Tuesday, February 2th, 2010
We managed to make it back from
The stay in Prim was fantastic, as usual. I'll post the photos and journal as-soon-as I get caught-up. There is a price to pay for being odd work for a week and a few. Re-insertion into the real world is the worst part of a great vacation.
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
Rhonda and I will be vacating Wednesday 01/20/2010 ~ Monday 02/01/2010.
We are celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary by disconnecting from the world for a short time.
Please save all the earth shattering updates for our return as we will not have access to email, internet, phones or television during this time. Who knows, you could be the first to break the big news to us upon our return.
Believe it our not, despite getting caught in a huge ice storm last year, we have grown quite fond of this self-imposed time of solitude. It is a time for us to focus on us without interruption.
Today we are starting to get serious about gearing-up (that means we're stacking-up up the stuff in neat little piles before loading it in the Durango) for our trip. Yesterday our little electric heater went kaput on us. I guess one more trip to Arkansas was just too much for the old guy (we had it about 10 years). So, today I'm on a scavenger hunt for a new heater. Now that the dead of winter (got below 32 degrees a few nights here in Houston) has passed, I'm having a difficult time finding a radiant heater. We're after on that you can sit in-front of and see the glowing coils and feel the radiant heat. Seems like all I can find is the little ceramic kind that will heat a room, eventually. But, Sears awaits and I'll hopefully to score the heater were looking for this afternoon.
When we get back, I have jury duty. They let me move it to after we get back.
Here are the gory details on all the trips we've logged to Prim, Arkansas.
Monday, January 4th, 2010
We had a great New Year's Eve. It was the first time we can remember that Rhonda stayed up till midnight! We went to church for family fun night and then ducked out around 10:30 and headed home. We went outside and watched the kids and grandkids shoot fire works. At midnight we all went into the house and toasted in the New Year.
Friday, 01/01/2010, we hopped on the motorcycle and took a short ride with Leo Bell.
Saturday, 01/02/2010, we packed away al the Christmas stuff and took it to the storage room.
Sunday 01/02/2010, we went to church and attended a friend's funeral at 1:30pm.
Monday, December 28th, 2009
Deer Hunting (11/14-17/2009): I got a nice 8 point and a doe. I missed the opportunity to shoot some photos of my uncles, dad and I shooting the guns.
Snow in Porter, Texas. It's a rare occasion to see snow this far south. It only lasted for a few hours at our house.
Christmas 2009. Mom, Dad and Bobby came down from Arkansas. We had a great Christmas with the Kids and grand kids.
Monday, December 14th, 2009
The past few weeks have been busy for sure. We've been taking care of Christmas shopping. This past Saturday Rhonda and I actually stepped off into the big crowds at the mall for a short while. There were tons of people everywhere. But we were not shopping, we were hunting. We had our sights fixed and were determined to hunt down our gifts. Several department stores later, success! One small present for someone special; One huge task completed on our to-do list. We had a small glass of egg nog to celebrate our success. We had never actually tried it before. It was good. But man is that stuff ever rich; a little dab will do ya.
The weather here has been pea soup for the past week or so. Today was no exception (foggy, misty, rainy). We'd love to get the yard cleaned-up. But that's not going to happen in this mess.
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
The deer hunt went well. It is only the second year that Dad and I have hunted on my Uncle Bill's property. It's basically 200 acres of privately owned land, about a mile from my Mom and Dad's house.
My Dad and Uncle put food plots and corn feeders out for the deer. There seem to be an abundance of deer in the area. But, like deer everywhere, I suppose, sometimes they are moving mostly at night, sometimes the weather changes and they change their routines and start moving during the day. I saw deer every day while I was hunting.
This year I paid $150 to the Arkansas Game and Fish for a 5 day, out of state hunting permit. Unlike resident hunters, out of state hunters only get 2 deer tags. But, for only $300 I can hunt all year long and take up to four deer. Two deer seem to be enough for us.
I hit the road as soon as I got off work Thursday. I arrived at Mom and Dad's house late Thursday night.
Friday morning we sighted in the guns. Uncle Bill has a gun vise mounted in his barn. We set up a target at 100 yards and check the zero on the guns. My uncle Jay Dee was there too. I've never gotten to hunt with him before. After sighting in the guns we checked all of the hunting stands. We filled the deer feeders with corn and swept out the deer stands. Falling leaves and squirrels can make a fairly big mess in the stands. One stand had 3 flying squirrels in it. I chased them out with a broom and my uncle Bill shot them with a 22 cal. Rifle. Our deer stands consist of a 4'x4' pallet, on 6'-8 legs, with rails on all sides and heavy felt all around. Most stands have a roof over them and more heavy felt draped from the roof. The floor of the deer stand is usually covered with more heavy felt. It makes a perfect little den area for the squirrels. They chew up stuff and generally make a big mess.
Saturday and Sunday I saw 3 doe. One larger doe was with a little baby doe. They would usually come to the feeder around 7:15am and eat until 7:45am or so. The other single doe was always alone and usually showed up around 9:00am, fed for about 30 minutes at the feeder and then moved on.
Monday started as rainy day and the weather had turned off much cooler. It only got up to about 55 degrees. The rain tapered off to nothing by 9:00am. But the overcast, wintry skies, low temperatures and 10-15 mph winds stayed all day. By 9:45am the two does had fed and left and the single medium size doe was in my sights. I reasoned that taking a deer now would insure that I got some meat and that I would be able to help process the deer meat before returning to Texas on Wednesday. I took her with a head shot at 100 yards. She did not flinch or move. She simply fell over like a card board box. It was not as big a deer as I would have liked. But, at least we had some deer meat.
In short order Dad and I had skinned and quartered the deer. We took the meat to Mom and Dad's house and put it in the refrigerator. We would further process the meet after the meat had chilled down for a day or so.
