dogwoods, Oh My

Today's drive was nice as the dogwoods are in full bloom.  We stopped for a few minutes in Springfield to see Jo's sister Wilma and the landscape planted dogwoods in town, both white and pink, were beautiful.  Then on the road between Lebanon and Eldon through the lake area the Mother Nature planted dogwoods were on full display.  The white cloud look in the undergrowth is quite a wonderful sight.

Arrived back at the Ol' Martin Manor around lunch time today and now it's laundry and restocking before our next venture that begins May 6 when we head for Florida.

Stay tuned

breathing Missouri air

Last night's campground was just a couple of miles north of the Texas border so today was spent driving across the Indian Nations (Oklahoma) from South to North and then just a few miles in Kansas to avoid the turnpike to Joplin.  Tomorrow will be a fairly short day on to the Martin Manor.

Adios Texas

Today we left Texas behind and now it is just Oklahoma between here and good ol' Missouri.  It is also adios to the bluebonnets.  I did see a few in the roadside after we crossed into Oklahoma so I guess the seeds do sometimes cross the Red River.  Here is a patch I did see near Denison, TX and it shows what we have been admiring during this trip.

On her way home

Took Phyllis to the airport this morning for her trip back to Baltimore.  Just had a text from her that she is in Atlanta about to board her last flight.  We sure had a great time with her especially here in San Antonio.  The beach was fine but there is more to do around here, to our liking.  Tomorrow Jo and I start our trek homeward with two overnight stops along the way.

day of rest

It was a day of rest and relaxation today.  We did get out this morning to hunt for a new chair as my Euro chair broke down yesterday and we needed a replacement.  It was a wild goose chase because we couldn't find any that were the proper size for our trailer.  We did find a Camping World but their Euro chairs were back ordered so none available.  While we were out we did find a very nice restaurant for lunch and then back to the trailer.  The broken chair went into the dumpster and we put one of our folding camp chairs in it's place for now.  I did find one on Amazon and it will be delivered next week and be available for our next trip.

The weather has cleared up and looking good for our travels homeward on Monday.

San Antonio River Walk

This morning we took the boat tour on the River Walk city park and highly recommend this to anyone visiting this city.  The weather forecast is for severe storms later this afternoon so we went to town early for this treat.

Fiesta in San Antonio

Today is day one of ten days of Fiesta in San Antonio and the Alamo.  Apparently much like the Mardi Gras  with parades, royalty, and other events.  After we saw that the festivities were scheduled to begin around 5:00 this evening we drove into town for a lunch and then a visit to the Alamo.  Jo and I had been here before but this was a first time for Phyllis.  When we arrived in town it was lunch time so we went to the Buckhorn Saloon which is only a couple of blocks from the Alamo.

remember the Alamo

This morning we moved to San Antonio for next few days and hope the rains hold off long enough to show Phyllis the Alamo and spend some time on the River Walk.  At least today the sky is mostly clear with a few fluffy white clouds.

Corpus Christi Botanical Garden

Corpus Christi Botanical Garden was one of our visits today.  We first had some family business at the Bank of America and the local representatives were surprised that we were from Missouri and Maryland and doing business in Texas.  Our mission accomplished we found some lunch before visiting the Botanical Garden.  This is a small but well kept garden with cages of exotic birds and reptiles.  In the pictures below you will not see any of the snakes but will see the iguana lizard.  The orchid display was spectacular and we were told that we were lucky as most will go dormant for a year after this bloom.  Jo also bought a yellow columbine (Texas gold) that she has been looking for a long time.

Some Martin birds

today a walk to the beach

The clouds parted and the sun came out for awhile so Phyllis and I took a walk to the beach.  The daylight was so bright that I couldn't see the display and missed a few shots of sand pipers.  These three were what I did get.  The trailer has been camped on the beach without facilities but the salt mist and winds would make it hard to take for long.

together again

It's good to have Phyllis with us again.  She said that she didn't have any problems with her flights except for lots of turbulence.  Her flight was delayed for whatever reason for a little over an hour but all is well now and after a good nights sleep we will see what we can get into around here.  Our GWF isn't cooperating very well with forecasts of rain most every day of our stay here in the coastal area of TX.

more oohs and aahs

More of the oohs and aahs for Mother nature's color palette.  More of the bluebonnets and paint brush patches along with sweet clover, flox, yucca, and primrose.

We have arrived in our campground in Port Aransas, TX with walking access to the gulf beach but because of the dunes, out of the direct gulf winds.  Phyllis arrives around 2:00 tomorrow afternoon and we are so looking forward to her visit.

bluebonnets and indian paint brush OH MY!

Across Oklahoma we saw lots of indian paint brush blooms but once we crossed the river into TX there were the bluebonnets everywhere and oh so pretty.  There are also indian paint brush but here the color is more red than orange like in OK.  If anyone watched the NBC nightly news last Monday they had a brief article on just these same blooming attractions.

Tonight we are near Waco and tomorrow will make it to Port Aransas and get set up for Phyllis' visit.

Headed back to the south

Today is the start of our second trip for this season.  Tonight we are in Sallisaw, Oklahoma just a little bit west of Ft Smith, AR.  Tomorrow we tackle the Dallas traffic for a goal of Waco for tomorrow night.

This morning as we were getting ready to depart there were severe storm warnings for our county but the issues were in the far north portion and we were dry and good to go.  On the drive down we did have a brief strong burst of rain for only a couple of moments and then we had fairly strong winds the rest of the drive.  After we turned south from Joplin we were pushing a head wind so this tank of fuel will have a very low mpg.