On the road again! 5/1/2021-5/2/2021

Hi!

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about our travels, and I didn’t think anyone missed it! But I’ve had some requests to start it up again, so for those 3 people, here you go! Hahaha! Seriously though, I mainly did this for me to look back and relive what we’ve seen and who we met (and what we ate!) and I was surprised that some were disappointed when I quit! 

So, without further ado, away we go! 

As some of you know, and as my previous blog posts have illustrated, we’ve spent the past 20 years crisscrossing the country on our bikes, (way longer for Tom!) and I still want to continue to do so! However, getting a toy hauler RV has been our dream for the past 7 years or so! We knew that once Tom retired we’d have the opportunity to travel even more! But, I hate being away from our dog Rupp for too long, not to mention the price of hotels has gotten ridiculous, and also I feel it would just be nicer to have our “own place” with us wherever we go. However, not having the bikes with us is unthinkable! So, in September of 2020 our dream finally came to fruition and we got our Keystone Fuzion 427! (And a big ass Ford F450 to pull it!) 

Consequently, our travels will be very different going forward! ...And I’m not sure how I feel about that yet! 

8+ hours on the bike for me is absolute heaven, whereas more than 2 hours stuck in a vehicle is my idea of Hell!) 

So that’s a bit of our backstory, On to our trip!

The first couple days were pleasantly uneventful, so I’m not going to go into much detail about them!  After the process of RV-packing was complete, we hit the road! The first night was in Elkhart, Indiana- the RV capital of the world! Nice campground with a huge dog park! Rupp seemed to enjoy having it all to himself! (I know I enjoyed him having it all to himself!) And we had the best neighbors on either side of us! The invisible kind! Hahaha! Night #2 was at a Harvest Host called Lavender Crest Winery in Colona, Illinois. I was so excited to use a Harvest Host! We became members long before we even had an RV in order to lock in a great rate they were offering! 

We purposely planned short drive days since we have no idea what to expect hauling the big rig! We wanted to leave plenty of time between stops for any unexpected surprises! 

It’s weird being this far west in an enclosed vehicle! I’ve been this way several times, but it’s always been on the bike! New perspective! 

I know this is a short & possibly boring entry, but I’m a bit rusty I guess! Hopefully I’ll pick up steam over the next few days! 

Catch y’all down the road! 

Getting ready to hit the road!

8-3-2017
Hey!  Does this thing still work?  Well, yes and no!  Apparently Google has opted not to update their Blogger iOS app, so I can only create new posts using a web browser.  And apparently if I use Safari, which is what I use, things may go wonky too! Sooooo, without the convenience of using the app, coupled with the chance of wonkiness while using my browser, my blogging may be decreased for this trip. 😟  It sucks because I just discovered this dilemma within the past half-hour and considering we're gearing up to pull out tomorrow, there's no way I have time to mess around with switching to a new blog platform!  Ugh....
Anyway, I just wanted to do a quick post to see if I still remember how to work this thing!  It's been a couple years since I last blogged!
Today's gonna be super busy with getting the house cleaned for my dear friend Candace to move in, getting stuff packed, making sure the bikes are ready for a road trip, etc... This trip is going to take us to Glacier National Park in Montana for a few days, then down into Deadwood where we'll tool around The Black Hills for a few days before heading back home! In the middle of all that will be a trip over Beartooth Pass and Chief Joseph Scenic Byway! (Weather permitting!) I can't wait!
Soooo....I'm gonna go ahead and post this and see where it goes! Fingers crossed !  🤞

Big Easy

9/29/14...10/1/14

The time has come to say goodbye to Texas. What a fantastic "sampler platter" we experienced over the past 2 weeks!  So many great cities and great people!  I wish we had more time to spend there! 

But our trip is far from over!  We still have 1 week remaining and 3 awesome cites to visit!

Next stop.....New Orleans!  The Big Easy!  The Crescent City!  NOLA!  Neither Tom nor I had ever been to New Orleans and I was pretty damn excited! 

We left Baytown fairly early. Again, another beautiful sunny day!  Damn, we're lucky!  The forecast called for a 50% chance of rain near New Orleans...the highest chance of rain I've seen so far this trip.  We'll see!  

Side note.....this trip was amazing as far as bike-packing went!  From day one!  Usually on road trips I'm lightening my load before we even leave the house, deciding what I really need and what I can do without. I didn't remove anything this time! 

