Thursday January 31, 2008

Our plans for a quick dinner went awry last night. We walked across to the pizza house and after a half hour, we found that they had lost the ticket and hadn't put it in the oven yet. We left, hungry, and drove into town to a burger place. Again, we waited for a long time - the waitress kept coming back and apologizing - we thinks the first order got burned or something. We finally got our dinner and left the waitress an extra tip as she did not charge us for our drinks because we had to wait so long. Came back to the hotel and caught the end of "A Few Good Men" on TV.

After breakfast this morning, we got the cooler out of the car and emptied it in preparation for our stop at the grocery store tomorrow. We also found a number of things that we have picked up along the trip that we don't need with us - we sent them to Amy in a box and stopped at the Post Office in town to mail it off. We drove up to Fort Davis which is just north of here and visited the Fort Davis National Historical site. It was an army fort which was occupied from 1854 to 1891 with a small hiatus during the Civil War. Some of the buildings were in ruins (adobe), but many were in fairly good shape (brick). Some of the buildings have been restored and furnished to the period. Most of the work was done by graduate students in historical preservation from the University of Vermont! We spent quite a while there tromping around the grounds and viewing the museum. We ate our mini-lunch in the car as the wind is still howling day and the temp is only 40. From here, we could see the large buildings on top of a mountain that are the Mc Donald Observatory. We didn't go up however as they are only open to the public on Friday and Saturday nights. We will try to make a special trip for that. On the way back to Alpine, we stopped at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center. We walked their extensive botanical gardens and visited the greenhouse. They have an amazing number of trees, shrubs, and cacti growing in the gardens and it was interesting to look at the various types of cacti some of which we are sure to see in Big Bend. We are now back in Alpine and will go out in a while for dinner. This will probably be the last blog posting for a bit as I am sure we will not be able to access the Internet in the park. Our plan is to continue to blog each day and then post them all at once when we come back to town to re-supply (probably in a week or so). We saw a sign that the Mc Donald's in town has wireless sevice available so we will probably be using their service.

Wednesday January 30, 2008

We went out to Wentworth Ranch after breakfast this morning to see some rocks. We had to wait for a bit as the owner was out on horseback checking on one of his "girls" (cows). He gave us a tour of the house which is attached to the rock shop. The massive fireplace was faced with gorgeous rocks that came from the ranch - including geodes and a small mill stone - it was fascinating. We toured the shop both inside and out and I bought a small red plume agate and Dave bought two chunks of obsidian - he may try his hand at making points. We came back to town and checked out the grocery store - we found that it opens at 7 which is good as Friday morning we want to get a fairly early start and need to stop here for meat and produce before we go into the park. We then decided to go for a drive and took a large loop out through Marfa (very small town) and then down to Presidio (a border town). We then drove along the Rio Grande - this was an amazing ride - beautiful scenery, great colors. The two pictures in the blog were taken along this route. The first one shows the river which separates the US from Mexico and the second is just a scene from the road. We went through two abandoned mining towns along the way. Apparently mercury mining was big for a while here. It comes from the mineral cinnabar which was prevalent in the area. We actually came within four miles of Big Bend, but turned north at that point and headed back to Alpine. The entire trip was about 225 miles - it was a great day - super sights, warm weather (76 this afternoon after a morning low of 39). We stopped at the library shop and donated two books that we finished last night and are now putting our feet up until dinner. We will probably just get a pizza tonight as we have been having too many heavy dinners - can't wait to cook for ourselves!

Tuesday January 29, 2008

We went to the grocery store after breakfast this morning and bought our dry goods for camping - we figured they would be cheaper in Del Rio than one of the smaller towns closer to Big Bend. We also filled up with gas at $2.83. We stopped at the Amistad Recreation Area Park headquarters and chatted with one of the rangers about Big Bend - he gave us a heads-up on some of his favorite hikes in the park. We drove partway out across the dam, but didn't continue as there was a border crossing and we didn't intend to go into Mexico. We found a turn around and got out of the car to enjoy the view: Amistad Resevoir on one side of the dam and Rio Grande on the other. We heard loud noises and looked down where we discovered the US Border Patrol was conducting rifle practice on their range. We drove on and soon we were in new territory (beyond Langtry). This area reminded us of the Badlands in South Dakota - rolling, barren hills. It was quite windy and we saw some tumbleweeds blowing about. As we got closer to Marathon, the landscape changed - the hills were steeper and were reddish in color. We stopped in at visitor information in Sanderson to change drivers and chatted with a disabled man from Quebec City, Canada who was on a bicycle! His bike had fallen over due to the wind while he was in the visitor center and Dave helped him right it. He had been on the road since July - as far north as Alaska and was now heading to Brownsville, TX to cross over into Mexico - his final destination is Cancun - what an amazing person! We continued on to Marathon where one of the entrances to the park is and were glad that we had decided to stop in Alpine (30 miles further down the road). Alpine is a much larger town. The gas price here is $3.02 as opposed to $3.25 in Marathon. We found a motel for the next three nights and will have a good time exploring the area before we head into the park. We went to the Museum of the Big Bend which is located on the campus of Sul Ross State University (about 2000 students) and enjoyed the displays. We chatted with a fellow there who told us about a ranch where you can dig for fossils, opals, and agates - we will go out there tomorrow, although I'm not sure how many more rocks we can fit in the car! We walked around downtown and checked out a few stores and then stopped into a used book store run by the local library where we found a few more books to take with us. The woman running the shop was lovely and she said they came to this area to retire and her husband found a job teaching at Sul Ross. We came back to the motel and did a load of laundry - we want to have all clean clothes before we head in. We went to a local eatery for dinner - very good and then drove about 15 miles out of town to see the Marfa lights. These are a weird phenomenon that occur sporadically in this area. Apparently we were very lucky to see them. They looked light glowing balls being juggled way out in the distance. We were able to see three separate sets of them - white and then occasionally turning red or green for brief intervals. They have been studied by scientists quite often, but no one can positively explain what makes them appear and what is causing them. It was all very interesting - we will have to check the research when we have time.

Monday January 28, 2008

Just wanted to finish our time in San Antonio with a night time shot of the Alamo.

