February 2017

February 2017

Our Trail Captain, Bill Sears, notified us that a hiker had reported to him that a tree fell across the trail in our adopted section of the Ouachita Trail.  So we headed to Oklahoma and camped out between the Big Cedar Trailhead and Big Cedar Creek.  Tom built us a nice campfire after we set up our tent and we enjoyed relaxing and enjoying the peacefulness of the mountainous woods.

 The next morning after breaking camp we headed up the trail and found the obstruction that the hiker had reported to Bill.

 It didn't take long using our hand saw and loppers to eliminate the problem.

 W continued on and lopped/pruned where needed on the rest of our 2.5 mile section of adopted trail on the Ouachita Trail.

We always enjoy our outings on the Ouachita Trail and the gorgeous views along the way.

For our Valentine's Day this year we went on a 7-day cruise out of Galveston on Carnival Freedom.  We decided to change it up a little this year and drive down to Galveston the evening before the ship sails.  We've never done this before.  On all our previous cruises we have left home on the day of the cruise, usually around 5:00 a.m. and did the five+ hour drive to Galveston, checking in at the terminal, and are usually on the ship in time for lunch.

Well anyway we drove down the evening before and spent the night at a Galveston hotel.  The next morning after breakfast we decided to go and walk on and ride the free ferry that crosses from Galveston across the bay to Port Bolivar and back thus killing a little time before boarding our ship. 

 It is a foggy and overcast morning.  After riding the Ferry over and back we proceed to the Cruise Terminal.  But there is no ship at the Terminal! Apparently the Galveston Port is temporarily closed due to the fog?  What?  With all the modern technology on all these huge Cruise Ships they can still navigate even in heavy fog.  But the Pilots at the Port of Galveston apparently do not?  We were told to come back in a few hours.  (Apparently Carnival had alerted all passengers who have Smart Phones about this situation.  We did not have a Smart Phone.)

So we drove around Galveston.  They were doing a major beach reclamation, dredging sand from the ship channel to the beach.  That plume of sand looked pretty dark but I guess when it is spread out and dry it will lighten up a little. 

Later we went back over to the Ferry Terminal to park and wait since we knew from there we could see when the Cruise Ships came thru the channel headed to Port.  Finally the sun burned off the fog and the Pilots at the Port allowed the Ships to enter and dock.  There comes our ship!  The Carnival Freedom!  Yay!

It was probably close to 6:00 p.m. by the time we made it onto the ship and later into our cabin.  Yay!

 By evening the fog had rolled back in and unbelievably the Pilots have closed the Port of Galveston again?  Oh well, we don't care, we are on the Ship, we have had a delicious dinner, enjoyed the lively Welcome Aboard Show, our luggage has arrived, we love our cozy stateroom cabin, what more do we need, we are on VACATION!

Around 2:00 a.m. we awoke and realized we were leaving the dock.....finally.......we were cruising out into the Gulf of Mexico....heading out on yet another wonderful vacation adventure.

As always the following morning Tom and began our day up on the Sports Deck 11 enjoying our morning walk on the Jogging/Walking Track and watching an incredible sunrise.

 As the Full Moon went down on one side of the ship........

........the sun was rising on the other side of the Ship.

 And the stiff breeze blowing made our walk a real workout at times!

              The sunsets are just as incredible as the sunrises!

               I loved the ship's sense of humor with this sign in one of the stairwells.

 Valentine's Day fell in the middle of this Cruise.  Tom made it really special for me when this Beach Towel........

 ...and these decadent treats were delivered to me in our cabin.

             I also surprised Tom with a Fruit & Cheese basket.

Even though our first Port of Call was supposed to be Falmouth, Jamaica, since we were late leaving Galveston, our first port of Call was changed to Costa Maya, Mexico. 

 I know some of the Cruise passengers were not happy with this but we did not mind, we were on VACATION.

 I am not much of shopper at home or abroad but I just love how colorful all these Mexican Markets are.

 Beautiful clear water, awesome blue sky with puffy white clouds.  Bye, Bye Costa Maya.........

Our next Port of Call was Grand Cayman Island.....

 ......a lot of ships were there the day we were there.

Even though there were some serious clouds this morning it was still another "day in paradise".  What's not to like about cruising.

                  
                  It rained a little on the Towel Animal Parade.

Our third Port of Call was Cozumel.  We rented electric bikes and toured around the island at our own pace.

AND..........Tom, who is so smart and reads so much and retains what he reads and has a great memory recall.......WON a Trivia Contest while we were on the ship..........AND was awarded his very own "Genuine Plastic Coated Golden Ship on a Stick"! 

                      Way to go Tom!  Good job!  You rock!

AND I am so glad you are my husband and I love you so much and I am so glad you like to go an adventures!

 

February 2017......more to come......

January 2017

January 2017......

Well 2017 started off with a bang!  As severe thunderstorms moved thru our area, bringing high winds with them we lost one of our big cedar trees and half of another one.  BooHoo!  We are losing our nice shade on our patio but we feel so fortunate......it could have been much worse.

 As the tree fell across our patio it shattered our glass topped picnic table (we have since replaced it with a metal one)......

 .....you can see how this big cedar tree just split in two....

 ......we realize it is probably only a matter of time until the remainder of this lovely cedar tree will fall.
Praying it doesn't fall on our little house!  This is the half left standing.