Then once on the road we get into a rhythm....Pack/load/unload/unpack...repeat again and again. It's a tight system we have!  And everything has its spot in the bags.  But inevitably, one day the packing and loading just doesn't go as smoothly as the past 5 times!  It's as if the luggage expands or something!  Not this trip!  It was a smooth process each time!

So back on the road we go!  Not far from Baytown we picked up another Harley behind us. He stayed with us for a while...until my bandana started wanting to take flight off my head, so I got next to Tom and got his attention to pull off at the next exit.  As we were exiting our new friend continued on and gave us a smile and a wave.  HE HAD A DOG ON HIS TANK!!!  A small fluffy dog!!! Oh we HAVE to catch back up to him!  PICTURES!  I need pictures of that! So I did a quick bandana fix and we were on our way!  Except we got behind a SLOW semi on the entrance to the Interstate!  45 mph trying to merge with 75 mph traffic!  Ugh!  It didn't appear that we would catch up with our new friend and his little friend!  Perhaps when we cross the state line and have to put our helmets on?  There's a welcome center in that area. Hopefully we'll find him there!  

So onward we rode!  Traffic was fairly heavy and the skies were overcast. No rain, though!  And temps were pleasant!  Not much to say about the scenery. Urban, industrial bah. 

Soon we were at the Louisiana state line!  Hooray!  Time to don the helmets!  Boooooo!

We pulled into the Louisiana rest area/welcome center and I had my eyes peeled for the man and his dog...and there they were!  In a parking lot immediately to the right just after pulling in!  I made the quick right to meet our new friend while Tom continued straight...he'd eventually find me!  Lol!

I parked in a spot next to the man and his dog, shut off the motor, and introduced myself!  Turns out the man's name is Tony and his buddy's name is Tex. Tex is an old Pomeranian that Tony rescued from a shelter a few years ago. Tex loves to ride as much as Tony does!  They go everywhere together! Tex has even ridden with Tony all the way out to California!  Tony's from Indiana and was visiting friends in Texas. When we found him he was on his way to visit more friends in North Carolina. We chatted for a while about bikes, dogs, and travels. 

 I wish we could've chatted more but I wanted to get into New Orleans at a decent hour since we only had 2 nights there. So we bid farewell to our new friends...Tony said he'd ride with us for a while but would have to peel off for gas.  So down the road again we went!  We ended up riding with Tony and Tex for about 100 miles before he exited with a wave. Super nice guy and very cool pooch.  I thought about them often during the rest of our trip, hoping they were both well and having fun!

So as we were riding along, I started thinking about the AWESOME weather we were enjoying this trip!  As I admired the blue sky I recalled the forecast of a 50% chance of rain.  Yeah...right!  JUST THEN one of the few clouds opened up above me and gave me a quick dousing!  Are you kidding me!?!?!  Hahhahahaaaa!  I swear I wish my psychic powers would help me win the Lottery!  

I took this shot right after the quick cloudburst....look at my windshield, and look at the sky!

The rest of the ride into New Orleans was uneventful, weather-wise. (Good thing I didn't think about snow showers!)  Coming into downtown New Orleans, it was eerie to be on the same interstate that was under water after Katrina.

I recalled the images of I had seen of the destruction and I'm amazed at how the City bounced back. 

Once in the heart of downtown, we maneuvered over trolly tracks and snaked our way down one-way streets, finding our hotel easily!  We unloaded, parked the bikes, and headed up to our room to get cleaned up for a night out!  Unfortunately, it was later than I hoped, and I was STARVING. There were so many great restaurant suggestions that I wanted to try, but most were a cab ride away...then a wait to be seated during the dinner rush...I think I would've chewed my arm off before getting fed.  We asked the valet for a suggestion for a close, quick dinner and he pointed us toward Daisy Duke's, a 24-hour diner/bar type joint with decent food. Not exactly the exciting dining experience I had in mind but I was beginning to get "hangry", and Daisy Duke's was a short walk from our hotel, so Daisy Duke's would have to do!  The food there was pretty good!  Tom & I split an order of fried green tomatoes and a Cajun cheesesteak. The portions were big and the service was quick, so we were soon out the door with full bellies!  

