In Loving Memory of my Mom
Thursday, August 30, 2018
In Memory of my Mom
Sadly we lost my Mom on May 30, just shy of her 92nd birthday. Needless to say Mom being gone has left a huge hole in my family's lives. I am so grateful for the upbringing that my Mom and Dad provided for me and my siblings. What a blessing it was to have had Mom live her life fully right to the end.
March 2018
MARCH 2018
What did we do in March?????
One thing we did was to go to Oklahoma to maintain our adopted section on the Ouachita Trail. We pitched our tent at the Winding Stair Campground which wasn't really open yet....maybe they open in April? Anyway needless to say we were the only ones there. But what a great night to campout!
The next morning we headed up the trail with our loppers to check out our adopted 2.3 mile section.
Early Spring flowers were poking up out of the leaf covered forest floor.
The first mile of our adopted section mostly follows an old Forest Service fire road.
Then we reach the Winding Stair Shelter. There we took a break, read some hikers' entries in the Shelter Register, then we spent a lot of time trying to whack back these encroaching thorny vines on the west side of the Shelter.
It is too early for the Spring surge of green growth along the Trail so after the shelter there wasn't much clearing to be done. We will have to come back a little later this year to do more pruning along the path.
On our way back, I did decide to place a stone on the massive rock cairn that sits near where the old fire tower used to stand on top of Winding Stair Mountain.
What did we do in March?????
The first mile of our adopted section mostly follows an old Forest Service fire road.
Then we reach the Winding Stair Shelter. There we took a break, read some hikers' entries in the Shelter Register, then we spent a lot of time trying to whack back these encroaching thorny vines on the west side of the Shelter.
It is too early for the Spring surge of green growth along the Trail so after the shelter there wasn't much clearing to be done. We will have to come back a little later this year to do more pruning along the path.
On our way back, I did decide to place a stone on the massive rock cairn that sits near where the old fire tower used to stand on top of Winding Stair Mountain.
We saw more early Spring flowers on our way back to the car.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
February 2018 (cont.)
February 2018 (continued)
We wanted to cruise with all five of us sisters and our one brother and his wife, however only three of us sisters were able to get away on this February Cruise.
Norma, Erma, Sharon. We are the three oldest sisters in our family.
On our drive to the Galveston Cruise Terminal, we stopped in to see our brother Don and his wife Beth. Sure wish they were going with us but they had just been on a cruise celebrating Don's 70th birthday so decided not to join us on this cruise.
Sharon has never been on a cruise and Norma has only been on one cruise I think, to Alaska several years ago. Anyway we were excited to be able to do this five day cruise together.
We are sailing out of the Port of Galveston.
We had assigned evening dining room seating at a large round table made for ten guests. Most nights there were only 5 or 6 of us at our table until the final night of the cruise when all ten women that had been assigned to our table all showed up. We had a great time visiting with all the other women and definitely enjoyed the awesome food and fun entertainment provided by our waiters each evening.
We were not the only sisters cruising together. Seated at a table near us were a group of nine sisters who were on this cruise together! Each evening they dressed up in a different theme. I took this photo of some of them the evening they dressed as 1920 Flappers/Show girls! They were all having such a great time together! I remember seeing one of them on the first day when we boarded the ship........met her in a hallway......wearing a lime green tutu over her tee-shirt/shorts. Too funny!
Sharon is enjoying the scenery as we sail into port and watching the dock workers below as they secure our ship to the dock.
Our Excursion on the island of Cozumel included a visit to a ruins park.
We saw a lot of these huge lizards!
It is obvious how much effort is being made in researching and preserving their history and culture.
The east side of the island is constantly hammered with rough waves and currents of the open Caribbean Sea.
Norma really wanted to put her feet into the water however the Caribbean Sea's waves were crashing into shore and carrying with it piles of seaweed so deep she was unable to reach the water.
I climbed out onto this jagged rocky promontory before our Tour Guide came over and said to come down because it was dangerous. He did snap this photo of me though!
