Hello, Port A, Good-bye!

So, a few weeks before leaving for Florida, I had gotten an email from Texas Monthly magazine outlining activities in the state for the month of February. We have lived in TX now for 19 1/2 years and haven't been to see the whooping cranes as they pass through the Port Aransas area. The festival celebrating the migration was the last weekend in February. We registered and signed up for the 4 1/2 hour boat ride on Saturday morning at 730 to search out the cranes.

We decided to drive down on Friday and spend the night so as to be refreshed for the boat excursion. About 40 minutes from Port Aransas, Sneed had me complete the drive. He wasn't feeling too well. After going over to the island on the ferry, a short at the most 2-3 minute ride, we picked up our registration packets and went to the hotel. Unloaded our stuff and decided to check out the island. We were really excited about having a good seafood dinner and found a place we thought we'd go back to later. Then we drove to the pier from which the boat was leaving to see how long it would take to get there from the hotel. Here is a sampling of some of the gorgeous sailing vessels.



Next I decided to drive on the beach. I love just moseying along looking at the birds and the tide coming in. There was one fellow in a wetsuit who had evidently just finished surfing as he was coming on to the beach. Stopped the car, to take these photos. Unfortunately, no pristine shells were around. That's the only kind I pick up so that was a fruitless effort. Maybe it's just me but I think the gulls in the first photo look like a group of penguins.



Love the 'long, tall, Texan' look in the sand, the waves crashing on the shore, and the footprints in the sand.



The colorful seahorses were a decoration outside a 'junk' souvenir shop. When we went back to the Port Aransas Seafood Company for dinner , there were no cars in the parking lot but there were lots when we had passed by earlier. That's when we realized it was just a seafood market, not a restaurant. So, we went down the road a piece and saw The Castaways. The parking lot was full, the restaurant was full. It was a real dive inside but the prices were for a classier place. Needless to say, after sharing a meal, having cold veggies and rice with half-way decent grilled shrimp, grazing a lousy salad bar, and because the water was bad in the area, terrible tasting iced tea, we departed as soon as possible. Besides, Sneed was not feeling any better.



Saturday morning when I woke at 6, I mentioned to Sneed I didn't think he should be going on the boat ride. He agreed and went back to sleep. We stopped on our way out to see if we could get a refund since he was ill. The lady said, "We can put you on something later this afternoon." I told her she didn't understand....we needed to get home. Crossing on the ferry I saw 2 pelicans playing 'sitting duck' in the water. Got home before the boat would have been docking and Sneed went to bed. He's better now after a visit to the dr who diagnosed 'the flu' and gave him an Rx of Tamiflu. The first dose made him 100% better. Good stuff!

Wheels-to-Wings - Orlando Inter-regional Meet

Sneed and I took off early Tuesday morning trailering Marque to Florida. As the journey is always the same, across I-10 to Florida and then South down the central part of the state, I won't bore you with more pix of the same. I can hear you saying, Yippee! Anyway, we spent the night in Quincy, FL, outside of Tallahassee. Had takeout from KFC and it was finger lickin' good. The next morning we found another car enthusiast in the parking lot. This fellow from Oklahoma built this neat little buggy fashioned from a Model T truck. He and his wife had been down in Key West visiting grandchildren and were on their way back to OK. This is the second one he's built and he's driven over 100,000 miles in them. Told him I liked his license tag. It didn't mean what I thought it did. Since the base is a Model T and he built it for his grandchildren, the plate is named after a child's tea (T) party. He's had the plate for years but everyone asks him how he got that plate so quickly. Oh well, guess that's a good story behind it.



So, we boogied on down the road to Kissimmee to the Gaylord Palms. Took our breath away when we saw the place. One could spend an entire vacation here. After we unloaded Marque, we joined the line of cars that were allowed to be parked in the front of the hotel and be watched by their security.



The glass roof of the atrium reminded me of the glass domed Crystal Palace eatery at Disney World. Inside there are several different themed-restaurants to choose from including a 60' docked sailboat which served, you guessed it, seafood a la the Hemingway era in Key West. Ernest was even represented along with his cat sitting in his dinghy via a beautiful sand sculpture. There's always someone posing with a phenomenal sailfish catch. Koi abounded in the streams that flowed throughout. Each time I stepped to the railing to watch them and I admit, talk to them as I do all living creatures, they clustered together with their mouths open as if I were going to give them a bounteous meal.



