Vacation Day Five or Never Wear Out Your "Welcome"

Time truly flies when you are having fun.  That was so true of this vacation.  All too soon it was time for us to leave the home of our most gracious host and hostesses, and I have to say that we all could have enjoyed each others' company a couple of more days, but there is no need in wearing out a good welcome.  Actually though, we stayed with our hosts for two days longer than we had first planned due to untoward weather in San Antonio.  Our original vacation plan called for two days in the Houston area then a race to San Antonio for two days at SeaWorld.  My lovely bride and I were actually pleased with this development because we were enjoying the visit in Angleton so much.

But, the fifth day of vacation inevitably arrived, and it was time to depart for points west.  First, though, (I hope this is not TMI) I took a final long, hot shower and borrowed (once again) my new niece's Wacky Melon hair and body wash.  I thank her so much for her generosity in this measure, and I am sure I raised a few eyebrows about town as I radiated the fragrance of Wacky Melon all over the Third Coast.  So thus smelling, I helped Honey pack our things, then we both helped our little Cole man pack his things as well.  Honey and I were surprised to find a short note from our new niece waiting for us on the dining table.  In just such a short time I had grown so fond of this little girl who is so proud to call me Uncle Wes, or occasionally Crazy Mr. Meeks, depending on whether or not I remembered to take my medication each morning.  Truthfully though, it is a great blessing to add our new niece and our new sister-in-law to the family roster.  They are both super nice people.

After packing, the entire group went to luncheon and my uncle's house.  Uncle Duane and Aunt Gayle set a nice lunch table, and the conversation is always enlightening, especially as pertains to learning facts about relatives that those particular relatives wish the others did not know.  Mostly though, my Aunt and Uncle are two of the most generous people I have ever met.  Both would give the shirts off their backs to anyone.  Well, okay, Aunt Gayle might not give the shirt off her back, but she would certainly find another one to give.  They took me in a couple of years ago at a time that they did not really know me well at all, but made me one of the family, and I have grown to love them since then, as well as my Cousin Gaylon, who is a definitely one of a kind himself.  It was great to see all of them, even though our time together was so short.  After lunch, it was time to say goodbye and commence the first leg of the return journey - Waco, to drop off our little Cole man.

We reached Waco around 5 PM and dropped off our little grandnephewson.  He was so happy to see Mom once again.  We said our goodbyes to the relatives in Waco and hit the trail once more.  It was at this point that we encountered fire engines and first responder vehicles from all over Texas as the men and women of these departments began to make their way home from the memorial services for the fallen first responders in the tragedy at West.  It really gave me a feeling of Texas pride to be a part of this state, to know that so many stand ready to serve and protect the rest of us.  It was an honor to share the road with these men and women.  Some of them had travelled from points north of Midland, some from even further west than Midland, in order to pay their respect to their fallen comrades.

Finally I saw the familiar Exit 144 sign.  My lovely bride and I breathed a collective sigh of relief to finally be home again.  Vacations are great, seeing the relatives is a blessing, but coming home again to our own little abode was a blessing of its own.  It was nearly midnight.  We had travelled from Houston to Midland, just over five hundred miles, in about nine hours.  It was so nice to hit Terra Firma once more.  With jelly-like legs, we unpacked only the essentials.  I really don't remember much after that.  My next memory is of regaining consciousness sometime after 10 AM the next day.  This was one of the most stress-free vacations I have ever taken.  No, it was not a trip to the tropics or some European destination, but I actually felt refreshed and de-stressed when it was all over.

I am sure our next trip will be to some more touristy destination, but I certainly advise everyone to take a no stress, not really super-planned vacation some day.  It is the kind of vacation that does not leave one wishing for another week of vacation to "recover."  There are still a lot of sights I would like to see someday, but I can tell you honestly that if I never see Yellowstone or the Mayan ruins, I will still remember the good times and the love we shared on this vacation.  We had our Cole man all to ourselves for a week, I got to know my new sister-in-law and my niece (in-law), spend some time with Aunt and Uncle Franks, and we saw one of my cousins whom I had not seen in so long.  We are already planning another trip, but no tourist attraction we could visit could outshine the good times we shared on this vacation, and I believe our welcome is still intact in Angleton.

