Winter 2015

Weather getting cold in CT, time to head back to Texas.  Busy December, with Christie & Brandon tying the knot.  Beautiful Bride, Beautiful wedding.

Beautiful Bride, proud Papa and Son

Couple of the Year !

Picked up our Jeep in DFW airport after parking there since we left in September ( free parking for disabled veterans ).  It was parked in a One Hour Parking area, as per instructions by traffic cop. However, when we picked it up, someone apparently was not aware that cars with disabled veteran plates can park free and indefinitely:

Someone carved a message through the 3 month soot on the windshield !

Found that gas prices were way lower than in Connecticut:

Then, our usual first stop on the way home.....

Yessss..........In - N - Out  Burgers!

Had heavy rains, and our cactus collapsed!  It will come back, though.  Always does:

Had friends come down for some duck and hog hunting:

Mikey and Jason, his childhood friend 
from Nebraska

Our neighbor, Robert, helped us out yet again;  We moved the motorhome over to line up under a vent, and Robert attached wire mesh so the birds can't make nests in the opening.  

Nowhere for the birds to make nests,
and no more bird poop on the walkway
to our front door  ;-)

Tony & I took the CHL class today and followed that up with a great dinner at friends Stan ( the Fish Man ) and his wife Carol.  Feasted on yummy guacamole, chicken enchiladas, "armadillo eggs"   ( baked sausage balls ) and blueberry tarts.

Carol & Stan

Tomorrow we are off in the motorhome for Florida, for some warm weather.  Will take us 4 full days of driving......TZ will be able to get in some great nap time !

Day 1 of our Road Trip to Florida:

TZ in his favorite driving position......

Crossing the Mississippi into Vicksburg, MS

This is how TZ takes a photo
of the Welcome to Mississippi sign....

Found a place that had crawfish........
......"before picture"....

And "after"....he doesn't look happy;
Hey, TZ....4 lbs of crawfish is enough !!

After dinner, TZ went to play some Texas Hold 'Em at one of the casinos.   Tomorrow, day 2 of 4 driving days, we should be well into Florida.

Day 2.......

TZ had a hard day.....

Made it to Florida, and already the weather is much improved.  We are about half way to our destination in South Florida.  Boondocking tonight in a rest area.  Generator on, Direct TV, and all the amenities.



Day 3.....

Look closely, and read below........

I wanted to drive to So Florida along I-75, because there are rest areas which have nighttime security.  TZ offered one of his famous "short-cuts"....instead of I-75, take the Florida Turnpike, which should save a lot of mileage.  OK, I submitted.  We pulled into a rest area, and were told we could not spend the night.  So we continued on, and exited off the turnpike in St. Cloud, to spend the night at a campground.  Left a message for them to call us back, but never heard.  Drove into a Walmart parking lot to spend the night, but it was soooo crowded, I could barely negotiate through the lot to exit.  Almost took some branches of the live oak trees with us.   We continues south, hoping we would find a lot or church parking lot to park for the night.  NOTHING in sight.  We ended up at Yee Haw Junction, and camped out in a Pilot Truck Stop with the 18 wheelers for the night.  And so it goes, for another episode of "TZ's Short Cuts"......

Day 4....

Checked in to our campground finally, where we'll park the coach for a month, and venture out to see family and friends on both the east and west coasts.

Big Cypress RV Resort is on a Seminole Reservation in the Everglades.  There's an Indian Museum, swamp rides, small casino with slots only, and an authentic Indian village.  Nice park, but way out in the middle of nowhere.  Took a day trip to Walmart's for supplies....... the nearest town, Clewiston, is 42 miles away !

Big Cypress RV Resort

Napping again;  must have been a rough day
in the co-pilot's chair...

Went to the Seminole Indian Museum, which was very informative.   They did not relocate to distant reservations when the Government rounded up the Native Americans, instead they ventured deep into the swamps of the Everglades, and set up their community, which is celebrating its 119th anniversary.  They call themselves the Unconquered.

Grinding corn

A hand forged grater

They figured how to make fires last 
for weeks by arranging logs in a star pattern 
and advancing the logs as needed.

Ceremonial decor made out of tortoise shells

Famous Seminole Dolls

Yes, these are real

Gators taking in some Florida sun

Took a "Buggy" Tour of the Billie Swamp.....more of an eco trip, with lots of animals and foliage.  It was like driving through a palm forest.  

Glad we didn't get this buggy with
all the school kids on a field trip

We actually drove through large ponds

Forgot his name, but notice the webbed feet.

Asian Water Buffalo with a Cattle Egret....
its said that the birds hitched a ride when
the water buffalo were taken to America.

Look closely as Mama duck in the background
teaches her babies how to forage for food.

