ICE!!!

On Saturday morning, November 18th, Mum drove over to the house and we headed for the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, TX to see ICE.  It was a windy drive over and I was happy to turn my vehicle over to the valet at the hotel - I got my workout in hanging on to the steering wheel!  We dropped our stuff in the room and headed over to Will Call to get our tickets for the show.  They seemed to be rather disorganized and we ended up waiting for a while, but it was worth it because we walked past the line with hundreds of people who probably had to wait up to four, maybe five hours to get in and were in in about five minutes!  Being a hotel guest has it's perks and we were thankful for sure.  The theme was "T'was the Night Before Christmas", there were over two million pounds of ice and the entire venue was kept a nine degrees.  We were issued a parka and were transported into the magical land of ICE!!  So many beautiful ice sculptures and so much detail - it was fantastic.  After seeing the storybook come to life, we entered a room with ice slides for the kids and a beautiful Christmas tree, then on to the magnificent Nativity scene...it was an absolutely wonderful show.  Afterwards, we headed to the Riverwalk Cantina for drinks, a buffet and a visit with Maggie and Kate.  We went up to the room and hung out and visited for a while, then they were on their way.  Mum and I sat on the balcony, visited and people-watched until 11:30...way past my bedtime!  Sunday morning we checked out and went to Mum's old church in Colleyville.  She enjoyed visiting with many of the members and we didn't leave town to head home until 1:15.  We thanked the Lord for safe travels and wonderful memories!

Heading out!

We made it!

These were some mighty big balls...:)  The people behind me probably weren't happy I was taking pictures.

Picture of the brochure that shows the atrium very nicely. Too bad it's sideways, but it's still pretty!

This little girl is wondering where we're going. Poor little thing probably didn't get into the show for another two hours.

We went in the back way.  Headed down the long hall to get our coats.

This blue lighting was in the whole show!

EVERYTHING in here was ice - it was incredible!

The detail was amazing in ALL of these sculptures.

All of the kids loved the slide.  I even thought about going down...:)

This is all ice!  In Alaska we saw sculptures, but not with colored ice like these.



Baby Jesus...this was a beautiful scene. So large I couldn't get it all in one shot. And there were so many people!

She was not happy I'm still taking pictures and all she wants is food!!

View from our balcony!

Mum, Maggie and Kate

Hanging out, visiting and people watching

Maggie and Kate waving goodbye!

And this little girl had fun at camp while we were gone!!  We all had a wonderful weekend!

Random happenings of late...

Been busy the last few weeks at the house.  It's so much fun to travel, do things and see new places but there's no place like home!  I enjoy being around the house and especially love the holidays!  Catching up on work, doctor appointments ( I get my new tooth to replace the baby tooth that FINALLY came out for Christmas!), we both joined Anytime Fitness and have been working out three times a week, taking care of our moms, riding when we get a chance, visited all the graves on Veteran's Day and all the other things that make up ordinary life.  Left my vehicle at the Honda shop yesterday for the 100,000 mile service and to get all new tires so I have been driving the El Camino to work, which I love!  So thankful for all the little things that make me so happy...:)

Had free money and half off buffet coupons at the casino.  I ended up winning $39, too!!  Fun, cheap evening.

Beautiful sunset I caught one evening on our way home from shopping.

Mum cooked me two meals in the last few weeks and sent home leftovers!!

Went riding with our neighbor, Tommy, for the first time since he got his bike. The road leading into Jefferson, TX was lined with American flags - it was great!

Had a great ride - looking forward to the next one!

This is a picture of the Teddy Bear Run I pulled from their website.  Our bike is somewhere down there!!

Teddy Bear Ride

On the last Saturday of October, after Kenneth was done with the wheelchair ramp and I had done all my chores, we hopped on the bike and headed for McKinney, TX.  It was a chilly 57 degrees, but leather does a good job in cold weather!  We got to Curt and Lisa's where they had a fire in the patio fire pit and pork loin, wings, and brats on the grill - SO nice to eat a good meal by the fire!  Sunday morning we got up to a chilly 37 and headed out for the Children's Advocacy Center of Collin County 25th Annual Teddy Bear Ride.  Curt and Lisa have done this ride for several years, but it was our first.  We brought three small stuffed animals to add to the hundreds that other brought!  I don't think I've ever seen so many bikes in one spot with the exception of downtown Sturgis during Bike Week.  What an honor to be a part of such a wonderful event - prayers went up for all the kids who will receive an animal...what they must be going through to be at the Center.  After wandering the silent auction and the vendors, getting some free stuff and watching some bikes ride the cones, we headed out for a short ride, lunch at Snuffers, then we parted ways and each headed for home.  It was a great weekend!

