the late 1800s, The Strand was known as the Wall Street of the Southwest and Galveston was the second most active port for immigrant arrivals after Ellis Island.  In 1871 alone, over 41,760 passengers arrived by sea.  We wandered into a shop and wound up buying two jackets with world maps printed on them.  I also found a Christmas ornament for Galveston.

17 Oct 2018 (Wed) – We packed up and left Livingston at 10 a.m. The sky was overcast and there was some fog initially.  There was also some rain on the way.  We arrived at Galveston Island State Park at 1:00 p.m.  The park has two campgrounds – one on the ocean side and one on the bay side. We were told when I made the reservation that there were no sites available on the ocean side. Furthermore, there was space on the bay side but only Wednesday and Thursday night.  The campground will be completely booked for the weekend.

     After we crossed the causeway, we saw no signs for a campground office so we headed toward the bay side.  There were two circles, each with 20 campsites in them.  Neither had a single camper in it.  There was no office either.  So we drove back to the other side of the island to the park headquarters office.  We were able to complete our registration there.  The clerk – a very lovely and friendly young woman – chose the perfect spot to view the bay.  With our site assignment in hand, we drove back to the bay side campground and found our place. The site faces the bay on an angle. Unfortunately, the campsite was on an angle.  The side facing the water only has one small window.  We chose another spot and parked there.  

     Once everything was set up, we drove back to the office to let the clerk know that we changed our assigned campsite.  She was not happy.  She lectured me for five minutes on how I should have called first before changing sites, that someone else might have been assigned to that site, that there are more people coming in today and we shouldn’t have been fooled by the emptiness of the campground, etc., etc., etc.  When she was done giving me her tongue lashing, I was given new paperwork for the site we now occupy.

     We then drove into town to have lunch at Landry’s Seafood Restaurant. It sat right on the coastal highway and had a great view of the Gulf.  Although the place was expensive, the food was good and we enjoyed the meal. Afterward, we drove to PetSmart to pick up food for Bonnie.  They had her can and dry food but no venison treats.  We’ll have to look somewhere else.

     We then drove around the area.  There is some flooding and I keep getting notices from the weather bureau warning of such.  Most of the houses in the area are on stilts.  Galveston Island is very much a beachy town like so many others we have seen. Lots of hotels, souvenir shops, palm trees, long beach front, and houses on stilts.

16 Oct 2018 (Tue) – It was in the 50s and drizzly this morning. The sky was overcast and the air has a chill in it.  There is a smell of sewer around the campground.  It’s probably caused by all the rain and the waste lines being overtaxed. My phone keeps getting notices from the weather station about flooding in the county.

     We took a tour of Escapees Headquarters this morning.  After five years of having our mail handled by this organization, we finally got to see the operation and how they do it.  It was so fascinating!  They have a machine they dubbed “Howee” that sorts 300 pieces of mail in just 3 minutes.  They have three large rooms filled with buckets of mail.  There are about 900 people who have their mail scanned and at least 14,000 who have their mail forwarded.  They get huge containers of mail every day from the local post office. They have so much mail that they qualified for their own zip code.  

     I am glad we stopped in Livingston to visit the Escapees Headquarters. This is an incredible operation. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the U.S.  We will probably come back to volunteer just to help them out.

     After the tour, we drove into town to pick up a few groceries. Then we went to Patron Grill for lunch. They had regular and grande size margaritas.  Paul went big; I went regular.  The food was good.  I had so much, I took leftovers home for breakfast tomorrow.  

 15 Oct 2018 (Mon) – It was a pretty light day.  There is a cold front moving in.  The temperature dropped from 71 in the morning when we got up to 57 tonight when we went to bed.  There was rain on and off this evening and even a brief thunderstorm that sent Sheba bolting for the closet.

     We took a tour of the Escapees Care Center this morning.  The Club provides a place for RVers to stay when they can no longer RV or just need a place to sit while they recover from illness or accident.  Volunteers who work at the center can get a free space with full hook up and three meals a day.  They provide a bus (driven by volunteers) that takes people to doctor appointments or shopping. They even provide an adult day care so caregivers can get a day off.  It was quite impressive.

14 Oct 2018 (Sun–Birthday) – Paul took me down to the Courthouse Whistle Stop Café for breakfast.  It was a really old building with lots of historical pictures on the walls. Connected to it was a gift shop with loads of knicks knacks.  

     We went back to the campground to get Bonnie then headed for the Lake Livingston Dam Observatory.  When we got there, the road to the observatory was closed by an electric company doing some construction.  Paul thought they were building a power plant.  We drove along the lakefront looking for a way around the construction but couldn’t find anything.  We discovered a campground and drove through that.  It ended at some cabins on the water.  We parked and walked along a pathway.  Lake Livingston is the largest reservoir in Texas.  It was a lovely day.

13 Oct 2018 (Sat) – We packed up and left Bullard at 9:35 a.m. The drive was easy as the weather was good and the route was direct.  We arrived at Livingston at 12:30 p.m.  We pulled into the Escapees HQ campground called Rainbow’s End.  It is a large campground with both transient and long term RVers.  Our campsite is a back-in on worn gravel.  The interior roads are asphalt.  There are trees around the area.  It looks like it’s been around for a while.  We have full hook-ups and access to Wifi (but very slow).  They also have a laundry room and a pool.  We ‘ll be here for four nights.

12 Oct 2018 (Fri) – The cat threw up on the bedspread during the night.  We pulled the bedspread, blanket, and sheets off the bed and threw them in the wash.  We got the bedspread with our very first fifth wheel camper in 2006.  It was time to replace it.

     We drove to several stores looking for a new bedspread.  I wanted something to cover the bed but not be too warm at night; more of a decorative cover.  We looked in Kirkland’s, Burlington, Bed Bath & Beyond, and WalMart.  A stop in World Market found us delighting over a deeply discounted favorite wine on sale.  We didn’t get a bedspread there but we did walk out with eight bottles of wine. WalMart finally yielded something close to what I wanted.  

      We grabbed lunch at Whataburger.  There was a sign outside saying it was the Hot Rod Café.  There were 1950s themed model cars and decorations all around the eatery. It was cute.

     Last stop was at Brookshire’s.  We picked up groceries then got fuel at their gas station.  We had accumulated over 500 points which resulted in our getting 50 cents off a gallon.  That saved us about $15!  Now we get ready to move on.

 11 Oct 2018 (Thu) – I had an 11 a.m. appointment at the dentist today to have my teeth cleaned.  After that, we stopped at Cork Food & Drink for lunch.  It had a very eclectic menu but the food was good.  The service, unfortunately, was sooooo slow.  There was a smoker outside emitting all kinds of mouthwatering smells but there were no smoked meats on the lunch menu.  That was disappointing.

     We stopped at another modular homes center to look at some homes.  The saleswoman kept telling us about models then saying she didn’t have any on the lot to show us.  We looked at two or three models, then Paul told her the workmanship was shoddy and he wouldn’t buy the product.  We walked back to the office in silence and said a terse good bye.  He was annoyed by her pointing out all the things we wanted on paper and telling us to go online but then showing us homes that were bigger than we wanted.

10 Oct 2018 (Wed) – We worked around the camper today.  Paul focused on stuff around the rig.  I worked on writing the documentation required to get the Women Veterans chapter of SMART established.  We both got so involved in our projects that I missed my dental cleaning this morning. My appointment was at 12:15 p.m. The office called at 12:25 p.m. to see where I was.  I apologized profusely then we jumped in the truck to get there in time for Paul’s appointment at 1 p.m.  He got his teeth cleaned and a fluoride polish applied.  The tech told him not to eat anything crunchy or hard for four hours. That killed lunch!  My appointment was rescheduled for tomorrow at 11 a.m.

     After the dentist, we stopped at a couple of modular home centers – Solitaire, Pratt Homes, and Clayton Homes.  We looked at several models and are slowly forming an opinion of what we would like in a house when we decide to come off the road.  It looks like we’re interested in a house between 1,300 and 1,600 square feet.

     When we were done exploring model homes, we stopped at Clear Springs restaurant for dinner.  It had a statue of a swordfish out front.  Tyler is just about as far away as you can get from the coast in Texas. I had salmon and Paul had a combo of fried chicken and shrimp.  The food was good and plentiful.  We both took left-overs home.

9 Oct 2018 (Tue) – We dropped Bonnie off at the vet this morning at 7:30 a.m. (*yawn*).  We then went to WalMart to get an oil change on the truck.  While we waited, we had a bite to eat at Subway then strolled around the store, picking up a few things here and there.  When the truck was done, we drove to the bank and got the paperwork notarized that we’ve been trying to complete.  It only took six trips to the place to get it done!  Next stop was at PetCo where we tried to find exotic food for Bonnie.  We wound up buying a sweet potato and venison menu for her.  We got both can and dry food as well as treats (the vet said everything had to be the same).  We also picked up a glucosamine for her stiff joints and some omega-6 vitamins for Sheba’s dry skin.