 

Vacation Day Four or A Happy Reunion

The fourth day of our vacation started with great fanfare.  Well, really, I do not know whether it did or not, because I slept till 10 AM therefore missing whatever fanfare there might have been.  As soon as I was fully awake, my lovely bride yelled that we had to get ready NOW.  It was time to leave for Houston.  So it was a chaotic scene as we were all racing to get ready before the "ride" left the house.  I just had time to splash on another day's worth of Wacky Melon scent body wash, dry and style my hair (right!), get dressed, and jump into the departing Toyota Tundra.  We had to be at a certain point in Houston by 11 AM.  Well, just let me assure you that my brother-in-law, a transplant to Houston, has over the past few years mastered the art of DRIVING IN HOUSTON.  The scenery and near collisions passed by so quickly that all I can say for sure is, we were NOT LATE to our appointment, even counting the two wrong turns on Hwy 59!

Having made the necessary rendezvous and picked up Uncle Duane, we then raced to the Harris County TXDOT office where our driver and my spouse had to pick up a certain document.  I must say at this point that I was pleasantly surprised by the TXDOT service.  Within minutes my spouse and her brother had returned, and it was now time to eat lunch.  This is when things got just a tad dicey.  My lovely bride had just installed Yelp on her IPhone, and she both decided on the restaurant at which we would dine, and navigated for us via Yelp.  The problem was that Uncle Duane knew how to get to Pappadeaux, too.  The other problem was that his directions were opposite those of the Yelp app.  So we turned into the shopping center as indicated by Yelp.  No Pappadeaux's.  As we were driving down the service road on I-45 West, Uncle Duane pointed out the Pappadeaux's now clearly visible just across the Interstate.  Seeing it so close, however, did not mean that we could GET TO IT!  Not to worry...with just a couple of miles of stunt driving and committing a dozen or so moving violations, my brother-in-law delivered us safely to Pappadeaux's.

Mini review of Pappadeaux's:  The food was okay, the service was alright, the noise was deafening, and the prices made me forget all the foregoing.  All I can say was the conversation I could actually hear was great, but I was more than happy to get outside back to the tranquility of Interstate 45 traffic and the constant roar of jets passing overhead.

After the luncheon described above, we again boarded my brother-in-law's Tundra.  Minutes later we were rocketing south on Hwy 288, again making "the Indy 500 look like a Roman chariot race now.." to quote a famous tune.  My brother-in-law's talent as a fearless stunt driver should surely earn him a slot in Hollywood.  We were back in Angleton in half the time it should have taken us, but back in one piece, and that is the important thing. 

By 4:30 PM it was time to leave for Pearland.  I was doing the driving this time, therefore there was less stunt drivering, and the length of travel time was more realistic.  But the most exciting thing was that we were having dinner with my cousin, LeeAnn, whom I had not seen in probably thirty years, although we had "talked" occasionally on Facebook.  I could not wait to get there.  In fact we arrived early, so I had to take the spouse shopping in the Town Center.  Finally though, it was time to go meet LeeAnn.

I cannot describe the feeling of finally seeing LeeAnn again.  She was just as beautiful as the day I saw her last.  I introduced her to my lovely bride, and to our grandnephewson.  Cole was immediately taken with her, and they both spent a few minutes coloring in his coloring book.  Sherron and LeeAnn hit it off just as well, too.  It was such a great reunion.  I could not stop hugging her.  But then we were seated and ordered our food.  But the great thing was that we talked just like we had not been strangers.  By the time dinner was over and the young nephew was getting sleepy, we still could have talked for hours more.  But all things have to come to an end.  Our grandnephewson was up past his bedtime and it was beginning to show.  So we said our goodbyes and got hugs all around.  I already miss her and can't wait to see her again.  I love you, LeeAnn.

It is now the end of the fourth day of vacation.  Due to a certain task waiting for my lovely bride on Friday, we will leave tomorrow to drop Cole off at his home, then we will drive back to West Texas.  I am still so wired from the dinner with my sweet cousin that I don't believe I will be sleepy for some time.  I hope all of you have a chance to reunite with a distant relative or friend that you have not seen in some time.  The strange thing is that once you see each other again, it is almost like you have not been apart for long at all.

I am so happy to see how many have read about my fairly mundane vacation, and I have to tell you that this is one of the best I have ever had.  May God bless all of you, and especially may God bless our neighbors in Boston and in West.  And God bless America.

 

Vacation Day Three

The good news is that our great relatives are not TIRED of us yet.  That is always a blessing.  And it was a great day even if the I did not make it back to the beach.

