Friday May 15, 2015 Las Vegas, Nevada

We got up about 8.  We got our car and Neva's packed pretty quickly.  We sat around after we were packed and started to drink our coffee.

We said goodbye to Neva before she went to the office to check out.  Since we only needed a little gas to top off the tank we stopped at a station before getting onto I-40.

It had rained off and on during the night and we had a snow flurry while packing the cars.  On the western side of Flagstaff we started seeing snow on the ground and in the trees.  Not much further we were driving in snow.  It wasn't collecting on the highway, but visibility was limited and we slowed down.  This condition lasted until we were past Williams.  We had rain in other sections of the drive.The pictures were taken through the car windows just west of Flagstaff.

We got home about 1:30 after getting Gasoline at the Sam's Club on Rainbow near 215.

Our next adventure starts at the end of June.  A motorhome trip starting in Oceanside, CA.

Thursday May 14, 2015 Flagstaff, Arizona

We lingered over our coffee and caught up on computer stuff and read until lunchtime.  We had sandwiches for lunch, and finished the deviled eggs and cantaloupe.

Just a forest scene

After lunch I headed out to find some caches.  I drove north on US-89 to the Sunset Crater turnoff and did caches coming back toward town.  I found eight, including one earth cache and picked up another travel bug.  I now have five travel bugs to either drop off in Las Vegas or take on our trip at the end of June.  Flagstaff has been good caching, I found 36 caches.

Elden Pueblo circa 1100 AD

I got back to the Wyndham in time to get cleaned up for dinner.  Neva had prepared a roast with carrots, potatoes, and onions.  We also had green salad and baked sweet potatoes.

Shuffle dem bones, using my new geocaching TOTT

After dinner we played our final domino game. Neva won the game.  That brought her and me to a tie of three games each.  To determine a winner for the week we played one more hand. Neva knocked me into the dirt and became the weeks champion.

We got a few things ready to go in the morning.  After we get things into the cars we have to stop and top off the fuel tanks before leaving town.  We are looking at about a five hour drive if the weather doesn't interfere.

A hummer scouting out supper

We went to bed at about 10 and read for a while before turning off the lights.

Wednesday May 13, 2015 Flagstaff, Arizona

We enjoyed a leisurely morning, we had our coffee, read and caught up on computer chores.

Snow capped San Francisco Peaks from a cache

At 11:30 I went out caching.  I'm looking for my 100th cache on this trip and my 4800th cache.  I drove east of Flagstaff and started back toward town doing caches near the road. I found 8 caches, bringing my total for this trip to 106.  The trip started on April 4 and will end back in Las Vegas on Friday May 15.  These finds ranged from Long Beach, California to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico to Columbus, Mississippi and back to Las Vegas.

BFSF hides the mountains

After finishing my caching I drove around Flagstaff trying to find a car wash.  We had driven through a lot of rain on the way here from Texas and collected a lot of bugs.  To top it off theWyndam's sprinkler system watered the car the first night here.  I finally ended up at Sam's Club drive through that got the water spots and most of the bugs off.  Back at the Wyndam I parked in an area away from the grass.  All of this might have been futile since rain is forecast for tonight.

For supper we had the leftover soup and cornbread.  Neva had added deviled eggs and a pineapple cottage cheese with bacon salad to the meal.  It was a good meal.

We played our nightly domino game.  The score for the week had been two games each.  I pulled ahead tonight by a game.

We went to bed at about 10. I read for a while before calling it a night.

This morning cousin Denise Barnhart is driving up from Sedona for a visit and lunch.  She was due to arrive anytime after 10:30.  We had our coffee and caught up on computer stuff.  Of course a few pieces were added to the puzzle.

Denise arrived as scheduled.  We visited for awhile while the ladies put in more pieces of the puzzle. I enjoy talking to Denise, she is an avid camper and hiker.  We have hiked many of the same areas. Unfortunately my serious hiking and backpacking days are behind me.  She has traveled widely both in the USA and abroad. She is an interesting person.