Hot coffee for my driver on the way over to McKinney.

The firemaster kept us warm all evening!

Getting ready to head out on this beautiful, chilly Sunday morning.

Lisa, Kenneth and Curt standing to the side after registration - there was a LOT of leather in the crowd!

Rows and rows of bikes waiting for the start of the ride. This amount at least doubled by the time we left!

There were two SUVs loaded with these pandas!



The police were blocking all the intersections, but the group was so large it got separated. We are in the second wave and there were probably still 400 bikes behind us!

Rolling into the venue, there were dozens of groups holding signs, waving, taking pictures - it was fun!



Part of the parking lot after the ride.

Curt and Lisa with their offering

LOOK how many there are!!  And people were still tossing animals up into the truck.

Love that I was able to catch us all in the mirrored building.

Great burger for lunch here - well, half a burger.  The other half was for dinner!

After a long, cold weekend of riding, this hot spa bath was just what I needed to soak in...ahhhhh....:)

Rockers, Riders and Ribs Rally

I left work early (again!) on Friday, October 20th and we headed to Fernbrook RV Park in Longview, TX to meet Curt and Lisa for the 2nd annual R3 Rally.  The weather was predicted to be rainy all weekend but the good Lord helped us out and we were able to do all the riding we had planned to do!  After we got the camper set up, we headed to the Lonestar Icehouse for the pre-party put on by the local Harley Davidson shop and to pick up our Poker Run sheets, tshirts and swag bags.  After a beer and listening to Ally Veneble play a little music, we headed to The Bootlegger Grill for some appetizers and a cold beverage and then back to the camper.  We waited a little late and had to do some night riding, which we normally don't do, but thankfully it was only about a 15 minute ride.  Saturday morning we had to wait for some rain to pass us but we left for the Poker Run from the camper and we were ahead of the crowd.  The route was really busy - it was Hwy. 80 garage sale day and there were people set up for miles and miles selling stuff.  Made for a dangerous ride - we saw one wreck and had people just stopping in the middle of the highway in front of us, looking at all the stuff on the sides of the road.  The Poker Run stops were all at places we thought would be great places to be on a Friday or Saturday night, but we'll have to remember them for future trips because this Saturday night was pretty busy!  After we turned in our losing hands in the Poker Run, we ate lunch at the Butcher Shop then toured the vendor tents, hung out in the VIP area and listened to the Brandon Giles band and walked through the car show.  We didn't realize we could pay $5 and go sample all of the ribs from the cook-off or we wouldn't have eaten lunch!  Maybe next year.  After a trip to the camper to shower, change clothes and relax a bit, we headed back to the venue in the truck to listen to The Kentucky Headhunters, Edgar Winter and Foghat.  Got back to the camper around midnight and visited a bit before turning in for the night.  About 3:30 Sunday morning, the storms hit with a vengeance!  Kenneth said the camper was rocking but I slept through it all.  I did hear some pretty bad thunder but went right back to sleep.  The camper is now in the shop because we found out the front door leaks; fortunately we had no leaks over the beds!  We waited a while Sunday morning to pack up and leave because it was still raining so Lisa made us some Bloody Marys to pass the time.  It was a great weekend and a very well organized event - looking forward to next year!



We haven't been riding with them since Hill Country in May!



Turned out to be a beautiful evening.



Kenneth waiting at the door for us to catch up.

Live music, beautiful weather, cold beer and good friends...what a perfect Friday evening!

Heading in to get some grub!

Night riding

Checking their weather apps to see where the rain is and when we can get on the road.  Lisa is ready!!

First Poker Run stop - The Central Station

Second stop - Red Rooster Icehouse

Nice Veterans Park in Hawkins, TX

The Car Show was small but there were a LOT of cars we've never seen.  We go to a Longview car show every month and we were sure we would've seen the same cars.



The Kentucky Headhunters were great!!

Two motorcycles circling in this cage at one time - it was pretty intense!

About half of this show was great!  He talked and goofed around the other half...not sure what he was doing.

Considering only the drummer is from the original band, they did a great job.

Curt getting ready to load his bike - we loved his riding clothes!

Getting ready to get it loaded and head for home.

Another fun trip with great friends and great memories...:)