     About then, the vet called to say that Bonnie’s teeth cleaning was done and we could pick her up.  It turned out that she has a skin infection around her rear end and that was probably causing all her scooting.  We got an antibiotic for the infection, a steroid to reduce the swelling, and a cream to put on her yoo-hoo.  Animals can be such fun.

     At 3 p.m. Paul and I had appointments at a local dentist for exam, x-rays, and to schedule teeth cleaning.  The receptionist had us sit in front of computers and fill out medical histories (I guess it was faster than having her do it).  She then walked us around the place introducing us to all the staff.  All the women were Miss So & So and the men were Dr. So & So.  I am now curious about this “Miss” thing.  Is this a cultural thing?  Am I supposed to call them Miss So & So?  She introduced us as Paul and Melody.  Not Mr. or Mrs.  I’ll have to ask somebody about this.  They had the most modern technological tools.  The tech took x-rays with a portable machine and never left the room.  Then she took digital pictures of the inside our mouths.  She capped it off with a picture of us to put in the file so the staff would know what we look like.  The dentist came in, poked around, and said everything was fine.  We made appointments to come back for the teeth cleaning.

     After the dentist, we went to the Texas Roadhouse right next door for dinner.  They sure make good steaks there.  Clouds had moved in and it was raining pretty hard when we came out.  Later, sunset was gorgeous with the horizon turning orange then red as it shone out from under the dark storm clouds.  

8 Oct 2018 (Mon) – We took the animals to the vet this morning. Sheba’s exam went fine and we picked up some heartworm medicine for her.  Bonnie’s exam found lots of plaque on her teeth so we scheduled her to have a teeth cleaning tomorrow.  Also, she has put on ten pounds in the last five months.  That’s quite a bit and we are eager to see what the bloodwork shows. The vet suggested we feed her exotic meats like bison or venison.  We’ll try that.

     We returned to the campground and packed up.  We were supposed to move to another site tomorrow but we decided to do it today. Once we were set up again, I worked on completing the current roster for the Nomads and sent it to the membership by email.

7 Oct 2018 (Sun) – Paul and I worked on sorting out all the paperwork for next year’s caravan.  We created two binders with various materials.  Then I spent a couple of hours creating a suspense roster for all the things we have to follow up on.  At 3 p.m. we ran out to Brookshire’s and picked up groceries.  It was a pretty quiet day.

6 Oct 2018 (Sat) – We drove to the bank today to try making the deposit to the Nomads account (again).  I could not remember the PIN number so I couldn’t make the deposit (again). We then drove to Camp Ford.  It was the largest Confederate POW camp of the Civil War west of the Mississippi.  It was only open from August 1863 until May 1865.  A storyboard described a large cabin but there were only logs laying on the ground.  Either they intended to build it or someone took it apart and lined up all the logs. The camp grew to 11 acres before being closed as the prisoner population swelled to 5,000.  It is now a public park and has been allowed to fall into neglect. The asphalt walkway was broken and full of debris.  There were three small cabins on display but they were falling apart.  It is a shame.  Thousands of men suffered terrible deprivations and hundreds died. The only reason the death toll was higher was because the first prisoners built catch basins and their drinking water never got contaminated.

     After the park, we stopped to look at some modular homes.  They were interesting.  Next stop was at a shopping mall where we had lunch at the Mandarin Express.  Then I picked up some items at Dillards.  We drove through the town of Bullard just to look around.  The town is small but cute.

     Before returning to the campground, we stopped at the M6 Winery. The owner’s name was Moody and there were six brothers in the family.  We tasted several wines.  I bought three bottles; Paul bought one.  We came back and took a nap.

5 Oct 2018 (Fri) – I spent the morning trying to find various services in the area.  I made an appointment to bring the dog and cat to the vet on Monday, and to bring Paul and me to the dentist on Tuesday.  I also spent an hour working on documenting the monies brought in during the Nomads musters and trying to find a Navy FCU to make a deposit.  There is no credit union in this area.  I contacted an agent online and was told I could deposit the money at a Texas Community Bank.  When we got to the bank, I was told to put the money in the ATM.  They don’t touch it.  (But don’t they take the money out of the box at the end of the day?)  I was very confused.  At any rate, I went around to the ATM only to find I needed an ATM card to make the deposit.  I did not have it on me.  I’ll have to come back tomorrow.  Ugh.

     We went to F.D.’s Grillhouse for lunch.  It is rated #3 of 302 restaurants in Tyler by Trip Advisor.  We both got firecracker shrimp for an appetizer then a modified Philly Cheesesteak – cubes of steak with onions, green peppers, and mushrooms covered with mozzarella cheese on Texas toast.  The side was roasted corn trimmed from the corn cob today.  Everything was excellent.

     We then stopped at Best Buy so Paul could buy an adapter for the video projector.  We were going to loan our projector at the National muster but it turned out we didn’t have the right cables to connect the laptop to the projector.  We stopped at Brookshire’s to pick up a couple of items then drove to Keipersol Winery.  They have wine tastings and right next door is a distillery with rum and bourbon tastings. We went to both places and bought some wine.

     The campground is starting to fill up for the weekend.  All our friends left today and it feels a little lonely.  I went over to the office today to extend our stay.  They would only let us go to next Saturday.  There is a rally coming in on Tuesday so we will have to move to another spot for three days.

 4 Oct 2018 (Thu) – Eight of us took a ride on the Texas State Railroad from Rusk to Palestine.  It was an old diesel engine and historical cars.  Paul’s comment was that we’ve seen better scenery on the commuter train from Long Island into New York City.  There was really nothing to see from the train during the hour and a half ride.  When we got to Palestine, there was a grill serving food at exorbitant prices - $8.50 for a hotdog and $11.00 for a hamburger.  We were a captive audience as there was nowhere else to eat.

     We had happy hour at 4 p.m. then drove to Jalapeno Tree for dinner.  It was the last night of the Nomads post muster before everyone heads to the four winds.  It was a good time.

3 Oct 2018 (Wed) – Carl & Gwen came over early and we worked on the plans for the caravan next year.  At 10 a.m., we took a break and carpooled with the group over to Love’s Lookout.  You were supposed to be able to see 35 miles but, frankly, the view wasn’t that grand. I guess we’re spoiled.  We’ve seen some breathtaking views.

     We left the overlook and drove to the Catfish King.  It was a restaurant that specialized in (you guessed it) catfish.  Paul and I have studiously avoided catfish for the past 40 years.  We gave in and each had the lunch special that included 3 pieces of fried catfish, pinto beans, cole slaw, and hush puppies that looked like fried mozzarella sticks.  The food was actually quite good.  We were glad we tried it.

     After lunch, we drove down the road to the Texas Basket Company.  It was a real country store with all sizes of baskets for sale along with lots of other bric-a-brac and other items.  We then left and rode (with Carl & Gwen driving) to Brookshire’s where we picked up some groceries.  Once our groceries were put away, we resumed working on the plans for the Utah caravan.  Carl & Gwen will follow up and contact all the campgrounds to verify information and let them know of the change in Wagon Masters and Assistant Wagon Masters (Tail Gunners).  We will handle the restaurant and entertainment venues.

     At 4 p.m. we went to happy hour.  After an hour, we all dragged out the leftovers from our dinner yesterday, reheated them, and had a second potluck dinner.  Everything seemed to taste better.  Guess the food had a chance to sit and strengthen the flavors.  Later, Paul and I went for a walk with Bonnie around the campground. There is a small lake advertised on their website as a fishing spot for anglers.  There was a sign on the fence saying an alligator had been spotted in the water and no one was to kayak or row boat out into the water.  We didn’t know gaters came this far north.

     Mike hunted us down and said there were several people going on a train trip tomorrow.  He invited us to join him.  We said we’d go.

2 Oct 2018 (Tue) – We did laundry this morning.  Then I cooked some cornbread for the potluck dinner later. Paul went into town with some of the other guys to a liquor store to buy some “supplies.”  Since this is a dry county, they had to drive to the next county to make their purchases.  At 1 p.m. Carl & Gwen came over and we worked on the plans for the Utah caravan next year.  We got through the first four legs then took a break.  Happy hour was at 4 p.m. then dinner at 5:30 p.m.  After dinner, we had a quick Nomads meeting.  Our errant RVer who had the starter problem returned to the campground today.  They spent the night in a hotel.  The RV repair center found that the problem in his motor coach was a bad relay.  It was a simple fix and they’re back on the road again.