The street on which our hotel was located turned into Bourbon Street about a block away!  All the action was within walking distance!  Hooray!  My first impression while walking along the street was "gross"!!!  There were a lot of bums and it smelled like pee. Not unlike Memphis!  But once we got into the heart of partyville I was happy!  There was a decent crowd for a Monday night!  The street was happening!  Partiers were yelling from the balconies!  Beads were flying!  I can't even imagine how crazy that place must be for Mardi Gras and there's no way in Hell I'd ever want to find out!  (I detest large crowds!)  The size of the crowd that night was perfect!  Big enough to make things interesting but small enough so I didn't want to start ripping people's heads off!  Hahahaaaa!!!  

Our first stop?  Well, the Erin Rose, of course!  Our pals Bill & Sue told us great things about the Erin Rose so we had to check it out for ourselves!  We walked in and found 2 empty seats at the bar.  Soon after it became standing room only. The place has a FANTASTIC jukebox!  I heard everything from The Kinks, to Rush, to Hank 3 that night!  After a while the place thinned out but quickly filled back up. Like a tide of drunks!  Tom and I remained in our spots, chatting with the bartenders and some of the guests. That happens to us a lot.  When we get comfortable somewhere we don't leave!  (Just ask our pals at Robert's Western World in Nashville!  I'm surprised we don't have our own personal barstools there by now!). Soon a group of guys came in and sat by us. They appeared to be co-workers and were talking music. One of the guys turns to me out of the blue and asks "Bonham or Peart?"  Without missing a beat I reply "Peart!"  He cheers, gives me a high-five, and tells his friend..."See?  Another one for Peart!"  It turns out his friend/co-worker is a drummer and a huge Bonham fan. We spent some time chatting about music....drummers in particular. (And comparing Bonham to Peart is like apples to oranges!) They were a fun group of guys there on business. We ended up spending the remainder of our evening there, chatting with our new friend Mark and his crew!  

Mark is originally from the area but now lives in Mississippi. He gave us a few suggestions about where to go and what to eat. He told us about the World War II Museum, which really piqued our interest!  Unfortunately, the next day was our only full day there and we weren't hopeful about squeezing in the museum visit.  Looks like we'll just have to come back soon to see it!  The night got late quickly, so we bid farewell to our new friends and headed back to home base!  

The next morning we were up and at 'em fairly early.  We headed to Daisy Duke's for some breakfast and a Bloody Mary. Their Bloody Mary's are consistently voted the best in the area and it was delish!  

The plan for the day was to visit the nearby cemetery where the "acid trip" scene from Easyrider was filmed, and then do some sightseeing on Bourbon Street since the only place we'd seen thus far was the Erin Rose!  

Well, the Erin Rose was on our path to the cemetery, and I heard they serve delightful frozen Irish Coffees, so we stopped back there to try one!  I was expecting an iced coffee with whiskey, but this was more like a Wendy's Frosty. Like a milkshake. I'm lactose intolerant. Milkshakes are my WORST culprit!  Crap.  (No pun intended!). After a couple sips I asked the bartender what the ingredients were and he told me....one if them being their "own special dairy mixture"!  Oh boy!  

I didn't want to chance it so I only drank about half, letting Tom finish the rest.  

Tom's good for finishing leftovers!  

On to the cemetery!

St Louis Cemetery is actiually three Roman Catholic Cemeteries in New Orleans. All of the graves are above-ground vaults and most were constructed in the 18th century and 19th century.

We visited St Louis Cemetery No. 1...the oldest and most famous of the three.  It was opened in 1789, replacing the city's older St. Peter Cemetery (no longer in existence) as the main burial ground when the city was redesigned after a fire in 1788.

I was really excited about seeing these old resting places!  Lots of great photos to be taken!  

As we entered the gates, we were greeted by a man selling bottled water & pop. He was also offering umbrellas for rent. "Nah.....we're good. Thanks anyway!"

So in we walked, through the maze of vaults and mausoleums.  Some fresh, some dilapidated, some with stories to tell, some shrouded in mystery....

Our main goal was to find the one that Peter Fonda was sitting on  in the movie Easyrider....as seen here...

Easyrider Cemetery Acid Trip

After some wandering, we found it!!!

We also found 2 vaults graffitied with "xxx" all over them, decorated with beads, knick-knacks, and assorted offerings. We found out that ONE of these is the reported resting place of the famous voodoo queen, Marie Laveau.  Nobody is positive which vault is hers, though. (If either!). 

According to rumor, if people want Laveau to grant them a wish, they have to draw an "X" on the tomb, turn around three times, knock on the tomb, yell out their wish, and if its granted, come back, circle their "X," and leave Laveau an offering.