We had lunch. The wind had picked up considerably and deer do not move around much when every thing in the woods is shaking and moving. But we had to re-fill some of the corn feeders. So we left Mom and Dad's place around 3:00pm. Dad suggested that he could fill the feeders while I sat on the deer stand, since I only had 2 more days to hunt. I was not likely to see any deer with the wind blowing. But it was something to do and you never know about deer. Sometimes they do things that you're not expecting them to do.
Dad dropped me off and I walked to the stand. Dad got the four-wheeler and some sacks of corn to refill the deer feeders. He came by the stand I was on first. After a few minutes he was back on the four-wheeler and off to the next deer stand and feeder.
About 40 minutes later (4:00pm) a large doe, a very small doe and an eight point buck were at the feeder. The buck seemed to be plenty nervous with the wind blowing. He was watching the woods around them more than eating. He struck a pose, head up high, ears pointed forward, intently watching the woods in front of him. It was a perfect broadside target. So I steadied my aim and took the shot. He fell exactly as the first deer had. No flinching, no kick-out, no thrashing on the ground; it was another clean head shot at 100 yards.
Dad had been riding the four-wheeler when I shot the deer. He had left his cell phone at the house. So, I started walking to the barn. He would park the four-wheeler there and then drive his truck down to pick me up when he finished filling all of the feeders. I hadn't gotten very far down the road when I met him in his truck. I got in and asked him if he'd filled all of the corn feeders. Then I ask if we could go back to the barn and get the tractor to go get my deer. He hadn't heard me shoot and ask me what I had shot.
Due to the heavy cloud cover, dark came on us early. We finished dressing out the deer in the headlights of the tractor. But we got everything done, called Mom and told her to make some more room in the refrigerator.
My two deer tags were filled and the hunt was over for me. Tuesday we process and packaged the deer meet. It made two full ice chests of hamburger, barbeque and steaks all ready for the freezer.
Wednesday we ate breakfast and played Spinner dominos. At 12:30pm I had the car packed and was pulling out of Mom and Dad's driveway. It was almost 6:00pm when I got home. I had about 30 minutes to unpack before Rhonda got home from work.
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
The ride to Key West was more than a trip; it was an adventure. Riding a motorcycle for 3,100 miles is an adventure no matter where you go. One day out and my friend's (Leo Bell) Harley dropped the oil pump in Pensacola, Florida. He happens to have three things that are really important in this type of situation: 1.) He has a rice burner (Yamaha FJR1300) in his garage that is well suited to long trips; 2.) He has a friend that has a small trailer made to carry one motorcycle and 3.) He has a wife that is understanding and loves him enough to drop everything, drive 500 miles (one way) and then turn around and go back home, dragging a trailer with a motorcycle on it all the way. After a few calls, the replacement bike was on it's way. We lost a day in the transfer from one motorcycle to another. But, the ride to Key West was still doable. We called and shuffled the rooms around. We pretty much stuck to the route. But, we had to make-up a day and that means less sight seeing time and two long days (500+ miles) at the end of the ride.
The weather was as expected for the most part. The first three days we started out in 45-48 degree temperatures. Later in the day it would warm-up some. But, this was hindered with cloud cover. Once we turned south (below Ocala, Florida) the temperatures steadily climbed to the 80-90 degree range. As we traveled through the everglades, down to Key West and back up the east coast we were treated to Florida's infamous 10-30 minute down pours on a fairly regular basis. As we turned westward from Daytona Beach we met a huge storm front that was a real challenge to ride in. But, we pressed on and after a few hours we were out of the rain and drying out in sunny skies.
We stopped in the everglades for an airboat ride. It was pretty neat and worth the $40. The day was overcast and the sprinkles every once in a while was refreshing in the mid 80 to 90 degree temperatures.
Key West was a neat place. We tried some foods for the first time while there. The conch fritters we tried were so bad that we gave them to someone else (hush puppies with gristly bits of conch meat in it). The ox tail soup was awesome once you convinced yourself to try it. The Key Lime pie was good. But, it really wasn't any better than the ones we've made at home. The ice tea I drank there all tasted like ditch water. Not sure how they make their tea (powder maybe). But, they could use a pointer or two at the two places I ordered it.
We left our hotel (south of Miami) just in time to catch the morning rush hour traffic. It took us an hour to travel about 10 miles from our hotel. When we finally made it to I95 we stopped for some breakfast at Denny's.
Heading up the east coast we were in and out of rain all day. That and the shortened schedule prevented us from swinging by the beast coast beaches (Palm Beach, Miami Beach, etc.). I took pictures of the exit signs to them and that's as close as we got.
Daytona Beach Had some massive water pressure at Red Lobster and at the hotel room we were in. The shower was like standing in front of a fire hose. We took some pictures of the Daytona Speedway before heading west.
After being gone for 8 days, it sure was nice to see my own bed. I guess that's the same with any vacation. I think I'll be parking the motorcycle for a few days. We both deserve a rest. Besides, the weather is calling for rain all week any way.
A big thanks to McAnally's (in Gulf Shores, AL ) and the Swink's (Gulf Port, MS) for opening their homes to us. The hospitality and dinner was outstanding. I enjoyed meeting the McAnally family. Visiting with my cousin and her family in Gulf Port was a special treat.
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
It's been a busy month and this week seems to be all the more rushed after being off last week. We went sailing 10/01/09-10/11/09. I hope to get the journal posted this week. Saturday I'm headed out to Florida on a 8 day motorcycle trip.
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
It's been a busy month and this week seems to be all the more rushesd after being off on Monday. Here are some photos from recent months.
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
I'm working on a motorcycle ride in October to Key West, Florida (2,800 miles). Not sure if everything will gel yet. I should be ready to make hotel reservations next week. Currently it's just me a Leo Bell going. The following are links to the planning tools I am using for this trip.