The area is climate-controlled so the tropical plants were abloom. I always have to have some flower photos to show.



Crossing a wooden bridge would bring you to a Tom Sawyer hut that had a display of snakes in terrariums. Although not in this photo, there were some children braving the chillier temperatures enjoying the spouting octopus in the children's pool. The adult pool was serene and unoccupied. Whilst Sneed was in Board meetings, I played 2 rounds on the outdoor miniature golf course. Each hole had so many sand traps that I got to know them quite well. I was having such a good time, interpret thtat as getting so frustrated, I totally forgot to take a photo of the course.



As with other meets, our favorite part is participating in the breakfast runs on which we drive locally to a venue early in the morning. Thursday morning, we drove to WDW and entered the tunnel to the Richard Petty Driving Experience track. Our expeience was truly unique as we got to drive Marque on the track. The instructor in the lead car said we would do about 5 laps gradually getting up to speed. I was all ready to take a photo of Sneed traveling along at 100mph just breaking Marque in. Imagine our disappointment when the needle barely got to 45!! But we did lap the track.



That afternoon, Sneed's buddy from Va Tech, George Fox , and his wife, Jeanne, drove up from their home in Englewood for a visit. We had lunch together and then took them for a ride about the area. That evening we went to Cirque Du Soleil's presentation of La Nouba. Since photography wasn't allowed inside, we took the photo outside with CA members Ivonne and Robert Webb.



Friday morning's run was to Celebration, the self-contained community Disney envisioned for his workers to live to be near to the park. There is a back entrance to WDW so residents don't have to get on major roadways to gain entrance. Unfortunately, Disney died before the project reached fruition. One of the retaurants on the Town Square opened at 7 to accomodate our early breakfast. It's such an idyllic area, very clean and Disneyesque. That evening we went to the Orlando Bentley dealership for a lovely reception and a visit to the restoration shop it runs.



Saturday morning, we all motored to Fantasy of Flight in Polk City. This weekend there was a celebration honoring The Tuskegee Airmen from WW II. Sneed, and another of his Tech buds, Roy Simpson, visited with Leo Gray, Lt Col, USAF Ret., 100 FS, 332 FG. Doesn't he look great? Kermit Weeks, the owner of Fantasy of Flight, gave us a performance in Ina, "Macon Belle". The photo is of Ina coming in for a landing. Here we are with Roy and his wife, Roz, who drove down from Ocala to visit and enjoy the great lunch buffet.



And here we all are displaying our cars on the grounds. Cathie from Texas, who is standing in front of Marque, won the Ladies' Best Bonnet award (bottom row, second photo from left). The car in the center is a 1910 Silver Ghost from Georgia.



The Florida sunshine followed us all the way to Texas where we encountered some rain. When Sneed saw the GPS reading that we could be home around 8 or 9 if we kept up the pace, he decided to trailer on. Got a bit dicey about 80 miles from home when the ground fog limited visibility to less than half a football field. We arrived home around 9 after 1002 miles of only stopping for gas and a quick Panera Bread lunch. Home again, home again, jiggedy jig. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!

Lincoln's Birthday to Presidents' Day

Woo Hoo! Mardi Gras time in New Orleans and Terry and Erika were eager to fly to the Big Easy and skip the light fantastic so I could watch Aedin, Dylin, and Olsin. This time I had a detailed schedule that needed to be followed...Aedin had rehearsals on Friday afternoon and Sunday (she's an orphan in "Annie" being presented the first weekend in March - more of that later when it occurs), Aedin and Dylin had a basketball game on Saturday morning, Sunday Miss Lizzie was coming to take over the reins so Sneed and I could go see the Dominic Walsh ballet presentation of "Romeo and Juliet" courtesy of Erika and Terry, and Olsin - well, fortunately he's all boy and not involved in any extracurricular activities yet...but give it a year as he starts school in the fall.

Our Usual List of Suspects Cast of Characters

Introducing, and debuting this year, supporting actors in minor roles


The weather being highly untypical for TX was not conducive for playing outdoors which used to be our usual activity in daylight hours. However, the trio had a special gadget that more than made up for that loss. Santa was generous this year bringing the children a gorgeous Apple computer to share - which if I had let them, would have captivated all their waking hours.