We got up this morning to a misty drizzle. We looked out the window of the motel and there was a steady stream of cars heading into the base. Fortunately, when it was time to go to Cookie and Ron's house, we turned in the opposite direction of the gate. We chatted for a bit and then went for breakfast at a little home cookin' restaurant. The walls were covered with pictures and posters of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and other movie stars. Dave, Ron, and I had pancakes, while Cookie, Trey, and Lettie had Mexican fare. We stopped back at the house and Ron showed us his music room. He was in a number of bands (mostly played lead guitar) - he showed us an album with photos of the different bands - cowboy outfits and all. He then showed us a contraption he built to provide a backup beat for his guitar. It attached to a keyboard and was quite ingenious - we told him he should apply for a patent. He then showed us a jukebox that he bought when a Mexican bar/restaurant closed. He put some of his own collection of 45's in the jukebox and she played a few songs for us - really cool! Finally, it was time to get on the road. We have had a great time visiting with them, it was hard to leave. We hope that soon they will come to Connecticut so we can show them our neck of the woods. Trey and Lettie may have a conference in Boston in late Fall, so we are hoping they have time to come to Mystic - we know they would love to meet our kids and get to know his Yankee cousins! We got on Route 90 and stopped for a break in Alamo Village. This was a Hollywood set town that was built on a ranch complete with the Alamo a frontier town and a deserted Mexican village. The original movie with John Wayne was filmed here as well as many other Westerns - Gunsmoke, Texas, Arrowhead - over 100 movies, documentaries, music videos, and commercials. We especially enjoyed chatting with a couple of local cowpokes in the cantina. Apparently, during the height of the tourist season, they have do gun battles on the main street of town. We decided to stay over in Del Rio (we stayed here before we went to San Antonio) and then slowly make our way to Big Bend. We can't get into the park until Friday (we have reservations) so we will just poke along and stop when the spirit moves. We may go back to Cripple Creek tonight for dinner - it was so good the last time we were here and we are getting hungry as we skipped lunch due to our huge breakfast (thanks Ron and Cookie).

Sunday January 27, 2008

We are including some up close and personal pix we took at the Wildlife Ranch. The ostrich is very interested in what Dave is holding and actually stuck his whole head and neck into the car to reach the food. As you can see, the zebra is getting a bit too close to Sandie (I was practically sitting on Dave's lap to get away from it!). We did laugh ourselves silly though!!!

We had an earlier breakfast this morning and then drove Justine to the airport. We were sad to see her go as we had a great time with her here. We came back and packed up a few more odds and ends and then headed out to my cousin's house. Their house is very near the back gate to Lackland Air Force Base and Ron had faxed us a wonderful map which got us there with no problems. Technically they live in San Antonio, but it is quite a way out of the city center. We had a lovely lunch with Cookie, Ron, their son Trey and his wife, Lettie (from Ogden, Utah) and a cousin Karen and her son Chris who is four. After lunch, we went around to the next block where Uncle GC and Aunt Lib lived. They took us out the the shop where GC used to do his lapidary work and Cookie gave us some fossils, polished slabs, petrified wood, a geode, and bags of polished stones for the grand kids - we are totally overwhelmed by their generosity. Chris kept himself busy by "washing " his polished stones in water and then arranging them on the patio table. He started bring some of the larger stones to the table, but Ron told him they were "lever" stones (as in lever where she was). We went back to the house and watch home movies for a while - some were from old family reunions and it was fun to see some of the cousins we haven't seen in a while - we also saw some photos of ourselves at one reunion and didn't recognize ourselves at first because of the dark hair - when did we turn gray??? We went out to dinner at a local burger restaurant - again, these are Texas size burgers - with cheddar cheese soup and sweet onion rings. We couldn't finish everything and we were stuffed to the gills. We took our leave and stayed at a motel just around the corner from their house where Cookie and Ron had arranged a room for us (pay back time when you get up North!).

Saturday Januray 26, 2008

We have are adding two more images to the blog today. One is of the Texas White House on LBJ's ranch and the others is of the bells at the San Jose Mission.

We woke up to warm air and clear skies this morning - this the the weather we were expecting in Texas! By the afternoon, the temps were in the 70's - hallelujah! We had a wonderful day - we started by going to the Natural Bridge Caverns and taking a walking tour through a wonderful series of large caves. The most amazing part of this cavern system is the temperature. Despite being 180 feet below ground, the temperature was a constant 70 degrees and 99% humidity! Usually caves are much cooler one you get below ground, but not here. Many of the formations were weirdly shaped so that it was a bit like cloud watching on a summer's day: we "saw" a meercat, a gnome, several skulls, a wizard, etc. It was great fun to imagine what one saw in the formations. We then drove through a nearby Wildlife Ranch. For a fee, you get some animal pellets and you drive your car through the ranch and feed the animals who come up to your car for food. All of the animals were gentle and well behaved until we got to the zebras! They stuffed their whole heads inside the car trying to get to the food. Justine almost lost her whole bag to one greedy fellow! I was busy taking pictures of Dave and Justine feeding the animals when a zebra snorted in my ear and then tried chewing on my shirt until I gave him some food. We were laughing so hard, it is a wonder we got any pictures at all!! Just as our sides stopped hurting from the laughter, we came upon the ostriches: they were as persistent as the zebras - putting there long necks into the car trying to get to the food! We had a wonderful time and when we got back to the beginning, we gave our leftover (it is amazing there was any) food to some children who were in the petting zoo so that they could feed the little goats. We all went into the shop to wash up and our hands were quite spooged. We headed back toward the highway and stopped for lunch at a Whataburger - yup! that is the name of a Texas hamburger joint that we have been seeing all over the place. They were huge and we were stuffed when we had finished. We came back to the city and took a walk down to the Alamo so Justine could get her National Park passport stamped and so that Dave could take a picture of it in the sunlight. They were having a street festival in front of the plaza and we walked through - pony rides, BBQ, funnel cakes, Mexican food, country singers, etc. Dave got up on a long horned bull and I took his picture. We then took a walkabout around the city - part of it on the Riverwalk and part on the streets. We came back to the Alamo for a sit down in the plaza and a cold drink. We decided we were not terribly hungry so we eventually made our way to the food court and had a small bite and then walked back to the Alamo. We passed by the horse carriages which were all lit up for evening rides - they were very colorful. We took a night picture of the Alamo which looked great against the dark sky. We have walked back to the hotel and will do a bit of packing tonight so that it won't be such a chore tomorrow.