Hmmmmmnn....

Boy did it get hot out!  Hot and sunny!  Suddenly I began to feel woozy. My stomach was starting to feel funky. Was the Irish coffee coming back to haunt me?  Ugh. I told Tom that we best head back to the room. We bought a couple bottles of water from the guy at the gate as we were leaving. I was regretting not renting an umbrella for the cemetery tour. Ugh.  Was I going to make it back?  I felt sure I was going to pass out!  We hugged the buildings for shade during our trek back. My head was spinning, my gut was in a knot. "This SUCKS", I thought to myself. Soooooo hot!   Just then a guy walking toward us taps me on the arm and says "hi"!  What the...?!?!  Oh!!!  It was our friend Mark that we met the night before!  He was on his way to a conference, looking fresh, cool and comfortable!  How is that possible?  I was dying of heatstroke and I was sure I looked like it, too!  We briefly exchanged pleasantries and made plans to meet again at the Erin Rose later that evening. I hated to seem rude but I HAD to cut the conversation short and get back to the room!  

Once back at home base I didn't get much better. In fact I got worse. I got the chills, then the sweats.  My head was still spinning and my stomach still in knots. Did I get food poisoning?  Heat exhaustion?  A flu bug?  DAMMIT!!!!  We only have one day in New Orleans and I can't function!!!!  I felt so bad for Tom.  I encouraged him to go out and do something while I napped. No sense in BOTH of us being stuck in the hotel room. So he walked over to Harrah's and did a little gambling while I tried to get well. 

 Later that day I showered again before we headed out for dinner at Drago's, a highly-recommended restaurant in the nearby Hilton.  Ugh. Nothing on the menu appealed to me. All this good food and I couldn't stomach any of it!  So dinner was a bust. For me. We cabbed back to the room where I found the bed. Tom wandered out to Bourbon Street to buy some Harley shirts and to look for our friends from the night before. Unfortunately, it was still early and they were nowhere to be found.  So he came back to the room in time for us to watch that week's episode of "Sons of Anarchy"!  

After we turned the TV off I had a fitful night's sleep...tossing and turning....sweating and freezing....and all the while praying I'd feel better in the morning. We had a 400-mile ride to Memphis ahead of us no matter what!

So that's my New Orleans story. I can't tell you how frustrated and disappointed I was!  (And still am!)

Tom thinks Marie Laveau put a curse on me!

Needless to say, as of this writing, we're already booked to return in April of 2015!

Tune in for the next stop....Memphis!

Wrapping up the Texas Sampler Platter...Baytown!

9-26-2014...9-29-2014

We woke early to get ready to leave Austin, but first we headed up to the 18th floor of our hotel to eat breakfast and take in the spectacular high-rise view of downtown Austin!  

Soon afterward our bikes were packed and we were on the road again...another beautiful sunny day! Another short travel day, too!  Just a little short of 200 miles to our next destination of Baytown, a suburb of Houston. Again, traffic was light and polite......until we hit downtown Houston. Ugh. Houston drivers must not have received the memo that the rest of the state got about being courteous! Luckily we were at our hotel before too long, early enough to give us a chance to shower and decompress before meeting our good friend Don and his lovely bride Terri!  Don invited us to dinner at their place that night.  

OK, this may sound weird to some of you but Tom and I have been "Facebook friends" with Don for a few years now but have never met in person. And we've NEVER met Terri before this...not even on Facebook!  To be honest, I was a little nervous!  I mean, we seem to have everything in common...guns, bikes, musical tastes, political views... But what if he doesn't like us?  What if we don't like him?  Wait a minute...does Terri even KNOW we're coming over?  What if she hates us?!?!  So many thoughts going through my head! Before I knew it we had ridden across town and were standing on their doorstep. And when that door opened all my doubts disappeared!  Don welcomed me with a humongous hug and introduced us to Terri and their rescue poodle mix, Nay-Nay. We hung out on their back patio listening to music, chatting, and drinking *tiny* Coronas while Don smoked our dinner.  (Don accidentally bought a case of 7 oz Coronas instead of the full size Coronas and he will never live it down!)  On the menu was stuffed bacon-wrapped jalapeños for an app, then a main course of smoked ribs with a side of a cheesy, potato, onion, bacony goodness!  Don definitely knows his way around the kitchen and grill!  After dinner we went back out to the patio to drink tiny Coronas and smoke cigars. It felt as if we'd known them forever!  

