July happenings

Going to finish up the month of July with a few other things...

Hunt Bros. Pizza has opened a location between work and home so we've been getting pizza on Friday nights!

We've gotten into the routine of going to breakfast at Waffle House, then to Simple Church on Sunday mornings. Weather permitting, we take the motorcycle and get home before noon when it gets so hot.  On our way home one Sunday morning, we road out to the dam.

Beautiful view!

Love summertime and all the fresh vegetables! Not the healthiest way to eat okra, but I love it fried.

Mum had a stent placed and they did a job on her poking around for an IV site, then putting pressure on the arm to reduce the swelling.  Her entire arm ended up black for days.  Poor Mum...:(

Caddo Lake's Last Stand banded together and stopped the creation of a 900 acre+ National Heritage Area which, in our opinion, would have reduced our rights on our own property.

My friend, Heather, married her long-time boyfriend.  It was a beautiful ceremony and a wonderful way to end the month.

Now we see her, now we don't...

On the back of Katie's car...describes this time in her life perfectly!!!

Ever since Katie became a travel nurse, the times we get to see her are precious.  Having her in the same house, then the same town for 26 years spoiled us.  Now she pops in and out occasionally and we have to catch up in six days or less!  Well, she popped in the afternoon July 29th from Minnesota and was gone again early morning August 5th headed for Seattle, but we did as much as we could while she was here.  We celebrated my birthday, had dinners out, visited with family and friends and had a movie date.  I sure do miss her when she's gone but I love that she's so adventurous and living her life to the fullest!

We surprised GMa Monday afternoon, then headed to Margaritaville for a seafood buffet dinner.

Daniel met us for dinner

And so did Holly!

We're always happier when Katie is here!!

Beautiful sunset over the Red River.  I can take pictures when Katie is home because she always drives!

We got in a visit with Cille, too.  She loves Katie!

Dad looking over her route and putting in his two cents.

Sightseeing along the way!  Cadillac Ranch is always a good photo op!

She made it to Seattle and she loves it there!!  Thank you, Lord for taking care of our girl...:)

Henry!!

Sarah and Grady made me a great-aunt again when they brought Henry into the world on July 11th. He weighed in at 7 lbs., 2 oz. and was 18" long.  At 5 weeks, he weighs 11 lbs. He is the cutest little guy and looks just like his dad!!  They are over-the-moon in love with him and I can't wait until I get to meet him.  Until then, the pictures Jenny sends will have to do.  Welcome to the family, Henry!!

I love this pic of Sarah and her newborn little bundle of joy...

Already has a "look" for Grandma

Jenny has another grandson to spoil!!

Love them both!!

Sarah sent me this for my birthday a day late and said she was late because "this tiny human kept her busy all day"!!

He has so many expressions already!

That FACE...I love it!!!!

Saturday after the 4th

We had a get-together at the house the weekend after the 4th.  Curt and Lisa came over from Dallas, we rented a handicap van and went an picked up Charlie and Kathy and Mac and Daniel came up.  Small, but fun gathering.  Curt cooked a brisket and brought it over and EVERYONE thought it was the best brisket they'd ever had!  It was really good and I'm not a big meat eater...:)  We had a wonderful day enjoying the back porch, eating, visiting and laughing.  It's always fun to get together with old friends!

I hadn't made fruit pizza in a long time and it was really good!



Curt and Lisa brought Charlie an LSU umbrella to attach to his wheelchair.

This brisket...YUM!!!

I also made some snazzy drinks for the girls - they were really good and very refreshing!

This is really going to help him when he's outside in the Louisiana sun!!

Celebrating Independence Day

July 4th fell on a Wednesday this year so we planned to just hang out at the house and maybe grill a hot dog or two, but Arvis gave Kenneth a shout and said he was roasting a pig so we headed to their house instead.  I had just gotten a giant sack of fresh corn on the cob and put most of it up in the freezer but kept out enough to take to the cookout.  The food was great - the pork was cooked perfectly and Patty made some really good potato salad and beans.  It was a really nice day - happy we didn't just sit at the house!

Checking the pig

Don't drop it!!

Arvis is raising turkeys!  He said their names are Thanksgiving, Christmas...:)

Hot Rod Power Tour 2018

It was always Kenneth's dream to take the El Camino on the Hot Rod Power Tour at least once.  Well this was our third year to go and it was a memorable one!  I had been in communication with our friends from 2017 since January and we all booked the Platinum package and made plans to meet up again this year.  Kenneth and I left Thursday, June 7th and headed for our friends bed and breakfast in Clifton, TN to visit with them and spend the night.  We got up Friday the 8th and went on into Bowling Green, KY where the Power Tour ended last year and was beginning this year.  The VIP kick off dinner was at the National Corvette Museum.  We had a wonderful dinner, listened to a great band and got to tour the museum for free.  Saturday started the Power Tour and we spent the next seven days in different cities at different venues getting our Long Hauler credentials stamped, collecting free stuff from vendors, listening to great local bands on the main stage, visiting in the VIP lounges that were stocked with cold drinks and great snacks, watching drag racing and cars running the road course and taking a couple of laps on the Atlanta Motor Speedway!  Our evenings were filled with hanging out with old friends and new friends at each towns local eateries and walking the hotel parking lots for all the mini car shows.  And all along the route each day we enjoyed back road America, all the beautiful landscapes, old barns, small towns with people set up waving and all the mini cars shows in every gas station and restaurant we stopped at along the way.  After the last stop in North Carolina, we headed back to Atlanta to spend the night with my brother and his family. It really is fun to do the Power Tour but after this year we plan to take a break.  The number of participants has grown tremendously and sitting in one to two hour lines to get anywhere takes a toll on an old vehicle.  We are already in the planning stages of a Route 66 trip next year and have several other couples interested!  Ten cars would be a much easier line to sit in than 6,000!! 

