Big Bend or Bust!

We left early, met up with Karen and Jimmy in Stockdale, before heading out to Big Bend National Park for a five day stay.  It was a long drive with a lunch stop in Del Rio at the Blue Oasis Cafe.  We arrived at Far Flung Outdoor Adventures just before 5 pm and checked into our cute Casita #4.  Hot dogs were on the menu that night for supper.  The next morning Karen and Jimmy headed to Big Bend State Park and a drive along the famous River Road....we headed into the National Park for the day to explore.  We drove the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, making lots of stops to explore and take photos.  After a stop in Castolon we drove to Santa Elena Canyon, and a walk down to the river, which was very low.  The canyon is magnificent and makes you feel pretty small.  It was at this stop we met a charming couple.....Roland, 91 and Elsie, 92 who were getting married in two weeks.

We talked with them a while and wished them many years of happiness.  Their spirit was amazing and I told them they were my heroes!  We had a picnic by the river and took a brief nap on a picnic table before heading into the Basin. The drive into the basin has lots of switch backs, but it is beautiful.  We parked and hiked The Window trail to get some photos.  At one of the spots we rested on a bench with The Window in front of us.....very picturesque!  It had been a great day hiking, exploring, and viewing the beauty of this area.  We joined Karen and Jimmy for dinner.....ribs, potato salad, corn on the cob and dessert at the Casitas.

The next day we all headed to the Hot Springs.....it was another beautiful drive.  The road into the Springs was very narrow, but we made it safely and after a brief hike Karen and I were soaking in the 105* degree water....the guys sat in the shade and took pictures as we acted crazy! We had a picnic together under some big Cottonwood trees and then split up to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Dinner that night was back at our casitas.  The next day Dale and I were scheduled to do a half day river trip.....so we were off early!  The weather was perfect, nice and cool as we put the canoes in the water and began to paddle.  We made our way into a small canyon and had a few small rapids to run....nothing to hard!  A stop half way for snacks on the Mexican side of the river was nice.

We enjoyed the trip and soon were back at the Casita for lunch.  Karen and Jimmy went into the National Park that day.  Later we explored Terlingua's Ghost Town and the movie set called Contrabando.  For our last night we had dinner at the Starlight Theater in Terlingua.....a nice way to end our trip and the food was pretty darn good!  Up early we headed home!  Big Bend was awesome, beautiful, unique.......and HOT! Except the morning we left it was 59*!

Diving with the Dietzels!

After a brief flight, I landed in Cayman, and met Tamara and Dennis at the airport.  We headed to the condo after a brief stop at the grocery store.  The weather in Cayman wasn't great.......wind blowing, rough seas, and showers!  We signed up to do the X Dive, but it was a bust since we had to go to different dive sites because of weather......no sharks!   The highlight of my trip was a great picture of a fingerprint flamingo tongue.

On other dives we spotted a moray eel, sharks, turtles, and a few rays. We did two morning dives each day, had lunch, and spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool relaxing.  Chef Dennis cooked most nights and the food was awesome.  I did take over a couple of times for some Tex-Mex dishes.  I treated my hosts to dinner at the Italian Kitchen one night. Dennis and Tamara both had ear issues, and did take a day off! Tamara and I got up early one morning and went to the local farmer's market for some fresh veggies and Nam Duc Mangoes....the best mangoes in the world!! Thanks Steve for telling us about them!

Sandfest or Slopfest?

Karen and I loaded our cars, hooked up the golf cart, and headed to Port Aransas for Sandfest 2015!  This year we rented a condo at Sea Mist Condos for our week long stay.
The weather had not been very good lately and the beach roads were nasty.....we found that out quickly in my car on our first trip down the beach road.  We spent Thursday in Rockport and had a yummy lunch at Paradise Key, plus some retail shopping therapy time.  Friday morning it was off to Sandfest to check it out....this time we took the golf cart.  There is only one word to describe the place......SLOP!

The poor vendors were trying to set up and it was a big mess!  We walked around, checked out the vendors and watched the sculpting begin. We spent some of our time driving around town, walking a nature trail and visiting the bird watching area.  We gave up on the idea of decorating our cart, the weather was just to nasty. Saturday we made a trip back to Victoria as Karen had an event to go to and I just went along to see Dale.

Sunday we headed back and the weather had improved, but the beach roads were still a disaster!  We checked out the finished sculptures, but didn't make the awards ceremony.  Sadly some kids got in one night and messed up the amateur sculpture's works of art!