I know this is a little bit late in posting, but I was on vacation. I started my vacation by relaxing for a couple of days at home, then I packed up and went down to Margaret's house. At the last minute, Jer decided he wanted to go, too. We ended up driving separately for two reasons. One, Kevin and Jer wasn't ready to go (they didn't leave until 3:30) and two, it would have been an uncomfortable ride if we had all piled in either the pickup or my car. Actually, looking back there really was a third reason...Jer had to be back in Wichita Falls by Sat. morning for weightlifting practice. I sure didn't want to drive down to Houston on a Wednesday and have to come back on Friday night. I didn't come back until Sunday.
I left around one on Wednesday, and arrived at Margaret's house exactly 5 and 1/2 hours later. Good time!! The first thing we did was pick up Felica and went to eat Italian food. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant, but I'm terrible with names. Suffice it to say, I bet I gained another 5 pounds just from eating that one meal. I ordered to meals to go for Kevin and Jer and they came in around 10:30. After they ate we called it a night shortly after.
The next day just the three of us went to the Galleria to walk around and check out some of the stores. Margaret gave me directions, but did I follow them? No, I didn't and we ended up taking the 610 loop north instead of going south. Then we ended up in a seedy part of town. I ended up taking the S. Post Oak Rd. exit and the Galleria wasn't even nearby. I ended up stopping and getting directions again. How was I to know there were more than one street in Houston with Post Oak as part of the street name? We finally made it and had a wonderful time walking around the mall. Kevin ended up with a new pair of sunglasses, Jer bought a new Swatch watch, and I bought an Eddie Bauer shirt. When we left the Galleria we ended up going the wrong way again on the 610. It took awhile to arrive back at Margaret's. We didn't stay at Margaret's long before we decided we were all ravenous. We drove a short distance away and ate at the Texas Roadhouse.
Here it is Friday and Kevin and Jer wanted to leave around 3:00. They ended up not leaving until 6:00 that evening. This time I decided it would be prudent to have Margaret drive us to our destinations. We all ate at the Red Onion, and then made our way downtown to the new Aquarium that had opened up earlier in the year. I took quite a few pics while there, and as soon as I get a chance I will post them to my Webshots page for your viewing pleasure. After we got back to Margaret's house Kevin and Jer went swimming for about 45 minutes, then packed up to return to Wichita Falls. Later that evening Kathleen, John & Courtney, Tim, Felica, & Cat came over for dinner. Margaret had gone to the store and bought salmon steaks, baking potatoes (for twice baked), and asparagus spears. I had the potatoes all ready to deposit back into their jackets for the second baking. Margaret had evidently bought a new hand mixer, because she took it out of my hand to release the beaters. Instead of pushing on the beater release she hit the pulse button instead. Needless to say, potatoes flew everywhere...in our hair, on the floor, and all over the newly redone cabinets. Thankfully, we still had enough patatoes left in the bowl to adequately fill all the jacket halfs.
The next day (Sat.) Margaret and I lazed around the house all day. The night before I had started reading a historical romance book called, Heart Breaker and I couldn't put it down. I ended up staying awake until 4:00. The next day I didn't wake up until 11:00. Margaret and I just lazed around the house. I ended up in the pool reading until I finished the book. Now that is what I call a relaxing day.
Sunday has arrived and it is time to get ready to pack up and head back home. Gosh how the time flew! Margaret is a wonderful host and I will certaintly look forward to my next visit with her. I left around noon and had to make a short detour to Rita's house to return a new outfit she had left at Margaret's on her last visit. I visited with Rita for almost an hour, said my goodbyes and headed north for the short jaunt home.
The only thing that soured my trip home was passing a major accident between Henrietta and Wichita Falls. I saw a vehicle upside down in the median. There were several emergency personnel on site and traffic was backed up for more than a mile in the south bound lanes. Later, I learned that there had been two fatalites involving a 55 yr. old man and his 54 yr. old wife. Their three grandchildren were riding in the back seat. They were all injured and it appears they will recover from their injuries. On the news that night I had learned that a Wichita Falls teenager was changing lanes and clipped the vehicle. The killed driver had over corrected causing the rollover. Sadly, the teenager has been charged with first degree vehicular manslaughter.
Phew...I'm sure you all are just as tired of reading now as I am of typing. I will close for now. When there is something more of interest to report I will post again.