Springtime in Texas

"Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" ~Robin Williams

Grabbed my camera after lunch on Sunday and headed out to capture the local wildflowers in bloom. Heading down Hwy 87, I turned off on the Old Thomaston River Road and spotted some fields of flowers, lots of yellow and red blooms blanketed the countryside. Turning on FM 236 into Cuero I stopped several times to take some shots, even spotted a horse grazing in a field of bluebonnets.

Leaving Cuero I followed my map to the community of Cheapside, a old wooden church was surrounded by a huge field of red wildflowers and made a great photo opt. After returning to Cuero I decided to head to Yoakum and that it where I found an amazing field of bluebonnets on Alt. Hwy. 77. The whole pasture was covered with bluebonnets in full bloom, a breathtaking picture...blue skies and bluebonnets. On the way home on Hwy. 111 I found a big patch of yellow and red flowers and stopped again to take pictures.

I was anxious to get home and download my photos. It was a great trip hunting for wildflowers, even if the wind was howling and made macro photography impossible. After a terrible drought last summer I was pleasantly surprised to find lots of wildflowers along the roads and in the pastures.

New Knee

Well it is a little over a week now since Dale had total knee replacement on his right leg in Houston at Saint Luke's Hospital. The surgery went well, and all the staff at the hospital were wonderful. Dale loved having two pain pumps in the hospital, kept him happy!!!
It was an exhausting week and we were glad to get home.
Dale started physical therapy on Monday morning at Warm Springs in Victoria. They really work him out and he comes home tired. I guess getting the pain meds regulated has been our biggest obstacle, but hopefully we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The first few days were really a killer......lack of sleep, nausea, loss of appetite, and pain management were taking their toll on us. I found keeping up with the cooking, grocery shopping, washing clothes, driving Dale to PT, making runs to the drugstore for more pain meds a full time job. After a day of dishes stacking up on the counter...we even opted for paper plates.
I think things will get better quickly...hope so!!!! The other knee is in 6 - 8 weeks.....Maybe?

2nd Anniversary Cruise

We left for Galveston, ready to board Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas for a week long cruise to celebrate our second wedding anniversary. Shortly after lunch, we were on board enjoying lunch in the Windjammer Cafe. After lunch, we found our cabin #9601 and unpacked after the luggage arrived. We joined Vinny and Carolyn from New York in the Royal Suite for a Sail Away Party. It was great to stand on the balcony with a glass of wine as we left Galveston as the sun set over the bay.

Dinner that night was at Portofino's, an wonderful Italian Restaurant, the food and service were fantastic. They even prepared a surprise anniversary cake and sang "Happy Anniversary" to us. Dale surprised me a beautiful long stem red rose. We enjoyed the Welcome Aboard show before turning in.

The next morning we had a Meet and Mingle after breakfast with the group from Cruise Critic. Dale headed to the Solarium Pools and I took part in the Cabin Crawl, fun and lots of laughs.
We enjoyed a wonderful show by the Texas Tenors and even had a chance to talk with them in Grand Cayman. They became famous after appearing on "America's Got Talent".

Our first port was Cozumel, my dive trip was canceled because of rough seas, so we headed into town for lunch and margaritas. The next day, we made port in Grand Cayman and had a Stingray Sand Bar excursion planned. The wind was still blowing, but we made the trip, swam with the stingrays and Dale even got a Stingray "Hickie". Our final port, Jamaica was canceled because of gale force winds...so we had another sea day to kill.

We ate way too much, worked out in the gym, soaked in the hot tubs, got in some dancing and saw some good shows. On "Fat Tuesday" we watched a group put on a Mardi Gras parade down the Promenade, throwing beads to the crowd. We did get invited to a special Crown and Anchor Society lunch and enjoyed the company of the Hotel Manager, an interesting guy. The weather was kinda of funky, not much sun, lots of wind and a little cool. We met lots of interesting people from all over the world.

Our last night we decided to make reservations at Portofino's again and enjoyed another wonderful meal.....a fitting way to end the cruise. Our arrival in Galveston was delayed by heavy fog and we docked much later than expected, but since we only had a short drive it didn't make much difference.

Mom's Mystery Trip

To celebrate Mom's upcoming 82nd birthday I planned a "Mystery Trip" for her. We left early Friday morning in a light drizzle and headed North. She enjoyed the ride, didn't ask to many questions, as I told her I had a really nice tent campsite booked for us for the weekend. We arrived in Fredricksburg just after noon, had a delicious lunch at The Peach Tree Restaurant. After lunch we drove out to our the Pear Tree Cottage at the Chuckwagon Inn B & B and checked in.
It was a very cute cottage, with a huge canopy King size bed, a small kitchenette, a big whirlpool tub and a cozy fireplace....which came in very handy!!

After unpacking we toured the Hangar Hotel and restaurant at the airport, drove into town to check out things out. Becky, the owner of the B & B recommended the Der Lindenbaum for some good German food before the Rockbox Theater. The schnitzel, red cabbage and potatoes were to die for, and we left stuffed. We had reservations for the 8 pm performance at the Rockbox Theater, a musical production. The show was great, good music and lots of laughs.

