Six, ten-hour work days in a row - Wed. - Mon., Dec. 17-22, 2014

I knew it was coming; in fact, I volunteered to work two extra days to help cover for a co-worker who was on vacation. I love my job, so it's fun for me, but it left little time for anything else.

Wednesday night, Dec. 17, we went to our RV park employee Christmas party. Carefree Properties and Travelers World put on the party in appreciation of their employees. What a wonderful evening. We didn't have to do anything but show up. Appetizers were placed on the table with care. Crackers and cheese were what we found there.

Vicki, my co-worker's wife

Dinner was catered by The Big Bib BBQ. And a scrumptious BBQ dinner it was: chicken, pulled pork, beef tips, brisket, sausage, and jalapeno sausage, sweet potato casserole, green beans, peach cobbler, cheesecake squares, BBQ sauces, and bread. Brenda (manager) made her yummy corn casserole.

The staff presented Terry and Brenda with gifts, both serious and funny. Terry had a serious accident about a month ago. The staff's gag gift to him was a child's plastic chest shield and safety goggles to protect him from further accidents.

Terry modeling his safety gifts.

It was a memorable evening. Thank you to Brenda, Terry, Travelers World and Carefree Property Management. 

Bob is still under the weather with his nasty cold. Lots of deep coughing, nose blowing, and sneezing.

Thursday: Work

Friday: Work. Travelers World RV Resort had their Christmas Parade at 7 pm. Residents and guests decorate their golf carts, bicycles, and pets and go on a parade around the RV park. Everyone votes on the RV site with the best Christmas decorations. Then cookies and hot chocolate are served in the Recreation Hall. With Bob feeling under the weather, we opted to stay in to watch the finale of Amazing Race and then Shark Tank. Earlier in the day at work, I took photos of Ralph's (my co-worker) decorated golf cart. He was very clever. See if you can figure it out. [*See the bottom of this blog for the solution.*]

Ralph and Vicki's cart

This is the puzzle

Saturday: Work. Oops we snuck in two more Christmas parties tonight. Bob does accounting work for Z's Wood-Fired Pizza and they invited us to their party and gift exchange. They live on a 60-acre ranch with goats out in Welfare, Texas. When we drove through their gate, we were definitely on a ranch that raises goats. We stopped to take a picture. Big mistake! Immediately every goat within view came over to the car. Soon, there were goats putting their hooves up on the Escape pod trying to stick their nose in Bob's window. He was trying to get a picture for me since I was driving.

Did I mention there were some adorable kids in the tribe? When it was time for me to drive on, I was freaking out because some of the kids were in front of the car. I couldn't see them. So I crept along and didn't hit any.

Zach and Jodi greeted us warmly and welcomed us into their home. Their Christmas tree was beautifully decorated and had all blue lights on it. A table in the kitchen was loaded with appetizers, and another table had punch, soda and liquor. In the oven were three lasagnes: one vegetarian, one with beef and pepperoni, and one with beef and mushrooms.  Jodi and her friends were busy in the kitchen preparing even more food. You could tell they were used to cooking for lots of people.

We munched on veggies, chips, crackers and cheese, and then a hot artichoke dip. Soon after that dinner was served. We helped ourselves to our lasagne of choice, hot garlic bread, and green salad. Bob was pretty miserable with his cold.

The gift exchange was supposed to start at 7 p.m. We ate dessert. Still no gift exchange. Bob's coughing was getting worse as the evening wore on. Around 7:40 they started handing out numbers for the gift exchange. We opted to head out because we had one more party to go to at Random. We left our gifts there and headed out, with apologies to the host and hostess.

Random's Christmas party was also tonight. Bob's son Randall works there and we love going out to visit Randall, hear live music, and have a beer. Lucas Jack, who sounds a lot like Elton John was playing. Just so you know how good Lucas Jack is, he opened for Journey when they played the AT&T Center in San Antonio. The music was wonderful. I had hot chocolate with mint and marshmallows, and Bob had a hard cider (which he didn't finish). We were there about 25 minutes and home by 9 p.m.

Sunday: Work.

Monday: Work.

And that pretty much takes care of that week. Tuesday is much more varied. Stay tuned!

*Solution to Ralph's clever decoration: "Chess nuts roasting on an open fire."

Today was Non-stop! - Sat., Dec. 28

What a day. I headed to Mitchell Lake Audubon Wetlands for a 5K+ Volksmarch while Bob went to the gym to play basketball with his buds.

Once again, the long-eared owl was hanging out where it could be seen. People have been coming from all over to see it because it is out of its usual range.

Long-eared owl.

Other unique (to me) birds in the refuge:

The Bird Pond is home to many types of ducks. Excuse the grainy quality of these photos, the ducks were on the opposite side of the pond. Using my best Sherlock Holmes bird detecting skills, I think these ducks are in the following photo: male and female hooded mergansers, bufflehead, a gadwall, and scaups (species ?).

A variety of ducks.

Two hooded mergansers and a gadwall (?)

Adult female red-winged blackbird.

Mourning warbler (?) - a very small bird.

Need help identifying this bird.

And I saw a couple of my favorite birds again..

Black-necked stilt

Northern cardinal

Vermilion flycatcher

When Bob finished playing basketball and after I got home and showered, we drove out to Random because a food truck, The Melting Point, was there and we wanted to try it. They serve gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and tomotle soup. Bob and I each ordered Caprese grilled cheese sandwiches. The sandwich had tomato, basil and a chipotle sauce with cheddar cheese. So yummy! I was cold, so I had a bowl of tomotle soup (kind of like tomato soup only more flavorful) which hit the spot. For dessert we shared a Banana Rama grilled sandwich...Nutella and sliced bananas on cinnamon chocolate chip bread. It tasted like the best French toast you've ever eaten.

