Merry Ho! Ho! Ho!

We gathered today at Brian and Hollie's new house to celebrate Christmas. Hollie and Brian fixed a wonderful Cajun Turkey stuffed with a rice and shrimp dressing. The rest of us brought ham, slaw, sweet potatoes, red beans, potato salad, macaroni and cheese and lots of desserts. Chuck and Kim drove in from Houston and arrived just in time for lunch.
After lunch we gathered in front of the fireplace to exchange gifts. The kids ripped open the packages and surveyed their new loot. Lexi got a MP3 player, Nick a Wii game, Chelsea got jewelry and Ross got a 4G card for his video camera...plus lots of other goodies. After the gifts we had a photo session with lots of laughs.
Grandma and John handed out their envelopes of cash, a much appreciated gift.
On a cold winter day we enjoyed a good meal, lots of laughs, and a Merry Christmas.

Dive with Cristina

I just got everything washed, dried and put away after a dive trip to Cozumel with our dive friends, Sue and Dave. We flew out of Houston on a Funjet package and stayed at Casa Del Mar. Dave and I decided to dive with Cristina, a divemaster I used on past trips. We made some great drift dives and I got to try out my new Canon G9 camera, quickly finding out that the camera and housing were very bouyant on the first dive. The air temp was in the high 70's, with the water temperature in the low 80's, kinda of unusual weather for Cozumel. I was lucky to find some weights for my housing and the camera problem was solved. Cristina was fantastic, treated us like old friends and loved my new camera. On our dives we saw turtles, barracuda, grouper, lobster, stingrays, anemones, and lots of French Angels and Queen Angels. The visibility was great and the current wasn't to bad, not a good place to use a new camera while drifting.
Dale and Sue lazed around Casa Del Mar and in the evening we went out for dinner. We found some great restaurants: Especias, Alberto's Beach Bar, Coconuts, La Conchita del Caribe, and Cochina Mexicana Dorados de Villa. We had a fantastic meal at Especias and enjoyed a young man playing the guitar, a real talent! A table at the water's edge at Alberto's Beach Bar and great food made Alberto's tops on the list.
We rented a car the last day from Isis and toured the island, stopping for lunch at Coconuts on the rough side of the island, ending up in some hammocks on the beach by a sign that read "Naked Beach".
It was a great trip, no problems, and we got in six great dives with our friend, Cristina Roman.

Berndt Family Reunion

Dale and I were up early this morning and drove to Danavang, Texas for the Berndt Family Reunion. We arrived and began to set up with the help of Elvin and Susan. Soon relatives began to arrive, and the Danavang Lutheran Church Meeting House was buzzing with activity. The reunion was held in part to honor Dale's Aunt Helena Lauritsen, plus it was a chance for all his cousins to get together. Shortly before noon, Aunt Helena led the family in a Danish Table Prayer and the group lined up for a catered meal.
Dale served a Master of Ceremonies, and had everyone laughing with his stories. A plaque was presented to Aunt Helena, and guest shared their thoughts and stories about her. Several tables of old photo albums were on display for all the guest to look at.
Special guest, were cousins and spouses Gary, Kim, Cathy and John, that flew in from the Seattle, Washington area to attend the event. They will be spending the week visiting with their relatives in South Texas.
Almost seventy descendants were in attendance at the event.

Lunch at Moby Dick's

Dale wanted to fly, so off we went for lunch in Port Aransas and some fried shrimp. We caught the trolley, paid our quarter and rode into town looking for a new place to have lunch. We decided to give Moby Dick's a try, after several recommendations from the locals. Lunch was good and we left stuffed. The flight home was good, not to many bumps.

Looking for Redfish

Unloading the boat as the sun came up we headed across the bay to the lakes, our favorite fishing spot. The tide was still higher than we hoped and fishing was slow, but it was a beautiful day to be out on the water. We caught several reds that were to small and threw them back in hopes of catching their "Grandpa". We kept moving, catching one or two, then moving on to try a new spot.
The boat ran smooth after having the motor worked on recently.
We ended the day with some nice reds, I can already taste the fresh redfish filets on the grill.
We headed home, washed the boat and put our fishing gear away.