Preliminary Key West Ride Map
This is the current estimated trip plan
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
We had a great weekend. Saturday morning I got to go for a motorcycle ride to Lexington, TX. It was about a 300 mile ride. We took some nice back roads to get there. We ate an early lunch and headed home, The morning was perfect riding weather. After lunch we just cooked. My arms got sunburned a little. Saturday afternoon I took Domino (our other motorcycle) to get some gas in her. She doesn't get ridden very often. So, I sake her for a spin around the neighborhood every week or two. Now she has a flat (again). I;ll have to take her to the shop asap for a new tire.
They really have the highway in front of our house (FM1314) tore up. Between the loose gravel, the steep ramp up to the new concrete, the dump trucks and now the school busses, it's a ruff and dirty ride on the motorcycle for sure.
Monday, June 20th, 2009
Last week I had to go to Gonzales, LA for a meeting. I drove there on Tuesday, the meeting was on Wednesday and I drove back on Thursday.
We had a great weekend. I got a haircut Saturday morning. Saturday evening we had some friends over for dinner and games. Rhonda cooked a yummy roast in the crock pot. For dessert we had a cheese cake and a brownie pie. Sunday was sedate compared to most. Good thing because Rhonda and I both woke-up Sunday with a headache. We figure it must be the change in weather. We've been blessed with slightly cooler temps and hit or miss (sometimes you get a good shower, sometimes it misses your neighborhood and all you get is clouds) showers ever afternoon.
We managed to get to bed early last night and my headache was almost gone this morning. Rhonda was worse. I think she will end-up staying home today.
Well it's Monday and I got a lot to do today, so I best get to work.
Friday, June 10th, 2009
Wow! What a week. Everything started nominal. The Wednesday afternoon I received a call about John Willis (a close friend) who was in the VA hospital. I arrived at the hospital shortly after he passed away. I stayed with him until they took him to the morgue, then I called the funeral home to insure they knew where he was. I got home around 11PM. Thursday, after work we went to John's house and took some paper plates, plastic eating utensils, garbage bags, paper napkins and bottled water. We returned latter to give Gladys (his wife) some photos we had of John for use in the funeral services. It was about 11PM before we finally got to bed. Today may be a fairly normal Friday (we can only hope). Saturday we will go to the visitation for John Willis and Sunday at 2PM we will attend his funeral. I have been asked to be a pallbearer.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." - John Lennon
John Willis Obituary
Monday, July 6th, 2009
We had a great 4th of July weekend. Friday and Saturday Rhonda and I went sailing with the Pickell's. It was pretty hot (over 100F) both days, but there was a 10-20 knot wind on the Galveston Bay. This made for some great sailing. The heat wasn't so bad until we got back to port. There's just not much wind in the protection of the docks. Rhonda and I stayed to watch the fireworks from the boat July 4th. We headed home about 10PM. Big mistake. Traffic after the fire works was at a stand still. We finally arrived home at 12:30AM to find a backhoe digging up or neighbors driveway. Apparently the water main on our street broke sometime while we were gone. The backhoe managed to hit the gas line while they were digging. But, they worked all night and by noon Sunday we had all services restored.
Today I took the Durango to back to the dealer to be serviced and to look at the gas tank. They replaced the gas tank when I had a problem with the tank overfilling and spitting about a half a gallon of gas back out before cutting off. Now after the first gallon it cuts off every 0.3 gallons. Your hand gets pretty tired filling a 25 gallon tank. They should call me this afternoon with the news on the tank.
Thuesday, June 30th, 2009
YES!!! We finally got some rain!!! A neighbor and I stood out in the rain and prayed it keep on coming down. It wasn't much, maybe .25 to .5 inches. After about 2 months of nothing but hot and hotter, it sure was good. This morning it felt so good to ride the motorcycle to work. The heat index was 86F at 6AM yesterday and only 80F today. It's only 6 degrees, but man did it ever make a difference. The heat index has almost caught up with yesterday's by noon.
I had to take Rhonda's phone privileges away. No, not really. Rhonda's iPhone is just broken. Everything works except for making and receiving phone calls. We called AT&T last night and they are still looking into it. It may be another week or two before they get it fixed. They are sending field people out to verify that the towers in our area are working. You'd think Amanda, or Daniel's AT&T phone would be having problems if that were the case.
Friday, June 26th, 2009
Man is it ever getting hot and dry here. It has been in the high 90s for the past two weeks. It drops back to about 80 in the wee hours of the morning. It's been over a month since we got any rain at all and then it was just a trace. It's been closer to two months since we've had any significant rain.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 528 AM CDT FRI JUN 26 2009 ..HEAT ADVISORY FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS THROUGH SATURDAY... A HEAT ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS AS HEAT INDEX VALUES OF 105 TO 108 DEGREES ARE FORECAST BOTH TODAY AND SATURDAY. ..HEAT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT SATURDAY... THE HEAT ADVISORY IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT SATURDAY. ABUNDANT SUNSHINE WILL RESULT IN HOT AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES TODAY AND SATURDAY. THE ACTUAL AIR TEMPERATURES WILL PEAK BETWEEN 98 AND 104 INLAND...LOWER 90S COAST TODAY AND BETWEEN 96 AND 101 INLAND...LOWER 90S COAST SATURDAY. THE SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES SATURDAY WILL BE OFFSET BY AN INCRASE IN HUMIDITY. HEAT INDEX VALUES ARE FORECAST TO PEAK BETWEEN 103 AND 108 DEGREES BOTH TODAY AND SATURDAY ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THE DAILY MAXIMUM HEAT INDEX MUST BE FORECAST TO REMAIN BELOW 105 DEGREES IN THE AFTERNOON HOURS BEFORE THE ADVISORY WILL BE CANCELLED. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... IF YOU PLAN TO BE OUTSIDE...AVOID PROLONGED EXPOSURE OR STRENUOUS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. YOUR BODY CAN LOSE UP TO A GALLON OF WATER AN HOUR THROUGH PERSPIRATION. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS TO AVOID DEHYDRATION. ALCOHOLIC AND CAFFEINATED BEVERAGES CAN INCREASE THE RATE OF WATER LOSS IN YOUR BODY... INCREASING THE RISK OF HEAT EXHAUSTION OR STROKE. WEAR LIGHTWEIGHT... LIGHT-COLORED...LOOSE-FITTING CLOTHING. WEAR A HAT TO SHIELD YOURSELF FROM THE SUN... AND USE A SUNSCREEN TO REDUCE POSSIBLE SUNBURN. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, June 22th, 2009
It was great weekend. Saturday morning I and a Leo Bell (a friend from church) met up with a church group from the Woodlands and road. It was a great ride! The weather was perfect, until about 11:30. We stopped for lunch and then Leo and I headed home. It was about 12:30 and as the temps were near 100F, I cooked from Conroe to the house. All in all a good ride with 8 other motorcycles. Saturday afternoon we had a small fish fry. We invited 5 friends from church over. It was pretty hot outside while I fried the fish. But a box fan helped. I started cooking at 5pm and we were eating shortly before 7pm. We had fish, French fries, hush puppies, coleslaw and Rot*el dip. For desert we had lemon meringue and key lime pie.
