Short Trip to the Boats

Donna and I spent a few days early last week in Bossier City, LA, at the Horseshoe Casino. Not much to write about, as we've posted entries about such trips so many times in the past.

On our way over, we detoured through a couple of Army Corp of Engineer parks on Lake Whitney. We always enjoy scouting out possible camping locations just in case we ever decide to get another RV. On the west side of Lake Whitney on Texas 22 -- just before crossing the dam -- we pulled into Soldiers Bluff Park. However, there really isn't anything there for RVs, so we crossed the dam and then pulled into Lofers Bend Park. This is a fairly nice little park, with campsites providing good views of the lake. I did not see full hookups, but there appear to be plenty of water and electric sites. We stopped so that I could take a few pics of the lake.

This is a panoramic view of the west shore of Lake Whitney just north of the dam.

Lake Whitney dam, which serves as the roadway for Highway 22.

I don't know what this castle-like structure is, but you can also see it at the left of the top picture above. Notice the limestone cliffs, which line much of the western shore in this area.

Another shot of the limestone cliffs. The house at far left gives some perspective as to the height of the cliffs.

We only made it as far as Tyler the first day, so we enjoyed some pretty good Mexican food at Papacitas on South Broadway and then retired to our room. We are learning to travel at a more leisurely pace, and that is difficult for me. In the past, I always woke up early and ready to jump in the car and take off. Now we take our time, have leisurely breakfasts, and usually don't get on the road until 9:00 or so. We also don't travel as far each day, but we seem to be enjoying the trips more.

We decided to stay off I-20 on the second day of our trip and headed east through Henderson and Carthage. It was a bit chilly, and it had rained some during the night. We got into several areas of light rain as we headed east. Just east of Carthage on US 79 I pulled in to the Jim Reeves Memorial. I had seen the place numerous times in the past, but had never taken the time to stop. It's a nice little memorial. If you are a fan, the link above is rather informative.

Approach to the memorial crosses a guitar-shaped section of sidewalk.

Close up of the guitar section of the sidewalk.

Close up of the memorial.

The second day at the Horseshoe, we made a brief visit across the river to Shreveport and stopped in at the Eldorado and Sam's Town. We always check these casinos, hoping they have added some good games. As usual, though, nothing much has changed. The good days of video poker are fading fast. When we recrossed the river, we stopped in at the Louisiana Boardwalk. We both wanted some shoes and Donna was looking for some perfume as well. The old girl managed to find a nice pair of shoes, but that is all we got. It was still a bit cool as we walked around the Boardwalk.

Besides the small bit of shopping and gambling, we had some nice meals. When we first arrived in Shreveport, we stopped in at Carrabba's Italian Grill. Our meal was nice enough, but for my tastes, I'd just as soon go to Olive Garden or our very own local Napoli's in San Angelo. I found their prices to be high as well in comparison to other Italian places we visit. But the food was very decent, and we left satisfied. Of course, we had to visit Ralph and Kacoo's, our normal stop in Bossier City for good Cajun style food. I like everything about this place, and their lunch menu is outstanding. Our final meal in the area was the buffet at the 'Shoe, where Donna ate her weight in boiled shrimp and mussels. My favorite dish there is the bread pudding. Wow!

Believe it or not, my favorite meal of the entire trip was at Chicken Express in Brownwood on our way home. I just enjoy good simple food at a good price. I'm much more satisfied when I know I'm paying a fair price and getting my money's worth.

As always, it was good to get back home.

Autumn Has Arrived

Donna and I have been gone for several days; I'll post more about that in a few days. In our absence, autumn made a short appearance and has returned again this morning.

We left last Sunday. As I understand, a brief and semi cool spell snuck in that night. This morning, though, autumn really moved into the area, but its stay will be very brief. I am writing this at 9:49 on October 11. It is currently 43 degrees and very overcast. Rain began falling just before 6:00 this morning, and so far we've had slightly more than half an inch; that's a good amount for us.

