Sat evening and on the way home

Dinner out on Sat evening. It was a very friendly place and we learned the family history while we waited for a table and then more while we waited to be served. The food was excellent and just a fun close to the day!

This is the name "The Maxican" but when we were told it was the best place to eat, we thought they were saying "The Mexican" and it was predominately Mexican or TexMex food. Very good. They had a lot of iris blooming and very pretty.

We left Sunday--today--at 8 a.m. and just had to take a couple more photos of the wild flowers. It was an absolutely beautiful drive on Highway 29 & it was very quiet, hardly any cars. Just masses and masses of blue bonnets as well as red, yellow, white, purple and pink flowers for miles and miles. We stayed on 29 to Menard, then north to Eden and into San Angelo on 87. We stopped for an hour in San Angelo to get gas and then eat lunch which gave us a nice break out of the car.

One last flower photo! We just kept saying "wow" and finally laughed at ourselves. We wanted to keep stopping to take more photos but figured we wanted to get home sometime today. We got here a few minutes before 5 p.m. after having rain from Plainview to Canyon but none here at home. Already have to be at choir in the morning to sing at Park Place and then were invited out to dinner at 6:30. Also had a call to remind me of Red Hats on Wed so were are back to our regular life. Next trip will be in June but will blog it after we get home.

A few more pictures from Saturday

The first ride at the carnival, Piper is behind Declan. It was a pretty high, whirling ride but didn't scare either of them! Our kids wouldn't have been so comfortable with it when they were our grandkids ages.

Nana got to hold Piper for awhile when we were in the parking lot--most of the day things were too busy for holding!

Peeking around the pole. We have some great shots of Declan climbing it but I can't send all the pictures as we get a bit carried away snapping away. After all, we don't get to see them that often.

Declan brought along his Pinewood Derby car which he raced in his Cub Scout pack today and he won most creative! We are very proud of him!

At the carnival & beyond

Just have to put in one more photo of the wild flowers--we are so glad that we decided to drive all the way from Branson to Burnet as we have really enjoyed not only the festival but seeing the flowers at the height of their blooms! Matt's family left a little after 3 p.m. and we took an hrs drive west on 29 & then on highway 4 circling back to where we are staying on 281. It reminded us of the trips we have taken in the fall to VT & NH and we wanted to stop and take a picture of each tree & almost every leaf as we wanted to stop and take blue bonnet pictures every few feet! They are really glorious this year!

Declan & Piper really had fun on the rides! Piper knows just how to do it to hang on just like Declan and rode several things with him. Declan did a lot of more grown up things by himself while we watched. There were masses of kids, lots of dogs and it was a really big carnival.

Piper may not be 2 yet but she isn't timid about rides!

Papa got a birthday gift of Piper's foot prints from mother's day out and it will go on our garden path with the ones from Declan when he was in pre-school.

We head home in the morning---going west on highway 29 and will head north at some point to head up to San Angelo and home on 87. It's been a great trip!

Blue bonnet festival in Burnet

Well I put these in upside down again--I forget the last one I put in shows up at the top! The parade was fun and really long--some amazing stuff including this group of seniors who waved around their lawn chairs in unison... almost in step, too. There were Red Hat ladies and then a group of gals with plungers that they also moved in union. Funny stuff! Lots of cars, tractors, some horses, bands, etc. And quite a bit of candy thrown to the kids so Declan & Piper liked it.

There were a few really pretty floats, too, and lots of pretty girls who were "Miss Blue bonnet" or some other title.

This is our daughter-in-law, Suzanne and grandson Declan 6 & granddaughter Piper 22 months. They came over from Austin which is about 1 1/2 hr away to spend the day with us. The kids seemed to really enjoy the parade, not just the candy.

OK--now this is the beginning of the parade. It was a perfect day, cool & cloudy in the morning but the sun came out and it got warm but with a cool breeze.

Celebrating Bob's birthday

Bob chose apple pie and ice cream rather than cake for his 71st birthday!

We had his birthday dinner at the famous Blue Bonnet Cafe in Marble Falls, TX just south of Burnet. It has been in business for 80 years!