 1 Oct 2018 (Mon) – We ran down to the post office to see if our external storage device had arrived yet.  The clerk told me the package was returned to the sender (she didn’t know why). I called UPS to see if we could intercept it and they said the package was refused by the post office. Aaaaargh!!!  

     We made a quick stop at Brookshire’s to pick up some items for the pot luck dinner tomorrow and returned to the campground.  Most of the RVs had already left.  We hooked up and were on the road at 11 a.m.  The drive was a little over an hour from Mineola to Bullard. We are staying at Bushman’s Camp & RV Park.  One of the other members of our group who is camping here (this is the Nomads post-muster) was stuck in the driveway.  Apparently he burned out his starter and had to call for a tow truck.  

     We checked in and drove to our pull through site.  This is a very nice campground.  The interior roadways and campsites are poured concrete.  We have full hookup and there is low band Wifi available.  They have a laundry room and a meeting room for our group.  There is an indoor pool and hot tub as well.  There are dog pens with a sign saying dogs can be left there for up to one hour.

     At 4 p.m. we went to happy hour.  There are twelve rigs, 21 folks here.  At 5:15 p.m. 16 of us drove to Jalapeno Tree (a Mexican restaurant franchise) for dinner. Bullard is also a dry county but that restaurant serves margaritas.  They were very good.

30 Sep 2018 (Sun) – SMART breakfast this morning was a sausage casserole.  There wasn’t much sausage in it.  After breakfast, there was a general membership meeting where the leadership talked about what the Board of Directors has been up to.  Awards were given for recruiting and as outstanding chapters.  Following the membership meeting, a member of SMART got up and recounted stories of his trip around the U.S.  He has a motor home that is painted in Americana style with eagles, freedom quotes, and the five military service symbols.  Everywhere he goes, people come over to look at his coach and share stories of their military service.  He’s met some pretty interesting folks in his travels.

     After a break for lunch, we went to a seminar for wagon masters.  It was interesting.  We knew most everything that was covered.  We learned by either being on a caravan or discussing issues or planning our own caravan for next year.

     At 4 p.m., I called for a meeting of women veterans.  We want to start a new chapter and I agreed to prepare all the paperwork and file for the charter.  While looking over the paperwork, I found we needed a minimum of five members and we only had the four who said they would be officers (President, VP, Secretary-Treasurer, and Muster Master – I volunteered for Muster Master). I asked for a committee to develop bylaws and standing rules.  I volunteered to head the committee.  We have to find a name for our group (the Women Veterans Chapter just sounds too plain) and agreed to think on it.  At next year’s national muster in Urbana, VA, we will have a formal installation of officers.

     Social hour was 4 to 5 p.m. followed by a SMART dinner of pork loin, rice, green beans, dinner roll, and chocolate cake.  There were more door prizes and 50/50 drawings.  The civic center where we are holding our national muster also awarded door prizes.  Finally, it was over and everyone bid each other fair winds and safe travels.

 29 Sep 2018 (Sat) – There was a SMART breakfast this morning. Eggs (powered), sausage patty, and pancakes.  After breakfast, Paul and I attended some more seminars.  At 4:00 p.m. we met with other people from the Nomads and ran through the talent show skit we are doing tonight.

     After the “rehearsal” we went back to the RV and reheated leftovers for dinner.  We returned to the

Auditorium at 7 p.m. for last minute checks on our props and participants then settled down to watch the show.  There were some interesting things.  One man played the ukulele and harmonica as his wife strolled across the stage. Three women draped in very glittery capes performed a lip sync of a Supremes song.  There were also lots of door prizes and as always, the 50/50 drawing. Our skit was the last one to perform. We did a spoof of Jeff Foxworthy’s “Ten Indications You Might Be A . . . .”  We were “SMART Long Time RVers.”  It was pretty funny thanks to one particular member of our group who was very hammy. Everyone had a good time watching as well as performing the skit.  We ended by commenting on how we see more things in one year than most people see in a lifetime.  That was followed by everyone singing America the Beautiful.

 28 Sep 2018 (Fri) – We attended some seminars today.  I met with Michelle and Ed about the talent show we are putting together for tomorrow.  No one else showed up despite my email asking them to do so.  Woooh, boy.  I sure hope this thing comes off ok.  There were the men’s and women’s luncheons.  The guys had hot dogs and hamburgers at the pavilion; the women had chicken Caesar salad with a cookie for dessert.  We were supposed to have a guest speaker but he cancelled out at the last minute.

     The SMART dinner tonight was Tex-Mex.  It was a chicken and cheese enchilada with soupy beans, chips and salsa. There was apple pie for dessert. There were about a dozen door prizes awarded and three winners from the 50/50 drawing.

     After dinner, we all went outside and spelled out the word “SMART.” Paul and another guy sent their drones up in the air and took a picture from the air.  It came out looking really cool!  After the picture taking, SMART folks conducted a flag retirement ceremony. This is where they take flags that are no longer usable and ceremoniously burn them in a formal ceremony.  It was very moving.

27 Sep 2018 (Thu) – There was a panel discussion today about RV Tips at 8:30 a.m.  I was on the panel with three other people.  About 20 people attended the seminar.  We shared our experiences with the audience and they shared their experiences with one another.  Even I picked up a few tips!

     When I came out of the center, Paul was walking up.  It turned out that the projector is not compatible with our laptop.  As we thought about it, we bought the laptop about six years ago and have not used the projector with it.  The cables don’t work between the two.  Paul will not be able to do a slide show on the screen.  How frustrating to spend hours preparing the show and not be able to project it!  We’ll bring the laptop and just let people look at that on the computer screen.  It won’t be as big as a projector screen but it’s all we’ve got.

     We drove to Canton to a flea market billed as the biggest one in the U.S. (does Shipshewana know that?)  We stopped for lunch before going into the market at a place called Dairy Palace. It was an old, kind of run down place but the parking lot was full.  That usually means a place has good food so we stopped in.  It was a farm-to-table place serving beef that has been free ranged and not given any drugs or antibiotics.  I got a patty melt; Paul got a spam burger.  We have never eaten chicken fried spam.  It was different.

     The flea market was huge!  It was laid out helter skelter.  As we wandered in and out of large buildings and hundreds of booths, we gradually moved deeper and deeper into the bowels of the place.  Paul finally got his hands on a map but it was difficult to read.  We were lost among the booths and with some trial and error, found our way out after two and a half hours wandering around the market.  My tootsies were singing by then!  We picked up a few things for the grandkids.

     There was a SMART dinner tonight.  They had hamburger steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy, and a dinner roll.  The food was good.  After dinner, they did a 50/50 drawing and awarded many door prizes.  Following that, a DJ and entertainer played 50’s and 60’s music for the group.  It was heart warming to see so many older people dancing.  You could almost imagine them as they were when they courted each other back in the 40’s and 50’s.  Young teenagers in love starting out on their life paths.  Now here they were 40, 50, 60 years later still holding hands and dancing in each other’s arms.

 26 Sep 2018 (Wed) – There was a SMART breakfast this morning. There were scrambled eggs, sausage, potatoes, gravy, and a biscuit.  After breakfast, Paul and I attended a meeting of the Travel Committee.  The Assistant Travel Coordinator wanted to meet with the wagon masters and assistant wagon masters for the upcoming caravans.  He had suggestions on planning and directing a caravan.  There were questions and answers for an hour.

     Following the meeting, we returned to the camper.  Paul worked on putting together a slide show for the caravan seminar on Friday. I worked on completing some paperwork for the bank and our mail forwarding service.  Mail has been arriving at our mail box addressed to the SMART Nomads.  Some kind of postal regulation is violated in some way and I have to get a form notarized swearing that the mail is not for a business.

     There was a chapter fair at 4 p.m.  This was an opportunity for each chapter to describe their activities to potential members.  We did not have anyone approach us.  I have already signed up 24 new members over the past few days.  That’s quite a lot!  The Nomads had a meeting at 5 p.m. tonight.  Mike chaired the meeting; I took minutes.  We didn’t have any food tonight so there were less than half of the folks we had three days ago and the meeting was done in half an hour.

     When the meeting was over, several of us planned to go out for margaritas. Since this is a dry county, none of the restaurants in this area serve alcohol.  We finally found a restaurant in Lindale, about 15 miles away.  We drove to Posados, a Mexican restaurant. The food was good, the margaritas were excellent, and the waiter was a hoot!  Nine of us had a great time.

 25 Sep 2018 (Tue) – We went on a tour of Tyler today.  The bus left the campground at 8:30 a.m.  The drive was about 40 minutes.  First stop was at the Tyler Rose Museum & Gardens. One-third of all the roses sold in the U.S. come from Tyler.  Quite a celebration takes place every October where they elect a Queen of Roses and have a big parade.  There is also a football game takes place during the celebrations.  It’s quite an event and reminded us of the Mardi Gras celebrations.  We walked around the gardens but there were few roses in bloom.  The season is well over.

