Tuesday December 30, 2014 Kyle, TX

Today dawned cold and windy, possibly the coldest day we had experienced here in Texas this year.

Green nailed Vanessa

We huddled around our coffee, TV and computers.  In the afternoon the ladies went out for manicures and shopping.

















Brandon and.I went out caching.  We found two that I hadn't found last year and one that had been placed more recently.  The first cache we found was just outside the historic section of the Kyle Cemetery.  It was a gallon container, it's hard to think I missed it last year.  Brandon found one old grave marker from the 1800's with the name Kyle on it.  The oldest date he found was 1834. We didn't see the marker but a grand nephew of George Washington is reported to be buried in this cemetery.  The second one taken off my DNF list was in a stump in a park that had been flooded before our visit last year.

We went for dinner at an Olive Garden Restaurant in New Braunfels.  The restaurant was very busy and we waited for about 35 minutes to be seated.  The food was good and our waitress was arguably the best waitress I have ever experienced.  One of the chefs brought out our meal  There was some mix up with Dana's order.  She orders a dish they no longer have on the menu.  The chef apologized and said he would have it out in 5 minutes, he did.  Some how a second serving of Dana's order was prepared and given to us at no charge.  Yum, leftovers for tomorrow.

Some TV and computer time finished the evening at about 11 PM.

Monday December 29, 2014 Kyle, TX

We had our coffee at about 9 AM.  It was very nice out and sunny.  We spent time with the kids, and catching up on computer stuff while Curtis and Dana took down the Christmas decorations.

I drove up to a Miracle Ear store in south Austin to get adjustments on my hearing aids. The right one had been giving me a lot of feedback.  Other people in the room could hear it squealing, so it was time to take care of it.  While there I did two caches in the shopping center before heading back.

When I got back Gerri and Dana had gone shopping and the kids were playing with friends.  When they got back we rounded up the kids to go caching with me since this was forecast to be the last nice day before we leave.

The found log

Brandon, Vanessa and I set out in the van to the nearest cache that we hadn't already looked for.  The iPhone works very well in places like Maui but in Texas with winding roads going in every direction and lots of housing tracts I spent a lot of time finding the correct roads.  The map system in the phone doesn't work very well with city names like Buda.  We managed to find the first one and then one that Vanessa and I didn't find yesterday.  We stopped and looked for a cache that Vanessa and I had missed yesterday but couldn't find it. It was getting dark so we tried another one that I hadn't found last year.  We found this one easily and headed home.

The container in its hiding spot

We got home in time for supper.  Dana had made tortilla soup.  After dinner Dana and Curtis went to a movie for "Date Night" while Gerri and I stayed with the kids.

We called it a night at about 11.

Sunday December 28, 2014 Kyle, TX

It was another cold and rainy morning.  We started our coffee and caught up on computer activities. Curtis picked up breakfast at McDonalds, He had promised that to Vanessa the night before.

Inspite of the cold and wet the kids spent time playing outside.

Curtis needed to pickup some things at Walmart and dropped off Brandon and me at Cabella's,  We looked at the animal displays.  Brandon played with some popguns and we took a look through the Gun Library at the expensive guns. A military 1911-A for $2600, Give me a break.  A Lugar P-08 made in 1918 for $4600?  Curtis picked us up and we made a trip to Home Depot.  We also went to a skateboard park in Buda and watched Brandon for about a half hour.  Curtis and I sat in the van while Brandon skated.

Gerri and Dana went to Kohl's to return some items.  While they were gone Vanessa asked me to take her geocaching.  We were here for a couple of weeks last year and I had done many of the caches in the area.  Most of the close one were ones I DNFed last year or puzzle cache which I don't try.  We tried one in the old part of Kyle that had been DNFed in early December.  We didn't find it or any thing that matched the hint.  Next we went a couple of miles north to Kyle Crossing and found a Lamp Post Skirt hide.  We also looked for one I didn't find last year and another that.  We didn't find either.  By then it was late afternoon and we headed home.  The sun had come out and it warmed up some.

For dinner Dana fixed a a delicious Curry Chicken dish.  The rest of the evening was TV and computer time.  Vanessa wanted me to watch a movie with her.  It took a while to figure out how to play a DVD on the Play Station.  We only had time for about half the movie before it was her bedtime.

I watched the rest of the movie, Spy Kids, and went to bed.

Saturday December 27, 2014 Kyle, TX

Guess what we slept late this morning.  I was hoping to do some geocaching, but it was co-o-ld. There was a cutting wind blowing that never let up as the day progressed.

