April 28, 2010 - Horseshoe Casino, Shreveport LA

Wed....about 10 a.m. we said good bye to Lake Conroe and drove an easy 200 miles to Shreveport LA and the Horseshoe Casino. Keith and I would recommend this to anyone for an over nite stop. An easy off and on to 1/20. Our new friends, Roger and Linda told us about it and said that the food was very good too.

We parked the RV in the lot next to the only other RV....but, in less than an hour it was full! Glad we arrived by 2 p.m.:) Changed our clothes and made our way to the Casino. The greeter suggested that we get a rewards card since we were first timers here. Good thing too, it entitled us to 2 complimentary meals, which we used at the buffet. If we would have been staying for lunch on Thurs, we would have been given 2 complimentary lunches.

Anything with Coconut? I think Keith found more than one with coconut! Everything was so good and fresh:)

A VERY HAPPY MAN!!!

1 I couldn't believe the lady gave me this much ice cream...wish I could have served myself:) Oh well.!!!!

The only down side to staying in the parking lot would be the noise from the highway and the train whistles..

But like I said, for one night it was fine.

April 14, 2010 - TT Lake Conroe

When we got close to Conroe, we called Larry and he was already in his site and had one right across from him waiting for us... Isn't it nice to be greated like this?

This is what it looks like from the front of our RV... Larry has a nice pull thru site.

We have the corner site at F-73... The RV to our right is an on site storage....talk about a quiet neighbor:) The roads are really in bad condition. Lots of the pull thru need work. But we were pleased that the grass is kept mowed. This park has lots of potential ...hope some money is spent on up-grading.

Fri. April 23rd 2010 - Happy Hour

I'm so disappointed that I don't have a photo of the group who played pickleball each day. Linda was going to send me the photo she took but she left for Dallas yest... Sorry:( Each day we have been here there are more and more players...At one point I think we had 16 or 18 which is very good for here.

Keith and I wanted to have the happy hour at our RV but the weather was iffy and so we used the pavilion and that worked out just fine. We were very pleased with the turnout.

Of course the dessert table was a favorite.

New friends from Fort Worth TX; Linda and Roger...GREAT PLAYERS.

Linda and Will who we met back in Jan. when we were headed west.

Phyllis is another new friend...her hubby Ron was taking it easy and didn't make the happy hour but they are VERY GOOD PLAYERS too. They have been full timers for 2 years.

Ya'll know Larry... He has helped Keith and I so much with our game...we can't thank him enough.

New friends Kelly, Rose and their granddaughter....Kelly would love to be playing but has had back problems...we all know about those right? Rose brought Keith's fav. dessert - Coconut Cream Pie!

Here's Trina who plays everyday and is a spitfire! And Casper who only plays occassionally. They are a real riot!!! Trina is a very good player!

The USAPA Assoc. Ambassadors for this area are Morgan and Piper. Morgan has had knee surg. and is just getting back on the court...Don't let this fool ya...he doesn't need to move much to get any ball he wants!

Brand new player Curtis... but you'd never know it...he picked up a paddle and hasn't stopped getting better and better...
Everyday we'd be up at the court by 9 and play til noon...then again meet back at the courts by 6 and play til ? It was GREAT! Thanks everyone.!

April 12th 2010 - TT Lake Conroe, TX -

We'll be here at TT Lake Conroe til Wed. April 27th
May 2nd - Cleveland TN
May 3rd - Lexington KY
May 8th - Reading PA - home!

Sat. April 10,2010 - Andy and Leanne

Friday night, April 9th we took the Honda and drove from Columbus TX to Austin to be with Andy and Leanne for the weekend. We celebrated Andy's birthday on the way out west and now we're celebrating Keith's on the way east! It's ALWAYS a hoot to be with Andy and Leanne so we could hardly wait!

Sat. morning the 4 of us drove to Fredericksburg with no exact plan....except for the Bluebonnets loop. I took Rita (our GPS) and she took us a beautiful back road to the loop.

