CC Trip 2012 - Texas

We made it back to Biloxi, MS, where we spent one night before we headed to Texas.  Of course TZ HAD to make one more visit to the casino, and it was a very good decision.  He's "up" quite a bit for the trip.
Our first stop in Texas is a campground in the Galveston Bay area.  Here's the view from our door:

Here's the view at sunset:

There are about 200 green parakeets that visit the campground twice a day.....We know when they're here by the chirping of hundreds of birds!

We visited the NASA Space Center .....you know, "Houston, we have a problem..."  The displays and exhibits were exceptional.  We took the tram tour and visited Mission Control, a Space Station and Shuttle Mock-Up Facility and a building housing a display of rockets.  Here's some photos from today:

These babies greet you at the entrance

Actual size front of a shuttle

One side of the cockpit

Mission Control ("retired" in 1991)

Mission Control work area - mock up used
in the movie Apollo 13

The following five photos show the actual area the astronauts use to train for the Space Station and former Shuttle program.

The Shuttle is being dismantled and the future training venue will be for the Orion program.

These photos are of the Rocket exhibition.

The rocket is so big, I was unable to get it into one photo.

These are from the inside exhibit.

Moonwalking ....

Actual Moon Rocks

The Space Center was well done and we had a "blast".......sorry, I had to.


Left the Galveston area for Quitman, TX, home of TZ's property.  Here's Tony exercising during the ride:

We reached the famous town of Quitman, which is a small, rural town, between Tyler and Sulfur Springs, about 90 miles east of Dallas.

Those larger towns have everything we could want, so there's always somewhere to go or something to do.

Pop. 1809....soon to be 1810

As you drive around Quitman, you see farms and ranches, and plenty of oil drilling rigs.

Someone we know has one of these on his property, and collects between $1000-$2000 each month.  Not bad!  We've seen the usual horse and cattle farms, but also llamas, goats, and shetland ponies.


For now, we only have a cement pad with hook ups for electricity, water and sewer, so we're able to park here for a while.  

The plans are in the works for a canopy over the entire cement pad, with a studio apartment and loft behind the motorhome, and a garage for the car.


We're traveling to Arizona to see friends.  I-20 has the highest speed limits I've ever seen:

And also, very cool overpasses:

Taking all these photos must have really overwhelmed Tony:

CC Trip 2012 - West Coast of Florida

As we headed south, we were "called" to Crabby Bill's on Clearwater Beach for a very special lunch - Oysters, Stone Crabs and a Lobster Roll.

We landed in Englewood, FL, for a visit with my parents. The weather is breaking and hopefully the cold snap is over.  It has been in the high 20's for a few overnights - Warming up to the 70's in a day or two.

Mom & Dad are doing great - Not bad for 83 & 90 years old!

Dad is busy with fundraising for ads for their Alhambra Club, which supports developmentally and mentally disabled adults. They're having a shindig soon, so Dad gets businesses to cough it up to advertise in the event brochure. 
There is a pond across from their home, and today, a 6 foot alligator climbed out to sun himself - They carted him away a couple of days later - too big to be there!

Enough for handbags, shoes AND boots!!!

Each day, two Sand Cranes visit and wait for my father to feed them cracked corn:

We spent a day with our CT neighbors, Dot & Steve, who are in Fort Myers for a few months - we visited nearby Sanibel and Captiva Islands with them, and the weather was perfect: sunny and in the upper 70's. Great day for beachcombing  :-) 

Dot & Steve

Santa's climbing up a palm tree

Here's Santa flying over The Crow's Nest

This salamander is well camouflaged


Here we are on Sanibel Beach:

On Captiva Island, a little bit of Paradise! Haven't been here in about 15 years.

Tony flew up north early Sunday am, to participate in the annual Scotty's Hunt in Chincoteague, VA til next Thursday, when I'll pick him up from Fort Myers airport on his return trip.  I'll just have to lay by the pool and get some sun :-)
Meanwhile, I visited my sister Nina and my niece, Christina, (and Xena) in Cape Coral:

Nina and I had a great seafood lunch on the waterfront at Rumrunner's in Cape Harbor. Afterwards, I picked up TZ from the airport, and we headed back to my parent's home to spend one more night, before we leave in the a.m.  Tony and the Campfire guys had a great time in Chincoteague, as they always do......the ducks they hunted did not...
Our last stop on the west coast brought us to the Sarasota area, specifically Siesta Key and St. Armand's Circle on Longboat Key. 
Just before we crossed the causeway, there was a fantastic, larger-than-life sculpture of....well, you can figure this one out:

Siesta Key is world renowned for it's talc-like white sand.....let me confirm, it is true.  It is the softest sand that ever met my toes!  It's said that the sand there is 99% quartz, which makes is soooooo soft.  

So many people walk the beach!

Can you just hear the surf?

Before we left the area, we stopped in Crab n Fin restaurant in St Armand's Circle. The food was a "10".....Fish Chowder, with chunks of fish in every spoonful, the BEST Caesar Salad, and a super dish of chilled Calamari Salad with lemon and capers.   Life is good.....

On the way north, we passed a Classic Car dealership, and had to make a u-turn to go back and see these babies....Chevelles, GTO, 442 and Vettes  All in mint condition, and they REALLY "brought us back" to the 70's.  

We're headed west......next stops: Biloxi again, Houston (to see the NASA Space Center), then on to check the property in Quitman, Texas.