The Atchetee's Invade Huatulco, Mexico

We just returned from a wonderful week of sun and fun in Huatulco, Mexico with Evon and Linda. We landed, were met at the airport by Carlos, our friend for the ride to Villa Pacifico in Conejos. Rebecca and Hugo greeted us and we settled into our rooms for our week stay. Rebecca spoiled us again with her wonderful cooking and Hugo made sure our rooms were clean and neat. On Sunday we took the car and headed to La Entrega for a day at the beach with some snorkeling. Dale showed Evon and Linda the "Cave" and we enjoyed our first full day. The next day we chilled out around the pool, enjoying the warm water and sun. A trip on Luna Azul with Pepe wasn't very good with the swells making for a rough ride, the snorkeling wasn't good...current was swift and the visibility poor. Just trying to get back to the beach proved to be a group effort. We did enjoy a stop at Maguey for lunch before heading back to the Villa. The next day we stayed around the Villa in the morning to recover from the previous day. In the afternoon we went to La Crucecita for some serious shopping, a tour of the new grocery store and ice cream at Terra Cotta. On Thursday we decided to spend the day at La Entrega, great snorkeling with clear water. Dale even found a spotted eagle ray for the group to see. We also enjoyed feeding the fish some crushed tortilla chips which they really liked.
Our last day in Huatulco we rented the car and went exploring....La Bocanna, a beer at Barra de la Cruz, and a tour of Santa Cruz. We did get in some pool time before showering, dressing and going to dinner at The Kristal Rose. Juan, the owner was glad to see us and took excellent care of us, the food was great and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner our last night.
Sadly it was time to pack and head home, we said our goodbyes to Rebecca and Hugo, caught a ride to the airport with Carlos and boarded our flight landing safely in Houston.
We had another great week in Huatulco, the weather was perfect, Chef Rebecca's meals were amazing and Hugo was always smiling and laughing. Linda and Evon fell in love with Huatlco and liked it as much as we do. The week at our "Little Gem" in Mexico was perfecto!!!!

Autumn Oaks Fly In

We flew this morning to Jim and Ruth's home North of Hallettsville for a fly in and barbeque lunch.
The skies were clear and the flight was smooth and short. We landed, unloaded the plane and visited with old friends. Lunch was very good and the dessert table offered many selections to pick from. The crowd was smaller than usual, other fly ins and the weather kept the crowd down.
We stayed until late afternoon, loaded up and had a hot bumpy ride home.

The Aftermath of Hurricane Ike

This morning we took off to survey the damage caused by hurricane Ike when it slammed into the Texas Coast on the Boliver Peninsula on September 12. The skies were clear, the air cool and the flight was smooth. We began seeing damage at Sargent Beach, erosion and debris along the beach was very evident.
Homes that once stood on beachfront property, now stood surrounded by water, the beach changed forever. Along the beach, roads were washed away and power lines down, crews were still hard at work restoring electricity. We landed at Scholes Field in Galveston and got to see the damage up close. The airport buildings had suffered major damage with about fourteen feet of water causing havoc, the fuel tank had been pulled up and floated away. The airport was operational, but had no fuel and a Port A Potty full of mosquitoes was the only bathroom. We took off, flying over the end of the sea wall which had sustained slight damage. It wasn't hard to see that the sea wall, built after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 had saved the city. We flew over the Flagship Hotel and saw were the historic Balinese Room once stood. We crossed the Houston Ship Channel and saw a sea of tankers and freighters waiting to enter the port. A part of the jetty was damaged by the force of the storm.
We flew over the Boliver Lighthouse that looked like it had weathered the storm in good shape.
Cargo containers, boats, cars and debris littered the coast. At the community of Gilcrest the power of the storm was more evident. Where many beachfront homes once stood, now only the pilings remained. Septic tanks and swimming pools were unearthed, and it was easy to see how the sand had washed away. Huge piles of sand could be seen everywhere, the result of clearing the roads. Crystal Beach sustained almost total devastation, with few homes still standing. The water and the wind had proved to be a deadly force.
We turned around at this point and made our way to Brazoria Airport for fuel and lunch at the Windsock Grill. We flew back to Victoria, landed and put the plane in the hangar.
We lucked out in Victoria when the storm turned away from us, but it will take years for the damage caused by Ike to be repaired. The coast is a beautiful place, but no place to be when the power of Mother Nature strikes.