Friday January 25, 2008

It was another drizzly day when we woke up this morning so we packed our umbrellas when we were picked up by Cookie and Ron. We did a tour of the missions today - we visited the four missions and found each one a little different. Cookie discovered that a friend of hers, Brother Jerome, was at San Jose so we got to visit with him. Again we have someone who should have his own comedy act. He told us a bit about the church, his life as a monk, and entertained us with a variety of stories. I know I haven't laughed out loud in church as much as I did today! There was a statue of Saint Francis behind the altar. It used to have a crucifix in one hand, but this was stolen one night so it was replaced with another crucifix which was also stolen. The statue now holds nothing in its upraised hand - but, Brother Jerome said that one feast days they are considering having Saint Francis hold a bingo card! We had to battle some light rain throughout the morning, but didn't get totally wet. We went for a typical Texas lunch at a local restaurant: chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and salad. The pieces of steak were so large that one could feed a family of six! Needless to say, Cookie and Ron have enough leftovers for a few meals. We then went to the SAS shoe factory which was a shoe store as well as a general store. We had a lovely time walking around and checking out the wares. They had 5 cent coke and coffee, but we were too full to partake. There were also quite a number of antique and classic cars which Ron and Dave loved! We had a contest to see who could pack the most loose candy of every sort into a small bag ($2 for the bag) - Dave won - his bag weighed just over a pound and a half. We hope we will be camped next to a family with children as we don't intend to eat all of that candy! We then visited the King William section of town and stopped at the Guenther House which is now a restaurant and museum. Their daughter was married here two years ago. It is a lovely house - we met the chef who was a friend of Cookie's from when she used to work at USAA. We got to go up to the roof garden (covered) which was set up for a bridal party which will take place tomorrow - very fancy! We then went downtown and visited the cathedral and walked by the Spanish Governor's Mansion (which was closed by this time). We got back to the hotel and Justine, Dave and I sat around chatting (I also managed to do 2 loads of laundry) for a while. We then gathered all of our leftovers and granola bars and had a snacky supper as none of us were particularly hungry. It seems hard to believe that the week is almost gone, but we do have one more day here before Justine leaves us. It has been a busy and wonderful week.

Thursday January 24, 2008

We woke up to cold, clouds, and wind with a 30% chance of rain so we dressed warmly and pocketed our umbrellas and set out for the day. Our first stop was the Tower of the Americas. It was built for the 1968 world's fair. We got a combo ticket which allowed us to go to the top by outside elevator and take in all the views of San Antonio. Fortunately, it was just cloudy and not foggy like yesterday. We took in the 360 degree views and then descended to the first floor where we went to a 4-D theatre about Texas. We had a lot of laughs as it was more than having the chair move and vibrate. There was one scene at a rodeo where a clown tries to hide from the enraged bull by jumping into a barrel. The bull looks inside the barrel and snorts and at the same time, our faces were misted with water! Another time we encountered a 3-D rattlesnake and as he turned to strike, we had a blast of air hit our bodies. We laughed a lot and had a great time. We walked over to the Institute of Texan Cultures which was a wonderful museum about all of the different ethnic groups which make up this state. They had photos and displays about all of the home countries. There was even one which we weren't familiar with: Wendish which we found was a type of German culture. We spent quite a long time wandering around and then walked through HemisFair Park (again from the 1968 fair) and over to La Villita district which was San Antonio's first neighborhood. The families of Spanish soldiers lived here and now all of the homes are art galleries or small craft shops. We went down to the river from here and ate lunch before exploring the shops. Our lunch was huge: Justine and I each ordered an appetizer since it was so late and neither of us could finish. When we had finished exploring La Villita, we walked back along the river and then back to the hotel where we put our feet up for an hour before heading back out. Someone emailed me and asked if "putting our feet up" meant "taking a nap" and the answer is no. It means we kick off our shoes and read - just a bit of down time. We went out at 6:30 after a granola bar dinner and went to another IMAX show (the second show is half price). We saw "The Mystery of the Nile". Now this is where we know we are getting old as partway through the film we realized that we had seen it before a number of years ago. The good news is that it was excellent the second time also! We then walked over to the Alamo and joined up with a Ghost Tour. The guide was excellent - very funny and entertaining! I can't think of when we have laughed so much. There were only 8 of us on the tour which was wonderful. It was very cold (35), but the walking and the laughing kept us fairly warm. He had a lot of hi-tech equipment: color spectrum glasses, temperature readers, and an infra-red camera. We had a lot of fun and walked back to the hotel still laughing. We got in about 10:30 and then read until our eyes got heavy.

Wednesday January 23, 2008

We woke up this morning to dense fog. We thought Cookie and Ron might cancel, but since it was not out and out raining, we decided to go. They picked us up at the hotel and we headed north. We had a wonderful day exploring everything LBJ. We visited the house where he was born, the one in Johnson City where the family moved when he was 5, and then the Texas White House which was a family ranch very near the house where he was born. The large ranch house was quite lovely - large live oaks in the yard where LBJ used to entertain guests. The tour of the ranch was on a small bus and apparently when Lady Bird was alive, she used to come out and greet the bus visitors or at least wave to them from her garden. We saw the barns, the old cars - including an amphibious one, the Hereford cattle, bison and many deer and antelope which live on the ranch. Now that Lady Bird has passed away, the ranch house will also become part of the tour (as soon as the daughters have removed all of the personal items that they wish). We also saw several films during the day and were amazed at the number of environmental and educational bills which were passed during his tenure - I guess you tend to forget who does what when you don't particularly pay close attention to politics. We did enjoy the ranch - unfortunately, we couldn't see the promised lovely vista as the fog hung on all day. We did have a lovely lunch at a nearby Texas style restaurant. We also got to visit a living farm nearby - saw some baby pigs and lambs and talked to a guide who told us that they had made sausage the week - he explained the process and it was quite interesting - they still make it the way the original German immigrants to this area did. We got to the town of Fredricksburg late so we didn't get to the Museum of the Pacific (Admiral Nimitz) which I know Dave would have loved, but we did find a couple of stores that were still open. One of them was Dooley's - a real old-fashioned five and ten cent store (although everything costs as bit more now). They had everything in there: clothing, kitchenware, toys, candy, sewing items, tools, etc. It was great to wander up and down the aisles. The other store we stopped into was a real trip - RamblinRob's sells salsa, jams, pasta sauce, flavored oil, flavored peanut butter, fudge, etc. and you can taste everything before you buy! They have baskets of wheat crackers out and one jar of each thing they sell. We had a wonderful time tasting the most delicious things - we could have made a meal of it. We bought a jar of blackberry preserves to take camping with us, but we also took their catalog so we can order some of their wares when we return home. We stopped at a lovely park which had an octagonal Lutheran church (closed, but we toured the outside) and took a few pictures in front of the statues. We then headed back to San Antonio and stopped for dinner at a BBQ place called Rudy's. It was casual dining with picnic tables inside and we had a variety of things: sausage, brisket, ribs, beans, potato salad, and the best creamed corn I have ever tasted! We got back to the hotel about 8:30. Cookie gave me 2 pendants that her father had made - they were wonderful - one was of moss agate and the other was dinosaur bone! She gave Dave a lovely ring that Uncle GC had made and she even had a beautiful pendant for Justine. It was such a lovely thought and we were overwhelmed when we saw what was in the packages. We hope we didn't wear them out with all of the driving we did yesterday, but we did make plans to meet again on Friday to go to the Missions.