Me, Gerri Neva and Denise at La Fonda

We had lunch at the La Fonda Mexican Restaurant, an older restaurant in downtown Flagstaff that we have all enjoyed in the past. The restaurant was very busy and it seems like they have crowded in more tables.  As usual the food was very good.  After lunch, Denise had some shopping to do before heading back to Sedona.  We said our goodbyes in front of the restaurant.  Denise headed out to do her shopping and we headed back to the Wyndham.

Scene by Thomas Kinkade

Gerri and Neva returned to the puzzle and I went out to find some geocaches.  They finished the puzzle and I found thirteen caches. I am two short of finding my goal of one hundred for this trip.  I have two more days here, six more finds will put me at a total of 4700.

Assembled by Gerri and Neva

Like I said the puzzle was finished by the time I got back from caching.  Neva was preparing supper.  She made a delicious soup and cornbread.  Gerri and I finished the leftover coleslaw in addition to the soup and cornbread. I am at a loss for words to describe how good Neva's soup and cornbread was.

We played our nightly dominoe game. Without the puzzle distraction I won this game.  This makes a score of two games won by each of us so far this week.

We retired at 10:30.  I read until I couldn't keep my eyes open, about midnight.

Monday May 11, 2015 Flagstaff, Arizona

After coffee this morning I went geocaching.  Don't get the idea that was early morning.

I managed to find seven caches.  Like most areas there has been an explosion of caches since I cached here four years ago.  Flagstaff is an old city and has an interesting Old Town area.  It is hard to photograph because of powerlines and other modern intrusions.  I did get a picture of an old Catholic church, I wonder where they got the pink rock?








Gerri and her Mom started a jigsaw puzzle.  By the time I got back at about 4 they had the outline and quite a bit of the inside done.  It is a Thomas Kinkade scene.

We played a game of dominoes before supper that Gerri won and one after supper that Neva won.  I was a little distracted, they kept working on the puzzle while we played dominoes.  Supper was leftovers from previous meals.

Sunset?

We called it a night at about 10:30.















Tomorrow cousin Denise is coming up from Sedona for a visit and lunch.

Sunday May 10, 2015 Flagstaff, Arizona

We slept in, last night was cold.  We started our coffee and finished catching up on computer stuff.

At 10 we tuned in the net cast from Oakey Boulevard and worshipped with the congregation there.  In recognition of the importance of Mother's day, Randy's sermon was about the value of mothers and their role.

During the day Gerri got Mother's day calls from Todd and Kathleen. Curtis had wished her happy Mother's day and given her a card and gift certificate before we left Texas.

We didn't do much.  The only time I went outside was to take a picture looking northeast to Mt. Elden.  When I got up this morning the sky was clear.  During the day both fluffy white clouds and threatening black clouds crossed the sky.  We didn't have any precipitation in our area.

We had a late breakfast and then played a game of dominoes.  Neva won this game.

We tuned in the net cast from Oakey Boulevard again at 6 PM.

Neva made a dinner of smothered steak, salad, red potatoes and asparagus.  After dinner we played another domino game.  Gerri won this one, bringing the standings to one game each.

We were in bed by 11,  not a busy day but an enjoyable one.

Saturday May 9, 2015 Flagstaff, Arizona

We were up by 7 and put everything in the car before going to breakfast.  Hawthorn Suites is a cut above the other Wyndham hotels we have stayed, they had real plates and stainless steel flatware in addition to plastic.  I had my last Texas shaped waffle for this trip.

We were on the road in time for rush hour, but it wasn't very far out of El Paso.  We choose the easiest, if not shortest route to Flagstaff.  I-10 to Phoenix, I-17 to Flagstaff and back on I-40 to the Wyndham timeshare. Weather reports were a part of the decision also.  The other choices took us further north through more mountains.

We only made a couple of stops for fuel and with the time change to Mountain Standard we arrived in Flagstaff and were at Neva's unit by 4. Driving north on I-17 we saw several deer along the highway grazing.  I also spotted several Elk at Munds Park just south of Flagstaff.  We had a few spots on the windshield coming up the hill from Phoenix.  The only snow we saw was on the ground in the shade of trees.  We had some small hail as we merged onto I-40.  It was 40 degrees when we got to Flagstaff.

