Feb 25th:
Left our friends Doreen & Bill after having spent 2 weeks with them - lot of laughs and it was sad to leave.
We stopped to see Millie & Chuck in Scottsdale before heading back.
Millie spoiled us with a fantastic dinner of shrimp & scallops over linguine - She's a great cook !
We acquired two more Sabatino originals from Chuck & Millie:
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"Texas Range Wars" an acrylic,
with mixed media: real barbed wire !
Very cool... We love it ! |
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Another Sabatino original oil, with the
typical detail he's known for |
Started making our way back from Arizona to Texas. We took a scenic route called The Old West Highway - had some interesting views along the way:
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| Whoa !!! |
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| YIKES !! |
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Never knew why it's called the
Continental Divide,
but learned that on its west side,
rivers flow towards the Pacific,
and on the east, they flow towards
the Gulf or Atlantic Ocean. |
Feb 27 th:
Finally back in Quitman, after a month away.
Good to be back "home", and great to see our super neighbors, Joanne & Robert:
We visited with friends for dinner:
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Charlie, with daughter Ashley, and
wifey, Laurie, who made us a great dinner
of spaghetti & beef / venison meatballs |
This photo must have gone viral in Quitman:
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| Looks like about a six-footer ! |
TZ planted knockout roses - eleven bushes - can't wait to see them in bloom. He put in yellow, rainbow, pink and red variations.
Robert and Joanne's granddaughter, Kalani, was in for the week, and Peanut is ecstatic that his BFF is here.
Tony had a great idea for washing off the roof of the motorhome:
He thought this up, and he and Robert figured it out.
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| Lawn sprinklers attached to PVC |
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Kalani & Robert on the roof, installing
the pvc to the building overhang |
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| Robert, doing what he does...... |
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| Got water.......... |
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| Success - an RV Wash !!!! |
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Way cool :-) Keeps the dirt
from running down the sides ! |
Next task........Remember the moose antlers were too wide to get through the front door? Well, Bullwinkle is back !
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| Up you go..... |
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| Antlers attached..... |
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| Wall complete !! |
Our friend Steve, who lives in Colorado Springs with Gail, his wife, came by for a short visit and decided they would purchase the property next to us, and eventually build a home -
March 23:
I flew to NY to pick up the boys, Leo ( 10 ) and Andrew ( 4 ). They'll be staying with us in Texas for ten days......
First stop: Cabela's in Fort Worth:
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| Oops....... |
Then, we took the boys to a Cattle Auction ! That's something they'll never see back home :
Click the arrow:
The kids wanted to know why the caller talks funny.....lol
TZ took Leo target shooting, and he did great !! Not bad for a ten year old:
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| WOW Leo !!! |
Then we went on an RV trip to Galveston Island ......long day driving for the kids, so we stopped at rest stops for some dribble basketball, and playground activities:
We visited the Johnson Space Center ( "Houston, we have a problem....") which is the new home for a replica of Explorer, one of the retired shuttles.
Then, later we went to the Kemah Boardwalk:
Leo went on "The Inverter" :
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| Hold on to your lunch, Leo..... |
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| He's upside down !!! |
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| Andrew, on the far left, on the Drop Zone |
Christie and Brandon joined us for a couple of days, and gave TZ and Grandma some time off !!
April 14
Nice day, no wind, and we went shooting at the range to zero in:
Maybe we'll put this on the front door, with a sign: "Enter at your own risk", or....."We don't call 911"
April 19th
Barbie & Uncle Pete from Arizona stopped by our place in TX on their way back to their home in Bridgehampton. We went to a neighboring town - Alba, population 509 - for their fundraiser: Wild Hog Cook-Off. Country music, good food, small town atmosphere - fun !
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| Notice the shirt Uncle Pete got for TZ.... |
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| Barbie & Uncle Pete |
Cool Smokers:
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| OOPS........couldn't resist.... |
Dancing in the street.... click the arrow:
(apologies for the poor sound quality)
Another day, the guys went to a gun show, and Barbie & I went to the famous Tyler Rose Garden and Museum. There are beautiful gardens with hundreds of varieties of roses, and varying bloom times.