Tuesday January 22, 2008

Well, as you can see, we went to the zoo this morning. One picture is of a gazelle in mid air - she was jumping straight up in the air and put on quite a show! The other was of one of our favorite animals at the zoo - a hippo. There were actually a pair of them and they were wonderful. Our other favorite animal was a baby gibbon, but he was too fast to catch on film. He was adorable, but had learned that he could squeeze through the holes in the chain link fence and was fond of escaping, but not for long as he always went back to mama. They had docents watching to make sure that he didn't get too adventurous. The weather was much warmer today and sunny most of the time which is why we opted for an outside thing to do today. The zoo also had a wonderful reptile house which has some snakes we had never seen before. It was just a wonderful time. When we got back to the hotel, we walked down to the Riverwalk and took a boat ride, taking advantage of the lovely weather. Our guide was great - keeping us informed of wonderful tales of buildings and places we were slowly passing. It was a perfect day for being on the water. When we got back to the hotel, we put our feet up for an hour before leaving to meet Justine's cousin. We went out to the car and discovered that there had been a shower while we were inside - we were so lucky to have done what we did today without getting wet at all! We drove up to San Marcos which is halfway between San Antonio and Austin (where Justine's cousin, Jack, lives) and met him at the Outback Steakhouse for dinner. We had a lovely time chatting and he and Justine caught up on family chat. We took a few pictures of the two of them together and then parted ways. We got back to the hotel and Dave unloaded the camera so that we could send the pix to Justine - she will email them to Jack when she gets home. We talked to cousin Cookie and arrange to meet tomorrow at 9:30 for our sojourn to Fredricksburg. It is supposed to be colder tomorrow with a chance of showers so we will layer when we get up in the morning.

Monday January 21, 2008

It was raining this morning, so after breakfast we got in the car and went to the Witte Museum - dinosaurs, ancient peoples, archaeology, local birds and animals and even an Egyptian mummy! They also had a wonderful interactive children's museum which was very interesting. We went to a store nearby called Central Market which sold everything food related. They had a wonderful selection of sandwiches, soup, and salads - we each bought what we wanted and then ate in their little seating area. There was even a Cooking School upstairs where they have several classes a day. The produce area was awesome - about 10 different kinds of potatoes (including purple ones) and some fruits that we had never seen before. We had a great time wandering around after lunch and then headed back to town. We parked the car at the hotel and decided since it was still rainy to take a trolley ride. We got off at Market Square and had a great time poking through the various stalls of Mexican goods. Justine bought a few miniature creches to take home as souvenirs. We then took another trolley ride through a section of town named after King William - large turn of the century houses and then got off near the Alamo and walked through the Rivercenter mall. Justine picked up a salad to eat later and Dave and I will have our granola bars - we are all still full from our lovely lunch. It turned out to be a busy and great day despite the weather. We are hoping for clearer skies tomorrow.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

We had a lovely dinner last night with Cookie and Ron. They took us to a steakhouse not too far away - good food and better company. When we finished dinner we went on a night tour of San Antonio - quite a lovely city. We enjoyed catching up with family chat, etc. We will be going to Fredricksburg with them on Wednesday. We picked up Justine at the airport today - getting there was no problem, but getting back was quite a chore as the exit we needed to take to get on the correct road was blocked off. We eventually found a gas station and got directions to the right road. We got Justine settled in to the hotel and then walked down to the Riverwalk and got tickets to the IMAX movie about the Alamo (many people had suggested watching the movie to make the site more meaningful). After the show we went into the Alamo and toured around looking at all of the exhibits and displays - amazingly about 3 million people visit the Alamo each year. We came out of one building and chanced into a ranger who was giving a very animated lecture on the Alamo - he was very good. We then went through the last exhibit and at the end we were able to catch the last showing of a 15 minute piece put together by the History Channel. It was nice to have all three of these explanations (IMAX, lecture, and History Channel) as I felt that I learned a little bit more with each retelling of the story. We were getting hungry so we went down to the Riverwalk and found a lovely restaurant (but ate inside as it was getting chilly again) - we had a great Mexican dinner and walked back to the hotel. Justine called her cousin who lives in Austin and we are going to meet him for dinner on Tuesday night. It is fun to combine the tourist thing with seeing family. We made a couple of plans for tomorrow depending on the weather - there seems to be a chance of showers most of the week - we will finalize our plans at breakfast tomorrow.