We were warmly greeted by Gerri's mother, Neva, and were soon ensconced in the warm timeshare unit.

We had another of Neva's culinary masterpieces for dinner.  BBQ ribs, coleslaw, green beans, corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes.  Followed by cookies all around.

After dinner we played a game of dominoes.  Even though it was the Mother's Day weekend, the ladies didn't begrudge me my win.

Surprisingly we weren't in bed until 10:30.  I read until midnight before giving up the day.

Friday May 8, 2015 El Paso, Texas

This morning we got up with everyone else.  We had our coffee while everyone got ready for the day.  By the time the kids got ready for school we pretty much were ready to go.  May 8th is Curtis and Dana's 10th wedding anniversary, we can't believe how time has passed.  We said goodbye to Brandon and Vanessa as they left for school and goodbye to Curtis when he left for work.  Final loading and then goodbye to Dana.  Our next visit with them should be when we are in Oceanside during July.  They plan to be at the Carlsbad Inn the first part of July.

The weather was cloudy with fog and drizzling rain when we  left and it was a line up to get on I-35 South at Kyle.  It lightly rained (more like mist) in some spots and was cloudy most of the morning.

When we visit east Texas and Hill Country I think it would a good place to buy some property and live.

When we crossed the Pecos the sky was clearing and so was my head.  Seeing the desert with mountains in the back ground reminded me how much I would miss the desert and mountains.  I think I'm as tied to Las Vegas by the country as I am with doctors.

Steak New Mexico

Due to the time change we got to El Paso by 4 PM.  We decided on an early supper at the Cattle Baron Steak and Seafood House.  It was just across the parking lot from the hotel.  The online reviews were mixed but we had great service and delicious food.  We both had a dish called Steak New Mexico.  It was an 8 oz. NY topped with a green chili pepper and cheese,

Tomorrow we drive to Flagstaff, AZ for a visit with Neva at her timeshare. Gerri's mom called while we were at dinner after her arrival in Flagstaff.  She had driven through sun, rain and snow getting there from Las Vegas.  We are headed into cooler weather than we have had so far for this trip.  We may be inside a lot because of the lack of winter clothing.

We were in bed by 9:30.  I read until 10:30 and called it a night,

Thursday May 7, 2015 Kyle, Texas

Again everyone but Dana was gone before we got up.  It was still threatening rain with a lot of black clouds hanging around.  Our first order of business was to catch up on computer stuff and to drink coffee.

Before noon Gerri and Dana went shopping.  I drove down to San Marcos to try to find a few caches. I did manage to find five, after a lot of driving around.  I also did not find two.

Curtis and I finished off the lasagna for dinner, Brandon had pizza bites, Gerri had some of the leftover chicken from last night.  Vanessa and Dana had hotdogs at the baseball game.

The Angels

Tonight was the last game of regular season.  Brandon hit 4 homeruns, one of them a grand slam.  His team won the game 20 to 19.  For the season they finished 10 wins, 3 loses and 1 tie, 2nd place in the standings.














After the game Dana treated us to ice cream at Baskin Robins. When did they drop the 31 flavors?  This store was in with a Dunkin Donuts and only has 24 flavors.

Back home it was rush for the kids to get showered and in bed.  Before bedtime they presented Gerri with a Mother's Day card.

Tomorrow we plan to get up early to say goodbye before everyone goes to work or school.  We hope to get a fairly early start for El Paso.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 Kyle, Texas

We got up after Curtis and the kids had gone to their prospective jobs and schools.  We had our coffee and caught up on e-mail and other computer stuff.  I did some housekeeping business with our credit union.

Curtis came home early to take care of a plumbing problem. After he had that solved, we all went to Firehouse Subs and had sandwiches.   After that we visited until Dana and Gerri went to pickup the kids and run some errands with them.  Later I went to WalMart to return some items and try to find a clothes bar to use for hanging clothes in the backseat of the car.  The hooks built into the Lincoln are too small to handle more than three or four clothes hangers.  Since this has been and is a long trip we need to hang more clothes that aren't in suitcases.

