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.

Sunday November 16, 2014 Las Vegas, NV

Since this was check out day we were up earlier than normal.  Check out was 10 AM.

Nothing happens without morning coffee being made.  We had that while catching up on computer activities and getting our things packed for travel.

We left the resort a little earlier than expected.  There wasn't the usual shortage of luggage carts, so getting things to the car went swiftly.  We were ready to go and on the road at 9:30.

A Pumpkin patch in Carlsbad

Me, Gerri, Neva, Marilyn and Bob Faircloth

We had plans to meet another cousin and her husband in Temecula for lunch.  Marilyn Faircloth and her husband Bob live in Minefee. We crossed over from the I-5 through San Marcos to the I-15 and headed north.  At Deer Creek Road we turned off onto Old US-395 and drove sort of parallel with I-15 for a ways hoping to see an avocado stand open.  We didn't see one but we went by Nessy Burgers and noticed they were now open on Sunday. Nessy's makes the best burger, bar none, in the country. http://www.nessyburgers.com/

We got to Mimi's, http://www.mimiscafe.com/, in Temecula at the same time Bob and Marilyn arrived.  We had a nice lunch and a good visit with them. Of course we took pictures before getting back on the road for Las Vegas.

Cousins 

The rest of the trip was uneventful and we got to the house and unloaded at about 5:00.  As soon as we got her things transfered from our car to hers, Neva headed for her house.  She did call us when she got there safely.

At 6 we tried to turn into the netcast from Oakey Blvd. Church of Christ but the video feed kept stopping and we gave up on that part of the evening.

We will be home for awhile.  Our next travel plans are to go to Texas for Christmas.  Brandon ask us to come to his house for Christmas, so that is our plan.  We don't know yet if we are going to drive or fly.  I would rather take the motor home and make a longer trip of it, but that doesn't seem to be an option.

Before the trip to Texas I have doctor appointments to take care of starting Tuesday with surgery on my right eye to remove the cataract.

Saturday November 15, 2014 Carlsbad, CA

We were all up by 9 AM and started drinking our coffee.  For the ladies this was an off day with nothing planned.

I got dressed and went out caching at about 1:30. There are caches nearby but some are on trails and for the one around Legoland and there is no place to park.  Instead of going into town and seeking caches, I tried some of a series on a  trail near the Carlsbad Crossings Golf Course.  The first cache took me down a step section of trail and was an easy find.  The next took me further down the trail and the trail got steeper.  I didn't find the second cache which was 1/10th of a mile from the first one which was 1/10th of a mile from where I parked.  I went further along the trail and found two more caches.  The last one was interesting.  It was an expended .50 caliber cartridge with a section of the linkbelt still attached.  A bullet held the log in it.

I walked further along the trail and decided that if it made a loop back to the parking lot it was a lot further than returning the way I had come.  On the way back I found the cache that had eluded me on the trip down.  The path was steep but I slowly worked my way back to the car.  With a tough hike and four caches found I returned to the resort.

We played a game of Mexican train, Neva won. That makes the domino score 2 for me and one each for the ladies during this week.

Later Neva and I walked out on the walk above the flower fields for sunset pictures.  We didn't see the main layer until the sun reached it and it became obscured.  There was a hole in the layers of the fog and it made for a brief but interesting reappearance of the sun before it sat in the ocean.

Back at our unit, Gerri warmed up the leftovers from Sonny's and we had a good and plentiful meal.

The rest of the evening consisting of TV, computer time and reading before calling it a night.

This morning I started the routine of eye drops in preparation for my surgery this Tuesday.  Post operative eye drops continue for my left eye until November 21st.

Friday November 14, 2014 Carlsbad, CA

We had our coffee while catching up on computer activities.  Most of the late morning and early afternoon was spent reading. And lounging in our room.

At 3 we left for San Diego.  Our plan was to meet John and Montyne at their boat, visit for awhile and then go to Lou and Mona Miloti's home for a visit before dinner at the Coronado Cays Yacht Club.

Because of heavy traffic it took over an hour and a half to make the 38 mile drive.  Our visit at the boat was cut short.  We did get there in time to see a couple of gondolas go by before dark.

At 5 we went to Lou and Mona's home about a half mile away.  We hadn't seen them since our Mediterranean  cruise, so we had quite a reunion. We talked about what we all had been doing since the cruise and some future travel plans.

At 6:30 we headed back toward John and Montyne's place to have dinner at the Coronado Cays Yacht Club.  We had a great dinner and of course a lot more conversation.  Because John and Montyne are members of the yacht club and live in the marina, they were greeted by several people before and after we ate.  Lou and Mona knew some couples from their neighborhood that are also yacht club members.  They also talked to one of the long term waitresses that had worked at the yacht club when their son was the manager.

We said our goodbyes in front of the yacht club and went our separate ways after making promises of future get togethers.

The drive back to the resort in Carlsbad took only about 45 minutes with light traffic.

It didn't take much reading and the TV news to finish off the day.  . We did share one of the large cookies from my birthday bouquet before retiring.

Thursday November 13, 2014 Carlsbad, CA

Not as much excitement and anticipation around here today.  No special occasions except lunch.