Andy stopped the car when we came upon this old house with all these bluebonnets.. The cameras came out and we had a ball. Everywhere you looked it was more beautiful. Our back road turned out to be just as great as the real loop.

Leanne, Andy and Keith in the flower patch:)

Yes, Andy is checking out the restaurant to see if this is where we wanted to eat once we got settled into Fredericksburg. The weather was wonderful - just perfect for walking.... and eating outside.

The drinks were yummy. It was just so darn hard to decide what to order, right Leanne?

On the way out of town is Wildseed Farms...WHAT A PLACE... acres and acres of flowers. It was very crowded since this is the peak weekend for the bluebonnets. Just getting a parking space was a challenge. It was so worth going there. Leanne wanted a few plants to replace some in their front yard that didn't make it over the winter, but, they didn't have any or were sold out.

Isn't this field of Red Corn Poppy just splendid?

Even tho this wall of flowers were about at their end...they were still awesome..

There were ponds upon ponds. Thought this little guy was so cute.

Besides having a band, they had this group making, baking and giving away biscuits.

This guy was in charge of the fire.

The end product was enjoyed by us all....mmmmm Keith liked them!

Austin was having a 3 day ROD cruise. Leanne suggested that we drive toward the capitol and see what was going on. Boy did she make Andy and Keith happy.

The street was lined with cars for miles...

Of course this 57 caught Keith's eye. What memories we both have of our 57's:)

By the time we got back to their house...we decided to call it a night. It was like 3 days into 1.

We were going to go back on Sunday to watch the parade, but it rained and we knew that most of the RODs would not be there.

Keith and Andy went to the store for seafood and they made Leanne and me pouched salmon. It was a perfect way to end a GREAT time tog.

Hang in there guys...you'll be on the road with us before you know it! Can't WAIT..love ya

Thurs. April 8, 2010 - Aransas Nat'l Wildlife Refuge

We drove the 125 miles south to Aransas Nat'l Wildlife Refuge from Columbus TX...This 115,000 acre refuge complex sprawls mostly across the Blackjack peninsula. Storms and waters of the Gulf of Mexico constantly shape this vital refuge, home to over 400 different bird species.

The drive here was just so pleasing to the eye...everywhere you look there was beauty.

Keith especially liked this plant blooming.

I can't stop myself from taking more photos of flowers.

Don't you just love this color?

From late Oct. to mid-Apr., crane families feed in the saltwater marshes. Often you can see a family of whooping cranes from the 40-foot Observatory Tower, which is equipped with telescopes. This is the view from up there...It was windy, but warm and we did see a pair of whooping cranes but my camera can't show you:(

We took the 16-mile Auto Tour Loop and saw many snakes, deer, alligators, ducks, pelicans, herons, egrets, and more.

This guy was just sunning himself way out in the marsh area. Yes, we were in the car and just 25 ft away.

In the welcome center we saw this baby whooping crane...so cute.

Whoopers normally lay two eggs but usually raise only one chick successfully. So, in 1975 scientists and wildlife officials decied to use a new technique to start a second wild whooper flock. Eggs from Canada were taken to Gray's Lake Nat'l Wildlife Refuge in Idaho. They were placed in the nests of sandhill cranes, who raised the chicks as their own. NEAT!

Whooping Cranes, white with black wingtips. Wingspan: 7 ft. Height: 5 ft. Flocks of 2 to 7 sometimes migrate with sandhill cranes.

This year there were 276 whoopers at Aransas. Once nearly extinct, whoopers appear to be on the upswing, from a low of 15 in 1941 to over 450 cranes in North America today. 150 are in captivity. 2010 was a very good year for them. The majority of the 276 left about 2 weeks ago...but you can still see many if you take the boat tour...we didn't have time to do that:(

By 3 p.m. we were starved and went to the suggested Bayside Seafood Rest. for a scrumptious grilled seafood dinner. The birthday boy was very happy:)

Surprise!! the waitress brought this keylime pie for dessert...it was just what we needed to top off a great meal...and a wonderful day.