I forgot to say that since late morning Dana was busy preparing the sauce for the dish she was making for supper.  The house smelled sooo good.  We ate before going to Brandon's baseball game at 6:45.

Brandon's team is in second place and have to win tonight or tomorrow night to maintain that position.  Tonight they faced the first place team,  a team that hasn't lost a game this season.  In his first time at bat Brandon hit a high pop up that the fielders couldn't handle.  He got two runs in but was stuck at first base.  He was batted in later for the score.    His team scored two more runs, ending the inning for them and bringing the other team to bat.  The opposing team were better fielders than ones in other games I have seen. They were also better hitters, scoring three runs before the inning was over.  The coach pitching for the other team seemed to be throwing a faster ball and when the batter hit it went further.
Brandon's team seemed to rise to the occasion, handling the ball better than I had seen before.  I can't do a play by play account of the game. Brandon's team was still playing to second base and Brandon made a couple of outs with his throws there.

The video is of Brandon's second time at bat.  I had a video of his first time at bat, but it was too large.

It was a very exciting game and ended with Brandon's team winning 14-8.  They have second place locked up.  To move up to first they have to win tomorrow's game and the team they beat tonight has to lose again.

Back at the house it was a hustle to get the kids cleaned up and ready for bed on time,

We went to bed a little after ten.  I read until midnight and gave it up.

Tomorrow is our last day here.  Friday we move on toward Flagstaff, AZ for a visit with Neva at her timeshare there.

Tuesday May 5, 2015 Kyle, Texas

Ah, Cinco de Mayo.  Widely celebrated in the United States, but not in most of Mexico.  In 1862 a battle was fought between the Mexican army and the occupying French.  It was the first victory for the Mexicans.  They lost some later battles but the victory at Puebla was the seminal battle for the defeat and ultimate expulsion of the French from Mexico.

Of course in the Barker household Cinco De Mayo has a different meaning and observation.  It was on this date three years ago that Gerri fell into the empty swimming pool and broke both heels and other bones in her left foot.  She was unable to bear weight on her feet for eight weeks. The supermoon or perigee moon usually happens once a year.  We hope and pray broken feet don't happen but once in a lifetime.  We have since refilled the pool just in case.

But I digress.  We were up after students and the working man had departed.  It was a cloudy morning with rain forecast.  Because of the 90% chance of rain in Allen, Texas, Michelle decided to pass on her show there.  Her plan now was to return to Las Vegas.  She did well during the two day show in Austin and felt uncomfortable with the amount of art she had ready to show in Allen.  The weather forecast was the deciding factor.

There are a lot of these falling buildings on Texas byways

In the late morning I went to the area of Lockhart, NE of Kyle, to try to find some geocaches.  I drove a lot of backroads that seemed to take me away from the caches I targeted.  I went to downtown Lockhart and had better luck.  I eventually found eight and didn't find three others.  I did see a tumbled down house or barn that was worth stopping for a picture.  I drove about 5 miles on dirt road.  I went slow to keep the car as clean as possible.  My intentions were spoiled by the Texas drivers who think that there is an unlimited speed on dirt roads.

Gerri and Vanessa playing Pen the Sheep before dinner

Back at the house, Gerri was catching up on wash which was last done when we were here on the way east.  Dana and Gerri did go to have pedicures while I was out caching.

Today Curtis and Dana's celebrated early their 10th wedding anniversary which is on May 8th.  Gerri and I had agreed to stay with the kids so they could go out to dinner.  As it turns out Brandon had a baseball practice.  It was only us and Vanessa going to dinner.  Vanessa choose Applebee's.  We left for dinner at 6:30, so we had time to eat and get back home before Brandon's practice was over.

Curt and Dana got home after we had the kids in bed.  Some relaxing, reading, TV and computer time finished off the evening.

Monday May 4, 2015 Kyle, Texas

May the fourth be with you.  Today was a school and work day.  Curtis and the kids were gone before I got up.  Roger was getting ready to move north to visit Kenneth and Peggy Barnhart in the Fort Worth area.  He plans to take backroads, well at least not the interstate to get there.  Michelle's next show is in Allen, Texas.  Allen is a little north east of Dallas.  She is staying here in Kyle until then and Roger will meet her there to help with the show.