We pretty much stuck close to the TV and computers today.  The kids did have a couple of neighbors over for a few hours.

We had made arrangements to meet Paul and Ann Conner at a restaurant in Gruene at 5:30.  Paul and Ann are old friends from Las Vegas that live in Spring Branch,  I'm not sure if Gruene is a town or just a historic section of New Braunfels. Gruene is pronounced Green by the locals.  There is a dance hall there that claims to be the oldest in Texas, it looks it.  There are a lot of Victorian houses and antique shops and the town caters to tourists.  There are several good restaurants there also.

We arrived at the Gruene River Grill before Paul and Ann.  I don't know if the building is old or new but the ambiance is that of an old factory or warehouse. It overlooks a section of the Guadalupe River that is dammed to make a small lake.

Me, Gerri, Paul and Ann Conner

It had only been a year since we saw them, but it was great being in their company.  I used to work with Paul and we have mutual friends both from social and work settings.  The menu at the Gruene River Grill is quite eclectic.  Gerri had a pretty much traditional meatloaf dinner and I had top sirloin,  Paul had a chicken dish with a south western flavor and Ann had baked salmon.  The fod was great and reasonably priced.  We spent a lot of time visiting during the meal and after.  I'm sure the management was impatient wanting to turn the table over.  When we got there at 5:00 we were seated immediately, by the time we left at 8 there was a large waiting crowd.

Back at the house we enjoyed the kids until their bedtime.  Dana was working a wedding party so Curtis had been home alone with the kids.

We called it a night at about 11.

Friday December 26, 2015 Kyle, TX

This morning was the warmest one so far. We had our coffee and got dressed for the days activities.

Brandon wanted to show off some of his skills at the skate board park and Curtis wanted to take a short paddle on the San Marcos River in the kayak.  We did both.

Curtis and I launched the kayak and paddled upstream for a way.  It did sprinkle on us a little as we, mostly Curtis, paddled.  We saw two other groups of paddlers and one fisherman.  We saw a few turtles and at one point a large white Heron took flight across the river in front of us.  On the way back down stream a large hawk of some kind swooped across in front of us.  It grabbed a mouse and flew back into the trees.

Back at the launch point I managed to get out of the kayak without mishap.  While Curtis walked and got the truck, I watched some other kayakers going through a couple of shoots below our launch point.

Gerri, Dana, Vanessa and Brandon went to the skate board park and watched Brandon practice his moves.  The move depicted is a drop in. He practiced several times before he was able to do it.


The rest of the family got home before us.  We relaxed for awhile while the kids played outside.  At about 3 we headed out to the Sea World Park in San Antonio.

We got there in time to see a dolphin show.  Gerri and Curtis went on a couple of the large roller coasters.  After dark the park was really lit up with the Christmas theme.  A few snack bars, another ride and some play time for the kids brought us to closing time.

A trash shark

We stopped at a Cane's Restaurant on the way home and had chicken fingers.  They were good and by the way the only thing on the menu.

We got home at about 11 and the kids went straight to bed.  The adults weren't far behind.

Thursday December 25, 2014 Kyle, TX

Christmas Day dawned before we got up.  It was sunny but cold with a stiff breeze adding a little more chill.

Brandon and Vanessa were up before us.  As soon as we got our coffee they started passing out gifts.

Only the beginning

Vanessa liked her scooter even in the box

Can I help you with that, Dad?

Mother Daughter aprons

Everyone got a lot of nice gifts.  It was such a pleasure to to see to see the happiness on their faces and hear the whoops of joy as the opened their gifts.  Some were things they wanted and others were surprises.

We really didn't do much although it seemed we were busy all day.  The kids played outside a lot with neighbors.  A little of the time a couple of neighbor children came inside to play with them.

Curt and Dana spent some time getting familiar with features of the new to them van.

For dinner Dana prepared a large turkey with mashed potatoes, green beans.  All served with cranberry sauce and rolls on the side.

We watched TV and caught up on computer stuff for the rest of the evening.  We watched a channel called TruTV that we hadn't heard of.  There was a funny magic show called the Carbonaro Effect that was very entertaining.  We plan to see if that is included in our package with Cox Cable at home.

We were all in bed by 11.

Wednesday December 24, 2014 Kyle, TX

We slept in until we heard kids up and then we went downstairs and had our coffee. It was a lazy morning.  Just enjoying being in Kyle with family.