This should be enlarged and framed!

This is a favorite farm field just north of Marble Falls. We first took photos of this field about 15 years ago. The photo doesn't do it justice as the blue bonnets go on and on.
Bob got cards (even from the motel in Marshall when we checked out this morning!), e-mails & phone calls so had a really nice birthday.

Beautiful Day!

Today is Bob's birthday! He decided that he would prefer to drive on smaller highways rather than interstate so we could enjoy seeing the wildflowers and the small towns as we drove from Marshall to Burnet, TX. This is one of the gorgeous fields of blue bonnets.

These Yucca plants are in bloom and are just spectacular especially in a field behind the blue bonnets.

This is one of the beautiful fields of Indian Paintbrush blooms that we saw as we drove along.

We don't know the names of these yellow flowers but we saw fields and fields of them and all along the roadside, too. Truly gorgeous!

Branson, MO to Marshall, TX

Took us 7 hours from Branson to Marshall but it was a very pretty trip with lots & lots of wild flowers particularly red bud trees. The roads were good except for a brief detour at Texarkana. We are staying at a Fairfield Inn and got here about 5 p.m. After we put our tote bag in the room we went for some pizza and are now back to the room. These azaleas are in front of the inn and it has been a long time since we had our own huge bushes in Huntington!

Linda and Gerald at breakfast. Linda is going to help with some table cards for the Red Hat lunch at the reunion in Amarillo in memory of our friend Betty who died recently.

The fellows are still talking plans for the 2011 reunion in Branson.

Looking very serious as we finish breakfast before all heading out--2 couples to OK and 2 couples to TX. We got a lot done and had a good time, too.

On to Burnet tomorrow.

In Branson

Here we are at the Lodge of the Ozarks where the 2011 Boy Scout retirees reunion will be held next May. This May (when we are the co-chairs) will be in Amarillo the week after Mother's Day. Four couples made this trip to decide on the location and other details so it can be announced at the 2010 reunion.

This is one of the little patio areas which have really great flowers and furnishings to provide some great places to sit down and visit with old friends at the reunion.

Planning over breakfast today.

Front patio with another sitting area. We think we have chosen a really neat place for the reunion and I talked with one of my childhood friends who lives near-by and she whole heartedly agreed with our choice! We will leave after breakfast tomorrow and head south through Arkansas.

Pictures

At Bill & Bevie's home where we spent Mon evening before driving to Branson Tues

The redbuds along the road were just beautiful--this doesn't do it justice!

We used our cellphones to contact each other and meet in Miami, OK for lunch together before proceeding on to Branson.

We had a peaceful trip to Edmond and really enjoyed our stay at Bill & Bevie Lucus home. After a great breakfast we headed to Branson. We met, a total of four couples, in Miami, OK for lunch and arrived in Branson about 4 p.m. We are all addicated to Dancing with the Stars so had to watch both Mon & Tues evenings! Today we have appointments starting at 9:30 a.m. to work on setting up the 2011 Boy Scout Retirees Reunion so more later today on the blog. The motel internet is having problems so I am sitting in the dining room to connect and it is not the easiest to concentrate!

Car's packed!

Almost ready to leave! Bob has everything packed into the car but me! This is a short drive today just to Edmond, OK where we will spend the night with our friends, Bill & Bevie Lucas. They are our vice chairs for the Boy Scout retirees reunion we are having here in Amarillo in May just after Mother's Day and we will be going on to Branson with them & other members of the reunion committee tomorrow. These days in Branson will be "working" days as the committee helps Bill & Bevie, the 2011 reunion chairs, make some decisons about next year's reunion. Of course, it won't be all work and no play!

Happy Easter!

The grandkids, Declan & Piper in Austin opened their Easter gifts and we are sharing them with you. It's fun to have little kids in the family again!

Declan got his first assist in their soccer game. Looks a lot like the pictures we have of his dad, Matt, when he started playing soccer long ago!

We will leave Monday for Edmond, OK and will be gone for a week in OK, MO, AK & TX and will try to post some more photos and notes while we are gone.

Blessings for a Happy Easter tomorrow.