It was getting late too soon, and we had to ride back to the hotel, so we said farewell with plans to meet back at their house the next day to do some riding and sightseeing together!

The next morning Tom woke extra early to do a couple loads of laundry before heading back over to Don & Terri's. Free guest laundry at this hotel!  I've never seen that before. We've only seen coin machines!  Well, the free dryer took FOREVER to dry so we ended up being almost an hour later than our planned 10am meet time!  Ugh. I felt so bad! 

We all saddled up as soon as we got to Don & Terri's and headed off to see the San Jacinto Monument. 

On the way we passed refineries and crossed over the Fred Hartman Bridge. This Bridge is beautiful!  Of course, my camera was in my tour pack instead of around my neck!  Dammit!  That's OK. Tom got some good shots!  

Before long we arrived at the San Jacinto Monument. This was built to commemorate Texas' independence from Mexico and the brutal battle that preceded it. 

The history was engraved on all sides of this towering monument. I took lots of pix. 

Inside there was a museum with a lot of artifacts and more history to be told. There was also an elevator we could've taken to to the top of the monument. Tightly jammed in an elevator with a bunch of strangers?  Going waaaaaay up there?  

                    No thanks, we'll pass!  

We took more pix before motoring down the road...

From the monument we headed down to Galveston for some lunch, some 40 miles away or so.  Along the way we picked up a dude on a crotch rocket who was headed down there, too!  When we got to Galveston, riding alongside the beach reminded me of riding along the shore in New Hampshire near Massachusetts. 

Lots of beach goers, traffic heavy but moving, everyone looking like they're having a good time!   (Of course there are no beach-goers in these pix!  Ahhh aha!).  We pull up and park the bikes in front of a place called "The Spot". Our crotch rocket friend parked along side and thanked us for letting him ride with us before parting ways. He just moved to the Houston area from Mississippi. 

The Spot had a bunch of different levels, both inside and outdoor seating. The lower levels were packed so we went upstairs and grabbed a table near the rail so we can watch the goings-on outside! Not many people up there. It seemed like a different place than downstairs..different decor...more of a Mexican restaurant theme. Or maybe Carribean. The menu offered only appetizers. Hmmm. Odd. When the waitress came to take our drink order we asked about ordering food. We were told that they didn't t serve up there but we were welcome to go downstairs to get our food and bring it up ourselves!  What the...?!?! No wonder there wasn't anybody sitting up there!  OK. Nevermind!  We'll just find a table downstairs!  So back down into the madness we went!  The place was packed! Lots of groups too. Teenage groups. Looked like sports teams. The boys ordered our food while Terri and I grabbed a table. Tom and I split a burger and some bacon-wrapped, cheese-stuffed shrimp. 

Deeeelish!  

Don asked if we wanted to go to a Honky Tonk later....listen to some music...do some dancing...sounded great!  (Except for the dancing part!  I'll just watch!  Much less embarrassing for me!)  He offered to pick us up at our hotel so we didn't have to worry about riding our bikes back for his house late at night. Sounded great!  So that was the plan for Saturday night!  But we had a lot more Saturday DAY left, so after lunch, we headed down the street to a place called "Woody's" for an icy cold adult beverage.  Woody's was a great place!  No frills, a small indoorish bar area in front and a large covered deck with lots of picnic tables overlooking the bay out back!  I loved it!  

There was a band doing their soundcheck when we arrived. They sounded pretty good!  There was a nice breeze blowing, making it delightfully cool!  (Tom and I were comfortable but I think Don and Terri were cold!  Hahaaaa!)

We REALLY planned this trip perfectly, weather-wise!  There hadn't been any days yet that were too unGodly hot and no rain besides the sprinkles when we left our house and the pissy, drizzly, foggy ride when we left St Louis. Neither was enough to warrant a rainsuit. Lucky us!

After enjoying our icy cold adult beverages, we decided to head back to Don & Terri's. I really wanted to stay a while longer and listen to the band, but...we had to get back and leave enough time to have dinner before heading out later.  So we said farewell to Woody's and pointed our bikes back toward Baytown.  There was a pickup truck with a U-Haul trailer next to us as we were preparing to enter the interstate. Suddenly, the truck and trailer start to buck and sway wildly next to us!  We heard a some clatter of metal on concrete, sparks flying, chunks of concrete and metal parts flying..... The hitch on the truck broke and dropped the trailer!!!  Luckily the safety chains were keeping it from coming free!  Don zoomed past all the ruckus but the way this whole thing was swaying, I thought for sure I'd get creamed, so I backed way off, pretty much coming to a stop until this guy did the same.  WOW!  What a scene THAT was!  Scared the bejesus outta me!!!  

