Nothing much going on today. We were going to Gainesville for my birthday dinner but Sam's doctor's office called and postponed his appointment for his treatment until later in the week so we decided to wait til then to eat out. No need to drive to Gainesville more than once a week - a 35 mile drive. Probably end up going Thursday or Friday this week.

Instead, Sam went to Walmart and got a small cake and some ice cream. Surprisingly, the cake was delicious! Then we settled in to watch Dancing with the Stars.

I did enjoy talking to all the kids and grand kids. We're planning on going up to Georgia for Thanksgiving and will be there about 2 weeks. Lots of time to visit and just relax.

The cold front came through last week and the temps are still in the high 40's at night, rising to near 80 during the day. Every day gets a little warmer. Luckily, it only rained about an hour but the wind did blow for several days. Hope it's not too cold in Georgia!

Here's a picture of our last sunset in Del Rio, Texas, in July, 2009.

Bridge separating Rio Grande River and Lake Amistad.

Less than 4 weeks to go

and we'll be out of here!

Nothing new to report. Just trying to keep cool (103!).

Sam has enough annual leave built up so that we are leaving 2 weeks early..........July 2 will be his last day to work. We're leaving July 3rd. Not a great time to be on the road but we can't just sit here and wait for the Holiday to be over.

Here's our son's (Scott) newest toy! They are all at Myrtle Beach this week! WHAaaaaaa!

Chocolate

My favorite chocolate fix........Texas Brownies

I'm trying this one on Sunday:

CROCKPOT CHOCOLATE MESS -

This fabulous, decadent chocolate pudding cake is made in your crockpot.
Prep Time: 20 minutes, Cook Time: 7 hours.

Ingredients:
·1 pkg. two layer chocolate cake mix
·3 oz. pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix
·4 eggs
·1 cup water
·2 cups sour cream
·3/4 cup vegetable oil
·3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
·1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
Preparation:
Spray a 4 quart crockpot with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix and pudding mix. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the water, then add the sour cream and oil and beat until smooth. Add to the dry ingredients and beat well. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour into crockpot. Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours, until top springs back when touched very lightly with finger. 8-10 servings

Nayyyyyyyyyybors......

Just down the road............

This one don't talk much.

Tex'ass

"Crafty" Me....

I found some pretty glass beads and decided to try my hand at making some bracelets. I had seen a couple of the ladies around the campground and got to talking to them. They used Memory Wire so no clasps were needed and they can be one-size-fits-all. It worked out pretty good and I will probably make some more when I get some more beads.

These are all glass beads. The white ones are Mother-of-Pearl and the silver scallops are good, heavy silver....not junk stuff.

My favorites are the large ovals on the red and gold bracelet. They look like little street maps on the inside.

NPS Uniform.....

Looks pretty good.

All the parts of Sam's uniforms finally arrived. He's had the pants, belts, boots and hats for a few weeks but the shirts just arrived this week. Guess it takes quite a while for them to sew S. Shepard on the front and attach the patches to the sleeves! And the coat he ordered while it was 40 degrees outside still has not arrived....(now that it's in the 80's)....guess he'll be saving that for next winter, if it ever comes in.

Tough job, but somebody's got to do it!

He came back!!!!

The Vermilion Flycatcher............

And my pictures are better than the one I got online. He was sitting on the satellite dish just outside the side window. He stayed there about 2 minutes and I was able to get several shots with the zoom lens. Probably the prettiest bird I've ever seen!

So cute....looking right at me!

A masked bandito!

Lessor Goldfinch.....

Back on 2-9-09, I spied this little yellow bird across the road. Someone had washed their car and the birds had a field day splashing around in the puddles. I took the pictures from inside the camper, through the window. They turned out pretty good and when I zoomed in, I was able to identify the Lessor Goldfinch. It is identical to the picture in my bird book. These guys are not found in the southern states, just the southwestern states from Texas westward.

In the first picture you can see another bird's head in the foreground. The Lessor Goldfinch is looking toward the camera and has the black eyes and forehead.

In this picture, his back is toward the camera and you can clearly see the black and white design on the wings and back.

Another one to mark off my Birder's Life List.

Nothing new around here....

There is just not much to do during the day when Sam is at work. He's working now Sunday through Thursday, 7 am to 3:30 pm.

My usual day, Monday - Thursday, consists of the following: sleep until about 8 am; get a cup of coffee and return to bed (with coffee) to watch The Waltons on Hallmark channel; get up at 9 and open shades to let the sun warm up the camper (it's usually 40's or low 50's in the morning); Watch Rachael Ray at 9 on ABC while having breakfast (usually Honey Nut Cheerios and Skim milk); 10 am on Tuesday is Ladies Coffee in the Rec Hall for about an hour +; other days I just go online and check email and read blogs; watch cooking shows on Food Network beginning about 11 am; lunch at 12 noon. By afternoon it's much warmer so if the WIND isn't blowing, I'll go outside and sit in the sun and read. I might walk a little or ride my bike a little. Once a month there is Ladies Day Out. Last Friday we had lunch at the Rec Hall. Three or four ladies brought crock pots of soup and everyone else brought salads or desserts. It was fun. Here's some pics of the food:

One or two days a week Sam will drop off the truck (when they go out in the morning in the Work Truck) and I'll go to Wal Mart. There is a couple near us, Betty and Bill, in a motor home with no other car so Betty will go with me to get her shopping done. We go to lunch somewhere in Del Rio and goof around for several hours.

I'll be glad when they open the pool - sometime in March. It's supposed to be in the 80's during the day and only 50's for lows beginning Tuesday so that will be better. More people will be out walking and riding around.