     We then drove to the Brook Hall School.  There was an American Freedom Museum.  The tour was delightful.  They had two rooms.  One recounted all the conflicts America has taken part in, from the War for Independence through to today’s Afghanistan/Iraq conflict.  They had many original artifacts that were very interesting to look at.  The second room was the Hall of Presidents.  Starting with our first president, George Washington, there was a biography of each one along with parts of speeches they made and statements they made about their faith.

     The last stop on our tour was at the Goodman-LeGrand Home.  It was built in 1853.  Three generations of a family lived in it until 1963 when the last descendent passed away.  She left the home and all the furnishings to the city with the stipulation that the house be maintained in its current state and kept open to the general public. That makes it pretty unique as far as old homes go because all the original furnishings have remained with the house from the very first day the state took possession.  The house was originally built as a one-story, four-room home with a center breezeway.  The family that purchased it completely changed it – added two stores, sweeping staircases, wrap around porch, etc.  

    We returned to the campground at 4:30 p.m. then quickly changed and fed the animals, and went to the Opening Ceremonies of the National Muster. The meeting opened with a posting of the colors, prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and singing of God Bless America. I can’t tell you how moving such events are.  With all the controversy going on around the Pledge and other American traditions, everyone spoke louder and sang stronger than I have ever heard before.  Over 300 voices raised in unison in patriotic song gave me goose bumps.

     The mayor of Mineola spoke as did the director the civic center where we are having our rally.  The guest speaker was Sheriff J. B. Smith.  He was a sheriff of the county for 36 years.  What a phenomenal speaker!  He had us laughing, crying, nodding, and sighing with jokes, reminisces, and stories of his days in the military and law enforcement.  He has written two books and was selling one at the dinner.  Then it was time to eat.  There was brisket, sausage, turkey, potato salad, baked beans (the standard Texas fare), and fruit cobbler.  The food was excellent.  After dinner, there was a 50/50 drawing and then about a dozen door prizes.

 24 Sep 2018 (Mon) – We ran out to the laundromat this morning. After putting the clothes in the washer, we went for lunch at Taco Bell.  After returning to put the clothes in the dryers, we drove to WalMart and picked up some groceries and other items.  We then returned to the laundromat, retrieved our clean clothes and returned to the campground.

     There was a hot dog barbecue hosted by the past presidents at the pavilion at 4 p.m.  We brought our chairs over because there weren’t enough picnic tables for everyone. It rained while the barbecue was going on and we had to pull our chairs under cover.  

 23 Sep 2018 (Sun) – It rained last night (again) and was cloudy all day with sprinkles on and off.  We drove into town and had lunch at Whataburger.  It was OK.  We returned to the campground and worked on getting ready for tonight’s Nomads meeting. We sat in a quick meeting of the Travel Committee.  They discussed some changes to the policies regarding carvans and will pass the suggestions on to the Board of Directors (BOD).

     We had social hour at 4 p.m.  Following at 5 p.m., we had a dinner for the Nomads. Shirley picked up the brisket from the BBQ place.  Mike, Cheryl, Paul, and I worked at setting up and serving the food.  After dinner, we held a meeting.  Mike presided, VP Rider joined us, and I took minutes.  The meeting was over at 7 p.m.  Whew!  It was a long day.

22 Sep 2018 (Sat) – It rained all night long, moving from a light sprinkle to heavy downpour alternately.  We drove into Dallas this morning.  It was almost two hours to get there.  There was flooding everywhere.  Several of the lower, smaller roads were under water.  All the creeks and rivers were swollen and breaching their banks.  I kept getting notices on my phone that there was a flash flood warning in the various counties we were passing through.

     We dropped the external storage unit off at Ace Recovery Services. We were going to stop at Cracker Barrel on the way back but the place was crowded with people spilling out of the restaurant and waiting outside.  We continued on and finally stopped at a Mexican restaurant.  The salsa was very good.  Neither of us was fully satisfied with our meal but we ate it.

     At 4:00 p.m. we went to happy hour for the Nomads.  We have picked up 16 new members during this muster. I coordinated with the president, Mike, on picking up the food tomorrow.  Paul sold 50/50 tickets and I continued to accept advance payment for tomorrow’s dinner.  

21 Sep 2018 (Fri) – Paul has spent the last couple of days working on creating a video of our Maritimes caravan from 2016.  Luckily, he had transferred the pictures he wanted to use onto the hard drive before our external drive broke.  It is an 8 terra byte storage device and it won’t power on.  I called Western Digital (makers of the drive) and got some tech in India.  I asked for someone else to speak with since I couldn’t understand her and she transferred me to her Level 2 tech who was even harder to understand.  I pushed for someone who speaks English well and he gave me a phone number for corporate headquarters in San Jose, California. When I called, I got the usual voice offering an array of buttons to push.  When I pushed #4 for tech support, a tech in India picked up the phone! Aaaaargh!!!  I complained and was transferred to a Level 2 tech in India. *sigh*  I gave up and tried to work through the problem.  Western Digital warranties the hard drive but we will have to pay to have the data stored on it recovered by a company recommended by them.  I stated that I bought the item to store AND retrieve data and the cost of recovery should be covered by them in addition to replacing the drive.  The tech essentially told me “too bad” and after telling him I wanted to make a formal protest, we went on to exchange the necessary information for a replacement.  They will send the drive with instructions to return our defective drive.  He took my credit card information for a security hold until they get the drive back. It must be returned within 30 days.

     I then called Ace Data Group/Recovery and was told they will do a free evaluation to assess the problem.  If they have to recover the data, the charge will be $149 per hour with a minimum of 3 hours up to 18 hours.  I said that was ridiculous!  I only paid $200 for the drive and I’ll have to spend at least $450 to get the data off it???  We HAVE to find a better solution.

     In the meantime, Paul had been making a video of our Maritimes caravan from 2016.  When we tried to play it, the format wouldn’t work.  Paul then told me to open it with Windows Media Player.  I did that and the video played.  He was not able to save it on a CD (he kept getting an error message). He saved it on a stick.  But by having changed the format, he was unable to go back into the file and make any changes.  And some of the pictures he had wanted to include in the video weren’t there but we can’t get them off the storage drive.  I have a headache.

     We drove into town with Mike & Cheryl (President of the Nomads and his wife) for lunch and ate at the Golden Chick.  He wanted to see how the food tasted in case he wanted to change our order from beef brisket to chicken for the Nomads dinner on Sunday. The food wasn’t that good so we’ll stay with the brisket.

     After they dropped us back off at the campground, Paul and I drove to the post office and picked up the mail we had forwarded.  Then we stopped in at Brookshire’s Supermarket to see what the cost would be to buy some items to go with the brisket.  We knew Brookshire’s would be more expensive than WalMart but it was just to get a cost estimate.  

     We had the Nomads happy hour at 4:00 pm.  A few more people showed up over yesterday and several brought snacks.  I collected money for the dinner and dues.  Paul got wrangled into selling 50/50 tickets.  Mike gave me two of the three Nomads shirts I ordered.  One is the wrong design – it is a woman’s shirt. I do not wear women’s polo styles because they are too tight across the shoulders and back (caused by my weight lifting days).  It was a frustrating day today.

20 Sep 2018 (Thu) – We ran some errands this morning.  First stop was at the post office for stamps. We did try to visit the local RR Museum but it either wasn’t there or was too small to bother with.  Paul picked up some steel wool at Ace Hardware. We also picked up a few groceries at WalMart.  For lunch, we ate at Mack’s Split Rail Pit BBQ.  The brisket just fell apart but Paul felt it was too dry.  My ribs were delicious!

     There was a lot of running around talking to people about Nomads issues. The President and VP arrived today and I spoke briefly with them.  We met with Shirley who is the muster master for our pre-muster (meeting of the Nomads before the National muster begins).  She was trying to coordinate for a fried chicken dinner but couldn’t find a decent place to buy the food.  After the president asked her to try to coordinate with a BBQ place, she arranged for beef brisket sandwiches.

     At 4 p.m. the Nomads gathered in the Dogwood Room (that was changed from the Pecan Room) for happy hour.  At 5 p.m. Paul and I left and drove to the local VFW Post.  They invited SMART to dinner for $10 pp.  The place was crowded with SMART members and a few lodge members.  They served fried chicken and brisket, potato salad, baked beans, cole slaw, and iced cake (seems to be standard Texas fare).  We returned to the campground at 8 p.m.

19 Sep 2018 (Wed) – We left Shepherd AFB FamCamp at 9:30 a.m. The ride was basically uneventful and took about three and a half hours.  We stopped at a gas station to get fuel and I got a sandwich at Subway.  Paul does not like Subway (they have too many choices) so he didn’t get anything.