Some people come to Texas and say they've never seen a longhorn. We see them as we're driving down the freeway!

Trailered longhorns.

But wait, our day is not complete. After Random we stopped at Walmart and Costco to pick up a few items, then headed downtown for dinner and a river taxi cruise with The Cafe Society of San Antonio meetup.com group. We spent time shopping in downtown San Antonio. Bob wanted to purchase an Oregon shirt to wear at the Alamodome for the Alamo Bowl game on Monday night.

Christmas tree in front of The Alamo.

Bob in his new Ducks shirt at The Alamo.
(Ignore the Longhorn shirts behind him.)

Ten of us from the group met at Mexican Manhattan, a restaurant by the Riverwalk. We had warm drinks and appetizers, then walked down the stairs to river level where our leader hailed a river taxi. Because many people go to see the holiday lights along the river, the tour boats have very long lines. If you pay extra for a river taxi, you can get on the boats much quicker and go farther on the river.

The night air chilled us as we rode to see the lights. We were on the river taxi about two hours. Our driver did not inspire confidence and was the slowest boat on the river. Oh well. We certainly got to see the lights.

Some of our group at the restaurant.

The lights coming on at dusk.

Stephanie and me on the River Taxi.

Pearl Brewery lights as seen from our river taxi.

Downtown Riverwalk area

RiverCenter Mall's tree.

By the time we finished our ride we were chilled to the bone. Our group was going to the Esquire Tavern for more food and drinks. We opted to head for home and get warm! We need to take care of ourselves.

I'll leave you with one final photo from Mitchell Lake Wetlands. You can figure it out.

The end. Travel Bug out.

Random Plans - Mon., May 27

For having lots of weekend hiking/walking plans, we ended up doing only one thing and it wasn't walking or hiking. Our moonlight hike at Eisenhower Park on Saturday evening was cancelled due to all the rain Friday and Saturday. We decided not to hike at Hill Country State Nature Preserve on Sunday morning due to the forecast for rain, the fact that I have nasty blisters* on the tops of both feet, and Bob was called in to work (as the office move that was supposed to happen on Saturday didn't, so he had to go in Sunday).

[*Blisters are from our Riverwalk - Museum Reach walk last Wednesday evening. I thought it would be okay to wear flip-flops on a four-mile walk because they're comfortable. Hah! Not so. The upper straps rubbed half-inch blisters into the tops of both feet. Ouch! I'm not doing that again.]

Sunday evening we planned to do a Volksmarch in Boerne (pronounced Bernie), Texas, followed by an outdoor band concert. As we drove to Boerne, the sky was black and threatening. We passed by the start for the Volksmarch because I don't like walking in downpours.

On to Plan B which we were going to do after the walk and band concert. The owner of the company that Bob most recently worked for bought a new property that he plans to develop into an event venue called Random. This weekend is his preview opening. The property is about four miles west of Boerne on I-10.

A major downpour had just passed through minutes before we arrived. In fact, it was still sprinkling as we parked the car. On the way to their place, we had to cross a creek. Well, what had been a creek was now a raging river from the aforementioned downpour.

I got out my camera to record the swollen creek. My camera would not turn on. I tried and tried. Bob said, "Did you remember to put the battery back in it?" Um, duh, nope I didn't, no battery. So no photographic evidence. I can tell you, however, the creek was flowing around the trees on the bank and almost to the bottom of the bridge deck. On the downriver side of the bridge the now-swollen creek dropped off and made a ten-foot roaring waterfall.

When we met Michael and Mary at Random, we told them about the creek. Shocked expressions ensued. They had to see this. All four of us walked down to look at it...so dramatic to view. Mary took lots of pics with her smartphone.

Back up at Random, Michael took visitors on a tour of the old house (parts of the house date back to 1840) on the property and told us his vision for a remodel. They plan to put in a wine-and-beer-tasting bar, have a small kitchen to make appetizers and light snacks, fill the rooms with small tables and chairs for people to sit, converse and enjoy the ambiance.

Outside is grassy acreage with which to work. Mary would like to schedule weddings that could be held on the beautiful grassy lawn. Picnic tables are set up around the property for outdoor eating, and big, spreading pecan trees offer shade. Ideas for use of their space include a remote-control car area, crafts barn, community events venue, possibly a petting zoo in a few years.

Their property is next to Boerne City Lake. After we spent time socializing at Random, Bob and I drove the road to Boerne City Lake and drove through the park. Even though a major downpour had passed through a couple of hours before, kids were swimming in the lake and people were out kayaking. The lake is quite large.

We then drove the rest of the road to its end. Along the way we saw herds of Axis deer. One stag was imposingly regal with an enormous set of antlers. Oh, for my camera! He was standing proudly on a hill surrounded by 30 deer, the sun was on him. He looked magnificent.

White-tailed deer also were in the area. On the side of the road, on the other side of a fence, we saw a doe with two very new fawns. They were so little. Adorable.

Today (Memorial Day), Bob is working at his new job. The companies that work in the oil fields don't take very many holidays. I think Bob said they get Christmas off!

In addition to the leak in the front of our 5th wheel in our closet, we also discovered a leak in the back near our rear windows. The carpet is soaked behind one of our recliners. I have a fan blowing on the carpet to dry it off. Now we have to find where the water incursion is occurring. It may be coming in around the window, or it could be coming in at a tear in our seal up at the back corner of our dining room slide.

Today is a quiet day for me. I am hanging out with the cats. Here are a few photos from the past week or so...

"I'm expecting a call. If the phone rings, could you answer it?"

"What you lookin' at? I owe you money or sumpin'?"

Small arm of Inks Lake State Park.

House finch behind our 5th wheel.

House finch.

The End.