Saturday Janurary 19, 2008

The sun is shining! We left this morning and got on the road toward San Antonio. We stopped at a little town called Castorville that my cousin had told us about. It was a charming little town - saw many of the houses on the walking tour. Although it was founded by a Frenchman, many of the first settlers were German Lutherans who came here to found a church. Many of the houses reflected the German heritage. It was also an antique center. We chatted with a woman who owned one of the shops and bought a few pieces of petrified wood for the boys. We started talking about stones and fossils and she gave us a small bag of Texas fossils! We told her we had found a few fossils near Seminole Canyon and she told us of a nearby place where she has found some. We drove out there and found the road was running water from the rain. We decided not to drive across, but stopped the car and hunted the overflowing river bed and found two for sure and one possible - great fun! We then got to San Antonio and had a devil of a time finding our hotel - after stopping twice for directions, we finally made it! We called my cousin Cookie and she and Ron will pick us up for dinner tonight and we will make a plan for the week. We then went for a walk to orient ourselves for tomorrow when Justine joins us. We are about 2 blocks from the Riverwalk and 3 from the Alamo - great location. We also finally found a few postcards to send to the grand kids - we have been looking since we left Bay St. Louis. Someone could make a fortune here by offering decent postcards of the area. Last night's dinner was a blast! The place that was recommended to us was inside of a sporting goods store! The dinner was fine and then we went to the movies and saw "The Bucket List" - we both enjoyed it. We are looking forward to seeing Cookie and Ron - it has been a couple of years since we saw them at a family reunion.

Friday January 18, 2008

Have added 2 more pictures from yesterday. The first is a shot of the Pecos River with its beautiful cliffs. The second is on Judge Roy Bean's saloon and courthouse (one and the same building) - he called himself "the law west of the Pecos".

We went to the laundromat after breakfast this morning and I stood around in my shorts and tee shirt while my long pants and sweatshirts were being washed - brrr - it is still chilly here. We then drove to Uvalde and visited the Aviation Museum. It stood on the site of the field where civilians were trained to fly during WWII. There were several gentlemen there who had served in the Korean war and they were thrilled to show us around. They have amassed quite a bit of memorabilia, a number of uniforms, and several planes. One of the planes is a L-4, a light observation plane used during the war, and one of the guys flies it every Friday (but not today as it was drizzling). They were an interesting bunch and had lots of "war stories" to relate. We then stopped at the local library which is brand new, but built from bricks of the old school which used to exist on this piece of land. It is a wonderful building - light and airy and they were having a book/bake sale to help pay for a new computer system. We bought a few books (surprise, surprise!) to supplement the ones we brought with us. We also bought some peanut butter cookies for munching either today or tomorrow. One of the fascinating things about this town is that there are a number of huge oak trees growing in the street - they paint the bases white up to about 8 feet and the cars just drive around them - have never seen anything quite like it. Our next stop was to the John Nance Garner Museum (now, before you read on, how many of you honestly know who he was!). It is the former home of Garner who was the vice president for two terms under FDR. It was filled with pictures, clothing (inaugural tux and dress), and letters from his time in office. There were not as many papers as there might be though as he burned his important documents when he returned to Texas from Washington. He was ticked at FDR for running for a third term - he thought that he would be the next president! I found the information about his wife very interesting - she was his secretary as well as an accomplished knitter, needle pointer, cook - she was a master of time management! There were also some letters from Will Rogers who was a friend of "Cactus Jack" Garner. All in all, we had a great time learning about someone we knew so little about. We drove around and looked at some of the houses the town boasts of, but while they were interesting to look at in this setting, many of them were built around the same time as our house was - something that is old here, is not old by our standards. We found a motel with Internet access and will go to dinner soon - the ladies at the library sale recommended one to us. We then may go to the cinema - will have to see what is playing.

Thursday Janurary 17, 2008

We finally got the camera unloaded and you can see the man of war (one of thousands) that we saw at Pedro Island. We had a lovely, but cold day today - the high was only 41! We drove about 45 miles west of Del Rio to Seminole Canyon. We took a tour of the pictographs (see other photo) which were 8000 years old and quite well preserved due to the arid weather and the fact that they were drawn in large overhangs in the canyons which are naturally protected from the elements. The guide was an amazing fount of knowledge (you could only go to the caves with a guide to protect them from damage). He explained the history and culture of the people who drew the pictographs in as much detail as is known. There were only a few other people on the tour: a couple from Dallas, and a couple and their 7 year old daughter from VA who are traveling around the country for a year and home schooling their daughter (obviously geology and history will be easy for her to learn). We then headed west about another 20 miles and stopped at a few scenic overlooks. At one of them we stopped and picked up a few fossils in the cut of rock next to the road - found some petrified shells and worm tubes - very neat! We ended up in Langtry where we visited the original saloon (and courthouse) of the infamous Judge Roy Bean. The building itself was interesting, but the displays were outstanding. They also had a lovely cactus garden that we walked through. We came back to Del Rio and will go to dinner soon. Dinner last night was wonderful - we asked at the motel desk and a place called Cripple Creek was recommended - excellent food! I will call my cousin who lives in San Antonio tonight and touch base with her and make some plans while we are there. Our good friend Justine from Mystic will be joining us on Sunday for a week of touring in the area. One thing that I forgot to mention about Corpus Christi - we were taking our walk-about and passed a restaurant that advertised not Tex-Mex, but Chech-Mex (spicy potato dumplings perhaps???)!

Just got back from "Pizza Mutt". We have been doing nicely with the free breakfast at the motels and a granola bar lunch. I think we were still full from last night's meal so thought we would have a light dinner tonight. I did talk to Cookie this afternoon and we will meet for dinner Saturday night and hash out some plans for the week. I'm not sure what we are doing tomorrow, but we will make a plan before we go to bed. Heard that the kids are all having a birthday bash at our house in February to celebrate those who have birthdays in the first quarter (5 out of 8) - we are so glad that they get together even when we are not at home AND that they are too old to trash the house! (ha, ha)

Wednesday January 16, 2008

One more picture from Bay St. Louis. This is all that is left of the church on this site. The congregation meets in the Quonset hut at the side.