     We pulled into Mineola Civic Center at 1 p.m.  We were directed to our “parking area.”  The main camping area is basically a wagon wheel with campers parked back-to-back on the grass.  We are in the inner circle.  The sites are very close to each other.  We got a site with a telephone pole next to us so there are no campsites right there. There is someone parked in the campsite on the other side of the pole but that leaves us room on that side to put out our awning and camp chairs.  This is a dry county and we were warned to be discreet with any drinks.  Keep beer cans in cozies and wine in paper cups.

     After set up, I walked over to examine the pavilion where the Nomads will be meeting.  Then Paul and I walked over to the main administration building.  The two gals from HQ were in a small room getting set up. We got the name tags we ordered and a refund check from our Minnesota caravan.  Whenever there is money left over, they send it back to the participants. They refunded $172 per person. That was a pleasant surprise.

     We returned to our rig and found that Carl & Gwen had arrived. They weren’t expected until tomorrow. Sandy & Tom had to step down as Wagon Masters of our Utah caravan next year.  We are now the Wagon Masters and we asked Carl & Gwen to be our Tail Gunners.  They agreed. We will have to find time during this National Muster to fill them in on what we have put together so far.

 18 Sep 2018 (Tue) – We left the Elks Lodge in Guthrie, OK at 9 a.m. It was a four hour ride to Shepherd AFB Recreation Area in Whitesboro, TX.  We stopped at a travel plaza run by the Chickasaw Nation.  They had some kind of fried burritos that were overcooked. Boy, these long runs sure result in our not eating very well.

     We arrived at the turn off for the FamCamp.  It turned out to be nine miles off the main highway along narrow country roads with overgrown trees and sporadic potholes.  The campground is beautiful.  It sits right on Lake Texoma.  The area was built by the ACOE and then given to the military in the 1950s. It has a rustic feel to it but the pull through site had full hookups.  There is no wifi in the campground.  We are so far away from everything, we didn’t even leave the campground.

[audreyineu]

budapest 4/6-4/7

getting to budapest i knew my time was limited, i only got a day and a half there, so i tried my best to hit the ground running. arriving at the hostel i found that check-in did not begin for 2 more hours though, so that kind of stopped me, but i just used the time to get some food. using that lovely little app called google maps i found a small pizza shop called pizza manufaktura and had a hawaiian pizza (pineapple on pizza is GOOD just accept it already). i also had some cherry juice, which was really good actually. i’ve never really seen fully cherry flavored drinks outside of icees, so that's definitely something that america needs to work on. i also discovered that the hungarian word for cherry is meggy. nice. 

i still had an hour to kill after that though so i tried to go find an atm and accidentally walked into the nagyvásárcsarnok, or, for english speakers, the great market hall. it’s an actual full-blown market where people bought their groceries

like people actually came here and picked out their meats, got some vegetables, maybe some spices. it was so cool to see. yeah sure i’ve been farmers markets back home but this was fully someone’s grocery store and it was just interesting to see the difference

the upstairs part was for the tourists and had a bunch of handmaid souvenirs, sometimes the person was sitting out in front of the stall sewing the cloths like the ones in the picture (its blurry, sorry)

there was also a basement-like area and i’m pretty sure the budapest black market operates in it. i’m on a pacific rim kick right now because of the sequel (which wasn’t that good but that’s a different blog post) and if you’ve seen the first one, i really felt like ron pearlman was about to walk out of a secret doorway and offer me some kaiju bone. it was honestly kinda scary, no one was really down there and most of what was being sold was meat and HUGE fish that they kept in a really really small tank, which i’m not really sure would be considered humane? but i guess they were there to get killed so. i’ll let peta deal with that one. 

i wanted to get a picture but the guys behind the stands were very big and also staring me down every time i passed. i decided they wouldn’t like the tourist girl taking pictures of their very compact fish.

anyway, i went back upstairs and bought some cookies, isler and puszedli. isler was a cookie covered with chocolate with jam in the middle and puszedli was a kind of gingerbread muffin type thing covered in a chocolate or vanilla frosting (chocolate was the best one for me). they were both really good but i gotta give a special shout-out to the isler. 

after that it was time to check in so i got changed out of my travel clothes and tried to figure out what to do. i decided to take one of those hop-on hop-off tours, which i typically try to avoid like the plague because i’m not a fan of blatantly shouting out to a place that “hey i’m a tourist!!” but, i had a limited time and those are good to see a city quickly

i rode around for a while. now consider these photos were all #shotonaniphone7 and taken on a moving vehicle so they're not great but.. its what i saw . budapest is pretty darn cool

i got intrigued by a set of stairs looked a bit italian, so i got off on the next stop, and that was definitely the right choice. i found myself at what i think was the bud castle (turns out budapest has two parts, buda and pest separated - i think - by the danube).

to get up you could either walk up a hill or pay to take a little tram car. i obviously chose the tram car, i can walk up a hill any day

all of the museums and the castle were closed by this point (it was around 6), so i couldn’t go in, but the views from up top were stunning

so i roamed around a bit

and started heading in the direction of the stairs that made me get off the bus in the first place. i wasn’t disappointed. it was a really cool little area, and felt really romantic. being there just kinda made you happy

and because i knew how to get back home from the liberty bridge, which was about two bridges down from where i was, i decided to walk back along the river (i took an evening stroll next to the danube!! how cool!) to the bridge to get back to my hostel. 

in my room i met a really nice girl from finland, she’ll come back into the story later, and got ready for bed for what i wanted to be an early morning so i could see as much as possible

of course this didn’t happen, i had a snorer in my room which kept me up so i slept through my alarm and didn’t end up leaving until 11. but it put me starting my day at lunchtime, and i’m not gonna complain about that! i found a small little restaurant called drum cafe who were known for their lángos and goulash. their menu was a trading card display book, which i loved, and i ordered from traditional beef goulash with rice

it was amazing. so so so good. i maybe ate it embarrassingly fast considering how much food there was but it was amazing, i didn’t want to stop eating it

after that i stopped in a small thrift shop i saw on the way there in hopes of buying the shirt that was on a mannequin in the window, but sadly the shirt was “only decoration.” i did get two shirts there anyway

after i decided to walk over to the house of terror, a museum about the facist and communist regimes that held power in hungary and honoring those who died at the hands of those in power.

on the walk there i found a little antique market going on in an alley 

i almost bought an old hungarian swimming medal because why not, but i decided against it. there were all kinds of cool little knick knacks, but i restrained myself and began to actually walk to the museum

pictures were not allowed in the museum (i snuck one of the entrance) so i don't have any (except for the one i snuck) but the museum was increibily interesting. its one thing learning in history class about stuff that went on in eastern europe in the 40s-80s but its another to actually BE in a building where people were kept and tortured, a building where the arrow cross party (a nazi party based in hungary) and the state protection authority (the soviet secret police force in hungary) actually operated. it was. very very solemn. reading about life in that time and seeing the faces of all those who were killed. you ended the museum tour in the basement where the cells were and it was terrifying in there. maybe didn’t help that i was completely alone in the cells at that point, but it was so silent and dark and i think absolutely perfect to demonstrate how horrifying the experience would have been to be one of those prisoners. the doors to the cells weren’t even barred, they were fully solid. you wouldn’t even be able to see outside if you were shut in. every cell was solitary confinement.

so i left the house of terror and decided it was time for something a bit lighter and headed to the széchenyi thermal bath

yep, its THAT yellow building that you see in everyone’s pictures when they go to budapest. it was really nice and relaxing, though i gotta say would probably be better with a group rather than alone. i did meet some people there, but not the same as being there with friends goofing off, so i’ll have to make a return trip

afterwards i decided i’d get on the hop-on hop-off bus again since the man the first time never actually took my ticket and got some REAL hungarian lángos on my way there (if you remember i had some at the easter market in prague) and OH MY GOD was it good. the dough being freshly deep fried makes ALL the difference oh my god. literally just handed it to me out of the frier. i got it with cheese again and honestly i wish i’d just gotten it plain because the cheese took away from the dough. so, so good. it is a lot though, so if you ever get one i recommend that you get it to share

i got back on the bus and road around a bit, i really just wanted to get a better view of the parliament building

i got it for a little bit! not long enough to get a picture because i sat on the wrong side of the bus, but damn that's a beautiful building

i rode until the stop closest to my hostel & got off so i could pack up my stuff. i had a 6 am flight (i just got back to bristol as i’m writing this) and i wanted to be sure i had everything for my 3 am departure time to the airport. while packing my roommate from finland came in & we started talking and she invited me out with her and another guy in the hostel to go to one of the ruin bars called szimpla kert.  i thought you know what, we’d be out till around 2:00, why not just stay awake till i need to leave for airport and have a little fun doing it. so i booked a minibus to take me from the hostel at 3 am with another girl at the hostel and we set off to this ruin bar and 