Sunday we went to church. At church we had a meal and I was stuffed. When we got home we had father's day and I got 3 new shirts and 2 new ties. Sunday evening Rhonda and I went to a place in the Woodlands called Hubble & Hudson. It's a neat place that has a restaurant and grocery store all together.
This morning there was a wreck on the way to work. It had traffic stopped for about 10 minutes. Glad I was in the car. It's near 80F at 6am here. We haven't had much rain now for a month and the heat index is just above 100F each day.
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
I'm helping with VBS at church this week. That means I go to the church in the mornings and at noon I got to work and play catch-up. It's fun, except for riding the motorcycle home to work at noon. The heat index is close to 100 by then.
Monday, June 8th, 2009
Friday I left the office at 9AM. When I got home Rhonda had everything packed, we loaded the grandkids in the Durango and we head for the Galveston Schlitterbahn water park. The day was perfect (see photo link below; be sure to go to the last page and see the video of Jakob boggie board surfing). We got there around noon and stayed until 7PM. A lot of the kids were still in school so the water park was not packed. The longest line was maybe 20 minutes, but most lines were 5 to 10 minutes. We all had a blast and so did the grandkids. Jakob and I hit all the slides while Rhonda and Amanda took Haley and Sam to the various pools and slides for their size. We all managed to not get lost or sunburned. We stopped off at Joe's Crab Shack on the way home for dinner. Two of the grandkids were out cold 10 minutes in to the hour ride home. It was 9PM when we got home and Daniel took the grandkids home. After such a full day, everyone slept hard Friday night.
Saturday we slept in a little and spent the day around the house. Sunday night Rhonda sang a special at church. I had to lead the music as our music director was sick (yes, it was not pretty sight).
Thursday, June, 4th, 2009
Great week, despite having to work. It was great to have the motorcycle back. I rode is every day this week (to and from work) except Wednesday. Wednesday started with a 50% chance of rain and a stron front moving through.
BIG NEWS:
Monday, May 18th, 2009
We left Friday morning for New Braunfels, TX. We had never been there and didn't know what to expect. We had heard it was a great place to camp on the Guadalupe River. It's just Northeast of San Antonio. From our house it's about 200 miles. We didn't have reservations. But we were blessed and there were plenty of camping sites to pick from.
Rhonda and I haven't camped much in the past 28 years, so this was a new experience for us. We have a new three man tent for the occasion.
Friday Rhonda discovered she likes McDonald's hot Mocha. I tried the Cappuccino with hazelnut and liked it. We spent Friday relaxing on the bank of the Guadalupe, reading. We ate dinner at Rudy's BBQ.
We discovered the sleeping pads we had were not enough to soften the hard ground. The box fan I took helped a lot as it stayed in the 70's Friday night. We were considering going swimming on Saturday.
The weather was great except for Saturday. When we awoke there were dark clouds brewing over head. We stayed in camp, reading and relaxing, until noon. About 12:30 it started to rain big time for about five hours. We left camp and headed out to a small town called Gruene to shop just before the rain hit. After seeing a few small shops in Gruene we went riding around New Braunfels, looking at the parks.
We ate dinner at the Gristmill restaurant, in Gruene. We were treated to a melt in you mouth steak at a very reasonable price. There was an hour wait to get in and be seated. But, it was well worth it. By the time we left there the rain had stopped and we did some more shopping in Gruene before returning to our camp site.
We slept as best we could on the hard ground Saturday night. Sunday morning we got up took a quick shower and then broke camp.
When we got home there was a surprise waiting for me. I had a cake, presents and a new TV awaiting. After unpacking the Durango and putting things away, we had hamburgers from the grill and cheese dip for dinner. After that it was time to open presents and eat some cake. We played wii and had a blast with the grandkids.
Friday, April 20th, 2009
Our trip to the Garrison's palace
Friday, April 13rd, 2009
Saturday Rhonda and I cooked for Easter Sunday. We made an Italian Cream Cake and a bowl of banana pudding. We mixed every thing for meatloaf and put it in the refrigerator.
Getting all of the ingredients together took three trips to Wal-Mart. It all started with a sack of groceries we left at the check-out Friday evening. They replaced the stuff we missed the first time I went back. Saturday we discovered we were also missing the coconut for the cake. So, back to the store I went.
Our interim pastor is visiting his daughter in China until April 19th. That puts my back in the fray until he returns.
Easter Sunday was odd. We had a early morning sunrise service with several other churches at the city park. I didn't go, but I heard it went really well. Sunday school was very low attendance as we had many of our own people missing. Sunday morning service was a bumper crop with lots of visitors.