 

Tom stayed busy for a couple of weeks chain sawing the trees that fell and cleaning up all the resulting debris out of our yard and off the patio.  Great job, Tom!

 

Right after Thanksgiving 2016 the county closed the road in front of our house so that they could replace the old wooden bridge that crosses the creek just below our place.

A construction company out of Texarkana has the bid to do this job.  Once they got started it only took them a couple of days to tear out the old wooden bridge.  The major work was building the new concrete structure.

Once they tore out the old wooden bridge, they immediately installed this low sling bridge to enable movement of equipment and supplies from one side of the creek to the other.

 The construction took more than three months but now the road is open and we have this nice new bridge!

 

In February we went on a Valentine Cruise!

.....................................

End of the Year

November 16, 2016

We traveled south and set up our tent in Huntsville State Park.  We really liked this State Park for its location on Lake Raven, its tree-shaded campground right on the lake, its nice hiking trails, and the fact that it is very near to my son's family home and also near where my brother, Don, lives.

It was pretty quiet here this time of the year but I can imagine how much activity goes on here during the Summer months.

One day while we were hiking along a wooded path along the shores of Lake Raven we heard a voice.  Looking all around us we could not see anyone.  Then the voice said "Up here" !  We looked up and there sat a young lady on the tree branch with her study guide and textbook (her small backpack sat at the base of the tree).  She told us she enjoys the solitude and quiet of the lake shore while she studies.  She is student at Huntsville State University. 

                   The State Park boasted a nice fishing pier.

         We loved the tranquility of the lakefront campground.

After a couple of nights in Huntsville State Park we packed up our tent and headed south to Galveston.  Always fun to be back in Galveston!

Of course we enjoyed our usual free ferry ride across Galveston Bay to Port Bolivar and back. 

On this night we pitched our tent at Galveston State Park and were greeted by a multitude of mosquitos!  Enjoyed our stay anyway.  Walked on the beach, walked in the surf, ate seafood.

The next morning we packed up our tent and headed southwest along the coastline of Galveston Island, onto Follets Island, thru Surfside Beach, then headed north on State Hwy. 36 to Brazoria, where we made a pit stop at the "original" Bucky's.  Although it was maybe a little bigger than your ordinary convenience store it was no where near as huge as the newer Bucky's you will see along Interstate highways.

We continued traveling northward on State Hwy. 36, crossing over U.S. Hwy. 59 (which goes from Houston to Victoria) and later crossing over I-10 (which goes from Houston to San Antonio) and made our way to the tiny town of Bellville. 

We stopped in to see my childhood friend, Carolyn.  So nice to reconnect with her and chat for a while. 

After leaving Carolyn's place, we continued northward on State Hwy. 36 to the town of Brenham, home to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Creamery.  Yes, we stopped in and although they were not offering factory tours at this time we cruised thru the gift shop and also enjoyed a large cup of delicious Blue Bell Ice Cream.  Yummee!

Afterward we headed eastward to Willis, Tx. to see my sweet little great-granddaughter, Juliette.  I got to hold her, love on her as her Dad, Dylan looks on.

              She is such a cutie-pie!  So curious and busy.....

  My other handsome grandson, Justin, who is a Houston firefighter stopped in to say hello.

Thanksgiving, 2016
We had a little excitement as we traveled to be with my family for Thanksgiving.  Our little red car quit and had to be rescued. 

It would cost more to fix it than it was worth.  It provided us with good service while driving it for ten years; we now have this Nissan hatchback which we love......good fuel mileage and lots of hauling space for all our camping gear.



We were so thankful that my brother Wendall was able to make the  trip from Indiana with his daughters to my mom's for Thanksgiving.  His health deteriorated quickly in 2016 and we would lose him within two weeks after I took this photo of him with my Mom.  So sad!



December, 2016
We traveled to Oklahoma to check on our adopted section of the Ouachita Trail, used a small hand saw to cut a dead tree and remove it from the trail tread, pruned and lopped a little as we made our way 2.5 miles up to Red Spring (the end of our adopted section).

We then drove over to Queen Wilhelmina State Park and picked out a campsite, set up our tent.  Enjoyed a beautiful sunset!

 

The next morning when we woke up the mountain was totally fogged in.  

We decided to hike the 5.3 miles westward on the Ouachita Trail from Queen Wilhelmina State Park to the Okla./Ark. state line.

Once we reached the Stateline Shelter we took a short break....

and then walked up the hillside to the Talimena Scenic Parkway and stuck out our thumb to try and hitch a ride back to the State Park.  Shortly a car passed by us, went a little way, then turned around and came back and picked us up.  There was already four adults in their car but they let us squeeze into the back seat along with the two wives.  We thanked them profusely for picking us up saving us the 5+ mile road walk back to the State Park.

A few days after we got home from that trip my sister Norma along with her daughter Carla and her kids, Holly and Devin, came for a visit.

 Devin who was only twelve and small in stature was a real "workhorse"!   He loved helping his Uncle Tom split some logs.

Devin absolutely would not quit.  he got so tired he could barely lift that heavy splitting maul but he kept on going.  Free help for Tom.  Cheap entertainment for Devin?

 

I know I am WAY behind on updating our blog!  Since Tom quit his job last October 1 we have been on so many adventures!  I have loved the freedom of traveling anytime I have time off from work while Tom is unemployed.

 

More adventures coming up shortly......