Tis Texas Time

Our stay in Robert, LA was at a Yogi Bear Campground.  The past weekend was full of activities for young and old alike.  In the morning they had the raising of the flag which was  
performed by Yogi Bear and friends.  These characters not only performed the flag raising but provided some entertainment with their antics - well done.

This past week has been spent in  the state of Texas. First stop was at Willis, TX which is about an hour north of Houston.  Our plan was to take a drive into Houston and see some of the sights.  That was a great plan until, when talking to others we found that the drive would likely take us over two hours each way because of the holiday traffic so we quickly nixed that plan.  Instead we drove into the town of Willis to pick up some groceries.  When crossing the interstate, the traffic was bumper to bumper for as far as we could see in either direction.  Good choice to stay home and relax.  We had a thunderstorm one night - hard to believe that we got about half inch of rain when the rain consisted of three or four short cloudbursts.  But when those clouds burst, did it ever come down.  A couple of days later when we went to leave, I pulled in the slide, and Gerry found out that yes, water does stay on top of the awnings over the slide for quite some time - he got a bath!!

It's time to move on so we went to Bandera, TX - about an hour from San Antonio (or as some locals say - San Antone).  We took smaller arterial highways in order to avoid freeway traffic and what a great drive.  Unfortunately, it was cloudy with showers, because it was very scenic.  We are now in Hill Country, and it is a very pretty area.  Today we took a drive into the city - good choice as very little traffic and we even found parking downtown for $10.00 for the day as opposed to the typical $20.00+.  We went down to the site of the Alamo which is well preserved and quite a large area.  The live demonstrations were well done and very enjoyable.  It is too bad that we are not history buffs as there is so much history in that area.  And the River Walk was terrific.  A brief description, as per Wikipedia, is  "The San Antonio River Walk is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, one story beneath the streets of San Antonio".  There is great landscaping along the riverfront which is mostly lined with cafes and shops, but what fun to stroll along.  We even took a boat tour along the river where we learned some of the history of the River Walk.

We are currently camped near Medina Lake which is near the town of Bandera which is claimed to be the cowboy capital of the world.  In the next day or so we will tour the town and surrounding area as it looks very interesting.


I went in to buy a cowboy but they

were out.  Hoped to have some more

in on Monday - stay tuned!

Now this week hasn't just been one of fun and relaxation - we did do some chores.  The windows got washed, the carpet got shampooed as did the upholstery.   Then it was time to relax.

Have a great week and we'll back next weekend.  In the meantime, I am going to try to add some more pictures in some different formats.  If it works, you may see a change in this post during the week,  and if it doesn't, it will just be the same old one.

Down to Louisiana

We have just visited the three B's - Broadway Avenue in Nashville, Beale Street in Memphis, and Bourbon Street in New Orleans.  What a variety of music and people.

We left Paris Landing State Park and headed down to Memphis.  Memphis has Beale Street which is "Home of the Blues".  There weren't a lot of crowds and we didn't hear a lot of live music; however, the live music mostly didn't start until 8 or later as opposed to Nashville, where the music seemed to go all afternoon and into the night.  It is also known as the birthplace of Rock and Roll.  This explains the bars owned by Jerry Lee Lewis and B.B. King.

And one can not help but notice the influence of Elvis Presley and his music.  I don't think there is an entertainer anywhere that still has the following as he does.  And the remembrance, archives, museums, and the souvenirs is like no other.  Of course we did all the tours - his mansion and the grounds, car museum, his two airplanes, and anything else that was part of the complex.  As part of the mansion tour, it is self-guided with the use of mini ipads.  Each person is given an ipad and a set of earphones, and it guides you through the various areas, gives you some history of it as well as video clips, music, and photographs.  The only part we could not access is the second floor where the bedrooms are located as family still stays there whenever they are in town.  It was all very well done.

On to New Orleans which took us a couple of days as we travelled down the backroads.  We are about an hour out of New Orleans so when we went down to the city, we made a full day of it.  We started out by taking a drive south of New Orleans  about halfway down the Mississippi Delta where we crossed the Mississippi River on a ferry.  It was a terrific drive and very interesting.  We were surprised at the number of people that lived along there, the number of farms that had cattle, and the fact that there were quite a number of citrus groves.  We bought some locally grown satsuma oranges that were delicious.  There also were a lot of ports and ships that seemed to be loading various cargo.

We had seen many houses that were built above ground but it seemed that anything new is built even higher.  There was a real variety - houses built on the ground,  some built on short posts, some on medium ones, and some on high posts.

The sights and sounds in the French Quarter are unique.  Many of the bars/restaurants had live music which was very loud.  The drinking laws are fairly liberal so many folks are walking around with a drink in hand.  Pedestrians filled the streets and the cars would dodge them as the streets were not closed.  Everyone was very loud, and there were many young females who chose to dress rather scantily.  The day was rather cool so I'm not sure what the attire would bring if it had been a warm evening.  Even young children were performing - mainly using plastic pails as drums and they were very good.

Another great week has come to an end.  I hope everyone had a good week and hope you stop by next week.