WOW

they were playing a movie on a huge screen outside??? there was a room with a piano so people could just play music and sing?? there were so many different roms with different vibes and it was absolutely amazing . i wish i could have stayed longer! it was what every little hipster bar in williamsburg (brooklyn) is trying to be and god now that i’ve been to this bar i don’t think i’m gonna be able to go to another bar ever again 

after a night filled with singing (i WAS hanging out with two singers) we headed back at two so i could grab my bag and meet the other girl to leave for the airport and i made it with no problems. 

was i incredibly tired by the time i got on the plane? absolutely! but i had a fantastic time with some really cool people. and with that i’m back in bristol and ready to have some dinner. so i guess closing remarks? plan but at the same time don’t. let there be some spontaneity because spontaneity caused some of the best parts of my trip. also, WALK EVERY WHERE (if you can)

thanks for reading!

audrey

[cebeavers]

Florida 2007

March 17-23, 2007 Photo Album

Months prior I’d decided to go to Florida in March. My main goal was to go and see if I liked Florida enough to move there permanently, and to see what the job situation down there would be like, but I knew I couldn't go to the Sunshine State and NOT ride any coasters of have fun. I offered the trip to Jon months ago, but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to get off, have the cash to go, among thousands of other potential trip killers. And I think because the trip was in limbo for so long, even though I had tentative dates well in advance, that I wasn't excited to even go until about 2 days ahead of time.

So in Feb., we came up with the definite dates, I made reservations at Motel 6 (which we'll talk about more later), and purchased 2 tickets to Islands of Adventure theme park (again, which we'll get in to later). Jon had to work on the Sunday we were leaving, so we planned to leave that nite after he got off around 9pm. As the time came, I was so uninterested in even going, dreading the long drive, not really excited, and just kind of 'meh' about the whole thing, but the day before I left home, the excitement kind of started to set in.

Then Jon called using his serious voice. I just knew he would tell me he couldn't go at the last minute. Thankfully, though, he was calling to tell me that he would be doing a culinary show at the Stonewall Jackson Resort in central WV that weekend, but he would be back and would be working on Sunday and so our plans didn't change. I made the comment that perhaps I could just meet him up there on Saturday instead of meeting members of my family in White Sulfur Springs, WV on Sunday (the half way point) since this was still about the same half way point, and he made arrangements for us to have a room.

Saturday finally arrived, and that evening I was off. My father and a friend of his drove me to the Stonewall Jackson Resort, and as I arrived, I dropped my stuff in the room and went down to the bar to find Jon and his chef buddies having a quick bite and drink before the evening culinary show. The resort was very nice. I'd been by the area but never here before. I met up with Jon and met his boss and some other chefs. We stood around for a few before they had to go and start cooking for the evening, so I went back to the room to relax from the 3 hour drive and just admire the beautiful snow outside in the spectacular resort settings. Then I made my way down to the Stillwaters Restaurant for the buffet. I was really blown away by it (not your 'standard' buffet fair, and definitely not for the standard price) as it featured way more interesting veggies and fruits than it did meat, although any kind/cut of meat you wanted was available to be cooked right there, but I had given up meat (although I knew that probably wouldn't be the case for parts of this trip).

After enjoying my meal, I made my way again back to the room to lay around and do nothing. I topped my cell phone (I never use it, so until I move out of state, I have it on Pre-Pay) up with minutes, browsed the pay per view selections and noticed nothing interesting was on, and then took a shower. Jon called once the evening meal was over and told me to meet him in the lobby, as they were having a Wine, Chocolate, & Cheese tasting. I didn't have any wine, but I had some amazing chocolate truffles and was introduced to quite a bit of the state's top chefs as well as many politicians out of the capital.

After the tasting, we headed back down to the bar, where we sat around and played pool, talked to the rest of the chefs, and generally goofed off. The evening wasn't a total waste of me being lazy, by the way. I was actually quite active after the evening meal was over, and the dinner plate that cost everyone else well over $100 a pop was brought to me (though in a box) for free. Mmmm...Good food. And I tried Rabbit for the first time. Not bad.

The next morning we were up early to trudge thru the snow for the 2 hour drive to Moorefield so Jon and his boss could get back to their restaurant. I put my stuff in Jon's car and then took his car over to my sister's house to visit. I was there until almost 9, and then headed to pick Jon up, take him to his house so he could pack and get ready, and then we were on the road at 10pm.

Jon drove for a few hours, I drove for a few hours, and every state south that we went, I expected it to finally get warm. It was around 30ish all the way thru to South Carolina. We passed thru Columbia and over 26 towards I-95. Just before hitting I-95, we pulled off at a rest stop to take an hour nap. Jon got behind the wheel, and as I slept, an hour later, he took off. I slept all the way thru Georgia (a state I'd never even been thru), save for the last hour as he had stopped for breakfast, and I took over the drive.

We hit Florida and the sky was beautiful. It was rather warm in Georgia, but still a chill in the air. But no chill was to be found in Florida. We called our friends in DeLand and told them where we were and got directions to the motel we'd be staying at. And around 1pm or so, we found our Motel 6 in Winter Park, Fl. When I made reservations, I thought I was making them for the newer Motel 6 near Orlando. This motel was older (although clean), and not in the best of sections. There were always cops there (sometimes up to 3 cop cars a nite), possible prostitution, and loud neighbors. Oh well. We skipped out on the final nite, but we'll get to that later.

Once we got to the room, we both took turns showering and cleaning up, changing our cloths, and settling in. Then we headed to Downtown Disney. This one was so different than the one in California. We just hit the West side and Pleasure Island as I didn't even notice the East side of Downtown Disney until later on in the week. We checked on tickets for Cirque, but there were no shows that week. Bummer. As we walked thru the mostly dead West side, we realized Jon forgot his camera. Eventually, we made it to Pleasure Island and Regland Road, and Irish restaurant, where we decided to have dinner.

Another big YUM! I had Shepherd's Pie and Jon had Banger's and Mash. Both very good. Jon Loves this place and can't wait to go back. I called and spoke to Jeff DeRue as he was still working (at Disney), and we went back to the car to ride around Disney World. Eventually we left as we were both rather tired from the 16-ish hour drive. So we got gas and headed back to the motel for a nap.

That evening, we got up and made our way to Citiwalk. As we were driving to Disney World earlier, Islands of Adventure just kind of Popped out of no where, unexpectedly, so this time we knew where it was. We parked (yay to free parking after 6pm) and headed to Citiwalk. Again, much better than the one in California in my opinion. Although it is weird that they just took all of the escalators from California and made them flat in Florida...

We walked around Citiwalk, thru Fossil and a clothing store, and over by the gates of both park and the Hard Rock Cafe. We stopped at Jimmy Buffet's for a Rum Runner and walked up towards the Bob Marley Legend Restaurant where we were told we should go to guest services and get a Citiwalk pass so that we didn't have to pay a cover for any of the places at Citiwalk, which we did. There I met a really fun girl at guest services that we ran back in to later in the week before heading back to Legend. We both had a vegetable thing called Natty Dreads that was really, REALLY good. The house Reggae band was okay.

After we finished eating, we headed over to the Red Coconut for a couple drinks. Jon got a really good Martini. Normally, I hate them, but the bartender made this one very well. After we got bored with that, we went back down to Margaritaville for their live band. They were only okay as well. Eventually, our beds were calling for us, so we headed back to the car and then to the motel room. Our neighbors kept both of us up most of the nite, and my snoring didn't help Jon sleep.

We had no plans for Tuesday, so we were both up rather early. I called Daniella in DeLand and told them we'd come and have lunch with them around noon, so we got up, got ready, and drove the 40 minutes to DeLand from Winter Park. Jon ran a stop sign, had us both laughing, but we ended up safe and sound at Casa De Koontz. After spending some time at their house, we all piled in their Jeep and went to a Mexican place called Moe's for lunch. The food was good, but I wasn't aware that I didn't 'have' to have the Chicken in my meal. Oh well. After that, they took us thru town and gave us a tour of some of the recent Tornado damage around the area. Scary.

We hung out at their house that evening and then went to Ihop with some of their friends. We went back to their house for a bit before heading again back to Motel 6, only to be kept up most of the nite by the party of 20 in the room next door. At least the cops that parked in the parking lot of the motel came and shut them up at 4:30 am (and they weren't loud the rest of the trip).

Wednesday was our day at Islands of Adventure.

Thursday morning came...and went. We slept in. When we got up, we headed to Downtown Disney for some shopping, this time discovering the East side and all it had to offer. It was way more crowded than the West side. Ate this time at Wolfgang Pucks, where I had Sushi and Jon had Seared Tuna. Both were very good. We picked up our gifts and headed out to Josh and Daniella's. We got stuck in traffic, and after hanging with them for a while, since we'd ate before we shopped at Disney, it was time for Dinner, so we took them out to a local place with really good food.