After a full 24 hours of cabin fever that was relieved only by going to the next rehearsal or the basketball game, the sun came out and we escaped to the Brazos River Park. This park is not for the feint of heart. Children like to climb and these three did. They love the rope pyramid and climbed to the top countless times intimidating the other children who obviously were novices. The 'treasure' had to be carried to the top. We acted out our own version of "Annie" with me deciding which 'orphan' to adopt.




We stayed up late watching the Ladies' downhill slalom and the luge events at the Vancouver Olympics. Aedin was really involved critiquing the runs and rooting for her favorites. I don't know what criteria she used as her favorite wasn't always the USA. = ) When the night's broadcast was done, they went compliantly to bed (after brushing their teeth and one last visit to the loo, of course) with me reading first to Olsin, then Dylin, and stopping in Aedin's room lastly. We played a number of 'Connect the Dots' games on her chalkboard. Then she read to me and decided to call it a night. It was nice to have the one on one time with her. But silly me thinking that if they stayed up until 11pm, they'd sleep later in the morning. Right? Nope. Dylin has an internal alarm that wakes her right around 7am although I had beaten her by 15 minutes and was already in the kitchen.



Sunday was a dual holiday being Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year - the Year of the Tiger. Erika had left instructions as to where the goody bags were so I could put them out before they awoke. Dylin waited for her siblings before tearing into her bag.They all got some great books and a few other goodies. One of Olsin's gifts was a Lego kit labeled for ages 7-12 yrs. Well, I've never assembled a Lego kit toy and knew this project was mine in the near future. But, we had some other projects to accomplish before that. The girls found some pink and red paper to cut out hearts. Aedin then glued the smaller hearts on the larger hearts and put conversation hearts in the center of each small heart. Then she laid them out how she wanted to attach them on a ribbon. Next we found some patterned paper to make Chinese lanterns for the new year. Aedin carefully designed her arrangement of hearts and lanterns to hang from the top floor railing so Mommy and Daddy would see it when they walked in the front door. Time was a-flying and it was time to assemble the shooting car. I was dreading this. Following directions isn't too difficult...but there weren't any written ones - only pictures. It was easy going at first with Olsin showing me where to put the pieces but as the car neared finishing, the photos would show more than one step and it wasn't always evident what one was supposed to do. I heaved a huge sigh of relief as I finished this, Olsin put it in the shooter, stepped on the shooter and the car flew forward. Yippee! We did it!! Fortunately I took a photo of the assembled car. By now it was time for lunch and I still had to change and be ready when Sneed came to pick me up at 1 to go to "Romeo and Juliet".



Miss Lizzie arrived and I made sure she had my cell phone number in case of emergency. Aedin was to go across the street around 130pm and ride with her neighbors to rehearsal. Olsin had been feeling poorly....and you know he is pretty sick when all he does is lay on the couch huddled under a blanket and sleep. Didn't like leaving him like that but all Lizzie had to do was call and we would come home. So actually, once Aedin left, she would mainly be watching Dylin. Sneed and I hopped in the Saab and headed downtown. When I started checking my purse for my cell phone, I couldn't find it and asked if he would turn around so we could get it. He did and for some reason I decided to check again and there it was...and darned if it didn't ring shortly thereafter. Aedin's ride wasn't there and no one was home. Horrors - did they leave without her? While I was calling another of their neighbors to see if they could take Aedin, Lizzie called back to say that they had gone out for lunch and were late getting back and Aedin was safely ensconced in their car and on her way. Whew, crisis averted.


Erika gave us the tickets for Christmas. We had excellent seats - 4th row dead center. Even though we both thought we knew the story of "Romeo and Juliet" seeing it enacted through ballet with no words and no idea who the characters were, we both were in limbo for awhile with me dozing off a bit. I wasn't the only one though. A woman behind us told her husband to go back to sleep. It was easier to follow in the second act as we had figured out the characters. But let me tell you, Act II had all the death scenes and it seemed to take a ballet dancer (is that what you call a male ballerina?) forrrrevvvvverrrr to stop twitching and finally give up the ghost. Even Juliet closed out the show twitching. It was an interesting performance. Can't say we will ever darken the doors of that realm of the arts again though.

