WINTER 2018

Headed back to Texas after Christmas, but the cold weather followed us.  Had record breaking low temps, not fun.  Frozen pipes, lost electricity, just as bad as in CT.

Tony's buddies from Campfire Club visited for some duck hunting...... and broken down outboard motors, freezing temps.  At least they got some ducks which they froze and took back with them.

John and Brian visited us

David and Mike returned,
and we went out for crawfish

After the guys left, we headed east to Florida, with our usual stop in Biloxi for dungenous crabs....

TZ loves those Dungies

Stopped in Silverhill, AL, to visit Ariel's friend Nikki, and Patrick in their new digs.

Patrick & Nikki

Headed east to Florida for a month, where we'll park the motorhome in Sebastian, north of Vero Beach on the east coast.  Planning trips to see Danny & Margie in Palm Beach Gardens,  Loretta & Greg in Stuart, Carol & Vinny in Palm Coast and Mom in Englewood on the west coast.

Stone Crabs !!

Visited with Mom, looking beautiful as ever!

Leo took an early flight
to spend a couple of days -
catching up on the zzzz's 

TZ and Leo at Carrabba's

Beautiful weather at
Englewood Beach

Drove down to Stuart and met up with Tony's sister Loretta & Greg, and cousin Dolores & Jeff.

Jeff, Dolores, Loretta and Greg

Cousins' dinner in Stuart

Hanging out at the Beach
at Sebastian Inlet State Park

Met up with Ariel & Joe in Orlando for the day.

Joe & Ariel at Hollywood Studios

On the way back to Texas, we stopped in Biloxi for Dungenous crabs ....

Dungies and crawfish in Biloxi

TZ's in heaven......

TZ had good luck in beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi:

Nice win, TZ

We went to a local Dairy Farm which sells raw milk...it was the creamiest, most delicious milk we ever tasted.  Went back for their Butter Making class which was informative and fun.

Master Butter Maker

Waldo Farms is the only Robotized Dairy
in Texas......those girls line up to be milked!

Well, another road trip is in the books.  Great weather in Florida - 80's every day.....next time we'll stay longer!

Drove to Arizona to spend time with Christy & Mike in Scottsdale, had a great time!

Christy & Mike

Great Barstools at Rusty Spur !!

Me & TZ

Driving back to Texas, we took the scenic route through the Salt River Flats in AZ, so beautiful!

You can barely see the Salt River near the center.
This area is called Arizona's mini Grand Canyon.

This is the Salt River at the
base of mountains of about 7000 feet

Next stop was Amarillo, and the ever quirky Route 66, where we didn't miss the famous Cadillac Ranch:

Cadillac Ranch

Car Museum

Grilling in an engine

Another winter trip is in the books.......Ciao for now !

Summer in Texas 2017

Again, we returned to Texas during the hottest time of the year, only because we can't go in the fall when the weather is beautiful, because that's the time we work with our clients in CT, with Medicare Open Enrollment.  However,  August in Texas is the time for catching catfish on Lake Fork  -  TZ and a new friend went out with Stan, our Guide, and limited out by 11 am with over 50 catfish.  They're already separated and frozen, ready for a future meal.  Thanks to Mikey B, we now use his suggestion of soaking the catfish in milk for a few hours before cooking.  Also had some delicious red fish (snapper) from Louisiana at the Gulf of Mexico, and they came out great, courtesy of Stan & Carol.

The weather is in the high 90's but we planned a trip with the Motorhome to Austin for a week (....keeping Austin Weird...), with a 2 day side trip to Joshua Creek Ranch in Boerne, TX, about 2 hours west of Austin......many thanks to Campfire Club for sponsoring most of this trip for us.  We'll meet up with Dave and Katherine for those two days and it should be fun.

Prior to going to Joshua Creek Ranch, we spent two days discovering Austin.  In the past, we were here for only a couple of days, and we primarily only got to see The LBJ Museum in Austin,  and LBJ Ranch in Johnson City, and the nearby Garrisson Distillery, and all were wonderful to see, but we chose to return to Austin because there's so much to do.

So this time, I thought we'd do a food truck crawl, which started with the Dock and Roll, a food truck in Midway Park in West Austin, where we indulged in Maine style Lobster Rolls, then Meyer's BBQ in Elgin, well worth the trip for their scrumptious Garlic Pork Sausages, and Pork Ribs......fingerlicking good !  The next mealtime found us at an outstanding Japanese Restaurant in South Austin, called Uchi, on So Lamar Blvd.  

TZ drinking Sake from a cedar box

Yesterday went on a guided tour of the State Capitol Building, right in the heart of Austin, and because it was Sunday, the traffic was very light, compared to what we have previously dealt with.  Loved the Capitol Building - all granite, and 1 million square feet, since the lower addition was complete. and yes, the largest Capitol Building in the country....of course....Everything's bigger in Texas !!  The Senators and Representatives only work part-time, and all have other jobs!  Thought that was very practical...Are you listening Washington ??

State Capitol at Austin

Looking up towards the dome, 
where all paintings of Texas Governors are placed

Portraits of George W Bush and Rick Perry

Painting of the Surrender of Mexico's
General Santa Ana, and thus
the independence of Texas, which lasted about 9 years

Bronze sculptures honoring Texans
who fought in the Viet Nam War

Stopped at a Food Truck Park, ubiquitous in Austin,
"Dock & Roll" for Lobster Rolls

Famous place with some awesome 
garlic sausage and pork ribs !

Another food truck, with the
BEST beef ribs....about a foot long !!

This was the SMALLER of the two ribs !!!
Melt in your mouth tender !!!

At night, around dusk, a MILLION bats fly out from under the Congress Street Bridge, to forage for food.  They form a cloud in the sky - it's incredible!  People line up along the bridge to see this spectacle.

Waiting for the Bats on Congress Street Bridge

Bullard Museum about Texas History

Heading back to Quitman to pick up our Grandson, Leo, 14, who is visiting.

Tony enjoying the scenery on the way home.
Think there's some drool......  

Our Grandson, Leo, 14, came to visit a few days. Took him to the range and fishing.

Ready to head back to CT.  Another summer passes.  Caio !