Estrogen Therapy

Karen, an old friend invited me to join her, and some other gals for a weekend of antiquing, shopping, and a stay in Brenham at the Ingelside Bed and Breakfast. I picked up Karen in town and we headed North for a "Girl's Weekend". We decided to stop in La Grange and try a restaurant I heard about called Bistro 108. Our lunch was great, the food was amazing and we even split a piece of Buttermilk Pie, low calorie, of course!! Soon it was time to hit the road again and we headed to Warrenton for some serious shopping. We parked the car and began looking at most all of the booths for that special "thing". The weather was warm, with a good breeze, fall was in the air, but the crowds seemed much smaller than in the past. Later we drove to Brenham to meet the group, unpack at our B&B and enjoy some wine, fruit and cheese. We enjoyed dinner that evening with the group and then turned in pretty early.
The following morning we enjoyed breakfast before hitting the road to Round Top. We decided to investigate the booths around the square and made a few purchases before lunch. The crowds were heavier today, the last day of the event and traffic was creeping along. We inched our way back to Warrenton to grab some cute birdhouse garden ornaments we had seen the day before. After a couple more hours of serious shopping we drove back to Brenham, the wine and cheese were waiting. Sitting around the formal living room we shared our war stories, showed off our purchases from the day, had lots of laughs, especially about the guy that would read your face in Round Top. Dinner was at a local steakhouse and we were lucky to get a table for our big group.
Sunday morning we packed, enjoyed a yummy breakfast, took group photos, said our good-byes and drove to Round Top for one last sweep of the booths before heading home. We arrived back home after a very enjoyable weekend of antique shopping and estrogen therapy.

Flying High Over the Maze

We took off this morning headed to Taylor, Texas and to meet our Kansas friends, Jim and Jean. On the way, we flew over the Rocky Creek Maze in Flatonia to take pictures. The maze is cut in a seven acre field and opened to the public this week. The theme this year is Country Music-Texas Style.

We landed in Taylor and saw that Jim and Jean were waiting for us. We walked down the ramp, looking at planes and then walked over to the car show. Hamburgers were on the menu at the fly in, but we decided to walk over to the Mexican food restaurant for lunch. After lunch we returned to the airport and we grabbed some chairs to enjoy the shade under the wing while the guys talked airplanes.
Soon it was time to head home, we packed the plane, took off, climbed to almost 5,000 feet to avoid the thermals and flew back to Victoria.

A Night on the Riverwalk

I drove up to San Antonio to meet Pam and her sister, Barbara for an overnight visit. Pam was in San Antonio for training and her sister came along to keep her company. I arrived at the Residence Inn before Pam got out of class, so Barbara and I had a chance to visit.
When Pam got out of class we decided to head to the Riverwalk and Rivercenter Mall. We found a Chico's in the Mall and Pam got a pair of jeans, I bought nothing. We walked down the Riverwalk and stopped to enjoy a margarita during "Happy Hour" at a restaurant. We then decided to eat at Boudroa's on the riverwalk and got a table inside. We all ordered something different, so we could try lots of different things, including some grits....a favorite of Georgia girls! We started our meal off with a Prickly Pear Margarita......very smooth and good! We split a dessert and ordered a bread pudding with warm rum sauce..............it was excellent! After dinner we enjoyed a cruise on the river taking in all the local sights. We caught a bus back to the hotel, put on our pajamas and talked like teenagers having a sleepover.
Pam had to get up early, while Barbara and I enjoyed sleeping in. I packed and headed back home after a fun night in Old San Antonio.

We Got Skunked!

We left early this morning before sunrise to go fishing in Port O'Connor. We arrived to find the tides were still running extremely high. We unloaded the boat and set out across the water, with the tide so high you could run almost anywhere. We caught some small reds and trout, but no keepers. We crossed the bay and decided to try the lakes, but the water was murky, the wind blowing out of the East like crazy and fishing wasn't good. After our lunch break, we crossed the bay and tried a couple more spots. No Luck! We decided to head for the house as rain showers were coming in from the Gulf. We got home, unloaded and washed the boat and put everything away. We got skunked today!!!!