Brandon

We had our coffee and Dana fixed breakfast for Roger and me.  We caught up on computer stuff.  Dana went to run some errands.  Gerri met her later at the school and had lunch with Vanessa an Brandon.  She also visited the education pavilion that we donated toward last year.

Vanessa

Education Pavillion at Rosalio Tobias Elementary 

After everyone had left I went to Buda and picked up five more caches.  I returned to the house about 2:15, but was locked out.  I knocked and made phone calls to no avail. What I didn't know was that Gerri was taking a nap and everyone else had gone shopping at the Hobby Lobby.

I drove toward San Marcos hoping to pick up some more caches.  I guess my heart wasn't in it and I gave up after two DNFs and driving around on roads that didn't seem to connect with the ones where caches were located.  I went back to the house about 5.

Michelle, Dana, Gerri, the kids and I went to dinner at Casa Garcia in the Kyle Crossings shopping center.  Excellent food and plenty of it.  Curtis will have fajitas for his lunch tomorrow.  Curtis by the way was volunteering at the concession stand at the little league park.

Back at the house we relaxed until bedtime. Curtis got home at about the same time we were retiring.

We read for a short time before calling it a night.

Sunday May 3, 2015 Kyle, Texas

We got up early for us.  We had time for coffee and to catch up on computer stuff.

Gerri and I went to worship services at the Southern Hill Church of Christ in Buda, about 10 miles away.  There was a closer Church of Christ but something on their website made me think it wasn't the place for us.  They had no Sunday evening services.

The Southern Hills Church congregation welcomed us warmly.  Before the sermon the children 3 years old through third grade were dismissed for "Children's Church."  This is a widespread practice, but one believed to be biblically unsound by the Churches we normally attend.  Next time in Kyle we will either attend the other service or find another church a little further away.

Michelle left early for the final day of her show in Austin.  Roger went to Austin later and took Dana.

Around 12:30 Gerri, Curtis, the kids and I loaded into the van and headed towards San Antonio to visit the Natural Bridge Wildlife Park.

The wildlife park is a large drive through area with most of the animals running loose.  The animals loose are mostly grazers that aren't known to be aggressive.

Bison

Ostrich

Llama

Zebra

Giraffe, who's looking at who?

The Giraffes and Rhinoceros were fenced separately and could not be fed or approached closely.  The drive through the park took about an hour and a half.








What a diversity of animals God has provided.  Each of them with it's distinct characteristics for survival.  We are so fortunate to be allowed to enjoy the sight of them.

Rhinoceros, check out that horn

Vanessa

After the drive through we stopped at the petting zoo portion and spent some time there with the kids petting and feeding the small goats.  There were other small animal on display but they couldn't be fed or petted.  We took a lot of pictures that aren't included in this blog.  I have placed several more in an album on my Facebook page, Wild Animal Park.

Brandon

Koi

We stopped at Cane's on the way back to Kyle and picked up dinner for the kids. They ate the chicken fingers and fries for dinner and the rest of us had leftover lasagna and tamales.

Roger had come home in the afternoon. Michelle and Dana didn't get home until about 8:30.

Tomorrow is a school day, so Vanessa and Brandon showered and were in bed at 9.

The rest of us stayed up for awhile.  Gerri and I went to bed at 10:30 and read for a while.

Saturday May 2, 2015 Kyle, Texas

Roger and Michelle were up early.  The show in Austin didn't allow set up until this morning. So, they had to set up two booths before the show opened to the public.

Baseball and a snowcone. the hotdog came next

Our only planned activity today was Brandon's baseball game.  We went to the field at a little after noon, the game being scheduled for 12:30.  Not knowing the other kids, it was a little confusing for us.  Both teams were wearing red jerseys and white pants.  At this level the ball is pitched by one of the coaches.  There is a player acting as pitcher in case a ball is hit that way.  As the game progressed we learned other rule variations only swings at the ball are counted as strikes and an inning is over when a team scores five hits.

