Florida or Bust-Day 5-6

 Being very nervous to head into New Orleans driving our own car, we became very brave, and said, "lets to it!"  We did it and had a great time.  What an amazing place.  This is a bridge across the Mississippi River.

 We took a ferry across the river, and this is the New Orleans skyline.

 Crawfish are really popular down here.  Here is Grandpa, not looking too excited about being attacked by a huge crawfish.

 Yep, we went into the French Quarter and walked a short distance on Bourbon Street. 

 The French Quarter has 90 blocks of narrow, interesting streets like this.

This is the trolley we rode from our parking lot to the downtown area.

Texas, Day 3-4

 We finally made it to San Antonio.  The drive from Dallas there was just a drive through one extended city stretching all the way.  San Antonio was also a huge city.  We found our motel and then very easily found their temple.  It sits on a hill overlooking the city.  We noticed all around the temple there were these huge, beautiful stained glass windows.

 On the inside of the temple, all the rooms, even the dressing rooms, had these wonderful windows.  The celestial room had these floor to ceiling windows on all four walls, adding a beauty beyond description.

 Being born in Texas, and always fascinated by the stories of the Alamo.  This was one of our destinations.  It was really touching to see the place where it all occurred.

 One of the highlights of San Antonio is the Riverwalk.  We loved it.  We felt like we were in another world.  Very beautiful and romantic.

 This is the view of Texas, mile after mile.  Just open, flat land.

The Houston temple is grand and beautiful.  Each of the temples that we have visited have a look of their own, but the spirit is all the same--peaceful and full of love.  Seeing all the temples has truely been a highlight of our trip.
We are ready to head to Louisiana tomorrow.  What an awesome trip this is!

Texas-Day 1 and 2

 Here it is--the Texas Border.  West Texas is very barren and flat, just a few hills, and many oil wells.

 Our first stop over was Lubbock, Texas.  We went to a most beautiful temple there.  It is a small one, but as we visited with the workers, one couple was related to Steve and had gone to high school in Grantsville, and had lived with President Orgill during that time.  Small world.

 Dallas was our next destination. The temple was located in a beautiful, old area  with big homes and big trees.  You couldn't find it until you were right in front of it.  Thanks for the great little GPS we had with us.  Steve noticed that the Angel Moroni seemed to be facing south.  Humm!

Dallas has almost 2 million people and the traffic was horrendous.  This type of interchange was everywhere.  We did see the Cowboy stadium.  Go Cowboys.  We managed to work our way through it all and on to San Antonio.

MEXICAN ADVENTURE

Being in Douglas, Arizona for my 50th High School Class Reunion, we decided to spend a few extra days and go with Ken and Judy down to their fishing village on the shores of Lake Novillo.  Well, after all these years of living right on the Mexican Border, I finally get to travel into the interior.  I was excited.  This village is about a five hour drive south of the border.  We stopped at the border, obtained visas, and away we went.  I loved the drive, through small, sleepy Mexican towns and villages; along winding mountain roads, and through valleys filled with agriculture.  All along the toad there were definite signs we were in Mexico:  . . .


Little donkeys

And dusty roads, adobe walls, and small humble homes.  It was the chili harvest and we were greeted with roadside stands selling bright red Mexican chili peppers.

Lake Novillo is a man made lake, and as the waters rose the villagers had to move to higher ground to save their homes.  They were not able, however, to move their ancient, old cathedral, built in the 1600's, nor were they able to move their cemetery.  Most of the time these are buried  under the lake, but once in a while when the water level is down, the cemetery appears as does the crumbling walls of the cathedral.  We were able to go and touch and see the cathedral and marvel at the centuries old workmanship still standing.  Walking in the graveyard that was under water was eerie, but amazing.



Our purpose in going was bass fishing.  And fish we did!  Judy took most of the fishing pictures which I do not have at this time.  Here is a photo of my brother, Ken and his tilapia.  He was such a patient mentor and teacher as he took these very novice bass fishermen and showed us the ropes.  We probably caught about 30 bass/day.  The amazing thing, we would return to hour home in the evening and the villagers would come and take our fish and soon bring them back all cleaned, filleted and ready to eat.  What a deal.

On our way back to the States we took another road that followed the trail of the Franciscan Padres. We were able to stop and view at least 5 of the missions that they established in the 1600's. All of

 them still standing and preserved and still in use.  This was one of my very favorites.  Each cathedral is found in the center of the village or town across from the town plaza.

Then it was back to the border .  Our last view of Mexico and their flags flying for a recent fiesta.

What an great adventure into our neighbor to the south.





Garden Harvest

I am certain you have all been waiting on pins and needles to see how our square foot garden did. Well, sorry I have been so late in getting this on the blog. You see I have been so busy harvesting . . .or at least this can be an excuse.

This is an average day picking. We had so many zuchinni and cucumbers all the neighbors were kept in good supply.

This is my first venture at pressure canning. The green beans were the best. Only had a problem with the canner, the lid stuck and I couldn't get the jars out. Finally I did, but I was afraid I would have to use dynamite to open it.

Here are some of my rewards. Jars of salsa and pickles. It was lots of fun. Today, I cleaned the garden and took most of it down for the winter as we have threats of cold weather (freezing) next week. And, yes, we plan to do more square foot gardening.

Square Foot Gardening!

This year we decided to do square foot gardening! Supposed to be the easy, no work type of gardening. Well, one forgot to say how much work it is to build the boxes, find the soil mixture, mix it, put it in the boxes, make the grids, put in the drip system, and while doing this surviving the attack of the Grantsville gnats. These little critters are terrible. They attack your head, neck , and ears, and bite and bite. This was my creation to help fend of these miserable critters. It helped but not totally. I still came away with bites down my neck, and all over my ears. The gnats do go away as the weather warms. Thank heavens.

Steve is the master creator of the boxes, grids, and watering system. He did a great job! Thanks, hon!

Here is one of the finished boxes. We have four. In this one we have: lettuce, bell peppers (green, red, and yellow),green onions, tomatoes (4 kinds), cucumbers, spinach, parsley, and cilantro. In the second box we have onions (walla walla, red), beets, carrots, rosemary, lime tyme, basil, and two kinds of potatoes (russet and red). In our third box we put the big squash plants (zuchinni and yellow) and more onions. In our fourth box, beans, and two kinds of peas.

Now we await the fun part of this type of gardening, lots of wonderful veggies and no weeds.

Grandma Trip!

March found me in Kentucky visiting with Tracy and Paul and their family. What fun! But what a frustrating time I have had trying to share this trip with you on my Blog. So this is a very short blog with few pictures.

One of the reasons I went in March was to celebrate the birthdays of Elizabeth, Rachel, and John.

Not only did we celebrate birthdays, but we had fun just playing and renewing grandma-grandkid friendships. I was able to also let Paul and Tracy celebrate their wedding anniversary by having a night away and a trip to the Louisville temple.

While I was there I was able to see the arrival of a new baby fish, help make "fairy beds", discover the Monticello historical museum with Sarah. Go on walks with John. See the llamas that live on the farm next door. Have family home evenings of roasting marshmallows, and also of playing in the water.

It was Spring in Monticello and the flowers were in bloom. Their home had the prettiest flowers in the neighborhood. Watching Kentucy bloom in the spring was a delight.

At night, after a day of playing, I would fall asleep with a grin on my face, remembering all the fun things we had done and shared.

I love Grandma trips.