Scud Run to Under the Wire

Fog when we got up this morning, so we waited, finally around 10 am it began to lift and we headed to the airport. We loaded the plane and took off headed to Louise for the Under the Wire Fly In.
The closer we got to Louise the lower the ceiling, we were flying what pilots call IFR..............better known as "I Follow Roads"! It was amazing to see other planes in the pattern as we prepared to land. Dale set Miss Ice Tea Too down on the grass strip and found a place to park. We unloaded the plane and set up our chairs under the wing in the shade. Soon it was lunch and we enjoyed the picnic lunch I had packed. The skies cleared and it was began to warm up quickly. Dale talked with all the airplane guys and I managed to take a few photos. It was nice to visit with old friends, some we hadn't seen since last year. We decided to head home before the flour bombing, loaded the plane and took off. The thermals made for a bumpy flight home, but it was a short flight. We landed, stored the plane and headed to the house....another fly in comes to an end.

Dodged the Bullet........Again!!!

Well we dodged another bullet, got nothing out of "Ike" ....not even a drop of rain! We had wind gust of 40 mph and it did knock some ball moss out of the oaks, but that was about it. The storm went in around Galveston and we were on the clean side of the storm, that is the reason we sustained light winds and no rain.
We have checked on our kinfolks in the Houston area and they all seem to be okay, all are without power, but doing good.
If Ike was a Cat. 2 storm, I would hate to see what a Cat. 4 or 5 would do in our area.
Last night we had a beautiful sunset and I got a good photo of the calm before what we thought might be the storm.

Waiting for Ike

We are watching and waiting for Ike. A hot sunny day today with mostly clear skies, would never know a big hurricane was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. We haven't done much to prepare, Dale did get some gasoline to run the generators in case we would lose power. It looks like the storm will go in Northeast of us and we will be on the drier side. Guess we have to wait and see what Mr. Ike has in store for us.

Lunch With The Birthday Boys

Today we drove to Houston for the annual "Birthday Boys" lunch with Dale's good friends Mr. Pena and Mr. Jenkins. Dale and Walter celebrate birthdays only a day apart, but they include Mr. Pena in their group celebration. We had lunch at Carrabba's Italian Grille and enjoyed catching up with each other. It had been a year since we had been together, lots of things had happened in our lives. We brought pictures from our Australia-New Zealand trip to show our friends.
Dale and I made a few more stops around Houston and then headed home.

Visiting New Texans

We headed to Kingsland, near Marble Falls to visit our Kansas friends, Jim and Jean
and to see their new Texas real estate. The flight was smooth and clear after we climbed above the clouds. They recently purchased a home in an air-park to spend those brutal, harsh Kansas winters in sunny, warm Texas.......we hope! We landed before lunch, Jim greeted us out at the runway and directed us to his new hangar. We toured their home and decided it was time for lunch. We headed into Marble Falls for lunch at the River City Grille and lots of conversation. After lunch Jim took us on a tour of the area, we also went down to "The Rocks" on the Llano river. We went back to their home and discussed their plans for the place and had a good visit. We left around 5 pm, the thermals were bad and Dale had to climb to get it to smooth out and cool off, we landed around 7 pm and headed home.

Looking for a Tailwind

We decided to play hookey today and fly to Port Aransas for lunch. The weather wasn't great and we could see a few showers on radar, but we took off hoping the weather would be better on the coast. The flight down was kind of bumpy and hot, even though we flew out over the water, good old South Texas summer weather. We landed just as the trolley arrived, so we walked down to the intersection and got on the trolley. We got off at the San Juan Restaurant hungry for some good Mexican Food. I had a fried stuffed avocado and Dale had fried redfish and shrimp. After lunch we caught the trolley to the beach and got off again at Horace Caldwell Pier. We walked along the beach, the skies were clear, the sun was hot and the water was very warm. Dale found a picnic table and decided to take a brief nap, I walked the beach taking photos with my new camera.
After a hour, the trolley returned and we got back on for a short ride to Mustang Beach Airport. We took off headed for home, climbing higher, and finding a good tailwind.

The Rains Came

Well we have finally gotten some much needed rain in South Texas and the temperatures have been below the 100 degree mark. With the rain, our grass decided to grow and we mowed the yard today before, finishing right before a heavy shower.
I got a new camera this week, a Canon G9 Powershot and I am looking forward to using it, as soon as I can figure out all the buttons. I also purchased the underwater housing for upcoming dive trips.
Yesterday we went to a party at the Pierce Ranch and got in late last night. This coming weekend we have two parties to go to on the same night, we're going to be busy.