Unfortunately, temperatures will be back into the 90s soon, perhaps as early as Sunday. I'm not fond of truly cold weather, but I do like a nip in the air. Regardless, we'll enjoy this brief respite from the heat while we can.

I always like to include a picture in my entries. This one has nothing to do with what is written above, but I like it. I took it last Saturday at our weekly bingo session. The Halloween decorations are up. This is the main room of our clubhouse. If you look carefully -- those of you who know us personally -- you can see Donna in the left side of the picture, sitting at our regular table.

Bingo at the Oak Tree Clubhouse

Will Autumn Ever Arrive?

It still feels like summer out here. Daily highs continue to reach well into the 90s, but we have had a few cloudy days. There is a small chance of rain each day as well, but never more than a 20% chance. We have not had any rainfall at all. Our entire area is now in the "Extreme" drought designated area.

I wish we could get some rain, but I do love our beautiful skies with their cotton ball clouds.

I don't know what is going on with the hummingbirds, but those little rascals are active. For the past few days, we've seen no fewer than 6 hummers each time we sit on the back patio, and those little fellows are buzzing and darting about everywhere. They've even come zooming between Donna and me on a couple of occasions. Well, we need to enjoy them while we can because they won't be here much longer.

The bur oak tree in our front yard is simply loaded with huge acorns. Each year, we gather them and strew them about the back yard to attract the deer. They come into the yard during the night and have a feast. This year, it looks as though the squirrels have discovered our acorn crop. There is a pile of acorn debris in the front yard at the base of the tree, as if a squirrel sits in the nook and enjoys his meal with remains falling below. If you've never seen an acorn from a bur oak, they are quite large. In an entry posted almost a year ago, I provided a picture to demonstrate how much larger they are than regular acorns. See "Those Are Some Big Acorns" if you are interested.

A partial limb from our bur oak, with several acorns visible.

Average size bur oak acorns with my hand as a point of comparison for size.

Donna and I went to the movies the other day. We saw the newest Brad Pitt movie, Ad Astra. It's an enjoyable movie, but I felt there were some gaps in places. It sort of reminded me of a space age version of Apocalypse Now. Pitt plays a character who parallels the Martin Sheen character in the earlier movie. He sets out to find his father (played by Tommy Lee Jones), an astronaut who has gone rogue -- like Martin Brando went rogue in the earlier movie --  and is hanging around Neptune causing problems. The movie shows an interesting view of what future space travel may well be like. It's a movie worth watching if you enjoy sci-fi movies.

During a recent drive through Spring Creek Park at Lake Nasworthy, we noticed these turkeys.

Close up of turkeys from above picture

Black squirrel near turkeys. These little rascals are all over the park. Many are much darker. 

After the movie, we went to Red Lobster for their shrimp fest. I tried to keep up with Donna, but when she ordered her third helping of shrimp, I had to throw in the towel. I simply don't know where the little thing puts all that food, but she puts it somewhere. I was a bit embarrassed when folks started taking pictures and videos of her.

A Short Trip

You know how restless Donna and I can be. We needed to get out of town for a few days, so we put together a short little 2 night trip.

The center piece of our trip was a visit to see some of Donna's family. On Monday, we made a leisurely trip over to Georgetown, where we spent the night. For some time now I have been curious about Sun City by Del Webb, an "active retirement" community just outside of Georgetown. So we made a run through that community, but quickly ruled it out as someplace we would like to live. To be honest, I don't think I want to live within 100 miles of Austin, and that is a shame. At one time, the Austin area was our favorite area of the state. But that country has been ruined by simply too many people moving there.

But I digress . . .

As we circled around the 2 car accident blocking Williams Drive and headed into Georgetown, we made our way to Plaka Greek Cafe. We really enjoy Mediterranean cuisine and were hoping this place would be good. We were fairly happy with our meal. The gyro was pretty good, and we enjoyed the Greek style meatball, which we had never had before. There was plenty of food; I was unable to clean my plate. But we also agreed that we have experienced better Greek food on many occasions. Would we go back? Probably.