I started the morning with a shower.  I realize this may be TMI, but the reason I wanted to share this is that, while I am very good at packing for vacation, I invariably forget ONE item of great importance.  This trip, however, I forgot TWO items, both of great import.  First, I forgot my guaranteed to grow hair shampoo, and second, I forgot my moisturizing, hydrogenating hair conditioner.  Therefore, for the past two days now, during my shower I have had to borrow my newest niece's two-in-one shampoo and conditioner.  I am so grateful to her for her unselfishness, don't get me wrong; It's just that for two days now, I have smelled like Wacky Melon.  That's right, Wacky Melon!  I have visited several shops and restaurants in the past two days, and I can assure you, I have turned heads with my newly acquired body scent.

So once again, today I ventured out into the world with an aura of Wacky Melon hanging in a vaporous cloud all over me.  I did notice one advantage though; The mosquitoes apparently do not like Wacky Melon.  So today I did not donate even a pint of blood to the mosquito blood bank.  By the way, I did not venture very far into the world during the morning.  My grandnephewson and I spent the morning watching AristoCats and some animated tale starring Tinkerbell and about two hundred other fairies.  I enjoyed the AristoCats as much as ever, but I must admit I paid scant attention to the second feature.  Luckily the lunch bell rang not long after the second movie started, and I was spared much misery I am sure.

After lunch we carpooled with our hosts out to the Garden Ridge Store in Webster.  This particular establishment contains three or four acres of things that no one needs, but apparently many people buy anyway, for the adornment of their homes.  If the husband is not there to clamp the vices on the wallet, the lovely spouse can run through quite a bankroll in just a few minutes, and still buy nothing she really needs.  Luckily my spouse was just "getting ideas" today (mostly).  The other lucky thing is that all Garden Ridge Stores are at least four hundred miles from Midland, in any direction.  This geographical piece de resistance will no doubt save me thousands of dollars!

After escaping the Garden Ridge Store with only one hundred or so dollars in ransom, we made our way to a nearby parochial school where my lovely niece would be playing soccer.  The game started promptly at 5 PM.  I have to say that, though I am not a soccer fan, and do not even really understand its purpose, this particular game was fun to watch.  I am sure it had to do with the fact that my newly acquired niece was playing.  In the end, her team lost by one, but it was a great afternoon.

Leaving the sports field, we proceeded to Mamasita's in Webster.  The food there was okay, but nothing that I would go out of my way to return to for seconds.  But the company made the food that much better.  I will say that the service was very fine, and I complement the wait staff.  After leaving the unremarkable dinner, we stopped at a "Texas stop sign" in Alvin.  Blizzards and ice cream for everyone.  This was possibly a mistake, though, as Cole, the grandnephewson, is now running in circles on the ceiling and bouncing off the walls.  Note to his mother:  we will be sure to stock him up on sugar, chocolate, and caffeine before returning him to you. 

It was not an earthshaking day, just a relaxing, totally unstressful day.  It turns out that the weather changed our plans for the last half of the vacation, so instead of travelling to SeaWorld, we will spend one more day here, then make the long trip back to West Texas, possibly with a stop in West, Texas to be part of the human and apparatus wall that will greet the Westboro "Christians" should they actually show themselves in West.  I believe that I can speak for many Texans when I say that we Texans will show the Westboro people what "Don't Mess With Texas" really means. 

I love my state.  God bless Texas, and God comfort all our friends in West.

End of Watch: Saturday, April 20, 2013 Deputy Chad Key, Grayson County TX Sheriff's Office

On April 20, 2013 Deputy Key was killed about 10:30 PM when he was struck by a drunk driver.  The deputy was directing traffic at an intersection when the accident happened.  Instead of stopping, the driver fled the scene as the officer died in the street.  The offender, when arrested, was found to be out of jail on bond for a previous DWI charge.

Deputy Key had been with the Grayson County Sheriff's Office for just over three years, but had served as a patrol officer for only two months at the time of his death.  Although persons charged with crimes are innocent until proven guilty, and have the right to post bail, the senselessness of this tragedy has been repeated so many times.  "Professional" or habitual drunk drivers are released on bond, go to their favorite pub to get drunk again, and drive home while they are intoxicated.  I wonder how many times this offender had made it home drunk without killing anyone or wrecking his vehicle.

May God be with the family of Deputy Key and with his fellow officers during this tragic time.  I am honored to have the privilege to honor him in some small way on this blog.

