Warrior Dash

Well, we're going to try to do another mud run this coming spring.  This time the Warrior Dash.  Kelly and her friends run most of it, I walked.  I've been trying to recruit a walker to come with me.

Jeannett & I went out walking today to train, we are planning on doing the 10k.  We walked 2+ miles today.  (Need to triple that).  I tripped, can't walk & talk at the same time apparently, especially with uneven sidewalks.....the earth moves here, but slowly.  I rolled really good for an old woman.....we'll see how I feel tomorrow.  We found a training area at a nearby park and have plans to use it together.  We will become "WARRIORS"

Casino Beach

This week I was looking for a place near the water to go to.  We have 3 lakes very close to our home, Eagle Mountain, Grapevine and Lake Worth.  We've been to Grapevine a few times already, so I looked online for one with picnicking & maybe a beach.  I found Casino Park.  This a picture of the park in it's heyday in the 1920's.  But the remaining buildings were torn down in the '70s.  One note describing the park that it had the only sandy beach at one of the lakes in Fort Worth, most are dirt & mud.  So I packed up bread to feed the possible ducks and we headed out for our 16 mile drive to Lake Worth and Casino Park.

There was a sandy beach and a nice green park beside it......but no ducks.  The shoreline was only about 300 yards, it did have a large roped off area for swimming.  There were only a few people there while we were there.  It was a beautiful Texas day.  Yesterday was 105 degrees, today in the low 80's with a breeze.

Axel threw rocks & sticks in the water.

No we didn't see any alligators, but they have been recently seen in local waters  (youtube documented).  Just part of Texas.  In 2007 I did see one about 3 ft long in a stream near our house.

Axel picked up broken pieces of glass on the beach & in the water and gave them to me to throw away.

They had a dock there for boating and fishing.  Axel wanted to watch the 1 fisherman a lot longer than Larry & me.  We lured him away with a promise of a chocolate shake & french fries.  Always a healthy lunch when your with Grandma & Papa.

Medicare Eligible

Larry turned 65 on Monday.  We had a lazy day, drove out to Bass Pro's to show Axel the sporting goods, Texas style.  I fixed him a favorite for dinner, liver & onions.  He got a popcorn machine that he had been eyeing for a while.  

 The family came over for cake and ice cream.  

We put a big dent in that death by chocolate cake.  Everyone got to cut their own piece, when all was done, we had a couple of pieces left for another day.

HOTDOGS!

Larry has had the boys over for wienie roast a couple of times this year

But Stephanie and I crashed the party.  

Marshmallows for S'mores

 It was only 105 degrees

 Brody

 Diego & Oscar

 Damon

 Nathan

Axel

SUMMER ACTIVITIES AT HOME

One day we saw a pair of baby doves on the planter.  We couldn't find the original nest, and they were gone later in the day.

 Axel & I made brownie cookies.  He can measure the ingredients, break the eggs & turn on the mixer. But of course licking the bowl is the best.

 For Sally's birthday I fixed a mini Thanksgiving dinner, complete with the pumpkin birthday pie.

 We decided to start feeding the birds again.  We got a new feeder, Axel choose the Red roofed one, because RED is his favorite color.

 note: red shorts

 The zinnas are growing like crazy.  They're almost as big as the crepe myrtle tree we planted a few months ago.

 Axel wanted to cut some for his mom & dad.  He's my helper deadheading flowers.  He's also learning where to cut the flowers so they will have long stems & promote the growth of more blossoms.  The more you cut zinnas the more they bloom.  And they seem to love our Texas heat.

 Here's Axel with his bouquet.

We had gone camping again to Glen Rose, only to come home a few hours later,,,the a/c on the 5th wheel can't handle the 105 degree heat, again it shut down....even after an expensive trip to the RV repair shop.  And unfortunately there was no place to get out of the heat, other than home. So we had a short staycation.

THE JAPANESE GARDENS

Wednesday we went to the Fort Worth Botanical gardens.  We've wanted to go there for some time, but usually forgot about them. We usually have Axel on Wednesdays, so he got to come with us.  

 He liked the shrines throughout the landscapes.

 It's not often that we get pictures taken of Larry & I together, Axel doesn't do a bad job for a 4 yr old.

 Axel did not want to pose with the monkeys, they kind of scared him, but the sad face fits the picture.

 They have giant koi.  It almost looked like Jaws when they saw us & started swimming our was. Initially we didn't realize it was a fish, just a wave coming.

We finish the trip off with a visit to In & Out.  They have only been in Texas for about a year, and very popular.  I showed Axel one of my favs...dipping fries in a chocolate shake.  

Summer's Bounty

Every summer I plant zinnas somewhere in the yard.  They love the HEAT and the more you pick them the more they flower.  So I have bouquets all the time and the neighbors enjoy the color.  