It's Official ....I"m The "Navigator"

Dale had a big surprise for me when I returned from Houston this weekend. We ran into town to eat supper and on the way home he stopped at the airport to check on the plane. When we stopped at the hangar he told me that we had two bags of mints in the back and we should combine them. I opened the door on the plane and combined the two bags and handed the empty bag to Dale.
He had a silly smile on his face and I couldn't figure out what was going on. Finally................dumb me noticed he had put my name on the door on the plane. What a great surprise.....................I was officially the "Navigator" on Miss Ice Tea Too. He said the "Navigator" is a very important position.......they get to tell the pilot where to go!!! I loved it, and immediately grabbed my camera for a picture. It was the BEST surprise!!!!

Kenny Chesney Poets and Pirates Tour

I picked Pam up at Hobby airport on Saturday morning and we headed to Harwin Street for some heavy duty shopping. We hit all our favorite spots and got some good deals............I'm sure.
We enjoyed a late lunch at Carrabba's Italian Grill and then checked into our room at the Marriott.
We quickly changed clothes and got ready to go the concert at Reliant Stadium. We had decided to ride the MetroRail to the stadium to avoid all the traffic congestion. We arrived at Reliant and had a pretty long walk to our gate, but soon we were inside. The early acts were already playing, so we looked around and decided to get a couple shirts before we found our seats.
LeAnn Rimes was the first healiner to hit the stage, she was good..................I'm just not a big fan of hers. Pam and I decided to get a couple of margarittas before Keith Urban came on. Keith put on quite a show, he's more Rock than Country and a real musician. Finally it was Kenny's turn to take the stage, he put on an amazing show. It is easy to see why he has been Country's Entertainer of the Year....................a great show!!! Kenny and Keith took the stage together to end the show.
We hiked back to the MetroRail, but had a loooooooooooooooooong wait for a train because of the crowds. We got back to our room and got to bed around midnight.
Sunday morning we enjoyed breakfast at the Marriott and headed to the nearest mall for some more shopping at a Chico's outlet. We found some bargains and had fun trying on clothes.
We ate a late light lunch before it was time to take Pam to the airport for her flight home.
I dropped Pam off and hit the highway home..................................another great girl's weekend trip in the books!

La Grange Fly In

Dale and I decided to make a trip to La Grange for their monthly fly-in. We drove out to the airport, uncovered Miss Ice Tea Too, warmed her engine up and took off. We climbed to find cooler air and a smoother ride, the thermals were starting early. We landed in La Grange, parked the plane and found some chairs in the shade. We were early, so we watched the skies as other planes came in to land. We ate lunch, visited with friends and looked at the other planes.
We took off headed for home with the temperature in La Grange hitting 103 degrees. It was hot and bumpy until we climbed up to about 4,000 feet. We landed, pushed the plane into the hangar and headed to the house to cool off. These hot summer days in Texas sure don't make good flying days!

Keeping Our Spoon Wet!

We left home early this morning before the sun came up to try our luck at fishing. We haven't been in quite some time, strong winds have made fishing very slow. We unloaded the boat and headed across the open bay to the lakes. The wind was already blowing, the bay was rough. We started our first drift, catching a really nice red very quickly. We saw a few reds, but had no luck, so we moved to do another drift.

We enjoyed our usual breakfast out on the water and started to fish again. After making several drifts with no luck we decided to move to another area of the lake.
Soon it was time for lunch, so we ran the boat up on the sandy bank.
We headed back to our original location and Dale hooked a really nice red......26 inches.

After a brief fight, Dale landed the big boy and soon he was resting in the ice chest. We continued to fish, seeing a few fish, but with no luck.
We crossed the bay, tried a couple more spots and decided to call it a day. We loaded the boat, Dale cleaned the fish and we drove home.
A slow fishing day came to an end, but we did have two really nice reds and got to spend the day out on the water.