We decided this morning to go back to Padre Island to check out what shells the tide had brought up after the storm we had yesterday and last night (we got an inch of rain). We got to the visitor center and found that the beach had disappeared! We hope that all of the cars who were parked along the beach further down got out in time as there was just a narrow strip of beach on which to walk. There also were no shells - they had all been sucked out to sea! We then got back into the car and headed for Del Rio - talking smaller roads. We had asked a number of people yesterday if they had been here, but no one had. We had read that there were caves with ancient pictographs and we thought it might be interesting to see them. We went through ranch lands and much drier country as we got away from the coast - many mesquite trees and large prickly pear cacti. We got here around 4 and make sure that the Internet worked before we settled into the room! We will check out the dinner options soon, but I wanted to get caught up on the blog first. It is warmer here, 70 degrees, sunny and the sun is just going down now at 6 PM. We will check out the caves tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The skies were very gray when we got up this morning and the wind was howling. We got breakfast which was on the 11th floor and had a great view of the harbor and then took a cab to the History and Science Museum. It was an interesting museum, but it was hard to figure out the plan. They had a large gem section which was back to back with a history of Corpus Christi and then the next room was about Christopher Columbus and the blending of the old and new worlds. They had the replicas of the Pinta and Santa Maria outside the museum, but we skipped going out as it was pouring rain at that point and we had seen them when they were in New London. We then battled the wind and rain to walk to the nearby Art Museum of South Texas. We had lunch in the cafe - lovely sandwiches and salad. Dave ordered a piece of cake for us to share and it was huge! We couldn't eat the whole thing - our kids will know how big it was if I say that it was the size of the cakes we were served at the Bubble Room on Captiva Island!!! We then walked around the museum which was quite odd: a room of 70's modern and abstract art, one of giant birds on weird background, one of children's drawings, and one which was interesting about the art of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Took the trolley back to the hotel and spotted a small store called Betty's Attic. We went in and found a little bit of everything - kind of like an enormous flea market indoors. Next door was the Surf Museum which was free and dedicated to the history of surf boards! We went back to the room and decided to have granola bars for dinner as we had eaten such a large lunch. It was still raining and blowing outside and it felt good to be inside.

Monday, January 14, 2008

We intended to visit the Maritime Museum on our way out this morning, but we arrived an hour early and the building looked tiny so we decided to skip it and took the slow road across Mustang Island to Padre Island. Dave got his Golden Eagle pass at the gate and now we will not have to pay the fees. We got the the National Park visitor center and took a long walk on the beach. We saw lots and lots of beached Portuguese Men of War. They were everywhere! We will publish a photo when we next unload the camera. We picked up a few shells and barnacles and then headed back to the car. We drove down about a mile and discovered that the rest of the island was only accessible by driving on the beach. We drove for 3 1/2 miles and found that the sand was getting too soft to safely continue so we turned around and drove back. Obviously, one needs a 4-wheel drive to go the entire 60 miles! We decided against staying on the island as rain was predicted for the next day and drove into Corpus Christi. We found a hotel right on the beach and once settled, got out and walked around to explore the city. This is the oddest city we have ever been in. There is no downtown, no shops! There are many large business buildings, a few restaurants, and some nightclubs. All of the shopping is at malls on the way into the city. We went to dinner at the Oyster House right behind our hotel and then went back to the hotel as it was eerie walking around in the dark with nothing open. We read for a while and then went to bed.

Sunday January 13, 2008

I am really writing this on Wednesday as the last few places we have stayed promised hi-speed internet, but it was either down that day or broken (yeah, the check is in the mail).

First, the photos: This is what I meant about steps to nowhere. Many of them go up to empty land, but this set gos to trailers and a porta-potty.

The next photo is a Katrina cottage. They are the shelters that FEMA sent down for people to live in while they attempt to rebuild. As you can see they are quite small.

Now back to Sunday's blog. We had to laugh when we came down for the continental breakfast. The choices were mini bagels, donuts, or Hostess chocolate cupcakes - quite the choice! We packed the car and headed down to the Texas gulf coast. We were glad that it was Sunday as we drove through Houston - there was plenty of traffic for us as it was. We stopped in Rockport and found a place to have the oil changed in the car - it was needed with all the driving we have been doing. It was still too early for dinner so we found a movie theatre and asked what was playing at the time. It turned out to be "No Country for Old Men" - we do NOT recommend it - very bloody, weird, and ended badly . . . ugh, 2 thumbs down! We went to dinner at a restaurent by the water and had shrimp again (while in Rome . . . ). We then called the kids to catch up with what is happening with them. All were doing fine.

Saturday January 12, 2008

We had a lovely dinner with Carol last night. She had quite a bit on damage to her house due to a river overflowing into a pond in her yard. The front of the house was pushed in - all windows blown out and 11 feet of water in the downstairs. Of course, the sheet rock, being drenched, just fell off the walls into a jumble on the lower floors. They weren't able to get in to check the house for 2 weeks. They cleaned up what they could and then headed back to CT to start gathering what they would need to repair the house. Things like lumber, windows, and sheet rock were not to be had in this whole area. It took them a month to gather all of the needed supplies which they shipped down in a Pod. The house is pretty much done - there are a few things that need doing, but it is lovely and very livable. We got back to Lagniappe about 9, chatted with some folks who were also leaving in the morning and then went to bed. We got up this morning and started packing up. We left after breakfast and went up the street to the laundromat. It is so nice to pack clean clothes. We then went for a ride down Bay Shore Drive in town and took photos of various damaged homes. There were only 2 or 3 that are being rebuilt at this time on the waterfront. We got on the highway and headed out. There were only 15 miles of MS and then we were in LA. Most of the state along the highway is swampy. We did pass some oil fields and rice fields and of course we went through New Orleans. There is still a lot of damage to the houses we could see from the highway - blue tarped roofs, etc. We stopped at the Texas welcome center and picked up some literature to help us decide where we will go next. We stopped a few miles into the state for the night. We brought all of our clean laundry into the room and sorted it - we will send all of our work clothes home as soon as we can find a box. We went into the diner next door for a light supper - chatted with an older man at the next table - he was in North Africa and Italy during WWII - quite interesting. We look forward to sleeping in a real bed and taking a real shower!

