CROSS COUNTRY TRIP - 2013

Dec. 27, 2012
 
The snowbirds have set off again, escaping the winter cold in Connecticut, for the fun and sun in Florida, Texas, Arizona and Las Vegas.
The night before our scheduled departure brought snowfall to Brookfield, and it was touch and go as to whether we could actually leave.  But the morning brought temperatures above freezing, and off we went   :-)

We headed to Florida, and our first stop was in Palm Coast to see Vinny & Carol, who are selling their home in Yorktown Heights to settle in northern coastal Florida.

First stop:  The Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine 

We drank the water, but.......nothing !  Still have the grey hair, wrinkles and unwanted pounds that we started with.   Bogus !

Ponce de Leon and friends....

Resident peacock

Saw the sights around St. Augustine, including the first Catholic Church:

and the lighthouse:

Another day, we drove south to see Daytona Beach and the famous speedway:

And another lighthouse:

We left Palm Coast to see our ex-neighbors from Brookfield, Pat & Dick, who now live in Leesburg:

Great seeing them again - they took us to the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa for dinner and a little gambling, and we all came out with at least the money we arrived with  :-)

After Leesburg, we headed to Lake Worth, to see Danny & Marge, fellow snowbirds, and Delray Beach to see family:

 Danny & Margie.....LOL.....Didn't take a 
photo when we visited, but had this from a Halloween Party

Loretta & Greg

Cousins Lenny & Frank

Cousins Melanie & Joe

During our stay, Tony flew up north to attend another annual Scotty's Duck Hunt in Chincoteague, VA.  While he was there, I drove to Cape Coral, on the west coast of Florida, to see my sister and niece:

Nina & Christina

Couldn't get to see my parents in Englewood, because I have been sick with a bad cold, and didn't want to be around Mom & Dad, who was also under the weather. 

I spent a couple of days in Siesta Key, and had two great days on my all time favorite beach, where the sand feels like talcum powder.  Siesta Key Beach has been voted the #1 beach in the country.  

Delicious !!!

Sarasota landmark

I picked up Tony from Sarasota airport, and we headed north to Biloxi, MS, where Vinny & Carol joined us for a couple of days, before we all headed west to our digs in Texas.

The first thing TZ wanted to do in Texas, was to go Hog Hunting.
The builder of our metal building has property where the hogs pass through, and are fed by a feeder.  Here is the stand Tony used for his hog stalking:

He dug a hole with a  post hole digger, and put in corn and hog scent;  We checked the hole out the next day, and the hogs found the scent and corn, and dug out the hole to about 3 feet deep !!

Since he missed the hogs a few times, the next order of business is getting a Trail Cam, which will record when it senses motion, so he can judge what time the hogs are in the area.

Jan 28th:

We drove from Quitman, TX, to Sonoita, AZ, to make our annual visit to see Barbie & Uncle Pete.

Up the " Ho Chi Min Trail" to
Barbie & Uncle Pete's house

We visited our favorite authentic Mexican restaurant in Nogales, AZ, at the border, where TZ learned to like Mexican food.

Left to right: Vince, Cheryl, TZ & Maria,
Marlene, Dave, Uncle Pete and Barbie

And of course, our annual trek to Vivace in Tucson, with the same group of 5 couples who meet each year and stay at the Mansfield's  for the Tucson Gem Show:

Left to right: Stu, Suzanne, Uncle Pete, Barbie,
Chuck, Millie, Tony, me, Dave and Marlene.

While in Sonoita, it got very cold, and snowed !!

Didn't come to AZ to clean SNOW off the car !!!

But, back in CT, they had maybe the worst snowfall ever, up to 40" :

Ariel sent us some photos

Good thing she doesn't have a
screen door that opens out !!

Poor Erpie

Ariel had Tony's Tahoe, for her "snow car"....
don't think it's going anywhere !!

Took a side trip to Tubac, where we enjoyed the annual arts festival:

Had lunch at the Tubac Country Club, where the pond had a constant barrage of ducks landing for a dip:

DUCKS !!  Quick, get my shotgun !!

Feb 10th:

After saying our good-byes, we headed north to Oracle, AZ, where my high school friends, Doreen & Bill, have a home.  

Nearby, we saw the nesting owl in a Saguaro cactus:

Feb 13th:

We drove to Las Vegas for a few days, and one of the attractions we visited was Madame Tousseau's Wax Museum:

Yea Baby.......

Brittney

Leo

J-Lo

Sandra

Nascar friends

Tiger & Arnie

Jimmy & James

Whitney

The King of Pop

Robert De Niro

The Rat Pack

Celine

Bill can't help himself........

Sigfreid & Roy, and a hungry tiger

Liz

The annointed one

W

Hugh

Some photos from The Venetian:

And after a rough day, we hit the hot tub:

We went downtown to Binion's for Texas Hold 'Em and $5 Black Jack, and on the way home, we stopped at Laughlin, which is a very mini Las Vegas, but we all liked it.  Especially Doreen who won $ 600.  TZ hit for $ 150 too.  I'm down $ 20 for the whole trip.....so far.

Back at Doreen & Bill's, we are out and about:

Caught a great sunset

Followed by MORE SNOW in Arizona !!!

Almost looks like Connecticut !

TZ made a snowman 

One of our last stops in Arizona, was the Annual Native American Art Festival, in the University.  TZ couldn't resist this, our now, second, Santa Clara vase, this one with inlaid turquoise:

Native American Story-Telling

Native American woman weaving a rug

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:

"Texas Range Wars" an acrylic, 
with mixed media: real barbed wire !  
Very cool... We love it !

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:

Whoa !!!

YIKES !!

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:

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:

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.

Lawn sprinklers attached to PVC

Kalani & Robert on the roof, installing
the pvc to the building overhang

Robert, doing what he does......

Got water..........

Success  - an RV Wash  !!!!

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 !  

Up you go.....

Antlers attached.....

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:

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:

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" :

Hold on to your lunch, Leo.....

He's upside down !!!

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 !

Notice the shirt Uncle Pete got for TZ....

Barbie & Uncle Pete

Cool Smokers:

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.

A view from the boat

A tree growing out of the wall

Unique architecture.....the building looks
like a flat panel

Individual mosaics forming a mural on the
facade of the building

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 !

Country band and dancing in the street...

All dressed up for the party -
it's like San Antonio's version of Mardi Gras

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.

Lake?  What lake?

Deer making themselves at home
on someone's front lawn....

Living in a Quanset hut....

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 :

View from the blind

The next day, Tony went by himself, and got a javelina:

Stinky Javelina

Part of the weekend's festivities includes a parade:

DQ's very big in Texas.....

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 .....

YIKES !

Toby being very brave

Python and friend

The handler said a needle couldn't be 
made as sharp as a snake's fangs

Laurie's wearing snake rattle earrings
and Toby's got a rattle neckchain

A monkey with deep pockets

Toby, riding the bull

a 14 foot python

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 !!