 I also plant basil.  Axel has learned to enjoy it too.  I encourage him to touch the leaves and then smell his fingers.  If you didn't know, basil and last a few weeks in a glass of water, I've had them sprout roots too. I too touch them frequently to enjoy the fresh aroma.

This year I made homemade pesto.  Who would think  nuts, cheese, oil and leaves would taste so good, I almost forgot about the garlic and what doesn't taste good with garlic. Oh my goodness.....it made the entire house smell yummy.  And the creamy pesto spagetti that night with pesto crostini was to die for.

Palo Duro Canyon, Texas Grand Canyon

I've been wanting to go to Palo Duro Canyon for years.  It's promoted as the the Grand Canyon of Texas, and also the only second in size to the "Grand Canyon" in AZ.  I love the Grand Canyon! To say that initially I was not impressed would be an understatement.  But it quickly grew on me.  I do like the desert. 

 This was our campsite.  The rustic shelter, with the beautiful backdrop.  But no trees or natural shade.  Our air conditioner would die at 4pm, the hottest time of day.  Thankfully between our shelter and the strong breeze that blew most of the day it was tolerable. Although we did come home a day earlier than planned.

 One of the features of the park is the outdoor play, TEXAS.  It is only performed in the summer.

 This is the stage, with the canyon in the background.  The play starts with a horse rider carrying the Texas flag running across the rim.  It was a musical, lots of dancing, a corny story relating to the settling of the panhandle.  Unfortunately the sound system was a little lacking, and at times hard to hear.  But special effects, lightning strike, fireworks, & Texan patriotic.

 There was a chuck wagon BBQ before the show, and live music while we waited for showtime.

 Festina waited for us with 2 fans blowing & lots of water.

 Our first morning we got up early, 6am, to hike to the lighthouse formation.  It was a 6 mile round trip.

 Sunrise

 This is the lighthouse, we did not know how close we would get to it.

 Actually pretty close.  We took a break, had a lite snack and enjoyed the view.

 Then time to go down back down.  In the picture below, you can see the trail we followed through the canyon.  We started behind the right formation and then some.

 In the town of Canyon, just west of the park, is the Panhandle and Plains Historic Museum.  We spent several hours there.  They had a wide variety of exhibits, from dinosaurs to oil and lots between.

So I guess we can check off a few things on the bucket list.  Things for the future, Galvaston, Johnson Space Center, San Padre Island, Big Bend, but the RV is now at the repair center, need the AC for those trips.

Up to Date

I haven't posted in months, have I been too busy? Not really, just in a blog funk I guess.I surived the greeter/security week, I about froze to death (hard to believe considering we were at 101 yesterday).  I think it's like the old Life commercial, ask Mikey?  I do just about any Target chore that I'm asked to do without complaint.  So now I'm part of the "Zone Team"  What is the "Zone Team"?  I put folded clothes on the tables displaying them, refold them when "guests" mess them up, and I'm supposed to retrain these "guests" to be neater, yeah right.  

But on to the pictures.  In late March we took an RV trip to Cleburn State Park to hike among the wildflowers. A week later Cleburn and surrounding towns were hit by tornados.  Last year we went to Possum Kingdon State Park and a week later it was hit by the worse wildfire fires in Texas history.  

 We have no been prohibited from the State Parks yet.  In April we went to Glen Rose.  We stayed at Glen Rose RV park, but made a visit to Dinosaur State Park......nothing happened after that trip.  Brody & Stephanie & Axel camped with us.  Across the street was Big Rock Park with a creek, river or something.  We had a great time with them, and will go back to that park.  It kind of reminded us of the camp in the movie Dirty Dancing, retro.

 Also in April, Kelly, Hunter, myself and friends did The Original MudRun...I walked it.  Fun, fun, fun.

 Spring rains have woke up the morning glories and gladiolas.  This year the roses were the best ever.

 We added sand to the sand box, put up a canopy and mister.  Axel goes out regularly.  He likes Papa to help build castles.  Oscar & Diego still go and play in it too.

 Larry hass been restaining the deck, bought a new firepit, and had to have the boys over for a weenie roast.  All the boys came (Larry forgot about photos when the whole gang was there).  Brody, Nathan, Damon, Oscar, Diego & Axel all roasted the dogs, and marshmallows.  They want to do it again.  I was at work..training unrulely "guests".  

 My highlight, last night was the Daughtry concert.  A real enjoyable evening.  The opening acts Mike Sanchez?  Not bad.  Safetysuit...again?  But fun to watch them.  Then Daughtry came on and played for 1.5 hours.

A few more days of work, then a small vacation.  I've always wanted to go there since we have been in Texas.  More on that in a couple of weeks.