On Tuesday, we visited Donna's family in the general area. We had a good visit, a very good lunch, and then said our goodbyes. We headed south from there. Donna wanted to do some shopping at the outlet malls in San Marcos. We checked into a hotel near the malls, then spent the evening shopping. Donna really enjoys the Vanity Fair outlet store, while I always pick up slacks at the Haggar store.

On Wednesday, we took our time coming home. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel, then headed west, eager to get away from the heavily populated Austin area. Since we had the entire day for a 200 mile trip, we decided to take things slow and easy. We picked up FM 32 west of San Marcos, which we followed to Blanco. Along the way, we stopped at a roadside park and enjoyed the view from atop the Devil's Backbone, a limestone ridge that runs through the area.

View north from overlook along Devil's Backbone. People have taken to decorating the chain link fence with trinkets for some reason. There is a legend that the Devil's Backbone is haunted. Perhaps this is why.

At Blanco, we headed west on FM 1623 and followed the Blanco River through some lovely country. Where 1623 turns sharply north, we continued west on FM 1888. Eventually, the highway turns northwest, pulling away from the river. We then took FM 1376 north, then detoured briefly through downtown Luckenback where I snapped a few pictures.

The Blanco River. Photo taken from low water crossing over Crabapple Road just off FM 1888.

Old Engel family house near downtown Luckenback

Downtown Luckenback

Downtown Luckenback

Old post office, the heart of Luckenback

We stopped for gas and coffee in Fredericksburg, vowing that we had to return soon. It has been a while since we've been there. This old German town is home to some of our favorite watering holes, and they are calling to us. Well, they're calling to Donna, and I just like to follow the old girl around. That's what I do -- try to keep up with Miss Donna.

From Fredericksburg, we head north on US 87 to Mason. Just north of town, we turned west on Texas 29 and made our way to Menard. We detoured through the downtown area, then took the low water crossing over the San Saba River. From Menard, we headed north to Eden, then west to San Angelo and home.

San Saba River as it runs east about a block or so north of downtown Menard. The headwaters of the San Saba are about 25 or so miles west of here. That is the US 83 bridge in the background.

Old growth pecan trees along San Saba.

It was good to get away, if only for 2 nights. So, now it is back to the maps and planning for the next trip.

Still Hot and Dry

I had hoped with the approach of the official start date of autumn that the heat would begin to fade away and a few rains would appear. That has not happened so far. We have even had some more triple digit temperatures recently, and every day has been above 95. The nights are not even cooling off. Pastures are brown with the lack of rainfall. It's a bit depressing, to say the least.

Then there's the upper Texas Gulf coast. Tropical depression Imelda (or however it is classified when you read this) has certainly been a strange one. It more or less just appeared out of nowhere it seems. And then, unlike normal tropical storms with high winds, this is mostly just heavy rain. Those poor folks were just about to get over Harvey when this thing moved in. I wish we could relieve them of some of their rain; it would certainly help all of us out. If I lived in that area, I think I would seriously consider a move inland some place.

Not much is going on with Donna and Keith these days. The old woman has added a new game day over at the club house, so now she is going 3 or 4 days each week. It certainly is peaceful around the house when she is gone. This week, she spent an afternoon fishing, so I got a bonus day of peace and quiet.

For right now, there just isn't anything else worth mentioning. We basically are just waiting for cooler weather to come along so we can make a trip somewhere.

It's Getting Buggy Out Here

We've been having a lot of little critters around the house lately. Most of the time, we don't mind our little visitors, but some of them are not welcome at all.