Following a wonderful dinner with our table-mates we went to an upper deck to enjoy a spectacular sunset.
Uxmal is very well preserved.
The very large structures are scattered over a very large area of land. We did a lot of walking up and down and climbing very narrow steps.
The weather was awesome for a day outdoors.
The grounds were beautifully landscaped!
We saw a native woman weaving the old fashioned way.
As always, BooBoo went cruising and as always she had FUN!
We wanted to cruise with all five of us sisters and our one brother and his wife, however only three of us sisters were able to get away on this February Cruise.
Norma, Erma, Sharon. We are the three oldest sisters in our family.
Sharon has never been on a cruise and Norma has only been on one cruise I think, to Alaska several years ago. Anyway we were excited to be able to do this five day cruise together.
We had assigned evening dining room seating at a large round table made for ten guests. Most nights there were only 5 or 6 of us at our table until the final night of the cruise when all ten women that had been assigned to our table all showed up. We had a great time visiting with all the other women and definitely enjoyed the awesome food and fun entertainment provided by our waiters each evening.
We were not the only sisters cruising together. Seated at a table near us were a group of nine sisters who were on this cruise together! Each evening they dressed up in a different theme. I took this photo of some of them the evening they dressed as 1920 Flappers/Show girls! They were all having such a great time together! I remember seeing one of them on the first day when we boarded the ship........met her in a hallway......wearing a lime green tutu over her tee-shirt/shorts. Too funny!
Thank you Lord for this awesome sunrise over our first port of call, Cozumel.
Next we headed to the "wild" and pretty much uninhabited east side of the island of Cozumel for our lunch break and photo ops.
Following a wonderful dinner with our table-mates we went to an upper deck to enjoy a spectacular sunset.
Our next port of call was Progresso which sits on the northern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula. Large ships are required to dock at the end of a two mile long pier that juts out from the mainland.
On our Excursion we first visited the Uxmal Ruins.
Uxmal is very well preserved.
Next we traveled to a old hemp plantation where sisal rope was once produced.
We saw a native woman weaving the old fashioned way.
Bye-Bye Progresso! See you next time!
As always, BooBoo went cruising and as always she had FUN!
I am so thankful for this opportunity to go on a cruise with two of my sisters. Thank you Norma and Sharon!
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
February 2018
FEBRUARY 2018
February was a busy month for us. Besides us both still working at Walmart, we also did some traveling.
In early February we planned a trip to Panama City Beach, Florida to meet up with our Michigan friends, Greenstone and Thimbleberry, who I met on my Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike in 2011. We always look forward to seeing them each year when they travel south during the cold Winter months.
We enjoyed stopping at the Florida Welcome Center.
It was late in the day when we arrived at our campsite at Panama Beach State Park. It did not take us long to get our tent set up with our cots and sleeping bags ready for us to crash for the night. We did go over and say hi to our Michigan friends at their campsite before we retired to our tent. We were pretty road weary from the long drive from our home to here.
The next morning my sweet and thoughtful Pyro got up early and built a nice campfire since it was a very cool morning.
The deer just wandered around all the campsites. They are apparently used to humans.
Following breakfast, our friends Greenstone and Thimbleberry walked over from their campsite and brought along their lounge chairs for sitting and enjoying our campfire.
Later that morning we drove down to the beach parking area and went for a walk on the beach. What a gorgeous morning and what amazingly clear blue water! I love the beach!
And.... I love you Thimbleberry!
The State Park occupies this spit of uninhabited land. We walked on the beach all the way down to the fishing/viewing pier. Looking east it is unspoiled beach all the way to the tip of the point however as you can see looking back to the west it is all hotels, condominiums, retail, and more. We are happy to be camping in the state park and still have access to this gorgeous beach setting.
When we got back to the car at the parking area, Tom, Thimbleberry and I decided to walk back to the campsites (probably only a mile or more?) while Greenstone drove the car back.
In the early evening Greenstone and Thimbleberry invited us over to their campsite and served us dinner at their picnic table. What an awesome treat that was.