In the afternoon Curtis and I went to Target to get some items to finish hooking up the new TV and mounting the old one on the wall in the game room.  We also picked up a battery for the van's rear seat audio control and some batteries for my hearing aids

I called my uncle Curtis Ford in Corpus Christi and finalized plans for our visit there on New Years Day.  We will stay there a couple of nights.  It will be good to see the Fords, Aunt Gloria is the last of my Mother's three sisters.  After visiting them we will be heading home for a series of doctor appointments before our cruise to Hawaii.

Even though yesterday was actually his birthday we took Curtis, son that is, and family to the Kobe Japanese Restaurant for dinner.  We enjoy the food and the entertaining preparation.

We were surprised at the variety and amount of food the kids ate.  We were amazed how much steak Vanessa put away.









There was a mistake in my and Gerri's order. The chef cooked Scallops instead of the Salmon we had ordered with our Filet Mignon.  We had plenty to eat and cancelled the Salmon.  Even though the Salmon was taken off our bill, the waiter gave us the Scallops to take home.

We visited for awhile after getting back to the house.  Gerri went to bed before 10.

Tuesday December 23, 2014 Kyle, TX

We were up by 8:30 having our coffee.

Today is our youngest son's 40th birthday.  He spent most of the morning getting his Grandmother's old van insured, inspected and licensed.  The van had belonged to Gerri's mother, Neva.  We drove it from Las Vegas to Texas.

The van in its new cave

Taking care of the necessary van business took most of Curtis' birthday morning.  After he had put the new Texas license plates on the van we mailed the Nevada license plate back to Neva so she can transfer them to her new vehicle.  The kids seemed very excited about having a new car and especially liked the automatic sliding doors.  I believe Curtis plans to shut them off.

In the afternoon Curtis opened his presents.  The main gift was a 60" television from Dana. Among the other presents I saw a couple of shirts but no socks or ties.  Oh well, maybe for Christmas.

Happy Birthday, Curtis

After dinner Curtis was served the au rigour ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins 39 Flavors.

We watched some TV before bed.  On a 60" TV the people in the picture are almost life size.

Monday December 22, 2014 Kyle, TX

After a poor nights sleep we were up at a little after 7.  I made the small cups of coffee provided in the room.  After getting dressed I took our cups to the office and filled them there.  The motel had a waffle maker and other continental breakfast items.  We decided to get on the road and get something to eat later.

We stopped at a rest stop near Sonora, TX and I found a cache there.

After fueling at a Flying J in Junction, TX we split a cinnamon bun.  We hadn't had one since our Alaska caravan.  With a speed limit of 80 MPH w traveled the miles quickly but were using a lot of gasoline.

In Kerrville we stopped at a Cracker Barrel and had lunch.  I looked for a nearby cache.  I found the box but there was a puzzle to solve to get into sign the log.  The app on my iPhone didn't show all the information needed to solve the puzzle.  We filled up the cars and got back on the road for the last leg of our journey.

At the outskirts of San Antonio we turned on 1604 Loop East.  There was a lot of road construction and heavy traffic until we got on I-35 North.

We got to Curtis' house at 4:40 and were warmly welcomed by Vanessa, Brandon, Curtis and Dana.   Vanessa was hiding in a box and said she was a geocache.

We got the van unloaded and turned over to Curtis.  Most of the things we brought were outside Christmas decorations.  Curtis got them arranged in the front yard in short order.

After a great dinner of lasagna we watched the movie Frozen with Vanessa.  It is so good to be here.



Vanessa gave us a Chanukah gift to open.  It had a note, some shells and a decoration that she had made.

No driving tomorrow.  Depending on events I may not do a daily blog while here.

Sunday December 21, 2014 Van Horn, TX

We didn't get a real good night's sleeping in a strange room.  We were up at 7 Mountain Standard time.  The room had a small coffee maker.  It made one cup at a time.  There was enough coffee for two small cups each, which almost filled one of our regular cups.  We got ready to travel and put the bags in the cars.  We then went to the free breakfast area of the lobby.  They had a variety of items available but one of the waffle makers was out of service.  We had eggs and sausage and passed on the waffles.  I took a couple of apples.  We were on the road by 8:30.

Today our entire route will be on I-10.  We are traveling east to Van Horn, TX and have reservations at the Whitten Inn there.  Gerri tried to make reservations at a Hampton inn, but it was full.

Rock formations in Texas Canyon

We planned to drive 440 miles today.  We stopped at a rest stop in Texas Canyon, AZ.  I looked for a cache there but didn't find it.