Since we moved in 3+ years ago, we've battled scorpions. The house is treated every 3 months or so, but those little rascals keep showing up. We have traps set up around the house, and sometimes they do get caught in those. More often than not, though, they just appear somewhere in the house, usually after a treatment. The sprayings just tend to stir them up, it seems.

This is one of the traps we have set around the interior of the house. It comes as a flat panel, and after detaching the cover from the sticky surface, we fold it into a box with open ends.

This trap caught a little scorpion. 

The other day, we discovered a large black moth on the bricks above our front door. It was probably 6 inches or so from wing tip to wing tip. It may have been a black witch moth, which some people believe is an omen of illness or even death. We left the little fellow alone, but he is mighty pretty.

From the center of the grout on one side of the brick to the center of the grout on the other side is 3 inches. So the wing span on this moth approaches 6 inches or so.

While sitting on the back patio the other day, Donna discovered a little friend on the rocker next to her. All of these little critters just follow her around, especially grasshoppers. But this little fellow was a walking stick. Donna took the fly swatter and gently moved him into the yard. 

Donna is trying to get her little friend on the fly swatter to move him into the yard.

Success!

No Triple Digits in the Forecast

My forever young wife enjoyed another birthday this week. I wish I could tell you how old Donna is, but I don't know because I can't count that high. How did we ever get this old? Seems like just a short time ago that we were young and excited about our futures. My brother had a birthday last week, and I have one next week. I'm aging much faster than Donna, no doubt about it. I'm amazed at her energy and zest for life. I simply can't keep up; I often think I'm holding her back.

Donna and I were watching one of our local stations a few mornings ago. As we watched the weather forecast, I remarked to her that this was the first forecast we had seen in a couple of months that did not include triple digit temps. Perhaps we've turned a corner and are heading for a cool down. I certainly hope so.

It is so very dry out here. Because of the good rains earlier in the year, we have some pretty tall grass across the countryside. Those are some dangerous fire conditions. We've had a number of small grass fires all over the Concho Valley. None have developed into something like you see on the national news, but it is a constant battle to keep them under control.

As we were sitting in the den last night, we heard the wind pick up. That's not unusual at all, but this time the wind had a different sound to it. I walked over to the window to investigate and was surprised to see rain pouring down. We stepped out on the back patio, but the wind was blowing the rain into us, so we couldn't stay long. We managed to get half an inch. What a blessing! We really needed that.

Nice rainbow. Nice rain. Nice.

North end of the rainbow.

Have you heard about the new crop of "meatless" meats on the market? I have seen several news stories the past month or so about these new products. All the reporters who sample the products all report that the new meats taste just like real meat.

Well, Donna and I decided to sample an Impossible Whopper at one of our Burger Kings recently. Now, I'm not a big Burger King fan; there are several other places I'd rather get a burger. We do visit a Burger King every year or two, though, and there are some things we like about the place. Their new "Impossible Whopper" is meatless and consists "mostly [of] soy protein, potato protein, coconut oil, sunflower oil, and heme."

So, what did Donna and I think of the burger? Well, we'll stick with real burgers for a while longer, I guess. We could tell the difference. I must admit, though, that the texture and appearance were good. But there's this taste that definitely isn't like the real thing. We keep hoping a good product will emerge, and I'm sure one will in the future. but for now, we'll keep eating real beef.

We really don't eat a lot of meat in our household. We've always leaned heavily towards vegetables and dairy products. In fact, while in high school, our daughter was completely vegetarian for a couple of years. Her mother and I never made the total conversion, but we were close, and we certainly encouraged Courtney's efforts.

For now, I think I'll make a trip down to our local Whataburger . . . .

Things are pretty quiet around here right now. The kids are all back in school, and I like that. We've made a couple of trips out to Lake Nasworthy, and the crowds have certainly cleared out. Things are back to normal.

I'll leave you with some pictures of purple sage I've snapped around town. Their colors have really been vibrant lately.

Beautiful purple sage in the parking lot of one of our Walmarts.

Purple sage at a local eatery.