After dinner they taught us a card game called Wizard. We had never heard of it.
After a wonderful night's sleep once again on our nice cots in our tent, we decided to go to the beach again and walk east all the way out to the end of this tiny spit of land. We hardly saw anyone, just a few hardy souls like us enjoying this unspoiled solitary beach.
The rest of the afternoon and evening we explored around the bay side of the park. Tom built a campfire in an established park firepit in the park on the bay side for us to enjoy while we visited one last time with our Michigan friends.
The next morning we began our journey back to Texas, stopping overnight in Louisiana.
The following morning we toured the Mc Ilhenny Co. Tabasco Factory in Avery Island.
Truly amazing how many thousands of bottles of Tabasco Sauce are produced right here in this place. For many, many years!
We never knew that Tabasco Sauce is aged in these oak barrels for months and years before it is ever bottled.
The Factory Tour is very well laid out and easy to go at your own pace. The surrounding grounds are very well manicured, and with fascinating memorabilia.
We also sampled different flavors of Tabasco Sauce. Our favorite was the Chipotle Tabasco Sauce mixed with Ranch Dressing served on crackers! Yummee!
What a great trip this has been! Seeing our friends from Michigan, enjoying the awesome beach, and going to the Tabasco Factory in Avery Island which we had wanted to do for quite some time.
Next up is my cruise with two of my five sisters..............................
February was a busy month for us. Besides us both still working at Walmart, we also did some traveling.
In early February we planned a trip to Panama City Beach, Florida to meet up with our Michigan friends, Greenstone and Thimbleberry, who I met on my Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike in 2011. We always look forward to seeing them each year when they travel south during the cold Winter months.
We enjoyed stopping at the Florida Welcome Center.
It was late in the day when we arrived at our campsite at Panama Beach State Park. It did not take us long to get our tent set up with our cots and sleeping bags ready for us to crash for the night. We did go over and say hi to our Michigan friends at their campsite before we retired to our tent. We were pretty road weary from the long drive from our home to here.
The next morning my sweet and thoughtful Pyro got up early and built a nice campfire since it was a very cool morning.
Later that morning we drove down to the beach parking area and went for a walk on the beach. What a gorgeous morning and what amazingly clear blue water! I love the beach!
Greenstone, Thimbleberry, and Tom enjoying walking on the beach on a beautiful February morning!
The State Park occupies this spit of uninhabited land. We walked on the beach all the way down to the fishing/viewing pier. Looking east it is unspoiled beach all the way to the tip of the point however as you can see looking back to the west it is all hotels, condominiums, retail, and more. We are happy to be camping in the state park and still have access to this gorgeous beach setting.
When we got back to the car at the parking area, Tom, Thimbleberry and I decided to walk back to the campsites (probably only a mile or more?) while Greenstone drove the car back.
In the early evening Greenstone and Thimbleberry invited us over to their campsite and served us dinner at their picnic table. What an awesome treat that was.
Then you know we had to go back to the beach to watch the spectacular sunset!
After a wonderful night's sleep once again on our nice cots in our tent, we decided to go to the beach again and walk east all the way out to the end of this tiny spit of land. We hardly saw anyone, just a few hardy souls like us enjoying this unspoiled solitary beach.
The rest of the afternoon and evening we explored around the bay side of the park. Tom built a campfire in an established park firepit in the park on the bay side for us to enjoy while we visited one last time with our Michigan friends.
The next morning we began our journey back to Texas, stopping overnight in Louisiana.
The following morning we toured the Mc Ilhenny Co. Tabasco Factory in Avery Island.
We also sampled different flavors of Tabasco Sauce. Our favorite was the Chipotle Tabasco Sauce mixed with Ranch Dressing served on crackers! Yummee!
What a great trip this has been! Seeing our friends from Michigan, enjoying the awesome beach, and going to the Tabasco Factory in Avery Island which we had wanted to do for quite some time.
Next up is my cruise with two of my five sisters..............................
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