Thanksgiving Weekend 2011

Waiting for the work day to be over then home to hitch up and go.  I created this link to see if I could post from the phone. 

Out the gate and on the road

Always try to take a parting shot to post on FB so my children and friends know I'm heading out.  We got in about 5:30 PM.  Settled in for the night.



Campsite with Canel in the background



Thanksgiving Morning we put up the R-Dome the dy was forcasted to be in the Mid 80's, the dome was a perfect place to relax and watch the ships go by.





Seating by the Canal watching the ships go by.



 

Christ Statue with Podtefly in the background.

 We only brought one Tricycle with us, on this trip.  Myra rode and I dogs and I walked around the RV park and Beach. 

 Thanksgiving evening was un eventfull, we had a simple dinner and watched a movie.

For some reason I woke before dawn Friday and walk to the beach, not more than a half a block from where we were camped.  These are a few pictures of the sunrise.



Believe it or not right after I took there pictures the beach was FULL of walkers and joggers.

Rather be watching the sunrise then at the stores on Black Friday.

 

Site seeing was on the menu for Friday.   We drove up and down the main drag, went on a ECO Dophin Watch cruise, had a Fanastic Dinner at ShrimpHaus and few kites off the canal in the evening.



ECO and Dophin Watch tour..Pirate Ship in the Background.





Podterfly Campsite taken from Dophin Watch Ship



 

Dophins in the Wild











The weather was Great on Friday, rain and wind were forecast for Saturday AM, so we took the R-dome down late that evening.   The skys were very clear due to the incomming front, with few lights in the area the stars were very bright.   Myra had a great time kicked back in an antigravity chair using GoogleSky to see the planets.

Saturday we woke up late, went to a Christmas Mercado (Market), put on my local artists and did more shopping and Site Seeing at Port Isabel. 

We successfully dodged all the rain, did Xmas shopping around out the evening with dinner and a movie in the podterfly.

The cold front hit full force Saturday night...with 50mph wind gusts, almost considered getting out and hitching podterfly to the truck.  Myra crawled down from the top bunk and slept in the bottom with me, (less motion).

Sunday morning we still had very high winds, but wind adivsory advised the winds would be calming down as the day went on and as we traveled north.  We took our time and stop a couple of places for pictures.



Everything is bigger in Texas including the SeaHorses :)



Myra at entrance.



Stopped at BOBZ World for a Snack and Photo Op.

  

Just Sharking around



Hey surfer Dude







Islander Surfering off Volocano onto Podterfly..Yippee



Podterfly playing with Dolphins



Great Bearer Reef.



We arrived home about 5:30 pm the winds were calm.  End of a Wonderful weekend.











Third Annual Texas R-Pod Round Up Oct 2011

Arrived early afternoon at Inks Lake State Park.  Having made my reservations 6 months ago, was looking forward to Camping with other R-Podders; upon checking in at the HQ I discover a major flaw in the reservation system !@#$...deleted.!@#$...!!! no wonder they are having trouble keeping parks open.

View from Podterfly's Campsite.

Friday was set-up, and a grilled dinner! We had 5 Rpod's (Podterfly, Foxy Pod, Harry Podder, WinePod and Paul's Pod) in attendance and a Zinger {previous podder}.  There was even a Pod for Ribirto.

  



Saturday was relaxation, exploring the park, and Pot Luck Dinner.

Dinner ended with a thunderstorm and lightning; next morning poles were 6 inches deeper in the ground than when the Dome was set up.

Sunday Myra and I took advantage of the nicer weather and cruised the lake. 

(These pictures are from a very nice lady who posted them on FB for us.)






View of the campsite from the Lake






Sunday afternoon we went to Llano, TX for BBQ

On the way back on Hwy 29 we found this unique picnic area.   Had to  stop and look. 





.

Well, I'd like to say this was the WHOLE GANG, but WinePod (Bill and Marie)  had to be at work Sunday night.  Looking forward to the Next Texas Roundup...Spring Anyone?  



Great trip with a rough start.  Oh, BYW it took me 10 hours for the 6 hour drive home...Got trapped at Ikea for several hours and then also stopped at Campworld..New Models are coming.





Corpus Christi Tx to Argyle WI, return Via Chicago New Orleans

My plans for Labor Day were much different then what actually happen.  My   Plan was to spend the weekend at Perndales Falls State Park.  My brother who lives in WI had a terrible accident with a backhoe and nearly lost his life.   My younger daughter Blythe (21) and I decided we would make the trip to see family and also have some mother daughter time. Blythe has just learn to drive standard and has never towed anything so the driving was up to me, she was navigator.

Here is our route, the first leg of the trip took us to Omaha to visit friends, we had to detour because of flooding around the Mississippi River which added an extra 150 miles.  We only stayed a night and part of a day because we were in a hurry to get to WI.  Unfortunately all the pictures taken on this part of the trip were lost due to techical problems.

This is the old homestead for the family, (I only lived here a short time before moving on).





Old Homestead in WI







Piggly Wiggly





Fallen Tree became Flying Angel



After we visited my brother in the Hosptial, we did a little site seeing.

How different from the H.E.B. food chain we are use to.








New Glarus, WI




New Glarus, WI Visitor Welcome are Grass Design



Such a contrast to the drought area in South Texas.  The green almost hurts your eyes.




New Glarus is a wonderful little town, mainly of Swiss heritage and they maintain many old customs such as yodeling contests, polka dancing and GREAT BEER.


My brother is a miracle man, before we left the hosptial had sent him home to recoup, even though his road to recoverly will be a long one, his prognsis is good.

Next Stop Chicago we stayed out the outskirts and took the train into downtown.  Blythe had not been on a computer train and it had been a long time since I was.   In lived in Chicago from birth to 1972, and site seeing was very nostalgic for me.  We stopped at old haunts and new places.





Union Station Chicago





PICASSO Chicago



Reflection in ATT Cloud- Chicago

Second Day we road in so that Blythe could see what REAL TRAFFIC was like.  Visited my old HighSchool, I did not remember I was a WILDCAT, no A/C schools back then and you could here the crowd roar from Wrigley Field when there was a hit. 



My Highschool for Freshman and Sophmore years.





Home of the Cubs of Course





1/2 a block from Wrigley Field, Third floor street front window was my room..

Sometime after the family moved to WI, Wrigley Field had lights installed and night games.  The whole street became a series of Sports Bars, Night Clubs and Resturants.  We had a Lucky's special for lunch, "corn beef, swiss cheese, oinions and fries"



Lucky's across the Street from the old house



More story and pictures to come, still organizing pics...ran out of time for today.

Lake Michigan on a Windy day in the Windy City.

Memphis KOA in the Morning

Next to office at Memphis KOA

Entering LA

Wonderful see food New Orleans