Cozumel Dive Trip

Dale and I left San Antonio on AeroMexico headed to Cozumel for a few days South of the Border. We arrived at the airport, caught our shuttle, checked into our room at Casa Del Mar for four nights of relaxation. I called Cristina and made arrangements to dive the next day with her.
Dale and I enjoyed dinner at El Moro and turned in early. We met Cristina the next morning at the marina and fellow diver, Jeffery, a doctor from Washington. We got in two great dives, and Dale did some snorkeling. Cristina was great, such a fish and she loves what she does. After diving Jeffery dropped us off at our hotel and we spent the rest of the day at the beach. Dinner that night was at La Choza, very tasty. The next day we were up early, off to the marina and out on the water. Dale decided to spend his time on the boat reading and napping.....a tough job! Cristina, Jeffery and I made two great drift dives while taking lots of photos. We enjoyed lunch on the boat and lots of good conversation. Dinner tonight was at Casa Denis, the best meal we thought and the Mango Margarita was the fantastic! Our last day in Cozumel we took a taxi to the Nachi Cocom Beach Club to spend the day relaxing at the beach. The beach club was very nice and we almost had the whole place to ourselves. We enjoyed lunch under the big palapa, got in some snorkeling and had a great day. Our last night we decided we were hungry for something different, so we went to Guidos for some Italian food. The lasagna was excellent and we enjoyed dinner in a garden setting with candlelight. After dinner we walked around the square in the center of San Miguel and walked along the seawall. Our last day, we enjoyed breakfast, packed our bags and stored them at the hotel. We took a taxi into town, walked around, looked at some shops and had lunch before heading back to the hotel to get our bags and head to the airport for our flight home. We took a taxi, boy what a ride to the airport, but we arrived in one piece.
Our flight home was good, we arrived in San Antonio on time, and made it to the house shortly after midnight.

The Divine Miss M

Today is our last full day in Vegas and we decided to check out the Premium Outlet Mall before lunch to avoid the heat. We grabbed a taxi and made several shops at the mall before grabbing a taxi back to our resort. We decided to pack our stuff, so we could enjoy the rest of the evening.
We dressed for dinner, we had reservations at 5 pm at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill in Caesar's Palace. Wow, dinner was great, of course we ate to much, even had dessert.
We had tickets for the Divine Miss M tonight at 7:30 pm for our last show. Again we had good seats and waited for the show to begin. Bette Midler put on a great show, belted out some great songs and told some naughty jokes................she is quite the showman. It was a great show, we both enjoyed.
We went back to our room and turned in early, tomorrow we are headed home.
We had a light breakfast, checked out and took the shuttle to the airport. Our flight left on time, with a brief layover in Denver, before heading to Austin. We landed right on schedule and I pulled in the driveway at my house at 10:45 pm.
Mom and I had a good trip, packed in lots, saw some great shows, got in a little shopping and did some sightseeing, even in the Vegas heat.

Slot Queen

We grabbed a light breakfast downstairs and hit The Strip. We took the monorail to Harrah's to play a High Roller Slot for a friend. She didn't hit anything, but I walked away with $260..........a winner! We walked down to the Venetian, strolled the shops, watched a show and watched the tourist. We had lunch reservations at The Delmonico, a steakhouse and enjoyed a fabulous meal.
The food, service and setting were first rate. We then walked into the Palazzo, a new casino and resort that just opened on the strip, a very plush place.
We took the monorail back to Caesars and crashed, boy did the AC feel good. Tonight we have tickets to Mamma Mia at the Mandalay Bay.
We took the Double Deuce bus down to Mandalay Bay, walked around and had a couple of Pina Coladas before the show. The show was very good, lots of good music by Abba.
We are now looking forward for the movie to come out in a few weeks.
The joke of the evening was when we stopped in the Forum Shops at a Italian Gelato store and each got a couple scoops of gelato. I reached in my wallet, pulled out a $10 bill when the guy behind the counter said $36.61, shock!!!! I paid the bill and took the gelato to Mom, telling her to guess how much it cost, of course she didn't come close. We savored each bite of our high price dessert.