Crisis averted....back on track!  On the way back to Don & Terri's we stopped in Kemah to buy some fresh shrimp for the shrimp boil Don had planned for us!  5 pounds of shrimp should do, no? The seafood shop we stopped at was on a street lined with about a dozen other seafood shops, and they were all hopping!  Pretty cool!  We opted to put the bag 'o shrimp in Tom's saddlebag as opposed to Don's leather bag or my tour pack. Much easier to hose out if things got leaky & stinky!  After one more stop... at the tequila store, to buy tequila and full-size beer, we were back at the Looney's. 

We sat on the back porch again while Don got the boil boiling. We were chatting and I was visiting with my new BFF Nay-Nay!

Suddenly we hear a sharp "whap whap whapping" sound.  Down the road comes a car driving on a flat. A very definite flat!  Like, driving-on-the-rim flat!  A young lady is driving this car down the road at a good clip, hands gripping the steering wheel tight and a look of determination on her face!  She was on a mission! What the...?!?!  Does she not notice she's driving on a flat?  Does she think it's normal?  Here's the topper...Don said she drove  by earlier that morning on that same flat while they were waiting for us to come over!  Hahahahhaaaa!   Wow!!!  

As we sat on the back porch relaxing, Tom and I enjoyed our full-size beer while Don enjoyed his tiny beer...

I was beginning to get quite comfy. Comfy to the point that I was re-thinking our plans to go out honky-tonkin'!  But I didn't want to be a killjoy so I didn't say anything!  

We sat outside and chatted some more.   "Whap whap whap whap whap". There she goes AGAIN!  Hahhahaahahaaaa!  She ended up driving by 4 times that evening, each time a little more slowly than the last!  (AND, she drove by again the next day!  Don posted a video of it on facebook and I just about died laughing!)

Soon it was time to eat!

I'll tell ya what...Don does a kickass shrimp boil!  It helps that the shrimp are fresh from the ocean, but everything was perfectly seasoned and the corn was incredibly sweet!  After eating way more shrimp than I should've, we hung out around the kitchen table and chatted some more. The conversation turned to clambakes and the leaves changing colors in Fall. Don had never seen either!  Well Hell!  Don and Terri just got themselves an invitation to come up north to do so!  I'd love to return the warm hospitality they've shown us!  

Don then asked if we still wanted to go out. I was honest. "Not really!  I'm beat!"  Whew!  So was Don and everyone else!  We were all in a food coma!  Nobody wanted to move!  

Unfortunately it was soon time for Tom and I to head back to the hotel. This was our final farewell (for THIS visit!). We had one more day in Baytown but we had plans to spend it with other friends in the area. So after big hugs and a sad goodbye we headed back to our room. 

Friends for life!  Don & Terri are damn good people!

Sunday's agenda included plans to head over to our friends Mike & Gabi's to watch football and eat a lot of food!  Mike & Gabi are from my hometown of Solon. They relocated to the Houston area a few years ago. When Mike saw that our itinerary included Baytown, he was excited to invite us over!  Their place is only about 1/2 hour from our hotel!  So we saddled up and rode on over!  The route took us back over the Fred Hartman Bridge. I had my camera ready this time! 

We stopped for beer & munchies, and we were soon at Mike & Gabi's door!  It was soooo good to see them again!  And their new baby!  And their dog Gunner!  

Soon they had a houseful of neighbors and friends, mingling and watching football. 

And the food?!?!  Holy Cow!  Food, food, and still more food!  

We were all so stuffed that Mike didn't even bother breaking out the scallop dish he had planned for us!

It felt like a typical Sunday with my family, everyone gathered around and eating!

Too soon the day came to an end. We said our goodbyes and motored on back to the hotel. 

Sure was good to see them again!

So our Baytown experience was an awesome one!  We hung out with new friends, hung out with old friends, and ate REALLY well!! I can't wait to visit again! My dear friend George owns a trucking company and one of his routes brings him to Baytown quite often. He LOVES it!  He gave me a good list of places to see and things to eat but we were so busy we didn't get a chance to get to any of them!  So it looks like a return trip is definitely in order!

Stay tuned for the next stop.....NEW ORLEANS!!!