After dinner, we went back to Downtown Disney to pick up Mouse Ears for my mom's boss, and then went to Citiwalk so I could get a Wallet and Jon could get some stuff. We ran back in to the girl from Guest Services we met the very first nite and chatted a bit before we headed to our room, packed up our stuff, checked out a nite early, and headed back to DeLand. Josh and Daniella offered us a place for the nite so we could check out of Ghetto Motel 6 and be an hour closer to the road. We spent the evening watching The Prestige, which was an odd movie, before going to bed.

Friday morning, we headed north. I slept the first few hours (and thru all of Georgia). I took over in South Carolina, and we got caught in Rush Hour traffic in Charlotte, which set us back an hour 30. Then we hit road work a little further out of Charlotte that set us back another hour. We finally made it back to WV around 11pm Friday nite. Great week, great food, great fun, and I can't wait to move to Florida. I found some prospects, now I just need to go down there and get hired.

[bffhreprise]

Entry 194

 I bumped my coffee, knocking it over as I reached for the radio.  Sighing, I started cleaning it up.  I was later than usual for lunch already, and the coffee had gone cold.  I’d just pick up a new one when I picked up my sandwich.  While still trying to wipe up the coffee, a call came over the radio.  Someone was injured just two blocks from me.  Lunch would wait.  I told the dispatcher that I was on my way, not wanting some rookie to get caught up in the affairs of the triangle.  Dangerous neighborhood.

 When I arrived, there was someone in a too-large, black hoodie kneeling over what hopefully was the victim and not a new body.  The man in the hoodie turned, and I knew something was off.  He was perfectly clean-shaven, had well-groomed hair, and his shoes looked expensive.  He was also young, probably a teenager.  I knelt down by him and told the man on the ground to sit tight.  Possible broken arm and leg.  No bleeding.  Nothing I could do that wouldn’t just hinder the paramedics when they arrived.

 “Mind telling me what happened here?” I asked.

 “Oh.  No, sir.  I was just walking by when this man fell, landing here pretty much as you see him.” explained the kid, his accent further betraying that he didn’t belong around here.

 “He fell?  Tripped and broke his arm and leg?” I asked.

 Shaking his head, he said, “No.  From up there somewhere.  I’m not precisely sure how high he was, since I didn’t see him until he screamed.  He was still in mid-air, so I came running over.”

 I looked up and didn’t see any broken windows, though there were a couple open.  Was our “victim” trying to jump between windows?  If so, why?  He was lucky he didn’t end up even worse for wear.

 “Mind if I take down your information?  Name, date of birth, phone, etc.” I told the boy.

 “Oh.  Sure.” he replied before listing off his information.

 I wrote everything down in my notepad for my report.  “Thanks, James.  You’re free to go.  I’ll take care of him from here.” I assured him.  I’d love to know what his story was.  What brought him to this neighborhood?  I was sure he had his reasons, but this type of place wasn’t safe for a kid like him.

 As James walked off, I started questioning the man on the ground.  I didn’t want him to pass out for one, and I was very interested in what he was doing that led to his fall.  He wasn’t very coherent and probably had a concussion.  The ambulance arrived before I asked too much, but I was betting his fall didn’t come about simply from goofing off.

 I wasn’t even back to my car yet when another call came over the radio.  Robbery just down the street.  Did someone miss the flashing lights over here, or was I supposed to be too busy to respond?  Someone replied to the dispatcher just before me and went flying past as I stepped into my car.  I sighed, knowing the voice.  Pat.  Good kid, but he had a lot to learn still.

 Another police car sped past.  I followed.  Seeing someone in a red hoodie running remarkably fast, I knew where Pat was going.  He’d forget about checking for injured, accomplices, or anything else.  The figure in the red hood had been acting as a vigilante for months now.  Rumor was that he had a fancier costume now, so why the red hoodie again?  Did we have multiple vigilantes running through the streets?  Possible, but unlikely.  Considering some of the people we’ve found tied up, the person was incredibly tough.

 The car in front of me was quick to pull over.  Peterson stepped out.  He had enough experience to know what he was doing.

 I slowed down, looking around.  A silver DB5 had parked across from the shop, looking completely out of place.  The owner perhaps?  I was somewhat tempted to follow Pat and keep him out of trouble.  I shook my head as I noticed James standing next to a man who was probably the shopkeeper by the uniform.  The altercation was over, and I knew Peterson would be able to cuff the man on the ground easily enough without me.  James seemed to have the man on the ground secured.  Still, this was the scene of the crime, and the person in the hoodie had never injured an officer.

 Wanting to hear what James’ story was now, I parked behind Peterson’s car.  Peterson was already frisking the robber and had a firearm off the man.

 “James, right?  This just isn’t your lucky day, is it.” I stated.  “Any idea who that guy in the red hoodie was, James?”

 He shook his head and said, “Not a clue, sir.  The whole thing happened in a flash.  One moment, the robber there was stepping out of the store, and the next moment, the guy was taping up his hands.”

 His blue eyes stared into mine, daring me to doubt him, but he seemed a bit nervous.  Most people would be nervous this close to an armed robbery, but James didn’t seem to have a problem holding the man down.

 “That’s what I saw too, sir.” claimed the shopkeeper.

 Peterson had removed the robber from the scene as we were talking and came back.

 “Would you mind showing Officer Peterson any surveillance footage you have?” I asked.

 He nodded.

 I waited for them to go inside before asking “Did you get a look at the guy in the red hoodie, James?”

“No, sir.  Things happened too fast.  Sorry.  I was still mulling over what happened down the street when this fell in my lap.  As you implied, this just isn’t my day.” he replied.

 I nodded, though I still felt something was off about him, so I asked “You don’t really look like you’re from around here.  Do you come this way often?”

 “No.  I just happened to be in the area today.  I can’t imagine I’ll come this way again though.  Things are a bit too wild for my tastes.” he explained.

 Pulling out a card, I said, “Well, here’s my card.  Give me a call if you remember anything else.  Oh, and I didn’t get your address earlier.  Mind writing it down for me?” I asked.  I handed over my notepad with a pen.  There was something about James that made me feel he was a good kid, but I really wanted to know how he ended up here today.

 When he handed back my notepad, I looked to find he had written down an address.  If he actually lived at the address, his parents had to be well off.  I couldn’t afford to live in Naperhill.  

 “Thanks again, James.  Take care of yourself.” I told him.

 To my surprise, he crossed the street and hopped into the DB5.  Where was the driver?  Was the car his?  If so, who was he?  I quickly wrote down the license plate.  Then I did a search on my phone for the price of his car.  My jaw dropped.  Who was he?

 After I helped Peterson wrap things up, I ran James’ license plate.  He was the registered owner.  I called in my lunch break and looked up James’ name online.  Turned out that he owns a business called Best Friend For Hire.  If someone from the triangle had hired him, there was dirty money involved.  Some of the suggested rates listed on Best Friend For Hire’s website were up there, especially for James himself.

 My phone rang before I could look at anymore.  I didn’t recognize the number but answered.  As the Superintendent of Police announced himself, explained that he was informed I ran James’ plate, and directly ordered me to drop any investigation into James Michael Somerset III, I found myself wondering yet again who that kid is.  He certainly had friends in high places.

[therealkk]

Alright! I’m home, settled and have completed a full week back at work, post Christmas in

Meiko wearing my antlers

Colorado! I thought I’d post a “how our Christmas went” type of blog, since Lauren took the time to do so too!

  We started Christmas Eve with Mitchell’s family. Breakfast, and stockings, and a little bit of time just hanging out. It was low-key and drama free. 4 pups, 9 people and Christmas Cheer.

After we had finished celebrations with them, we decided it was time to finish up packing, and spend some more time with Kitten before we left her for the week. (This was the longest we’ve ever left her, I was feeling really guilty.)

We had an uber come pick us up, and we nervously, and excitedly packed all our luggage in the back of her explorer, and headed on our way to the airport. I don’t fly very often, and actually, the last time I was on a plane was 2009 when my stepdad passed away. I was a little nervous and unsure how quickly we’d be able to get through security, and even more worried about how my anxiety would be on the plane. I don’t have a normal and rational fear of the plane crashing (and honestly I personally would never be afraid of that…) My anxiety about flying is ridiculous and silly, but it’s very real.

Mitchell and I decided to get to the airport early.

Never. Again.

It’s been ages since I’ve flown, and even longer since I’ve flown on my own (those of you that followed me from LiveJournal will remember the last time I flew alone was 2007 to Texas.)

Last time I flew things were a little different, and being three and a half hours early for your flight was no big deal.