Hot, Hot, Hot in Vegas

Today our first goal was to hit the Fashion Show Mall, a huge complex of stores, including Chico's.
It was so hot, I think 108 degrees. We shopped, but didn't buy a thing.
Our show tonight was at the Wynn, a show called Le Reve. We decided we would try the Wynn Buffet before the show. We dressed, caught the Double Deuce bus for the Wynn.
The buffet was good, lots to pick from and of course we stuffed ourselves. After dinner we went in the theater, which was designed in the round, not a bad seat in the house. The show was terrific, with water, fire, wind, and amazing performers. After the show, we caught the bus and went down to the Bellagio to watch the "Dancing Fountains", it is beautiful at night especially the way they dance to the music. We looked around the Bellagio, it is an amazing place. Then we walked over the walkway to Caesars and went to our room. Another day in Vegas had come to an end.

Mydra and Gayla hit Vegas

We landed in Vegas, our flight was good, took the shuttle to Caesar's Palace and checked in. We unpacked and looked around, deciding we would eat supper after our show. We got tickets on the monorail and rode down to the Hilton for our show, Menopause the Musical. The show was funny and very entertaining, Mom loved it. I guess you would have to be a woman to appreciate it.
We took the Monorail back to our hotel, grabbed something to eat, and went up to our room.
We called it a night!

Vegas Bound

Well Mom and I are getting ready to head to Vegas..............a girl's only trip. We leave out on Sunday, June 29 on Southwest out of Austin and are staying at Caesar's Palace on the strip.
We are taking in some shows, seeing Bette Midler, shopping and doing some sightseeing.
Since neither of us are gamblers we will fill our days with other things. We also hope to eat at some nice restaurants while in Vegas. It looks like it is going to be hot in Vegas, but heck it is hot here at home in Texas.

Work Day at the Atchetee House

Dale took off to the airport this morning for a brief flight around town. I stayed home, washed some clothes and prepared lunch. Dale decided to treat the tops of the new fence post and I started painting the porch post. We also took Dale's old truck down to the highway in hopes of selling it. Got a few calls, but no sale yet.
It was hot and windy with no rain, except a brief shower early this morning. I watered my flowerbeds late this afternoon, the only way to keep them alive in the midst of our drought.
Tomorrow is another day, we might fly down the coast for lunch, if the weather permits.
I almost forgot, today we celebrated our four month anniversary!

Lunch Bunch El Campo Class of 1961

Today we headed to El Campo for the monthly meeting of the "Lunch Bunch" group at the Firehouse Bar and Grill. We made a couple stops before the restaurant, to visit some of Dale's old friends.
We started out with a small group, but soon the group grew and we had ten for lunch. As usual everybody was busy catching up and finding out what was going on in each other's lives. After lunch, we stopped by Evon and Linda's house to pick up some home grown tomatoes. Linda has a real green thumb!
It was good to see every-one, especially since we had missed the last two meetings of the "Lunch Bunch".

Happy Birthday Evon

Dale and I went to El Campo to celebrate
his younger brother, Evon's 60th
birthday. Older brother, Harlo and his wife
Rhonda drove down from Houston
for the celebration. Carolyn and Sandy brought Dale's Aunt Helena to be with the group. We spent time talking and had grilled hamburgers for supper. Bailey baked and decorated a birthday cake for Grandpa Evon. After dinner we sat outside on the patio and enjoyed the breeze, catching up like old times. Rhonda gathered the group for some photos to mark the occasion. We also got to see Craig's little girl, Haley and Cody's little boy, Marshall, both are real cuties.

Keeping the Line Wet in POC

We decided to try our luck at fishing, even
though we heard it was slow. We left the
dock and headed across the bay to the
lakes in search of redfish. We drifted
across the lake, seeing a few reds and
catching ones that were to small to
keep. Several times we would drag
the spoon right in front of the fish,
only to have them turn and swim away.
We managed to catch a few trout,
but it was slow.
We moved to another location and
did find a red tailing on the shore and
put him in the ice chest. We began to see more reds, but they weren't biting today. We moved back across the bay and tried another spot before we headed back to the dock. No Luck! We headed in with our meager catch---one legal red and a trout.
I guess they it why they call it "fishing" instead of "catching"!

After the Brac

Well I have been working on all my photos from the Cayman Brac Dive Trip and have them up on the web. The dive group will get together in a couple of weeks to share photos, with three of us taking pictures we are sure to get a good photo.
We have been busy around here catching up on things.