Shortly after getting into New Mexico we crossed the Continental Divide.  We have crossed the divide in many places but it always seems strange to cross it here where there are no mountains.

At Las Cruces we ran into heavy stop and go traffic for several miles.  There was a serious accident further east.  We had to exit the Interstate and travel a frontage road for several miles.  While off the interstate we stopped for fuel.

Once back on the Interstate it didn't take long to get to Texas.  Once east of El Paso the speed limit went up to 80 MPH.  With light traffic we made good time and arrived in Van Horn at about 5 PM Central Standard Time.

We were a little leery of the Whitten Inn when we arrived to a nearly empty parking lot.  Before checking in we looked at the room.  It was old and a little threadbare but seemed clean enough.  We choose to stay.

We missed the shuttle from the motel

Chili Rellenos

Our next task was deciding where to eat.  The desk clerk recommended the Steakhouse next door.  We choose a Mexican restaurant, Papa's Pantry, about a mile and a half away.  We drove there and it was closed.  We went back to a Mexican restaurant called Chuy's.  There were a lot a of cars in the lot and it seemed busy.  The signs claimed it was the John Madden Hall of Fame.  According to the menu John Madden always eats there when he goes through Van Horn. He has been doing that since the late 80's.  The food was ok except for the type of cheese they used.  Gerri had a combo plate and I had Chili Rellenos.

On the way to dinner we stopped at the City Hall and I found a cache that was hidden on a Caboose on display there.

Back at the motel we finished settling in for the evening.  On closer inspection the room leaves a lot to be desired.  A very hard bed, the heater is either too hot or too cool and the shower curtain was too short.  I miss our RV and I'm sure we will miss it more before this trip is over.

We were in bed by 10 CST.  Tomorrow we have 480 miles to drive to Kyle.  The day drives get longer but we will be in Kyle over a week.

Saturday December 20, 2014 Tucson, AZ

Today started the longest  trip we have taken driving the car in many years.  We are off to visit Curtis and his family in Kyle, Texas.

Todd and family came to Las Vegas on Thursday evening.  Our Family Christmas Party was last night.  Gerri got up at six but I stayed in bed for at least another hour.  Todd, Jeannette and the kids were up.  We had breakfast with them.  Gerri fixed a breakfast casserole with chorizo, eggs and hashbrowns.

Shortly after breakfast we hit the road.  We had made reservations at a Hampton Inn in Tucson.  We took our coffee to drink on the way.  We also took an extra 16 oz. cup each for later.  I didn't want any of my regular readers to thing we had cut down on coffee.  Gerri stopped at Sam's on Rainbow to top off the tank, $2.23 a gallon.  I swung by the credit union branch on Sunset to make a deposit and when I passed Sam's on Roy Horn Drive, Gerri got on the road behind me and we merged onto I-215.

In Henderson we picked up I-515 and were on it to Railroad Pass where it turns into US-93.  We made a short stop in Kingman, AZ and then picked up I-40, US-93 runs concurrent with I-40 for about 20 miles and then we turned south toward Phoenix.  We were on I-17 for aways before joining I-10 west.  We stopped for fuel about 35 miles east of Tucson at Picacho Peaks Road.  Somewhere along the way I realized that I had forgotten my iPad.  I called Montyne who verified that it was still there on the shelf where I charge it.  I ask her to overnight it to Curtis' address.

We got to the Hampton Inn at 4:20 and checked in.  They had upgraded us to a suite.  It was nice.

We went to supper at a restaurant named the Kingfisher.  Gerri had a bowl of Lobster Bisque and I had Clam Chowder.  As a main course we shared a dinner of Fish and Chips.  Gerri got a text from Montyne that she had shipped the iPad but delivery wasn't guaranteed until Wed.  I will be squinting at the iPhone until then.

Back at the motel we got the things that we need up to the room.  We discovered that the toilet was stopped up.  That was the end of the suite.  Maintenance had already closed for the day, so they moved us to the last available room.  We schlepped our stuff across the hall to that room.  The first thing we noticed was that the bed spread was lumpy and it looked like the bed hadn't been made properly.  The desk clerk insisted that it was clean, but at our insistence he put on new bedding.

I have no pictures to post today.  I didn't stop for any geocaches.  It was just drive,drive, drive.

We were finally ready to call it a night at 8:30, that's 9:30 Mountain Time.  Tomorrow it is east on I-10 to Van Horn, TX about 440 miles and hopefully an easier time getting settled into the Whitten Inn.