We had our coffee and caught up on computer stuff.  We spent most of the morning lounging around and reading.

In the afternoon we got ready and drove to Carlsbad Village.  We were to meet one of Gerri's high school classmates, Diane Bowen, for lunch at Norte Mexican Restaurant for lunch at two.  Gerri found a parking spot right in front of the restaurant.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Norte-Mexican-Food-Cocktail/144672778909485

Gerri and Neva went in and I went to find a nearby cache.  The container was hidden in an old English style iron phone booth.  It has a functioning pay phone inside.  I found the container quickly but had trouble getting the log out to sign.  A previous cacher had noted that tweezers were needed.  In preparation for that I had borrowed a small Swiss Army Knife with tweezers from Neva.   The log was damp and tightly wrapped to fit the container and it took me awhile to extract it.  I had done a cache in this same phone booth a few years ago.  Often caches are archived for some reason and later a new one springs up in the same location

The funny thing was that while I was in the phone booth my phone rang.  Thinking it was Gerri, and without looking, I answered with, "I'll be right there."  The thing was it wasn't Gerri.  It was my eye surgeon's office. The caller said it was Dr. Wellish's office.  She was calling to collect the fee for my operation on Tuesday and wondered why I was coming to the office today.  We finally got on the same page and I gave her the payment information.  I probably looked curious standing in a phone booth talking on my cell phone. 

Diane, Neva and Gerri

By the time I got to the restaurant Diane had arrived and the ladies were already seated.  We had chips and dip along with conversation before our meal.  Gerri and I had met with Diane a year or so ago, but Neva hadn't seen her since the families lived in Mississippi where Gerri went to high school.  We had a good meal and good conversation and then took a few pictures with the Carlsbad Inn and Norte's as the backdrop. 

High school friends

Yesterday Gerri got an email message asking her to call Sheriff Lamb.  She called him after we got back to the resort.  We both spoke to him for awhile.  We talked a little about old times and friends. Ralph lamented on the fact so many old friends are gone and he doesn't know many people around town any more.  Just what I needed after my 73rd birthday, a reminder that we are aging and that old friends have passed on.  On the other hand it was a good reminder to stay connected to old friends. Occasionally there is an "Old Timers" luncheon for retired cops.  Often we are out of town and I miss them.  Danny Rivers usually announces the dates and times.  I plan to remind him to invite the Sheriff.  It seems sad to me that the once most powerful man in Nevada is now without his old cronies that used to meet at Rosie's or Papa Gar's.

Neva had walked out to see the sunset.  After the phone call I went out to join her on the walk overlooking the flower fields to see the sunset.  The flower fields slope away from the resort and there is a walk way along the top which normally give a good view of the ocean.  The fields are being prepared for planting.  The fields are part of  nursery that raises flowers for bulbs and seed. When planted and in bloom they are quite artistic. We are seldom here when the flowers are in bloom, but it is a beautiful sight.  http://www.theflowerfields.com/

There were murky clouds and the marine layer was heavy.  We couldn't see the sun go down beyond the horizon because of the marine layer.


We played a game of Mexican Train.  Neva and I struggled and Gerri trounced us soundly.

After dominos we read. I made microwave popcorn, which Neva and I shared.  Gerri can't eat popcorn or nuts.  I made coffee for Neva and we shared two of the cookies that Curtis and Dana had sent for my birthday. 

Reading and a little TV news finished the evening.

Wednesday November 12, 2014 Carlsbad, CA

I had set up the coffee last night so all I had to do was turn it on.  While I waited for the coffee, I opened my birthday cards.  This is the 73rd anniversary of my birth and it even falls on the day of the week on which I was born.

I can not help but think of my mother today.  I am thankful for hard decisions she made at that time when war was raging in Europe and approaching in the Pacific.  I am also thankful for the long time she was with us.

My birthday cupcake

We had lunch of leftovers from last night's meal at the Harbor Fish Company.  After lunch Gerri gave me a haircut and we prepared for the afternoon visit to cousin Arlene and He Who Wants to Remain Unnamed on Facebook's home.

Sunset at Dana Pount

Arlene and Gerri at Sonny's

Neva, HWWTRUONF and me at Sonny's

At about 3 we went to Arlene and HWWTRUOF's and visited until about 5.  We then headed to our favorite Italian restaurant in the area, Sonny's Pizza in San Clemente.  Our meal was as good as we expected and of course the company was the best.  We spent about two more hours eating and visiting.  We all had leftovers to take back to the resort.  After goodbyes we left the restaurant separately.

When we got back to the resort I had a cookie bouquet from Curt and Dana and family.

Back at the resort we played a rousing game of Mexican Train.  I won, this was two in a row.

What a great day!  Another enjoyable birthday with a call from Todd, Emma,Wyatt and Jeannette in Long Beach.   The  surprise was that both Emma and Wyatt spoke on the phone and then sang happy birthday to me.  I also got calls from the kids in Texas; Curtis, Dana, Brandon and Vanessa.  A surprise call came from grandson Sean in Reno.  Then there was the 100+ well wishers on Facebook.

Some computer time and reading finished off the day. Tomorrow I start my 74th year. I am so thankful to God for all his blessings.  That are too numerous to list, but at the top are my family, friends and health.