I gave the opening prayer and announcements. The Easter cantata was a bust. We messed up a lot despite all the practice. Hopefully no one noticed except us.
After church we went home and prepared lunch (meatloaf). Daniel and Nicole came over and we had a great meal. It was sort of non-climatic as the grandkids were not there.
As it was mostly rainy and wet outside until late that afternoon, we spent the rest of the evening in front of the boob-tube.
Friday, April 3rd, 2009
This is a Great Screen Cleaner.
some misc photos tover the past week.
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
A few friends (Leo Bell, John Willis) and I took our motorcycles on a short road trip last week. We hit the road at 6:30 am last Thursday (3/19/09). At 1:30 pm we stopped in Caddo Valley, Arkansas for lunch. We made it to Mount Nebo around 5:20 pm. We pitched our tents in a stiff, 45 degree wind. After dinner, we were soon settled into our sleeping bags and fast asleep. The wind continued to blow viciously throughout the night. The next morning (Friday) it was cold and the wind was still blowing. About the time we got the tents and gear all pack on our bikes, the sun began to warm us up. We rode over to Mount Petit Jean State Park. After seeing the sights at Petit Jean we rode over to Mount Magazine Lodge. The power was off when we got there. We sat in the lounge until 3 pm when our room was available (no power). Leo took a dark cold shower. We ate dinner at the restaurant. The buffet menu was Shrimp, fish and alligator soup. After dinner we went back to the room. The power was finally on and John took a hot shower. I was not so blessed. My shower started cold and the warmed some towards the end. Saturday morning, we awoke to a lovely 39 degrees and moderate rain. Not exactly the type weather you pray for while on a motorcycle ride. We ate the breakfast buffet and it was good. But, we couldn't wait any longer, we had to start the long ride home. We put on our heavy clothes and rain gear and eased down the mountain. By the time we got to Hot Springs the rain had stopped. By the time we got to Texas the temperature was back up to 70 plus degrees. We made it home around 8:15 pm. The trip was right at 1,000 miles. While the weather on top of Mount Nebo was less than ideal, it is still an awesome vista and well worth the effort to get up there.
Sunday, March 5nd, 2009
Misc Photos
Monday, March 2nd, 2009
Last Wednesday night was mid-week church service, Thursday night I went to the Christian bike night with four others from our church, Friday afernoon I helped mow the lawn and get the yard back in shape, Friday night I went to the pastor search committee meeting, Saturday I actually stayed home and Sunday we were back in church. We didn't have the grandkids this weekend. All-in-all it was a full week.
This is a pretty cool birthday calculator.
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
I moved to a new office last Friday. I am now on the 4th floor of the same building. Back in October they moved be from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor. I'm just praying they don't move me out the door. I'm now supporting a new group in Entergy. It's a challenge learning all the new faces.
Things at church seem to be going well. We have several challenges ahead of us (VBS, Youth Camp, etc.). But that's nothing new. The Pastor Search Committee is doing a great job. It's a long and tedious task, but they are a trustworthy group and will get the job done.
Daniel is working nights, at the airport, installing fire protection sprinkler systems. He's making good money. Amanda is still looking for a job. We had the grandkids last week. So, this is our quiet week.
I took a little spill on the motorcycle a week ago. I've healed, but the motorcycle has some scars. It such pretty weather, I will ride the motorcycle the rest of this week.
Tuesday, February 17rd, 2009
Attended a revival at Sawdust Baptist Church last night. The message and music were awesome!
Dr. Ed Ethridge AWESOME Message!
Singer Jon Sheptock AWESOME!
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
We had a great anniversary getaway and survived the Arkansas ice storm.
Trip Report Longbow 2009
Photos Longbow 2009
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
We've had a lot of changes and challenges in our family, church and work as of late. But, mostly they are good problems, if there is such a thing. A few weeks ago our pastor resigned. After 23 years of working in, for and around the same department, I am being transferred to supporting another department. I believe it speaks volumes about a person when you see how they react to such changes. Our reactions to such changes are direct evidence of our beliefs. Life can be stressful for sure. But, with a proper perspective, it should never overwhelm us. Yet, many do become overwhelmed when things do not turn out like we expect them too (yes, even me from time-to-time).
It's not a good feeling when we are reminded that we are not in control of nearly as much of our lives as we thought we were. We tend to want to believe we have control over so many things that we clearly do not. BAG A MONSTER BUCK
Friday, December 26nd, 2008
We had a great Christmas this year. We didn't get to be in Arkansas on Christmas. But we did get to go home a week earlier.
We took mucho pictures this year. When we went home we took the opportunity to take some family photos. Look through them an your bound to find a keeper or two.
Christmas Pictures
A Little Video
Johnson 5 Generations Photo
Some Cool Link:
Test Your Reaction Time.
Monday, December 22nd, 2008
Another Cool Link:
Test Your Reaction Time.
Monday, December 15th, 2008
Some Cool Links:
Another Christmas Puzzel.
Amazing Blue Angles Photos
Who would'a thunk it?
Friday, December 4st, 2008
Cool Link:A Christmas Puzzel.
Monday, December 1st, 2008
We had a great Thanksgiving. We ran a crew of eight, most of the time from Thursday through Saturday night. Rhonda made dressing, bean casserole and pecan pies. I fried a turkey and made some Monkey bread. We took some photos. But, I haven't gotten to upload them to the wed site yet.
Today it was a crisp 50 degrees this morning when I left for work on the motorcycle. It had warmed-up to 57 degrees when I left for home this evening. In the morning they are talking about high-mid 30's. Good thing I am taking the Durango in for service.
Amanda got her first deer this morning. Unfortunately she got it with the car, on her way to work. The alignment is out on the Isuzu, but otherwise there is no damage that I can tell.
