Another Winery

Stopped in Tucson to catch up on laundry and had lunch in a Mom an Pops place called Boho. I had their mushroom and swiss omelet and they even offered a spinach and bacon pancake that sounded interesting. My tummy said no though! Stayed outside of Elgin AZ. Visited Sonoita Vineyard. The oldest vineyard in southern Arizona. Drove through the beautiful Santa Rita mountains on a scenic route to include stands of saguaro cactus, mop head cactus and mesquite trees, ending in beautiful grassland, reminding us of Nebraska. I never realized Arizona was so diverse!
We ended up in Whitewater Draw, the winter nesting place for sand hill cranes. What a site! There must have been thousands! There were white Canadian geese, teal headed ducks and many other birds.  Watched a beautiful moon rise over the mountains. It looked huge! Slept to the sound of the cranes and coyotes in the distance. The cranes flew away in the morning to take care of their day. They will come back at night and soon be moving to Nebraska. I think so far this is my favorite spot.

You know why they call it Texas?

Because it Tex as so long to get across it!

March 5,6
Marfa, Texas
The movie “Giant”was filmed here. Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean stayed in the Hotel Paisono here while filming the movie. It was James Dean’s final film before he died in a car crash. The hotel has lots of memorabilia from the film and very cute shops with unusual gifts.
The first day we drove by the Prada store on the side of the road and stayed outside of town at Marfa Lights a phenomenon that started in the late 1800’s with a cowboy seeing strange lights in the sky. They continue and there has been no scientific explanation. We saw some unusual lights, but the stars in the sky were just as interesting. Beautiful!
It’s a real artsy place and we enjoyed waking around, having coffee and admiring the buildings and art.
The second night we stayed at El Cosmico and cool campground with old trailers, yurts, tepees and army tents to rent. We stayed in the parking lot, but had access to the showers, hammock grove, communal kitchen and dutch hot tubs. It was very cool. Ate breakfast at Marfa Burrito.

Austin

3/7,8

Arrived in Austin and hit the gym. Had a nice shower and headed to the restaurant where we met Jim, Bonnie and Colin Busick for dinner. We’d not seen them for a long time and it was good to catch up. Ate at Shadey Grove and had a good meal too.

We didn’t like the roads and it took us much longer to find a place to camp then it should have. We were going to stay another day, but decided to move on to Houston.

On our way to Houston I saw a sign for Hruska’s and told Bob that was a Czech name and sure enough the next sign had a picture of kolaches. We stopped and purchased a dozen before getting to Steve and Kim’s. Yummy!

Emily Arrives

3/9
Friday
Had dinner with Steve and Kim at their sushi joint. Good food and cocktails made for a great night of laughs and story telling. Headed to the liquor store for supplies. I purchased green Apple Royal Crown a new drink for me. Came home and waited for Emily and her boyfriend Jarrod to arrive from Dallas. It was very late, but we had a drink with them before hitting the hay.

3/10
Saturday
Took Tad to Scruffy’s groomer and then met everyone at the Kolache Bakery for savory kolaches. They were great. The boys went to a brewery here and spent a few hours. When they came home, we hung out and then went to El Jaritto for dinner with Kim’s parents, LeAnn and Jeff as well as Gilma. Nice to catch up with everyone. Good meal too! Headed home for more cocktails and chatter.

3/11
Sunday
Went to mass in the morning and then Bob and I headed to Sugarland to meet up with friends, Terry and Randy Hughes, we hadn’t seen for almost 30 years. We spent several hours talking and catching up at BJ’s restaurant.
It was so good to see them and we will visit them in their new home, in Missouri as well.

Houston Rodeo

3/12/18
Monday
Miss Isabella’s 12th Birthday!
Slept in and had lunch here before heading into Houston for the rodeo. We saw all kinds of farm animals, equipment and trucks. The baby animals were adorable. Many vendors with jewelry, leather goods and clothing. Bob is looking for boots and tried on some there. Stephen was in search of fried pumpkin pie with cinnamon ice cream. We had a hard time finding it. He had fried pecan pie instead and I had a corn dog. We walked around the carnival and then headed into the rodeo. It was Bob and my first time and quite entertaining. Our rodeo ticket ($25) also included The Zac Brown Band concert. It was a great deal. After the show we did find the fried pumpkin pie and cinnamon ice cream and we had some. It was delicious and great fun!

 Corn on the cob on a stick

 A cow, or maybe a bull named Bella!

 Some really cute chicks

Fireball, because Stephen did turn Mom on to it.

Quartzite AZ

Spending the night in Salome AZ just outside of Quartzite. Lots of campers here, but we are so spread apart we really aren’t near anyone. It’s a big 🌵 desert!
Really enjoyed our stay with Paul and Terry and thank them for their hospitality! I was even able to play Mah Jong twice!
Before we left Palm Desert we had to make a stop at world famous Shields Date Garden to buy a date shake and pick up a few goodies for our trip. Well worth the stop; if you are interested in knowing about dates. Bob says we had a date at dates! Such a funny guy.
Arrived here about 4pm, temps in the low sixties, to get down to 32 tonight, so I’m thankful we have heat.

California Part Two

Went to Huntington Beach from La Quinta. Stayed with Kathy and Wendell and visited Harry and Fern.
Spent Bob’s Birthday in Temecula eating turkey sandwiches and a bottle of wine. We spent the night at a vineyard we found on Harvest Hosts. Woke to hot air balloons right outside our window. Close enough to see the people in the baskets!
Went to Laguna National Forest and boondocked the next night. Used our instapot for the first time and made Bob a delicious Valentine’s Day meal of quinoa, broccoli and salmon. Cold, but beautiful.
Headed into Julian CA, the pie capital of the world, the next day. The best pie ever! Cute old mining town, now known for apples and pies!
Returned to LaQuinta early and were unable to visit our Marine friends, but called and will see them next time.