Friday January 11, 2008

Well, we didn't get to dinner with Carol last night. She called about 4 and said that she was stuck in Gulfport because of the severe weather. We will go to dinner at her house tonight instead. We called Ruth and went over to her house to deliver the spoon. She loved the spoon and she showed us around her Habitat home - it was lovely - 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. She used to own a bakery in town, but decided not to rebuild after Katrina came through. She still makes wedding cakes out of her home though and in fact was working on one for Saturday. We came back and ate here and then just sat around chatting after dinner as it was pouring outside. There was a break in the rain at 9:30 so we ran back to our little home away from home before it started up again. We woke up to clear skies this morning - chilly in the morning, but warming up in the afternoon. We made all of the window frames and the kids from Adelphi pre-painted them. We then continued to hang doors. We got them all in except for the ones in the closet. We also framed up the access hole to the attic. Came back and fastened the whale to the plaque - Dave hung it - we will take a photo before we leave and post it on the web. We are now all showered and will head out for dinner soon.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

First, I have to make a correction: I said that the water in the hospital was knee deep after Katrina - it was waist deep. I also wanted to let you know that Dad is feeling much better now that he is on drugs. I talked to Nick last night and he is taking today off for rest and recovery. He feels a bit beat up, but is getting better. We left early after breakfast this morning and scoped out the way to Ruth's house - she is the lady Dave made a spoon for. We then found the Gothie's house - we wanted to see where it was during the daylight. We will be going there tonight for dinner. We got to the job site at 8 and started hanging doors. Most of the kids worked outside as the cement was being poured into the forms in the carport and the front porch area under the steps. The kids put their initials and hand prints in the wet cement in the carport forms - we passed on the opportunity. We all went to a nearby park where we have been eating our lunch each day. They have several small covered pavilions. While we were eating we heard thunder, saw lightening, and the skies opened up. It is a good thing we were under cover! When the rain lessened, we went back to the house, but decided that it was too dangerous to use power tools with all of the lightening around. As we were cleaning up, a contractor came by and told us that we were in a tornado watch. We got back to Lagniappe and showered - have been sitting in the common room since as it is pouring out and still thundering and lightening. We hope it lets up soon and we are supposed to head out in a while to go to dinner.

Wednesday January 9, 2008

We got to the site this morning and found the tapers were just finishing up. We had to wait for a half hour or so for the mud to dry so Dave and I started attaching the railings that we had made (see photo on left). We then went inside to paint. We put a coat of primer and two coats of eggshell white on all of the walls. It went very quickly as we had two trim painters and two people with rollers in each room. On the right you can see a group of kids from a Nebraska nursing college who were working on one of the bedrooms. We had a surprise visit from Carol Gothie this morning. She and her husband are tax consultants in Mystic and spend the winters here in Bay St. Louis. She actually lives in an area that is very close to where we are working. She invited us to dinner tomorrow night. We got back and showered and since it is Wednesday and cook's night off, we went across the street to a restaurant called Ricky's that was recommended to us. We each had a shrimp dinner and neither of us could finish our meal - we should have shared. Dave ate about 40% and I ate about 25%! We took the leftovers back and gave them to the kids from Ameri-Corps who were making macaroni and cheese - they were thrilled to have the shrimp to go along with their meal. We then went out to Home Depot to pick up a board for our plaque (Dave carved a whale) and also picked up some wood to use for carving more spoons. When I finished here I will try to get a hold of Ruth (the lady who treated us to dinner last Wednesday) so we can arrange to give her the spoon Dave finished for her. We have two more days here - feel good that we have been able to accomplished as much as we have - it also has been fun to work with so many young people.

Tuesday January 8, 2008

I heard from Laura this afternoon and she said Nick came through his operation okay. They were able to do all that they wanted to do. He was in the recovery room when she called and she was going to go home to pick up the kids and take them back over for a visit. He will stay overnight at the hospital and be home tomorrow. We hope for a speedy recovery. We had an awesome lecture last night. The head of the Historical Society, Charles Gray, was a fabulous speaker. He was 73 and looked and acted 55. He previously ran an extremely posh restaurant in New Orleans. Dinner was by appointment only and there was no money changing hands - the hosts were sent bills at the end of each month. He gave us the history of Bay St. Louis from its origins and then showed us photos of the lovely houses that used to line the beachfront. I found it interesting that no one had flood insurance as there had never been a water problem before - the houses were on a 31 foot cliff! Most of these houses were destroyed completely and the few that survived were heavily damaged. The only thing left of his own house was the front staircase. He had a houseful of antiques and lovely paintings - all gone. He did find his grandmother's silver chest 2 blocks from his house with the silver still inside - only 2 teaspoons were missing. He also found an emerald tie tack while planting bushes around his FEMA trailer a few months after the storm. He obviously was a very wealthy man and while he cannot afford to replace what he lost, will be able to rebuild on his land. Many of the poorer folks were not able to fund the rebuilding of their homes and have either left the area or are on a list for help from various church groups or Habitat. We went the emergency room early this morning as Dave has developed quite a cough. It turned out to be bronchitis and he is now on drugs. While we were there though, Dave noticed that there was a part of the hospital still under repair. When he asked about it, the doctor said that they had wind damage and the water was knee level throughout that whole wing of the hospital - which is a good 2 miles from the beach! We got to the work site late and Dave played supervisor as he is supposed to take it easy for a day or two, I worked on putting up some trim boards around the porch, carport and roof line and also continued to work on the porch railings. We should be paining tomorrow which will be a nice change of pace. We will probably go to bed on the early side tonight as Dave is feeling a bit tired from the medication. Will try to remember to have Dave take some photos tomorrow so we can get them up on the blog (now that I have figured out how to do it).

Monday January 7, 2008

Today we went back to the Habitat house in Diamondhead. We worked with some folks from upstate New York, a youth group from Nebraska, and a group from Adelphi University on Long Island. The kids painted again - some of the boards had not had two coats and some worked on the trim. Others built another retaining wall for the driveway. Dave and I worked on the railing for the porch, but were not able to put it together as they didn't have the correct type of screws on site. We then measured and cut triangles to fit into the ends of the soffits around the house. We came back and showered and are waiting for dinner. The folks from Wisconsin have arranged with the town historian to give a lecture tonight on Bay St. Louis - before and after Katrina. They have invited us to join them so we will go out with them this evening.

Sunday January 6, 2008

We hooked up with the Boston College crew who are here working with W2W. We went to a neighborhood nearby where they have built eight new houses. We worked on landscaping all day - raking loam, planting bushes and trees, mulching, etc. It was fun to work with the kids - lots of energy. They are here for a week and will be returning to classes next Monday. We had a cookout for dinner tonight - burgers and coleslaw. Got to talk to all of our kids tonight - everyone is doing fine. Nick has heart surgery (another ablation) on Tuesday so will talk with Laura Tuesday night to see how he is doing. We will be thinking of them and sending positive thoughts their way. We have been chatting with some of the guys from BC - they are an interesting group - all different majors and from all parts of the country. We will work for Habitat again tomorrow and find out who we will be working with. I am going to attempt to put a photo on the blog tonight - will have to see if this works!