Cool Link:Send a Thank You Note to our troops for free!
Wedneday, November 19th, 2008
I had been feeling a little under the weather (cough, fever, burning eyes) for the past few days. Last night I felt better and this morning I rode the motorcycle to work. It was a crisp 44 degrees at 6:15 this morning. My new leather jacket worked great. The gloves I bought a few years ago seem to work OK. They are light weight gloves, If I were to ride more than 20-30 miles, at 45 degrees or less, then I'd need to find some gloves that work a little better at keeping the cold out.
We added the Chocolate Gravy recipe to the list of our favorite recipes (see below for the link).
Wedneday, November 19th, 2008
I got tired of trying to figure out what computer and/or memory stick had the latest version of "Our Favorite Recipes" on. So, I put them up on our web site. It's not a complete set of all of our favorite recipes. Currently it only has 83 recipes. I plan to add other as time allows. You're likely to find a recipe you like in there.
Our Favorite Recipes
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
Top 10 Most Expensive Accidents in History
I'm headed to Arkansas and will be out of town until Friday 11/14/2008. During this time I will be volunteering to help the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission with their wildlife management program. Much of the volunteer work I will be doing will be in remote wooded areas of Arkansas. I should be available in the evenings by phone should you need to reach me.
...and Yes; as a matter of fact, I am deer hunting.
Thursday, October 23th, 2008
Our Norman, OK trip pictures
Friday, October 17th, 2008
Our Mexico cruise pictures
Monday, October 6th, 2008
Rhonda, Amanda and I were on a cruise last week. I'll upload the photos from our cruise some time latter this week.
We had Jakob's 8th birthday party this weekend. He opened presents and then we went to a place called "The Main Event" for pizza and games. It was a lot of fun. Click Here To See Photos from this past weekend.
Friday, September 26th, 2008
Well it's been a interesting week. We got our power back a week ago. However, today there are still about 500,000 people around here without power. Most of the people on Entergy are back in business. But, many of the people on CenterPoint are still without power. We've spent a week trying to get caught up on work, now we have two days to get ready for our cruse.
A wild Motorcycle Ride
Friday, September 12th, 2008
Pre Hurricane Ike Photos
Friday, September 5th, 2008
As some of you know my father had his aortic valve replaced this week. This is his second aortic valve replacement. After a six hour surgery followed by some internal bleeding problems, he appears to be on the road to recovery. He did not need a bypass this time around. However, they warned us that a second heart surgery takes longer to recover from and is generally more painful than the first. They removed my father from the ventilator yesterday morning. He was still heavily medicated for the pain, when I left Arkansas, yesterday at noon. If there are no further complications he should be moved from CVICU to a room in a few days. Thank you for the prayers. David
I got back from Arkansas late yesterday evening. The motorcycle was covered with love bugs. We had to wash the motorcycle before it was allowed to sit in the garage.
Tomorrow is our normal men's prayer breakfast at church. After that some of us will be riding over to Montgomery for the Texas Honor Ride.
Rhonda is re-arranging the house for Daniel as he is moving back home. We have to rent some storage and work out the details about what goes where and how to transport it. Other than that, Rhonda is looking forward to when the last 2 of 5 toe nails get done falling off. They are still giving her fits from our trip to Colorado with the youth.
Amanda is preparing to start her volunteer work at the animal shelter next week.
Thursday, August 7th, 2008
We're recovering from our week at youth camp just north of Lake City, Colorado.
The following links to the pictures from youth camp:
Our Photos
Photos from Kevin and Laura Sipp
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2008
We left out Wednesday for Benton, Arkansas on the motorcycle. The original plan was to leave the house around 5 PM. However, I had a bit of trouble finding the oil I wanted for the motorcycles. I finally found some Amsoil 20W-50 Synthetic that was close to what I needed. Ten quarts and $100 lighter I was finally ready to change the oil. We ended up leaving the house around 6:30 PM for our 350 mile trip.
It was forecasted for a 40% chance of rain with afternoon thunder storms building. As we pulled out of the driveway, it was clear that we were about to get wet. We pressed on through the first shower In 15 minutes we were out of it and back on dry roads. The sun was still plenty high and the temperatures were warm. An hour more and we would have been dry. But, thirty minutes later, another dark cloud was ahead of us. We stopped and prepared for the rain. Just as we were getting on the bike the big drops started to pond the asphalt around us. Thirty minutes later we were back in the sun and warm temperatures. Before dark we were dry. As we clicked off the miles headed north the temperatures began to drop a few degrees.
Around 9 PM we stopped at a DQ in Nacogdoches, TX and had some chicken strips. We made one more stop for gas in Atlanta, TX before pressing on to Benton, AR. It was 1:30 AM Thursday before we arrived at the Ashbrook's house.
We didn't do much Thursday. Friday morning Mr. Ashbrook and I went shopping and then started carpeting his truck. An small leak in the firewall had cause some problems which lead to a little rust in the floor board. Rhonda spent the day inside helping with the house work.
Saturday we loaded the motorcycle and left around noon. We stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Arkadelphia, AR (Caddo Valley). We ate lunch with a few friends that had been riding up north. By the time we all headed home it was around 2:30 PM. The ride home was mostly uneventful. Richard Dickerson had to stop and replace an engine mounting bolt on his Road King. It was a 10 minute stop. Those Harley guys always seem to carry spare parts and tools. Ha!
We made it home right at 8 PM. The grand kids were all at the house. We finished up their baths and got them in bed. A nice hot shower and then the bed was a welcome friend.
Amanda got a job working at the local Wal-Mart in Porter. I think she starts Tuesday.
Sunday things at church went better than I had expected. I have a solo part in our July 4th choir special and I haven't had that much time to practice it. But, the Lord blessed me and made everyone think I did a good job of it in choir practice.
This week we are trying to get our passports redone. We are planning on going on a cruise in September and need them before then.
