Last day at Castaways

We've been staying at the Castaways RV Resort near Willis TX. This is our last day here, as we travel to Rockport tomorrow.

I caught this home made RV trailer as it was leaving the park...it kind of looks like a log cabin on wheels...well, with A/C.

It rained through the night last night, and today has been chilly and overcast. We got some shopping done in Conroe and had a late lunch at Panera.

Nothing too exciting...tonight we will do some prepacking for our departure, and maybe catch some of the Monday Night Hoopla, 9-0 Saints hosting the Patriots. If Wes Welker gets 13 or more fantasy points my team won't win.

Turkey!!!

As I mentioned yesterday, we ate Italian in Houston. Today Ellen fixed a traditional Turkey dinner!!!! A day late was fine with me...mmmmm....turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and rolls. And did mention she also baked a pumpkin pie??? Everything was delicious, and boy, do we have leftovers even though I tried to eat as much as possible!

I spent a lot of the afternoon carving, and that felt really good. It clouded up and kind of cooled off, but I stayed out there and did as much as I could. We had a little happy hour with two of our neighbors; Don from North Dakota and Bill from Williamsport, PA. Don popped some popcorn, and we had a nice little chat. Their wives both were not feeling up to it, so it was just the four of us.

I think I might go and fix some leftover turkey and dressing........

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Thankful for ever so many things in my lifetime, I enjoyed this day in humility and gratitude for the freedoms to numerous to mention that I so often take for granted. Coffee in the morning, reading the Houston Chronicle, and realizing that the kazillion pages of ads and doorbuster inserts meant nothing to us. We just don't shop, at least the way we used to. We just can't fit anything else in our RV!!!

I also enjoyed spending the day with Ellen, driving to Houston to visit Oscar, Ellen's foreign exchange student from the mid-1990's. Oscar is from Bogota Colombia, but now resides near Rice University in Houston with is wife Patty and 6 week-old daughter Tatiana. We had a great visit, with a great lunch at Buca de Beppo (fantastic Italian food), walking distance from their apartment.

Oscar and Patty are a delightful couple, and Tatiana is a beautiful baby. We spent quite a bit of time sharing, and also managed a Skype video call to Matt and Nohora in Medellin Colombia, Matt caught up with Oscar, and he too got to meet Patty and Tatiana. Finally, Oscar gave Ellen and I an auto tour of Houston, the university area, the sprawling medical complexes, downtown and the Galleria--the central city mall. Houston has obviously grown a great deal in recent years with many new and impressive buildings....traffic, however, is something else. It was a good day out--and the Packers won!!!

We hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday!

Shopping and Poker

Wednesday, Nov. 25: Thanksgiving eve

This morning Ellen fixed a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs, after that it was leftovers the rest of the day. That is one thing about RVing--the fridge isn't big enough to keep more than a couple of days of leftovers.

Then we went into Conroe, braving the traffic on I45--bumper to bumper at times, especially northbound on our way home. We did some relatively early Christmas shopping and were pleased to find some of those 'perfect' gifts. It was a beautiful bright sunny day,not really warm but very comfortable.

I took a major nap in the late afternoon--two hours' worth! In time enough to head for Texas Hold'em at the clubhouse. Not much like our old poker group, as the buy in was $1.00, no alcohol, and 24 folks vying for the money. Met some really nice folks, and had a good time, even though I only finished 11th. Oh, another difference from our old FD group--the timer was religiously set and followed on upping the blinds.

Willis, Texas

We pitched camp at the Castaways RV Park on Lake Conroe, Texas this afternoon after a pleasant drive from our overnight at Grand Coushatta Casino. Ellen drove almost half the way here, and I must say it is so great to be able to be a passenger.

Ellen is an awesome driver. She did get excited as we were on the 210 beltway around the south side of Lake Charles, LA. As we approached a huge turning bridge, the roadway was lost in fog and mist on the river. She didn't think it funny when I told her that at least you can't see the what's down below...it was like a bridge over the clouds.

We decided to get off the interstate system at Beaumont, and we were treated to a bevy of abandoned and ramshackle buildings all along Texas Highway 321. It was saddening to see so many examples of failed human activity. Oh, not all of the homes were empty either. It is so different to see junk and crap strewn all over the yard, or wherever it broke, compared to the tidy neatness of the Midwest.

We are mellowing out, planning on watching who wins Dancing With The Stars tonight...we're plugging for Donnie Osmond.

A KINDER PLACE

Kinder, Louisiana that is. We left Abita Springs this morning, hitting a Camping World in Hammond, LA to pick up some RV stuff. We had a picnic lunch at the Achalafaya (swamp) Welcome Center. Beautiful sunny day, and we got to use the one picnic table there. The swamp looks a lot better than the last time through here (2007) when it was raining buckets. We saw a lot of egrets, Ellen saw an alligator.

We rumbled west and then north to Kinder. A huge casino here and a nice RV Park ...they call it a 'premiere RV park'. Concrete sites, grass between, nice little lake, and quiet...far from the road and the casino parking lot...all for only $17.00 for a full hook up.

The Grand Coushatta Casino will lay claim to some of our money tonight, but I plan on getting some of the gambling losses back on the buffet. Ellen might win at blackjack---she is the lucky one in the family. I'm lucky to be with her, but that doesn't translate into gambling wins.

Abita Springs,Louisiana

We are at an RV Park of the same name as the title of this post. Nice park, friendly people. We are about 45 minutes north of New Orleans, and we were able to spend one day in the French Quarter.

Met new friends, George and Suzie, from Ontario---really nice folks. George is the catalyst for this new start of blogging. Also Jon and Angelo, from Lafayette, LA. Two great guys, getting ready to full time in their Cardinal 5th wheel. All 6 of us had a nice outing this week to the Abita Brewery, just down the road. The brewery is growing at a good pace, and with the open bar before and after the tour, I found I liked beer more than I thought!

A NEW BLOG SITE, A NEW BEGINNING

After messing with the Google Blog Site, and not being able to access the 'new post' page, I have gone ahead and started a new blog site. Hopefully this is a good move. I am hoping to gain a readership of sorts, perhaps those who may be interested in where we are and what we are doing.

I also hope to try and post every day, however short it may be! That may help too, because in the past I did not keep up with our travels and activities. After well over a year I managed only about 100 posts. I hope to do better starting today!!!