I may be wrong, but I believe that Officer Key is the first Texas peace officer to die in the line of duty in 2013.  If anyone knows of others, please correct me.  A peace officer nearly lost his life in the disaster in West, Texas last week, but was found after a short search and treated for injuries sustained in the explosion.  I pray for all police officers in Texas, that they may continue in what may be the safest year (relatively speaking) for police in decades.

Vacation Day Two

After a refreshing night's sleep, and waking up to no alarm clock, I left my spouse sleeping and I headed to the beach, Surfside Village.  I was hoping to find some interesting seashells then do some treasure hunting with my trusty Tesoro.  Unfortunately, I did not get up until 7:30 AM.  If you are familiar with the seashell hunting along the beaches of Surfside, you know that not hitting the beach until 7:30 AM is like getting to the doughnut shop at 11:05.  You see, at around 6:00 AM a squadron of little old ladies hits the beach, and there go all the "choice" shells.  So while I enjoyed a full eight hours of sleep, I am afraid I let the blue-haired league get all the shells.  Disappointing, but there was still some metal detecting to do.  So I fired up the Tesoro and hit the beach once again.

Metal detecting on the beach can be tricky because the salty sand can confuse some metal detectors, and some metal detectorists as well.  Soon I was hitting targets all over the place.  Within ten minutes I had found over one hundred Dos Equis and Natural Light bottle caps and pull tabs.  Oh yeah, and twenty seven cents.  Nearly two hours later I had increased my collection of bottle caps by a couple of pounds, and my cash haul by...umm...two cents.  I came to the conclusion that the salt may have confused the metal detector, or the sun may have confused the metal detectorists.  By the time I had spent five minutes trying to locate the last penny of my treasure trove, I was pretty sure it was time to put away the detector.  It was so disappointing not to find Lafitte's treasure.  So much so that I spent the next hour talking to a couple friendly seagulls about my metal detecting techniques.  Finding that the gulls could offer no constructive tips, I left the beach to its inhabitants and returned to Angleton.

Next stop, a quick visit to some other relatives in Angleton, then lunch at Fillips in the metropolis of Danbury (again, a GPS locate challenge!).  I decided to eat healthy today, so instead of ordering the chicken fried steak "dinner," I ordered a chicken fried steak "sandwich."  I believe I saved well over 20 calories by this change in my eating habit, and probably curved a lot of cholesterol consumption as well.  I hope my nurse practitioner back in Midland is very encouraged with my healthy dietary decisions.  I think one should make mature, healthy decisions with his diet even when he is on vacation. 

After lunch, we made a trip to Froberg's Farm in Alvin.  This is a large strawberry and other stuff farm wherein persons are allowed to pick strawberries and, the owners hope, to buy other offerings in the fresh veggie store.  I always enjoy the picking because the entire field smells like a giant strawberry sundae.  I love to pick a strawberry here and there and place it directly from the plant to my mouth.  While, for sanitary reasons, I cannot recommend this practice, I have to say that eating a fresh strawberry that has been heated to a temperature of 75 degrees by the sun is one of those rare pleasures.  Also, it is not really ethical to eat very many strawberries since Froberg's sells them by weight.  But just one, so tasty I could not resist.

By the time I had picked a couple of pounds of strawberries, it was (fortunately for my back) time to leave for another errand.  An hour later we arrived to my brother-in-law's residence and began the process of watching while my lovely bride began the process of MAKING the strawberry jam and also preparing fresh strawberries for use as a prime ingredient for strawberry shortcake.  Again, my health provider will appreciate the fact that I stopped at only two helpings of strawberry shortcake.  Like I said, those healthy eating choices are so very important.

I realize that my vacation is not a trip to the French Riviera, but the mental rest provided by generally doing nothing is worth its weight in gold.  And it is so good to see the relatives that are separated by half the state of Texas.  Just a little while ago I was able to reconnect with one of my cousins I have not seen in probably two decades or more.  We will be meeting for dinner on Wednesday, and I am eagerly awaiting the date.  Unfortunately for my wallet, there is a nice outdoor mall close to the appointed meeting place, and my lovely bride is very familiar with it.  Goodbye $$$$$$$$$.

Tomorrow, a trip to the beach again, this time to let the little grandnephewson frolic in the surf.  And visits with more relatives.  While vacationing is a time for fun and friends, we are all still in remembrance of our neighbors in Boston, Mass., and in West, TX.  May God continue to help and comfort those in need, those hurting, and those who are missing their loved ones tonight.

