Finally, Some Rain

The good weather folks at our media outlets finally delivered on predictions of rain. They had predicted rain for several weeks, but all we ever got was a heavy dew. On Tuesday night, though, they gave us almost an inch of rain, bringing our total to just under 1½ inches for 2019. It's amazing what a good rain will do for grass and plants.

It was quite foggy Tuesday morning. This is a view from my back patio looking towards the clubhouse, whose outline is barely discernible.

As a contrast, this is our normal view of the clubhouse, so you can see just how thick the fog was earlier in the week.

Our temps are still not living up to the averages for this time of year, but they aren't that far off. But when it's 60 degrees outside and the wind is blowing 50+ miles an hour, it is a bit chilly. And yes, we did get winds of that speed earlier in the week. I got out late Tuesday and secured all of our belongings on the front and back porches to make sure they didn't blow away, and I'm glad I did. Poor little Junction, a small town about 100 miles south/southeast of here, was hit by not 1 but 2 tornadoes on that night, with quite a bit of damage. A year or so ago, that same time suffered through some severe flooding and loss of life. I hope their hard times are over.

Daughter Courtney and sons came Tuesday and left Wednesday. She stopped at Rosa's on her way in and picked up a tribe size order of beef fajitas. The flavoring on Rosa's fajitas is the best I've ever enjoyed. Not everyone may agree with me, but Donna, Court, and all of her family agree. We had a good feast. Hard to believe that oldest grandson Xander is about to complete his sophomore year.

The sunrise on Friday was quite pretty. I never tire of a West Texas sunrise or sunset.

We finished our taxes this week. Always good to get that in our rear view mirror. I was also able to get back to the gym this week after suffering through back pain last week. Boy, it is so good to work out. When Donna and I have to miss for any reason, we feel so guilty. It's like we are missing something important in our lives -- and we are.

We attended the birthday dinner at the clubhouse this past Thursday. Once a month we have a birthday dinner, and we bring in some entertainment. It's a pleasant way to spend the evening. Now that we've lived here almost 3 years, we know quite a few people in our community, so we enjoy visiting with everyone. It reminds me of my life growing up in a small town.

We tried a couple of new restaurants this week. Newk's Eatery opened recently. It is an offshoot of McAlister's Deli. The menu looks pretty interesting. Donna and I both paired a sandwich with soup so that we could sample a couple of items. Donna had the Farmer's Market Sandwich while I tried the Pesto Chicken Sandwich. For soup, Donna tried the Chicken Tortilla while I sampled the Lobster and Crab Bisque. I think Donna enjoyed her selections more than I did. The bill was quite high for deli fare, so I don't know that I'll go back as there are better deals around town. For example, a nice dinner for us at our current favorite restaurant -- Napoli's -- costs us only two-thirds what a meal at Newk's costs, and that includes gratuity. So, if I have to choose, I'll pick Napoli's EVERY time.

On Friday, we tried the new Bush's Chicken. We really enjoy the Chicken Express chain. The local Chicken Express is near our home, but we thought we should give Bush's a try. Their menu is similar to Chicken Express, so we thought we might like it. And we did. I think we still prefer Chicken Express, but if we happen to want chicken while we are in that part of town, we won't hesitate to go to Bush's.

After our lunch at Bush's, we made a drive through the state park to see if many spring break folks were camping. Quite a few of the sites were occupied, including a couple of tenters despite the cool weather. Nice to see folks getting outside.

Part of the park's bison herd was along the main park road. Always good to see them out and about.

The rain seems to have brought out some wildflowers. This was also taken at the park.

We attended the Rio Concho West Committee meeting Friday morning. Although we are not committee members, we try to attend these meetings when we can just to keep up with what is happening in our community. We finished the week with another heated session of Geezer Bingo.