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
Pictures from May 2008
The first few are from my surprise Birthday party. The surprise was that my Mom, Dad and brother came down from Arkansas. I had no idea. It sure was great to have them here.
The rest of the photos are from our trip to Arkansas, Memorial week-end.
Friday, May 23th, 2008
We're headed to Arkansas this week-end with the grandkids. Amanda will stay home for and feed the dogs. With gas prices approaching $4/gallon, this may be our last trip home for a while. I will be staying at Mom and Dad's to help them split some wood. Current plans are to head back home Monday.
Daniel and Shawnna came over for dinner last night. We had pizza.
Friday, May 9th, 2008
MAP Porter-Arkadelphia, AR (360 Miles; 6:45)
MAP Porter-Sulphur, LA (131 Miles; 2:45)
MAP Sulphur-Porter Via Coast (183 Miles; 4:00)
MAP Splendora-Texas Monument Restaurant (40 Miles; 1:30)
Monday, May 5th, 2008
News flash from Porter, Texas (home of the world famous Porter House Steaks).
It looks like Rhonda and I will get to have a nice week-long vacation together this year. We're going to Lake City, CO. It will be about a 22 hour drive from here (just over 1050 miles). From what I've heard it's a beautiful place with lots of magnificent vistas. We are scheduled to leave on Saturday, July 19 and return late Saturday, July 26. Rhonda and I will spend two days hiking up steep mountainous trails and three days kayaking in cold, clear mountain rapids. We'll spend about 3-4 days on the road traveling. This grueling schedule is set in part by the fact that we will be with the youth from our church. Unless we accidentally misplace youth on purpose, we should be a group of 3 adults and 9-10 youth. You can start praying for Rhonda and I right now and it wouldn't be too soon! We should have a bunch of great photos when we get back.
I awoke to a clap of thunder this morning at 4:00 AM and it hasn't stopped yet. There are flash flood warnings around the area and one guy says his rain gauge showed over 6 inches at noon today.
That's it for now from Porter, Texas (home of the world famous Porter Potty)!
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
The weather is between seasons for us. That means it's mostly nice out with some muggy days every now and then. Those will get to be a regular thing here in a few months. With the cooler temps mostly behind us, it's perfect for motorcycle riding. I've been riding the bike for the past few weeks. I took a quick trip up to Arkansas last Thursday-Saturday. It was mostly good weather all the way to Benton, Arkansas and back. Rhonda had the yard mowed for me when I got back. I was sure thankful.
Amanda had some excitement recently. She was out in the back yard with the dogs when one of them chased a snake up her leg. Just thinking about the jig she must have danced makes me grin. I know, Lord help me, I'm wrong.
A bunch of us from the church rode to Taco Cabana on 1960 and met some other motorcycle folks. It was fun, but you quickly tire of a place with such a limited menu. They meet every Monday night there. So, we will visit with them once in a while.
Sam had scarlet fever and we ended-up keeping her some this past week.
I went to Sawdust Baptist church last night. They are having a revival this week. The service was great. I even got to eat dinner with them before hand. It was great to see Tim Byrd and his family.
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
It's been a busy week. I drove the Durango to work on Tuesday because the morning news was talking about hail and thunder storms. It turned out to be a pretty nice day outside, from what little I saw of it. We had chopped steak, jalapeno poppers and baked potatoes for dinner last night. Rhonda's neck is slowly getting better (she pulled it and her arm while picking-up Sam last Saturday). I took Rhonda to a local doctor's clinic Sunday and they gave her a prescription for pain killers and a muscle relaxer.
Pictures from Amanda's trip to Tucson, AZ
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
No jokes today. Just wanted to post this while I had the chance. I took a trip on the new bike last week and here is the write-up. The Three Day Ride North
Monday, March 24th, 2008
We had dinner with Tim, Teena and Lindsey Byrd at a great stir fry place near the Pinecroft mall. We didn't get to see Ryan. It was great! We really enjoy getting to spend time with them Byrd's. They are great friends and a lot of fun to be with. At the restaurant you pick out the meat and veggies you like, add a sauce and then they fry it with some rice and bring it to your table in a bowl. Teena if your reading this, then please make a note to call us about dinner next month!
Sunday we had Easter services at church. Rhonda and I sang specials in the Easter program. I sang a song titled 'Arise'. Rhonda and I both faced difficult challenges with singing our solos. But, in the end, God blessed and we did well enough so as not to embarrass our family and friends.
Yes, I do have a new motorcycle. It is a Kawasaki Concours 1400. Here are some photos of the bike. A "farkel" is a term used to indicate a modification to a motorcycle. I have started a Farkel Log on the new bike, you my find it interesting. I added a few things to make the comfortable and a few things for performance. Performance is something this bike has lots of right out of the door. It can really move when commanded to do so.
After riding the bike nearly every day for a month and a half (to and from work mostly), I am just starting to get a good feel for the bike. Now it's time to test her for road worthiness on the long haul. So, I'll be leaving out Thursday morning on a three day trip. A friend and I will spend the night up on Mount Nebo Thursday night (460 miles), in tents. The next day we will head up through the Ozarks and push up to Joplin, Missouri for lunch. From there we will drift southwest down old Route 66, back roads and I-44 to Oklahoma City (490 mile day). Saturday will bring us south through Dallas and back home via I-45 (430 mile day). I'll do a write-up on the trip with photos latter.
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
Well it has been a month already.
Rhonda was sick with some food poisoning (we think). It took her a few weeks to recover. She has written and recorded a new song. Rhonda will be going to Arkansas (04/04-07/2008). She, her mother and sisters are all going to the Woman of Faith conference in Little Rock.
Amanda is going to visit a friend in Arizona next Sunday (03/23-27/2008). She is still going to school and taking Haley to girl scouts. She and I got to go eat dinner at IHOP last night. Rhonda was busy with her singing lessons.