This one resembles a Texas Longhorn

Palm leaves were used to make
the roofs on the Chicatee Huts

Wild Hog

Even an Ostrich

Racoon climbing down 
from a nest in the tree

Ostrich eggs

Related to the antelope

Bison

Gator sunning himself

TZ in his favorite position

Drove over to the east coast to stay with Tony's sister Loretta, and Greg, in North Palm Beach, for a few days.  Had a fun time.

Greg & Loretta

Went to "the guy in the truck" who brings fresh fish from the west coast of Florida to sell in North Palm Beach on the weekends.  Loved the stone crabs:

Yessss....... Stone crabs !!

Dinner at Mama Mia's -  Aggie, Frank, us, 
Jo-Jo, Melanie, Greg & Loretta.  
We all had enough to bring some home.

Went to Boynton Beach to visit cousin Lenny & Andrea, who prepared a feast for us. 

Lenny & Andrea

Lenny, Andrea, us, Frank, Aggie and Greg

Saw a beautiful rainbow from Loretta's balcony.

Meanwhile, back in Connecticut, our friend Walter sent us some photos from the latest snowstorm today.  The Northeast has been getting hammered with bad weather.

View from his door

Patio has 8 - 10 foot drifts
beyond the chairs

Drove over to the west coast to spend some time with Mom in Englewood.  Nina and Zena came up for a night.

Me, with Mom and Nina

TZ has a new BFF......Zena

Baby alligator across the street from Mom's

Took a ride to the east coast to see Danny & Marge in their new house in Palm Beach Gardens.  Saw cousins again, for dinner, had a great time visiting.

Danny & Margie

Drove up to Palm Coast to see Carol & "Cousin" Vinny, whom Tony met in Viet Nam.

Carol & "Cousin" Vinny

We took the motorhome, and towed the Jeep, as this is our last stop in Florida, before heading back to Texas.  It was an exhausting drive for TZ:

Another day, another nap.......

TZ FELL OUT OF BED, and
prepared a landing zone if it
happened again ....lol !!!

Left Carol & Vinny's for the 3 day drive back to Texas.

Rough day for TZ......

Had very cold weather here in Vicksburg MS;  rain, sleet, ice.  Our motorhome is covered in ice, and we have to stay put til tomorrow.

All iced up !

Used an oscillating heater to
defrost the windshield !

Made it back to Texas, and to cold weather. Starting our next project of renovating the garage into a first floor bedroom.  Had to extend the front door to accommodate an opening into the garage (new bedroom),  from the inside of the house.

Making a new entrance hallway.

New extended front entry

Sign above our front door....

New pocket door into future bedroom

Constructing the new front of the house
to replace the garage

Water vapor barrier

First layer of wood

Used to be our garage....

Bedroom

Sheetrock

Bedroom accent wall

All done !  New bedroom.

Closet

New closet with pocket door

Meanwhile, TZ extending the culvert,
to widen a driveway.

Gravel dumped off

Wetting it down

Oops....gravel settled and need more.

Success

TURN UP THE VOLUME for this Texas rainstorm :

Grandson Leo, 12, came down for a week.  Took him to the range.

Gotta love Texas....

Need a pet ???

Went fishing with Stan, the Catfish Man and it was a good day on Lake Fork:

Stan, the Catfish Man dumps
the pontoon into Lake Fork

All about the bass....

Had 2 on the line at the same time !!

Count 'em.....21 fish, including bass,
yellow bass, crappies and catfish.

TZ getting his zzzz's in,
while waiting for the fish fry.

Met up with Christie and Andrew, who flew in to Dallas to pick up Leo.  Stayed in Dallas for Easter weekend.  

Went to a Dallas Mavericks Basketball game.

Kids had a blast in the hotel pool.

Ariel & Joe came down for a few days.  Went shooting and fishing......mostly catfish.

Nice !

Yikes !!

A turtle !!

Crawfish and gator bites, mmmm

Our Knockout Roses are in full bloom.

Robert & Joann, our BFF's....World's Best Neighbors !

Doreen & Bill, my high school buds, flew in from AZ for their first trip to see us in TX.  

Took them to Seth's Lake Fork Creek Seafood for their first taste of Crawfish and Shrimp Étouffée.

They loved the crawfish !

Bill's looking in the glass bathroom

It's all about that Big Smith's Brisket

Tornado warning !
Doreen goes into the gun safe !

Took D & B to the range

Dead Eye

Most Improved Shooter

Had fun at Cowtown

We tried, but couldn't get
Doreen on the Longhorn

Liddy's Custom Boots.....some $8000/pair  !!

Giant Stirrup

Longhorn Parade

Remember our collapsed cactus in January?

This is how it looks in May !

Another cactus in bloom

It's our last night here, and we had vicious storms, with lightening, torrential downpours, 60 mph winds, lateral rain and tornado warnings.  Spring here has been very wet....no more drought in Texas.  At least Mother Nature's fury turned to beauty when it was all over:

Sunset after the storm

Going to find the end......

Until our next trip, ciao !