Brandon played center field on defense.  His coaches had decided that in the event of a hit the fielders would play to second base, trying for an out there as opposed to first base.  The strategy worked pretty well as the opposing team was at bat first and scored two runs.  When Brandon came to bat his team had loaded the bases.  Brandon hit a home run, knocking the ball way over the heads of the opposing fielders.  One more score and the inning was over.  Brandon's next two times at bat scored three runs with a long fly ball hit almost to the fence.  His last time at bat he hit a strong ground ball.  With a couple of errors by the other team it turned into four runs in.  The final score was 15 to 8. Brandon's team is now in second place.

Brandon got one of the two game balls

Later in the afternoon Gerri took the Vanessa to the community pool.  The water was still cold but she enjoyed the time.










Supper was the pre prepared lasagna again.  Dana had gone to work before noon.  After dinner I took Vanessa to a nearby Dairy Queen, she had a chocolate dipped cone.  I expected it to be a big mess but she really knows how to handle an ice cream cone.

Michelle was home by the time we got back.  She said she had a very good day at the show.

The kids went to bed at ten and we weren't far behind.

Friday May 1, 2015 Kyle, Texas

Four months of 2015 gone already!  Wow!  It has been a fantastic year of travel and visiting family and friends.  We are surely blessed with so many family members and friends plus the ability and means to travel.

By the time I got up Curtis had already gone to work and the kids had gone to school.  Dana made breakfast Tacos for breakfast.

I didn't find it

In the late morning Roger and I went out to try to find some geocaches.  I have been here in Kyle before and the caches are mostly far away from the house.  There are several puzzle caches close by, but I don't even try them.  Roger and I tried some that were further from the house, we failed to find three.  We did manage to find three.

Found this one

A Cowboys Fan?

One we found was in a cemetery.  There was a recent grave that sublet hint that the deceased was a football fan.

















Gerri picked up the kids from school since Dana was working.

Brandon and I took Gerri's car to be washed.  We also found three caches that we weren't able to find on our last visit.  Since we were here last week I had gotten further hints from the cache owners. After the first cache find Brandon fell asleep in the car, he slept through the car wash.  He woke up at the second cache, I had a hint from the owner on this one too.  The third cache was another of those that I couldn't believe I hadn't found the first time.  The caching total for the day was; 3 DNFs, 6 finds, 3 of which were previous DNFs.

For supper we had lasagna that Dana had prepared before going to work. Curtis worked late having an awards dinner. He did bring home a yard long submarine that was left over from his dinner.

Visiting, TV and computer time finished off the evening.

Tomorrow Michelle and Roger have a show in Austin, and Brandon has a baseball game in the early afternoon.

Thursday April 30, 2015 Kyle, Texas

We had breakfast with Herb and JoNell.  During breakfast we had a small visitor outside the window, Gerri shot this video.  Herb and JoNell said it was a "show me your money" lizard.

Herb and LoNell Perley

After our goodbyes said and pictures were taken we hit the road at about 11:30.

Cousins Gerri and JoNell

Our route was basically west to Waco on US-84 and then south on I-35 toward Austin.  North of Austin we picked up the TX-130 toll road, which by passes the city traffic.  We got off the toll road near Lockhart and drove to Curtis and Dana's on FM-150, coming in what we had always considered the back way.  We arrived at about 4:30.  The trip was a little over 5 hours and we only made one stop for fuel.

As we pulled up to the house we saw Brandon going in and Vanessa across the street playing with her friends.  This seems to be another Barker B&B.  Gerri's brother Roger is here as part of his trip and also to help Michelle with a couple of shows in the area.  Of course sister-in-law Michelle is here, she had one show in San Antonio last week and a two day show in Austin this weekend.

Curtis got home after 5 and we all visited for a while.  Curtis took Brandon to baseball practice.  We had supper while they were gone.

Curtis and Dana gave up their room to Roger, who can't do stairs.  Michelle used Vanessa's room, we slept in in the game room and all the resident Barkers slept in Brandon's room.  When Brandon and Vanessa went to bed they were arguing.  When the rest of us went to bed we saw that they had put up a barrier between the air mattresses they were sleeping on.

After the kids went to bed we all visited some more, caught up on computer or watched TV. Everyone was in bed by 10:30.  I read until about midnight.