Lyndsey, Britney, Jakob and Haley all went to Orlando for a week. We picked them up last Saturday from the airport. Their luggage (9 bags) didn't make the trip with them. I think they got all the bags back a day or two latter.
Daniel is bringing the grandkids over this weekend for Easter. We are going to fry a turkey and hide Easter eggs.
I've go plans to take a three day motorcycle ride up north (03/27-29/2008). I'll be traveling light on this ride. The first night is in tents up on Mount Nebo in Arkansas. The next day takes us up to Joplin, MO and down Route 66 to Oklahoma City, where we will have a hotel room waiting. Saturday morning will bring us back home. It's a little over 1400 miles and we will have to keep the wheels spinning to see it all. Thus far there is just one guy going with me.
Looks like I will be making another business trip to Lake Charles, LA again (04/08-11/2008). I'm not looking forwared to the time away from home.
I've got to get some yard work don before it gets hot. I need to work on the flower beds and the fountain.
I sold my old motorcycle and purchased a new Kawasaki Concours 1400. I ride it most days. I had to take the car Tuesday due to thunderstorms. But, today it's clear skies again. I may get to pick-up Jakob for RA's on the way to church tonight.
That's about all the news from Texas at the moment.
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
We seem to be sailing along at warp speed, lately. So, I'll keep this short.
1997 Suzuki Intruder SOLD!
2008 Longbow Photos
Sam's Birthday Party Photos
Monday, January 7th, 2008
Jakob The First Ride Dirt Bike Videos:
Instructions From Dad
Jakob's First Crash!
I'm All Jacked Up On Moutain Dew! (MP3) http://t3.funformobile.com/d/154/623/1t8wbxjutk/jackedup.mp3
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007
Be sure to check out the new photos to the left!
Rhonda just called and told me she had left work. She and Amanda were headed to the doctor's office when she called. I guess the crud has finally gotten the best of her.
Monday, November 26th, 2007
Thanksgiving was pretty laid-back for us this year (just Rhonda, Amanda and I).
I got turkey fryer for Christmas last year and this was our chance to try it out. The Saturday before Thanksgiving we purchased a frozen turkey, a non-frozen chicken and 3 gallons of peanut oil. I tested the fryer with the chicken first. I was very good. Thanksgiving day we fried the thawed turkey. I had to add another gallon of peanut oil. I injected the turkey with a butter and herb solution while the oil was heating up. We fried a 12.5 pound turkey for about 45 minutes. It was out of this world, hands-down the best turkey any of us had ever eaten. The stuffing and green bean casserole was great as well. We all ate more turkey this year than ever before.
It's starting to look like our trip to Fredericksburg is a bust this year. The weather is really cold and wet and the forecast doesn't look much better for Friday and Saturday.
Friday, November 16th, 2007
I'm fresh back from the deer woods. Buy fresh I mean I've gotten a clean shave and a hot shower after several days of doing without. The coyotes have doubled in numbers (according to the nightly serenades). That may be why we've seen less and less deer in the past few years. There were nine of us hunting for five days and only two legal bucks taken. There were less does, babies and bucks seen this year than last and less last year than the year before. On second thought, calling them "deer woods" might be a little bit of an over statement; more like "coyote woods" these days.
This evening we are riding the motorcycle to Splendora for the Santa in the park event that the FOGG Riders started.
I'm attempting to try out my turkey fryer on a chicken Saturday. If all goes well we will be deep frying our first turkey Thursday. Say a prayer for us and especially pray that I don't burn down the house!
We will have the grandkids over the weekend.
Next weekend we will be on the annual Fredericksburg motorcycle ride.
Today is my first day in the office after being out for a while. So, I've got a lot of ground to cover today. The following are some interesting links I got in emails over the past few weeks.
Arkadelphia, Arkansas is the headquarters for the National Assosciation of Barber Boards of America
This is a Tonight Show clip of a lady from Arkadelphia, AR who revived a chicken with CPR. She's really funny, but the reactions from Terry Bradshaw are priceless.
The strict enforcement of Frederickburg's noise ordinance could get you a $500 souvenir.
Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
It has been a challenging past few weeks. We had to replace a battery in Rhonda's car. Of course it was pouring down rain when the battery died. But, we survived. After eleven years of working with pretty much the same people around me, a new young supervisor decides I need to move to a cubical across the building. No reason, he just wants to shake things up. He's loosing friends fast, from what I can tell. Amanda seems to be doing well in school this year. We had some pot-heads move out of the neighborhood this week (an answered prayer). No one is going to miss the loud music and parties they had. We had called the police on them a few times in the past year after they refused to keep the noise down. My motorcycle has a fuel leak that I am getting fixed this week. I was sent a link to a cool web page The Watch Maker. You should try it out if you can. My mother sent me funny link as well (Can you tell the difference between a Female and a Shemale?). Last Sunday we had a lot of key people out at church. This makes it very interesting for those who fill in. Our pastor and music directory were on a mission trip and their return was unexpectedly delayed. Two of the people who usually help with the sound system were out and one of our Sunday School teachers was out. Unless you attend a large church, things get pretty interesting when you have that many key people out at one time. But, we survived and people stepped up to fill-in the gaps. Rhonda and I are so looking forward to January. We will be taking a week alone in a cabin (Longbow) with not phones, tv's or other people around. We have a ride to motorcycle Fredericksburg in December.
Saturday, September 29th, 2007
Last Saturday we parked the motorcycles after a 1,100 mile trip and were sleeping by this time. You can read about and see pictures of the motorcycle trip to the Ozarks at www.foggriders.com. Today we went to a local putt-putt/pizza/arcade/water-bumper cars/go-carts place for Jakob's birthday party. Look under the Photos link to the left for these pictures. Our camera does not do well with low lighting and fast movement. We ended up trashing the majority of the go-cart photos.
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