We left for Temple late Friday night. I always try to leave late to avoid some of the crazy traffic that now seems routine on I35. While it wasn't stop and go traffic that we encountered, it was still bumper to bumper most of the 162 mile journey. Traffic was moving about 70mph, which is good, but being bumper to bumper for the duration makes the stress quotient extremely high. I was very happy once we arrived and I could sit down and calm my nerves. We all went to bed pretty soon after arriving, and looked forward to seeing Grandma and Uncle Jim the following morning.
We woke up Saturday morning around 8:00am, and it was sure nice to see mom (Grandma). Once again, it had been far too long since we had been down for a visit. Jim arrived around 11:00 that morning, and we spent the day playing outside in her backyard, and playing various board games. It was really nice to relax and laugh with the extended family again.
Sunday was spent doing pretty much the same thing, and the boys and I really had a good time. After lunch, I the boys and I slipped away for a 1/2 hour or so, and took the Radio Controlled vehicles that Grandma got them for Christmas down to the parking lot of the church a block away for some fun.
I really enjoyed watching them run around and laugh as they were piloting their respective vehicles.
Monday morning came too quickly, and we were all sad to leave Temple. We had a great time visiting with Grandma and Uncle Jim, and can't wait for our next trip down.
After leaving Grandma's house about 10:00 on Monday morning, we headed to Galveston. My good friends Kenny and Hailey offered to let me use their beach house during spring break, and we were all eager to take them up on their offer.
The trip to Galveston went smoothly. We dropped our stuff off at the beach house, and headed back into town to get groceries for the week. By the time we got back to the beach house, it was about 6:00pm, and almost time to start dinner. Here is a shot of the beach house just before I rolled out the grill to start cooking some yummy steaks.
Of course Thunder was super excited about the new surroundings too!
While I cooked, the boys played on the hammock.
We ate dinner on the deck, and enjoyed the ocean breeze. After dinner, we watched some TV, and then called it an early night. We were all pretty tired from all the driving. Want proof? Well.....
Tuesday morning we woke up about 8:00am and had some breakfast. We took the golf cart for a morning drive, and hit the marina and the beach to check out the water. It was still early and a bit chilly, so we were still in our sweat pants and long sleeve shirts. The water was cold, but that did not deter the mentally ill boys from going wading in their sweats and getting soaked. Thunder jumped right on lunatic train with the boys, and was soon soaking wet too. Me.......well lets just say that I did not have to immediately change when I got home.
After eating lunch, we loaded up the truck and headed to the part of West End beach where they let you drive right up to the water. We parked Old Blue (my truck), and as I unpacked the back, the boys and the dog made a bee line to the water. Check that........that should read the crisp 58 degree water. Brrrrrr............
The boys and the dog did not seem to mind the frigid temperatures, and maybe I'm just old, but it was too chilly for me. I had just as good of a time just watching them laugh and have fun. This was Thunder's first time at the ocean, and he was as happy as a fish in water.
Normally, on a dog's first time to the ocean, they will drink the salt water in the ocean from simply not knowing any better. It usually results in a one day bout of diarrhea and throwing up. I am proud to say that Thunder knew better, and did not get sick the entire time we were there. Dante and Mystic were not so fortunate when I took them for their first times. I was ecstatic that I did not have to clean anything up this time.
Wednesday arrived with a 35-40 mph wind. To go along with that insane wind, were tempatures in the mid 60's. Using my keen sense of deductive reasoning, I made an executive decision to forgo the beach and take the boys on an adventure instead.
We headed out to the port of Houston, where the USS. Texas Battleship is docked. After stopping in La Porte, TX at Whataburger for lunch, we got to the Battleship around noon. The boys and I were silly with excitement.
The whole experience is very neat. You get to walk and climb wherever you want on the ship. There is lots of history to read about, and the ship itself is a beautiful museum. Needless to say, the boys had a blast.
What a great experience. Oh, and about that wind............
About a 1/2 mile away is the San Jacinto Monument and museum. We left the battleship, and headed over to the museum. Wow, what a great educational experience. We watched a nice 20 minute HD movie in their theater about the famous battle, and then went 590 feet up to the observation deck. It was quite the site.
Yep, that's the battleship off in the distance. Fun times!
We got back to the beach house around 5:30pm and just spent time riding scooters, and playing. After dinner under the stars again, we watched some TV and went to bed fairly early.
On Thursday, we headed home from our adventure. I believe everybody had a really good time. Different that what we were used to in the past? Well, no doubt.......but fun nonetheless.
Thanks boys for making my life better, and for keeping me young.
William