Back on the road with a stop to pick up Aedin. Remember the shooting car? Well Olsin put it away in the box and it broke all apart. Couldn't find the instruction booklet again. After dinner, we stayed up again watching Olympic triumphs and the agony of defeat. This evening though both Dylin and Olsin fell asleep watching and had to be carried upstairs to bed.

Monday, being Presidents' Day, was a school holiday. I cooked some soft boiled eggs and they wanted hard boiled. When Aedin said, "These eggs aren't like Mommy makes" (I didn't think one could mess up hard boiled eggs ), I knew the gig was almost up. This final day has always been my morning to recoup and tidy up after all have been taken to school. I didn't do much recouping but I got the other stuff done after we made some Welcome Home brownies. Of course we had to taste test to see if they were OK. They enjoyed some more sun while they were outside playing with the others who were lucky enough to be off (private schools didn't have the day off).

Erika and Terry came home around 230pm. Erika brought everyone gifts. I received a lovely turquoise and amethyst necklace. I made my way out the door leaving the children the way they like to be...crowded around the Apple. Until next year, y'all!

Raindrops keep falling on... Texas

At least Katy didn't get the blunt of it...there was a tornado watch and flooding but not in our area.

Chez Adams aka 57 Holly Oak

Memories....this is where we made 'em. In our favorite stateside abode, 57 Holly Oak Drive in Voorhees, New Jersey. We moved here after a 2 year idyllic stint in Bintulu, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. That was another time, another place as well. Lost Tree was a great neighborhood with plenty of girls (and boys in Taylor's case) our girls' ages to start lasting friendships. Taylor entered Kindergarten, Erika second grade, and Annemarie 4th. There was a cement half basketball court on which the girls learned to ride bikes, play basketball (of course) and roller skate. The basement was good for roller skating as well and playing library. Plenty of trees meant plenty of leaves in the fall to rake and have fun playing in as they piled up. Snow was welcome too as there was a great place to sled across the street. They learned how to swim at the local swim clubs, played soccer on all boy teams as soccer was just being introduced then, started piano lessons, and Annemarie flute, Erika, clarinet. Performed with the local theater group in The Music Man, ballet lessons, Girl Scouts. Yes, those were the days.

After 5 years, we left 57 to go to Saudi Arabia fortunately not selling the house but having someone housesit. I say fortunately as the Gulf War interrupted our stay and the girls and I came home the following year in August in time for school to begin. This time Annemarie was starting HS, Erika was in Jr High, and Taylor in 5th grade. Their former classmates welcomed them as did their neighborhood friends. It didn't take long to get back in the routine. At school's conclusion, we flew back to Saudi to rejoin Sneed who had remained there. It wasn't long before our new assignment came...we were relocating to...Texas. We bid a fond adieu to 57 in August 1991. Thanks to my good friend, Judy, who still lives around the corner from 57, we got this photo of our old abode blanketed in some recent snow. The memories came flooding back.

Budding artists?

As Grandmas are wont to experience, I just received a Granny 9-1-1 call from Erika asking me to watch Aedin, Dylin, and Olsin for a few hours this evening. Erika, as a co-director of the Fort Bend Theatre's production of "Little Women", was on her way to the theatre. Terry had an 8PM outdoor soccer game in which he wanted to play. I met Terry as he, Gavin, Colin, and Gavin's friend, Manny, were preparing to leave. I emphasized 'outdoor' as the temperature was in the 40s - not fit for man or beast to be outside playing.

Aedin and Dylin entertained themselves with a Hannah Montana game on the computer while Olsin (and I intermittently) watched episodes of Transformers. This was my total immersion into little (Olsin says he's a big boy now) boys' interests - he used to be content to play house or whatever the girls were doing. Maybe it's the haircut?

I noticed a new addition on the wall in the family room. Aedin and Dylin are taking art classes. Who knows, perhaps one day they may rival some of the greats. They are off to a good start.


Dylin's acrylic on canvas was titled The Witches Land. I like her use of color. It's priced at $28,000,000 if anyone's interested. The girl likes to think in humongous sums. Go for it, girl. The world's your oyster.


Aedin was inspired by Van Gogh's The Starry Night. I think she did quite well with her interpretation. Now that I see their paintings together, it looks as if they were using the same artist's pallet. = )