All of the stops for 2018 HRPT.

Kenneth, Jackie, Elaine and Julie on the porch of the Pillow Street Bed & Breakfast in Cliton, TN.

Back road in Tennessee - it's so nice to get off the interstates and actually see the beauty of this country.

Lunch stop on the way to Bowling Green.  Love hitting these local hole-in-the-wall eateries!

Ooooo...my old barns!!  Must have taken 73 pictures of barns but didn't include them all...:)

This was in front of the hotel.  The venue was great here - check in and credential pick-up was right next door to the hotel and all in the same parking lot.

One of the many hotel parking lot car shows

Heading into the National Corvette Museum for the VIP dinner

Elaine, Jeanne and Michele with our after dinner drinks, listening to the band

Touring the museum



A sink hole opened up in the museum in 2014 and eight extremely valuable corvettes went down into it.  This is what they looked like when they pulled them out.

We stayed in some VERY nice hotels. 

The morning ritual of getting the car ready for the day.  Every morning he went to the parking lot while I packed everything up in the room and checked all the fluids and got 'er shined up.

While we were in Bowling Green, we went on the Lost River Cave Tour. 

There were roaring rapids underground!

Jeanne and Eric

Elaine and Kenneth...no pic of Michele and Rich!

Having a drink in the hotel lounge before headed to dinner.

We went to Double Dogs last year on our way out of the Bowling Green venue and our hotel was within walking distance of it this year!  It's a great restaurant - good food and great atmosphere.

The bus was in the hotel parking lot when we got up to leave Sunday morning so we all hurried to get our pics!

And before we could leave, they found someone to help...:)

And so starts the first of many lines we traveled in for the week.  It's fine moving slowing along the back roads sightseeing and enjoying the ride, but when you hit the towns you can wait up to two hours to go three miles to get though it.  Some of the local law enforcement will direct traffic which really helps but most don't.  One of the reasons we want to take a break.

The lines stretch for miles and miles!!

Got a pic of Kenneth AND a barn!!

Parked across the street from our lunch stop.



Jeanne was on crutches with a hurt ankle so we took them to their car. This is in Chattanooga. This venue was the worst venue!  Parking was horrible and they had to park way out.

Another town, another bar...and more stories to be told!

Jeanne can play the piano!!

Local hot spot for breakfast



View from the VIP lounge.  The Hoover Metropolitan Stadium is where the College World Series is held.  The final game this year ended like ten days before we got there.

Kenneth loves talking to all the vendors and finding out about products that are available.

Watching the road course from the VIP lounge. 

I've always said if there is a place that sells fishing baits within a hundred miles, Kenneth will find it!  This one happened to be a mile from our hotel.

Trying to save her ankle for walking the venue!

We stayed at a hotel connected to a mall in Alabama - it was great!

We saw this little girl from the road but I wasn't quick enough with my camera.  I pulled this off of the HRPT Facebook page.  She was so cute in her little car waving at us all passing by!

One of the local bands playing while we stamped our credentials at the Long Hauler check-in

Waiting for our turn on the track. 

He LOVED this!!  Best $10 we ever spent...:)

Michele took some pictures of us going around the track - so cool!!

We also bought a professional pic...

The service dog trainers were back again this year.  Last year they were training Chevy.  This year they were training Ford.

Another great local spot!

There's Michele and Rich!  This is about as much emotion as I've seen Rich display.  I told him one day I would make him laugh out loud!

This is just one example of what the small towns do for the Power Tour.

People all along the route - in towns, in yards out in the country, in parking lots - all waving and taking pictures.

This is the sign for Rockingham Speedway.  I think it is closing after the 2018 season.

PNC Arena



Kenneth is a lot of help, isn't he?

Oh, the sights we see...

The line to go to Richard Petty's Garage...we waited for an hour and a half and left.

We passed this on the way to zMAX Dragway!

Eric leading the way

Got to watch drag racing from the VIP lounge

Our last pic for this year - Michele, Rich, Kenneth, Elaine, Jeanne and Eric.  Until next time!

Headed down to the parking lot.  We thought this would be quicker than the elevator. Boy, were we wrong!!

Great view of part of the parking lot!

THIS is what we walked down!!

After we went our separate ways, we ate here before hitting our hotel and resting.  Great food!!

Nom, nom...

Getting ready to head to John and Karen's in Atlanta

River running back up the stairs after fetching the tennis ball! 

John getting the pulled pork ready.  We all loved John's butt!!!

Ansley and Jake

River!

Elaine, John, Kenneth, Jake, Karen, Emily and Ansley.  Stephen was gone with a friend on vacation - we missed him!  It was so wonderful to spend the afternoon/evening with my family.

Until next time...