Saturday January 5, 2008

Our fraternity friends left this morning and as Habitat does not work on Saturday, we joined with the group from Whitewater, WI. We went out to a home that was badly damaged by the storm and basically has been gutted and is being rebuilt. Dave and I built a new platform for the air conditioner (which will have to be replaced as it was also damaged in the storm. The old platform was built of pressure treated wood about 10 years ago, but was totally rotten in places - I don't know what was holding it up. We chatted with the owner of the house who is living in a FEMA trailer on the property. He and his daughter (about 8 years old) are so grateful that volunteers are helping him rebuild. It was a nasty job though as there was standing sewer water on the side of the house we were working on - we had to put down old planks to stand on to avoid sinking in. He said he has been waiting for quite some time for someone to fix the sewer line. The house is coming along nicely though on the inside - all new walls and another volunteer was putting down laminate flooring in a bedroom. This house has a good sized living room, eat-in kitchen, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. We came back to have lunch and found that this group only works a half day on Saturday so we went to the laundromat and now have a fresh stack of work clothes for the coming week. When the laundry was done, we took a walk on Main Street in Bay St. Louis. There are still many houses and stores with extensive damage. We saw the steeple of the Methodist church sitting on the ground about a block from the church. We will have to come back to take photos. We chatted with one of the shopkeepers who is rebuilding on the beach front. Her house was completely destroyed in the storm - it had stood on 15 foot tall pillars, but the new code says she now has to be on 24 foot pillars! She says this is the last time they will rebuild - if something should happen again, they are out of the area. It is almost dinner time so will quit here shortly. We don't know what we will do tomorrow. Most everyone takes Sunday off, but we heard that the W to W group is working tomorrow so we may see if they want our help. Another new group came in this afternoon - they are a church group from Maryland who have been coming down since just after the hurricane.

Friday January 4, 2008

Thankfully it was a bit warmer this morning - 41 and warmed up to about 55 this afternoon. We worked with the frat boys again today. The rest of the house got sided and painted and Dave and I almost finished the front porch - just have a bit of trim and decorative work to finish up. The frat boys are leaving tomorrow morning - it was fun to work with them, but I did feel a bit old being called ma'am all the time (those southern manners are strong at Mississippi State). We also found out that Habitat doesn't work on Saturday so we will hook up with the church group tomorrow and work on some other job. Sunday is a day off for everyone so we will probably drive around and take pictures of the area. Dinner was quite southern tonight: baked catfish, greens, and grits. A big group (about 25 or so) of mostly girls from Boston College came in this evening - they will be working for the next week here. They are hooked up with something called W to W: Wayland, MA to Waveland, MS. They send down people almost every week to work on the houses in the area. We had a lovely evening chatting with some of the new folks that came in today - lots of interesting people.

Thursday 1-3-08

Last night we met some folks from Wisconsin who invited us to eat with them. We were a group of eleven and we went to the buffet at the local casino as it was half price for seniors. The food was good although we had to walk through a smoky casino to get the the dining area. When we got back to the community room, there was an orientation going on for the horde of frat boys who came in yesterday. We saw our friends from Williamsport, PA off as they headed back home in a 4 car caravan. We then went out to the job site this morning and found that we would be working with the 48 boys from Phi Delta Theta fraternity of Mississippi State. It was cold, but we warmed up as we worked (24 this AM and got up to about 42). You can really get a lot done with that many hands! Almost the entire house was sided (just the peaks left for tomorrow) and then painted one coat. Dave and I and a few of the boys built columns on the front porch and dressed them with cedar planking - then we built decorative collars for the top and bottom of the pillars. This house is farther away (closer to Gulfport) - in a neighborhood of more expensive houses - although this particular street has very small houses on it. I looked inside and notice that this house is much smaller than the one we worked on earlier - just 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, a living room and a kitchen/dining area. We got back, showered and just finished dinner which was excellent - chicken and rice dish, peas and carrots, roll and peach cobbler for dessert. I hope that working in the cold will offset some of the caloric intake!

Wednesday January 2, 2008

We went back to our house after breakfast this morning to finish up the sheetrock. It was quite cold and windy today - twenties when we got up and mid forties this afternoon. We finished everything we could do - had to leave a few sheets off because the plumber hadn't finished the bathrooms yet, but it really did look good after we had cleaned up. We came back for lunch and the church group we had been working with decided to go into New Orleans for the afternoon. Dave and I found the local laundromat and did a huge batch of laundry. We came back and showered and are now just relaxing before dinner. Today is the cook's night off so we are on our own. We will look around and find someplace to eat that is not too spicy (the cook here has a bit of a heavy hand with the hot spices). One of the construction bosses told us that a small shed with bunks was empty so Dave and I moved into it this afternoon. We felt this was wise as they are expecting 40-50 Boston frat boys to arrive this evening and it is likely to be quite noisy tonight. The bunk houses are quite large - each building holds 22 bunks (44 beds) and there are 7 bunk houses. We have been with such a small group so far, it will be interesting to see the dynamics of a large group. While we were doing laundry, we walked next door to the Habitat office and found that we have an assignment for the morning - we will be working in a neighborhood closer to Gulfport. We will let you know what we will be working on tomorrow. Our church group will be leaving in the morning so we will see them off.

New Year's Day 2008

Wow - that seemed funny to type 2008! We went back to the house we had worked on yesterday and finished most of the sheet rock. We have 2 walls in the living room, a bathroom, and two closets left - we should be done by noon tomorrow. The weather turned a bit cooler today. The high was in the mid fifties, but the morning was chilly. It is supposed to be quite cold for here tomorrow so we may put our long undies on beneath our work clothes. The owner of the house stopped by again today and we had him put a few screws in the wall. He can't do too much himself as he is a liver transplant recipient and has to take it easy. Dave and I opted to shower before dinner as we were covered in sheet rock dust - the rest of the crew is in the shower now. Dave is working on carving a whale for the wall of the church community room. It is a tradition that each group who comes to work here makes a sign for the wall. Many are in the shape of the state the workers come from, others are more elaborate, but ours will be the only whale so far.