Not Wind-Chime worthy....

My beautiful glass wind chime is wrapped in bubble-wrap and stored in a drawer while we are in Texas. The wind here is too strong and I wouldn't take the chance of it getting broken. Anyway, the view here is definitely considered not wind-chime worthy.

View in Florida at St. Andrews S.P.

Current views...

'Nuff said.

Road Trip..........

Pecos River Canyon

Last Friday we took a short road trip up Hwy. 90 North to see the 'sights'. We were heading toward the Pecos River where it joins the Rio Grande. The Pecos has cut deep canyons in the land for about 60 miles before it reaches the Rio. According to the brochure, the canyon was one of the most formidable barriers to early-day travel and civilization. (Click on the pictures to enlarge to see the details).

This first picture shows a lone Ranch House in the distance.

This shot shows the same house with zoom lens.

This is the mouth of the Pecos at the Rio Grande with Mexico in the distance.

The Pecos River Canyons, looking north toward the Hwy.90 bridge.

More of the Pecos, looking north from the brigde.

Another canyon shot.

Project 365 Day 75 & 76 - One Big Rig

This was one of the biggest rigs we've seen. The bus was huge and they were pulling a trailer with a full size truck and a boat and trailer on top of the truck. There was also a storage area on the trailer at the back of the truck. They were only here for one night. We heard they come here quite often to fish. The black and red colors are for their team at Texas Tech. They must be huge fans!

Couldn't get the entire rig in one picture. This is the trailer they were towing.

Project 365 Day 74 - Us at the Gala

There is just not much to take pictures of around here. Same ol' same ol'.

Sam is working Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...10 hour days...so he is off today and also Friday and Saturday. He doesn't have his uniform or hat yet. It will probably be a few weeks. Like anything with the government...the wheel turns slow! He says the job is very easy...rides a truck all over the park and up the Rio Grande River (part of the park, also) checking the garbage cans, bathrooms, etc. They did repair and paint a couple of signs yesterday and today. There will be more to do when the weather warms up some more. Now it is 70-80's days and 50's nights. Not bad.

Us at the Winter Gala

Project 365 Day 72 & 73 - Bomb Dog

At the Winter Gala in Del Rio, the Air Force had a display area and this airman had his dog along. Actually, it's the Air Force's dog.....specially trained to detect bombs. He was muzzeled but was friendly to everyone....the dog, that is.

Nice puppy

Project 365 Day 71 - Old Bud

At the Winter Gala in Del Rio, Sam caught up with his old buddy, John.

Project 365 Day 70 - Palm Trees

Here's a shot of the sign at the entrance to the campground.

Love the palm trees...they remind me of Florida! They're NOT native here...they were planted. They seem to grow well all around this area but they do not grow naturally in the wild. (Only the cacti are native here). All around the shops, stores, etc., they have been grown in a nursery then transplanted.

Project 365 Day 69 - Desserts

Dessert Row from last night's Pot Luck.....yum, yum.

Project 365 Day 67 - Steak

I always forget to take the food pictures until it's half eaten, but here is our 'homemade' steak dinner with baked potato and salad. This makes up for the not so great dinner out on Saturday night.

Project 365 Day 66 - Amistad Reservoir

Amistad Reservoir

The lake is so big it is hard to get much of it in a picture. It has more than 850 miles of shoreline, 540 of which are in Texas. The US/Mexicn border follows the bed of the Rio Grande through the lake. Summer is definitely the busy season for the lake with motorboats, sailboats, and houseboats as early as the end of February. We're looking forward to seeing the sailboarders when the weather warms up.

Project 365 Day 65 - Holiday Trav-L-Park

Here's a few pics of the campground. It's almost full.....just a few spots left. A lot of snow birds coming South for the winter.......except every night this week will be in the mid-30's. No snow though, so I guess that is why they come. Some have boats and they go fishing every day at the lake across the street.

No dieting here! Saturday morning was Pancake Breakfast with biscuits and sausage gravy. (That's regular every other Saturday). Tonight was "Campfire" with hot dogs, hamburgers, marshmallows, biscuits on a stick with jam. (That's regular every Monday night). Every other Thursday is a Pot Luck dinner where everybody brings a dish. Tuesday morning is Ladies' Coffee (with sweet rolls of course). And I'm sure there is more we haven't heard about yet!

Of course to offset all of that is weekly Line Dancing, Exercise classes, and water aerobics when the pool opens in March (brrrrr?). Also for your enjoyment is Bingo, Pokeno, Crafts, and plenty of walking and biking, optional....lol!

I have felt a little under the weather for a day or two so we haven't been anywhere since Saturday when we went to Wal-Mart. Maybe tomorrow we'll ride over to the lake and take some pictures. It's very scenic.

That's us on the left, above

Some of the 120-plus sites

SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 2009

Project 365, Day 64

Saturday was Sam's 66th birthday so last night we went to a local Steak House for dinner. Not very good. We won't go back. Prices were higher than Longhorns' for steak ($20.99 +) so we had chopped sirloin and hamburger steak. I could have made better at home! There was brown gravy poured all over the hamburger steak for some reason. The waiter never once came around to check on us and we even had to go the counter to pay without our ticket because he never brought it. Funny thing is, the place was packed?? I thought Texas was supposed to have good steak/beef. Maybe we're too close to Mexico. There are probably 40 Mexican restaurants in town! No Longhorn's though. We may stick to Applebee's or Chili's.....at least we'll know what we are getting.

(Posting pic of Wright's Steak House tomorrow.)