 

Vacation Day One

This vacation may be one of those that leaves the traveller wishing for a return to work so he can recover.  I left work at midnight Sunday morning, helped my wife pack the vehicle, and we were off at 1:30 am.  I was more than happy to let my lovely bride take the first driving shift while I snoozed off an on for a couple of hours.  All too soon; however, we reached the Flying J at Tye, TX where it suddenly became MY turn to drive.

I took over the driving task with a little trepidation because I had been awake since 7:00 AM the previous morning.  I am happy to say that there is very little EASTBOUND traffic on I-20 at 3:00 AM.  I drove through the night, admiring the scenery that I could not see, and not admiring the scenery I COULD see (read fresh and putrefying roadkill) as I travelled south on Hwy 6 from Eastland toward Waco.  Finally I could no longer keep the toothpicks propped in my eyelids, so I had to make use of a picnic area just north of Clifton.  Users of the road during this time period owe me a good deal of thanks for getting off the road when I did.  I would like to thank the denizens of the roadside park for waking me up every ten minutes or so as they foraged through the area immediately around the pickup.  I KNOW that there had to have been happier hunting in the grass and woods further away from the parking area, but...well, you know animals.

Upon awakening around 8:00 AM, I discovered that it was STILL "my turn" to drive.  I am not sure how that worked, by the way.  So, we drove on to Robinson where we stopped for no more than an hour, picking up our grandnephewson, who is "vacationing" with us.  I am sure a certain kindergarten teacher owes us a great deal of thanks for improving the conduct of her class by at least one hundred percent for the next four days.  The bad news (for said teacher) is that HE WILL be back in school on Friday.  Anyway, by 1:30 PM the three happy travellers had arrived in Needville (yes, that IS the real name of the town) to meet my spouse's brother and his wife for lunch at the Jay Restaurant.  I will leave it up to the more adventurous among you to locate this place on your computer, GPS, or IPhone. 

I can only say that it was quite a pleasant experience to finally arrive at our temporary abode for the Angleton/Pearland/Surfside/Alvin portion of the trip.  At the moment of this writing, I am being the polite visitor while using all my will power to restrain myself from racing to the beach right now!  But I will hit the beach first thing in the morning.  Not necessarily swimming weather just now, but it will be pleasant on the beach, and who knows...I may find Long John Silver's treasure there as well.

To all who are travelling, I wish you safety, and to those hosting us (and our little boy) I wish YOU ALL sanity.  As for me, I will be wearing earplugs tonight, so handling Cole will be someone else's pleasant task.  LOL

End Of Watch: Officer Sean Collier, MIT Police Department, Massachusetts April 18, 2013

Congratulations to the officers of the Boston Police, the Suffolk County police, the Massachusetts State Police, the FBI, and any others participating in the capture of the last remaining (known) Boston Marathon bombing suspect.  I am also thankful that no more officers lost their lives chasing these criminals. 

The officer that lost his life last night was a young man, no older than my own son, and had been a sworn officer less than two years.  He was shot while seated in his car, and probably while talking to the shooter, or possibly the shooter shot from some unknown location as Officer Sean Collier drove through the streets and parking lots of MIT.  Perhaps Officer Collier tried to talk to the shooter rather than drawing his gun, trying to lean more about the person before confronting him with lethal force.  In any case, my heart goes out to this young man's family and to his fellow officers.  The senseless killing of this officer was even more so because the suspect, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, knew that he had zero chance of escaping Boston/Suffolk County unseen. 

I am thankful to Officer Sean Collier for his service to his fellow men.  Officer Collier made the ultimate sacrifice, but in so doing, the suspect's position was exposed, police converged, and eventually the suspect was apprehended with no more bloodshed.  I normally do not recognize out-of-state officers in my blog as this is done by others in those other states; however, I am honored to name Sean Collier in this simple post.  You see, he continued doing his job even though he knew that he faced more than just the danger of being shot.  He and the other officers also knew that the Tsarnaev brothers had explosives with them during their run from police, and that the two brothers also could have had suicide bombs wired to their bodies so that they could kill many more officers when they were finally captured.  Fortunately, that did not happen.

http://www.odmp.org/officer/21777-police-officer-sean-collier

Officer Collier, I honor you for your sacrifice, and I know that you are now with that Thin Blue Line that stands forever in the Light and Comfort of the Good Shepherd.