The next morning Becky and Sam fixed us some Cheese Grits, Buttermilk Biscuits with Cream Gravy and Sausage Patties...with hot coffee and juice. We enjoyed breakfast with the other folks staying at the B & B, and Sam amused us with his stories. We had a full day planned, off we went to the James Avery Showroom, shopping on Main St., the Wildseed Farm, with several stops at local wineries, and a stop in Luchenbauch, Tx. Our last stop of the day was a 10 mile trek off the main highway, down a country curvy road, over one lane bridges and up and down lots of hills to the Alamo Springs General Store and Cafe for the "BEST" hamburger in Texas.


Mom thought I had lost my mind and was sure we would wind up lost or in San Antonio....but finally we pulled into the Cafe which was packed. We had a great hamburger, fries, onion rings, great music and even made some new friends. The band even dedicated a song to the two ladies that drove all the way from Victoria to hear them play. A beautiful bright orange moon was rising as we drove back to our cottage. We cranked up the fireplace and watched the Miss America pageant on TV before crashing.

Sunday morning we enjoyed a breakfast of a yummy Fritata, fried grit cakes, toast, Fredricksburg peach jelly and a peach crisp with lots coffee and juice sprinkled with Sam's colorful stories. Soon it was time to head home....the "Mystery Trip" was over.

Ringing in the New Year in Curacao!

Our flight to Curacao was short and sweet, with our rental car waiting in the parking lot. After a brief stop at the only grocery store open we headed to Westpunt, and All West Apartments. We arrived, and were pleasantly surprised to find a wonderful apartment with a million dollar view of the Caribbean. We unpacked, made a trip to the dive shop, Ocean Encounters West to make sure everything was set with them. That evening we had some great pizza at Sol Food with Sunshine. Up early, we made a trip back into to town for a shopping trip to the Centrum market. Since we had a full kitchen, a great balcony with a nice patio table and chairs.....almost every meal was outside. Sure was nice sipping a hot cup of coffee in the morning, enjoying my toasted "Pan Dushi", a Dutch sweet bread with raisins with a glass of juice on the balcony watching the Caribbean and the local fishermen. Monday, Dale took me to the dive shop for two boat dives, again the current and visibility was kinda tricky, but some good diving. We did spot a lionfish while diving, so we know these destructive creatures have made their way South.

After two days of boat diving and a shore dive, we headed into Willemstad to explore. We checked out the floating market, the Queen Emma floating bridge, the Nena Sanchez Gallery, enjoyed lunch at a sidewalk cafe, and got in some shopping. A cruise ship was in port, so the town was buzzing with tourist.
We packed a picnic lunch another day and headed to Playa Lagun, for a day of relaxing at the beach and some snorkeling. We found a shady spot, rented two recliners and had a great day.
Andreas, the manager of the apartments, dropped by one afternoon with a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the New Year. We grilled steaks that night and set our alarm to watch the local fireworks display off the balcony. We popped the cork on the bottle and toasted the New Year on Curacao..."Happy New Year"!
Our last evening on Curacao we went back to Sol Food for a beautiful sunset and some more great pizza.....turned out everyone staying at All West was there. Sunshine surprised me with ice cream and a brownie, plus she got everyone to sing "Happy Birthday"!
We packed that night and prepared to head home after two great weeks in the Caribbean. The airport in Aruba was crazy, long lines, with tightened security, but we arrived home safe and sound.

Christmas in Aruba!

We arrived in Aruba on December 19 after a direct flight on Continental. We waited for over an hour for our luggage, but it finally all arrived. We loaded up our Kia rental car and headed to Sunset Beach Studios. That night we decided to eat at Smokey Joe's and then turn in early after a long day of travel. The next morning we made a grocery run to Ling and Sons for supplies and settled into our apartment. Monday morning I was up early since I had two boat dives booked with JADS. We had some current and visibility wasn't the best, but we did an awesome plane wreck dive, I even had a chance to make my way into the cockpit. The next day we dove the wreck of the Jane Sea with the stern sitting at about 80 feet, it was encrusted with sponges and corals. Since we had brought our own meat, Dale enjoyed grilling almost every night on the patio. Good old home cooking!!! On Christmas Eve we had dinner reservations at Madame Janette's, a wonderful Dutch restaurant on the island, our meal was fantastic and we left stuffed.
We made trips to Baby Beach, Mango Halto, Alta Vista, JADS dive shop, and found a new spot called, Dos Playas. Aruba is growing and new construction could be seen, hope our little island doesn't change to much. After Christmas we went to Ling and Sons for some "Oliebollens" a Dutch treat that translates to "Oily Balls"...they bring good luck!
Our friends, Steve and Mary showed up and we enjoyed dinner with them on Christmas on our patio. It was good to see them, it has been to long! We also met some wonderful people from Holland and Canada during our stay.
Soon it was time to pack and head to Curacao, our stay in Aruba was over. We were up early on the morning of December 26 for our 9 am flight on DAE to Curacao...the next part of our adventure.

Snow today in Victoria

Oh the weather outside is frightful,

But the fire is so delightful,

And since we've no place to go,

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!