The museum consists of mementos from all of the previous Tyler Rose Parades, including the Rose Queens' gowns, tiaras and photos.
April 24th
Tony and I drove down to San Antonio, and took the Riverwalk Boat Tour. The river is below the street level, very unique, and there are lovely gardens and restaurants, hotels and shops along the way.
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| A view from the boat |
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| A tree growing out of the wall |
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Unique architecture.....the building looks
like a flat panel |
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Individual mosaics forming a mural on the
facade of the building |
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| Waterfall |
Turns out, this week San Antonio celebrates NIOSA (a Night In Old San Antonio ) - Set in La Villita, an historic village above the Riverwalk, the festival, which began in 1948 as a day of ladies serving food and drinks from a barge, has grown to a four day extravaganza, with over 16,000 volunteers who prepare the food and decorations. It celebrates 15 different ethnic and cultural neighborhoods, with diverse foods from their own French Quarter, Mexican Market, Irish Flat, Chinatown, etc : from beignets and escargot, to crawfish, steak on a stick, fajitas, egg rolls, smoked brisket, and what have you. Continuous live music, and people in a partying mood - it's San Antonio's answer to Nola's Mardi Gras !
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| Country band and dancing in the street... |
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All dressed up for the party -
it's like San Antonio's version of Mardi Gras |
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| TZ likes his chicken and jalopeno ! |
After a day in San Antonio, we drove to the sister resort of where we have our house in Quitman. This Holiday Villages Resort is in Bandera, TX, at Medina Lake. The resort is nice - similar to ours, but the lake is another story........The water level is down 49 feet !! We drove out to see it, and there are cows grazing in what was a lake !!! Poor people who bought "waterfront property" ! They're praying for heavy rains - last time this happened, we're told, an eight inch rainfall filled the lake. Think I'll do a rain dance for them.
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| Lake? What lake? |
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Deer making themselves at home
on someone's front lawn.... |
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| Living in a Quanset hut.... |
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Nearby hunting resort, with zebras,
white-tail deer, antelope and a variety
of African game |
Then we headed south to the ranch town of Freer, Texas, to meet up with our friends Charlie & Laurie and their grandson, Toby, for the annual Rattlesnake Roundup. This event draws thousands of people to the little town of Freer, for 3 days of fun, including country western concerts, a carnival and parade, arts & crafts vendors, and snake safety instructions. Trained handlers gather the snakes, prizes are awarded for the longest, smallest and most snakes caught. I'm not going anywhere near those critters.
The Freer Chamber of Commerce has a permanent sculpture out in front - this event is a big deal here:
Went hunting with TZ - first time in a blind for me. Recommend bringing a book.......
Didn't see any hogs, but plenty of deer :
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| View from the blind |
The next day, Tony went by himself, and got a javelina:
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| Stinky Javelina |
Part of the weekend's festivities includes a parade:
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| DQ's very big in Texas..... |
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| Recycled float..... |
Freer Deer Camp, a local taxidermy and meat processing store, has some fabulous mounts; All I know is, the more points on the antlers, the better, so some of the following must be in the record books:
Here are some photos from the Rattlesnake Roundup .....
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| YIKES ! |
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| Toby being very brave |
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| Python and friend |
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The handler said a needle couldn't be
made as sharp as a snake's fangs |
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Laurie's wearing snake rattle earrings
and Toby's got a rattle neckchain |
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| A monkey with deep pockets |
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| Toby, riding the bull |
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| a 14 foot python |
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| Ewwww ! Slimy ! |
TZ tried fried rattlesnake - not good. The Roundup was lots of fun, with good country music and a small town feel. We leave for Quitman in the morning, for our last week of vacation.
Our friends Charlie and Laurie, gave us some cacti from their ranch in Freer, and TZ planted them along our property:
Update May 4th:
Today is our last day here in Texas, and we'll be on the road for 3 days driving the nearly 1600 miles back north. Another great trip and still more memories.....
Thanks for stopping by to check out our blog !
Ciao !!