So Mitchell and I thought nothing of getting to the airport a little early, put our anxieties at ease, and have a little time to relax before hopping on a plane full of complete strangers.

Imagine our surprise when we got there and our airline had a sign saying no one was going to be at the counter until 2 hours before flight. We had 2 checked bags, which meant we couldn’t go through security or anything until they were at the counter. So we had a long 1.5 hour wait… we sat, and talked, my anxiety rose, people stared at us.

Mitchell and I post security, showing off our attire.

oh, pause! I forgot to tell you! We went to the airport in our Christmas PJ’s (Mitchell’s Christmas Pikachu PJ’s and my Bumble PJ’s) wearing our Pikachu hoodies and a santa hat, and I had antlers and Mitchell had Pikachu ears on top of our santa hats! We both had these fabulous christmas light necklaces that I found on amazon.

Once employees showed up at the counter, we lined up (took a good 30 minutes to get through the counter) and we headed off to security! Everything went smoothly, and the photo above was us celebrating finally making it through security! We wondered down to our gate, found it, and then decided it was time to find a place to get some food and a drink or two.

We stumbled across this place called Africa Lounge. We sat in the bar, Mitchell ordered a “large” beer (which to our surprise was HUGE) and I got their alcoholic coffee. It was super delicious, we sat, ate some food and gushed about how excited we were to be on our very first vacation!

After our meal at the Africa Lounge, we continued on to the nearby bookstore, picked up a bottle of water (mitchell has to take some congestion meds when he flies, and we both felt we needed to hydrate.)  We picked up a few fun souvenirs for Lauren and Elisabeth, and headed to the gate. We got t

Successfully boarded on the plane!

here just in time for boarding, and loaded on the plane. We got settled, my anxiety went down a little, and we sat back and relaxed.

  While on our 2.5 hour flight to Denver, we goofed off, closed our eyes, and made friends with the girl sitting next to us (bless her heart, I may have accidentally caught her in the background of some of our selfies.

Mitchell played some games on his phone, I listened to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on Audible and we both took turns watching out the window.

We didn’t fall asleep at all, but we did close our eyes, our flight left at 7, and landed at 10:30. We had been up since 8am, and with a mixture of holiday stress, and traveling stress, we were exhausted!

About 15 minutes before landing we turned off our music and chatted about how  excited

Sleepy, but incredibly happy to be on vacation!

we were to get to Colorado and see our friends. We also looked out the window and guessed what we could see.

  We came to the conclusion that we could see Colorado Springs, which is where Lauren’s parents live, and what we assume was a bunch of other nearby towns.

The plane has landed! 

Our flight was pretty uneventful, we had some turbulence, that the flight attendants were spooked by, but honestly it wasn’t bad at all. It did cause one of the bathroom doors to fly open, but I bet it wasn’t closed all the way.

  Once the plane had landed they told us we could turn off airplane mode, and we texted Lauren to let her know we had landed.

We got off the plane, and Mitchell went to the bathroom while I explored a nearby gift shop.

I looked for snacks but decided to just wait until we left the airport.

While walking to baggage claim, we found this guy, so we both decided to pose with him, I don’t have a copy of the photo of me, because it is on Mitchell’s phone, and I’m too lazy to ask for it. :D

We wondered our way down the escalator, to the train, and then to baggage claim.

Once at baggage claim, we heard several people pointing and saying “They were on our flight!”

All day people were snapping photos of us, pointing, and cheering us on. The flight attendants, and everyone we came in contact with loved our outfits and Christmas spirit. How else would one travel on Christmas eve?? :P

Our bags were the first off the plane (WIN!) and we headed out to get in the car with Lauren and Sidney!

Lauren’s photo of her stocking goodies

Once we got to their house, we had a snack and went to bed, we were exhausted! We woke up the next day to a delicious breakfast cooked by both Sidney and Lauren, and enjoyed their company.

  We all had agreed that we’d spend the day at home just relaxing. So we did, and it was wonderful. We opened stockings, ate yummy food and played games together.

later in the evening, Lauren’s parents came, we had dinner, opened some wonderful and

Christmas Dinner, sorry, I had eaten most of it already

thoughtful gifts, and enjoyed the company. It truly was one of the best Christmases we’ve had, ever. Good food, good company, lots of happiness, and love. I am so grateful for Lauren and Gene inviting us into their home on such a major holiday! We are so lucky to have such loving and caring people in our lives!

  Ken and Kathy (Lauren’s parents, two people I have always adored) brought some gifts for everyone, and some delicious Christmas dinner!

A thoughtful ornament made by Lauren’s Family

After Christmas dinner we hung out a bit more and went to bed. We didn’t have any solid plans for the week, but I think the plan for Monday was to go into Denver and look at the Capitol building, get brunch and explore a little.

  We woke up Monday morning, and Lauren told us that the Capitol building was closed, but we could still go into the city if we wanted, we ended up deciding to not do so, but we did go to the COOLEST museum Mitchell and I have been to.

Lauren took us into Denver to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Boy was it busy there! So many people had the same great idea we had, but that didn’t stop us! We spent a whole 5 hours at the museum and still didn’t see everything. I’ve included some of the photos we took there, below.

We came home that night, and relaxed, played more games, and enjoyed good food.

Tuesday, we went into Denver, saw Lauren’s work, and went to the 16th Street Mall and

went into the cutest little store called I (heart) Denver and bought souvenirs for Mitchell’s mom and our friends Katy and Adam.

  Then, we went to REI to rent snowshoes, for our snowventure the next day! The REI we went to was MASSIVE. As a Seattleite, I honestly have never seen an REI as huge as this one. It was amazing!

We came home after a very long day out (another 5 hours) without lunch, starving, and exhausted. We ate dinner (Noodle soup made by Lauren.) 

After dinner, we sat down and worked on our D&D characters with Elisabeth and Lauren.

Lauren, Gene, Sidney and Elisabeth have been playing D&D for quite some time, and Lauren has been inviting me to play for just about as long as she’s been playing.

Mitchell and I discussed it and decided we wanted to give it a try while we were in Denver, so that night we sat down, created our characters, and played the first half of our very first D&D adventure!

We were off to a rough start, both rolling 1s, but I ended up having much better luck the rest of the game and kicked major butt.

We played for about an hour that night, and had a blast, but by the end of the evening, we were exhausted. I went to bed after we finished D&D for the evening, Mitchell stayed up and played video games with Sidney.

The next day, Wednesday, We woke up early, layered up, and took the snowshoes up to the Rocky Mountains.

It was just Mitchell, Lauren and I, but we were all super excited to snowshoe together!

We packed up, got in the car and headed toward the mountains. Lauren took us to Estes Park. It was a little bit of a drive, but it wasn’t too bad. I enjoyed looking around, we drove through Boulder, and even drove past the hotel that inspired The Shining.

As we climbed higher we saw our first snow flurries (first for the entire visit, Denver didn’t get any snow, it was colder here in Seattle!)

We pulled into the park, only to have a ranger tell us it wasn’t safe for her car. He directed us to another area (Devil’s Gulch) to snowshoe. So we turned around and headed there. Sadly there wasn’t enough snow to snowshoe, but we did hike! We saw some amazing sights, and several elk! It was all around a great time!

We came home that evening, and went out to dinner at a vegan restaurant called Native Foods. (There’s one in Oregon, and I plan on visiting it!)  The food there was DELICIOUS, and I wish we had one locally!

After dinner,

The last photo I took at Lauren’s house

we came back, finished out or D&D, I made butterbeer and then we headed to bed.

Thursday, we woke up, hung out, and Lauren and I went to return the snowshoes that we sadly didn’t get to use, and we came home, relaxed, since it was our last day there, and played games. I went to bed around 9pm. We had to be up and out of the house by 3:30 am.

We packed everything up that night, and said our goodbyes to Elisabeth, (Sidney was already in bed) and set our alarms for our early wake-up.

We sadly woke up, loaded up the car and headed to the airport before anyone else was awake for the day.

G

ene came with Lauren to drop us off. We said our goodbyes and headed in. The atmosphere in the airport this time wasn’t quite as chipper, and the lines were longer. We waited 45 mintues to check our bags, and then 30 minutes through security. Then we had to ride the train to our flight. We got some breakfast at Dunkin Doughnuts, and then we got to the gate with just 5 minutes to spare before they boarded us.

Our flight home was uneventful, I slept most of it, and woke up just in time to see this beautiful view!

Overall, it was a wonderful way to spend our Christmas. Mitchell and I had a great time, and definitely plan on visiting again! We both agree that this was the best way to spend our favorite time of the year!

Below, are some photos I didn’t include in the post, mainly Lauren’s cat Pippin.

  A Christmas to Remember. Alright! I'm home, settled and have completed a full week back at work, post Christmas in…