Back from the Brac

Home again, washing dive gear and unpacking clothes, another dive trip comes to an end. We arrived home late last night after a long day of traveling-Cayman Brac to Grand Cayman, Grand Cayman to Houston, and Houston to Victoria.
We left the resort around 4:45am for the airport, our flight was delayed until 7 am and arrived in Grand Cayman about 7:30 am. We rented a small car, stored our luggage at the car rental office and took off to tour Grand Cayman. We stopped in Georgetown, ate breakfast at "Eats", made a stop and tour of Hell, and did a little shopping. Grand Cayman was very quite, no cruise-ships in town, no tourist. We headed back to the airport and waited for our flight to Houston at 4:40pm.
The flight was good and we landed, picked up our vehicle and headed home.
The trip to Cayman Brac was great, the diving good, the resort was great and the food was top notch. I made 12 dives and my first night dive on the boat, "Big Sister". Our divemasters, Menne and Ian were lots of fun, told us corny jokes and made the week one to remember. I also made a very good wreck dive on The Captain Tibbitts.
Looking forward to returning "Back to the Brac" one day for more great diving.

Don't Mess With Texas in Cayman Brac!

Well our trip has come to an end and we're headed back home after a great dive trip. They picked us up at 4:45 am this morning for the short ride to the airport. Now we have a two hour wait until our flight to Grand Cayman.
Yesterday, Dave and I made two dives in the morning. We saw some turtles, grouper, and lots of fish, but nothing new and exciting. I did complete my 70 dive on this trip and made my very first night dive. After lunch the group went on a tour of the island with a local guide, Cantrell. We climbed in caves, went to the museum, and listened to the history of Cayman Brac.
Yesterday Chris and Laurie painted a sign for our group and Dale put it up on the post on the way to the dive shop. We have now left our mark on Cayman Brac for all to see on the way to the dive shop.
We have a long layover in Grand Cayman before our flight to Houston, so we will go check the island out.

Shark!!!

We got up this morning, enjoyed a tasty breakfast and boarded the dive boat for Little Cayman. Dale decided since the reef was going to be shallow he would go along and snorkel off the dive boat.
The ride over took about 30-40 minutes. The first dive site was a wall dive called Merilyn's Cut just off of Little Cayman. We entered the water, went over the wall and down to about 80 feet.
The wall was straight down, so you had to watch your dive computer to keep from going to deep. We saw a lobster and lots of fish. Dale snorkeled while we were down and saw several barracuda.
We then moved to Jackson's Reef. We all entered the water and began our search for marine life. About half way into the dive a big nurse shark swam between most of the divers--Surprise! We also saw some big Grouper, just hanging out. Laurie found a big crab hiding in a hole, so I stopped to get a photo. Dave pointed out a BIG lobster and I moved in for a photo.
Dale spotted some turtles and tried to herd them toward the divers. The reef was shallow and Dale had a good snorkel. The dive lasted about an hour, since we had been shallow for most of the dive.
We headed back into the dock, grabbed a light lunch, picked up the rental van, hit the grocery store before heading back to the resort.
After another great dinner we sat around outside talking dive talk! Tomorrow we have our last two dives as this trip comes to an end.

Under the Sea

Got two great dives in this morning, the wreck of a Russian Frigate the Captain Keith Tibbetts and Buccaneer Reef. Saw a big barracuda and lots of smaller ones, turtles, stingrays, lemon-rays, and lots of marine life. Both were easy dives, no current and good visibility. The wreck was at about 85 feet at the deepest point and the reef was a shallow dive. I am waiting to hear if we are going out on a night dive tonight, hope so, my first.

Blowing Bubbles on Cayman Brac

We arrived on Cayman Brac, no problems with our flights, Continental Houston to Grand Cayman and Cayman Airways Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac. The resort, Cayman Brac Beach Resort is very nice and the food is "Gourmet". The service is fantastic and we have valet diving, no dragging dive gear, they take care of everything.

We did two dives yesterday, both were good, didn't see anything fantastic, but good dives. Today we did two more morning dives, saw lobster, turtle, and a stingray.
We got in shortly after lunch and enjoyed a snack for lunch around the pool.
Tonight they have a manager's "Welcome Party" out by the pool. Mostly divers staying here from all over the USA, a big group out of Florida.
Dale has been taking it easy, reading his magazines and taking an occasional nap.