Houston Space Center!

February 13, 2016 / Ed Armstrong

Space Shuttle Independence!

Today was absolutely AMAZING! We went to the Houston Space Center and went on a tour of Mission Control! We saw the actual location that directed so many space flights! It was smaller than expected, but awesome to see in real life!

This is the ACTUAL Mission Control Center that directed so many space missions! The current International Space Station is on the screen.

We touched a moon rock too! The moon rock was from the Apollo 17 mission. We saw all kinds of equipment from previous missions. It brought back so many memories of seeing the space flights on TV.

I am touching a moon rock brought back by Apollo 17!

An actual Mercury space capsule!

This is the Apollo 17 space capsule! In high school I was in Florida to watch it blast off into space!

It made me remember when I was a sophomore in high school and traveled to Florida with Miles Ulrich and his family to watch Apollo 17 (the last Apollo flight) blast off. I loved seeing so many things about the missions. I saw the ACTUAL Apollo 17 space capsule!

Charlene is inside the Space Shuttle Independence!

Charlene is in front of the Space Shuttle Independence mounted on the 747 plane.

We also learned about Orion, the planned upcoming manned space flight to Mars. That will be amazing to see in the future.

This is the cockpit of the Space Shuttle Independence.

Houston!

February 11, 2016 / Ed Armstrong

Beautiful view from our motorhome!

Today we moved from Mission, Texas to Houston. We had a great trip until we got to the outskirts of Houston. The GPS sent us to a toll road that required an automatic tracker, which we did not have. Unfortunately, signs were posted that they did not accept cash either. Bummer for us. We had to weave through some local neighborhoods with low hanging trees to get around the toll road. Eventually, we made it to our destination and have a beautiful view of a small lake out of the front window. It is beautiful!

Catfish are certainly ugly!

I walked around the RV park and found a guy that just caught a 23 inch catfish! It is catch and release, so shortly after he caught the fish, he removed the hook and tossed it back into the lake. I was amazed how large the fish was. Catfish are sure ugly!

Alamo Draft House

After that, we headed to Alamo Draft House to watch “13 Hours:; The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.” We enjoyed the movie and had fun eating dinner while watching a movie. It is certainly an intense movie!

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park

February 9, 2016 / Ed Armstrong

Rio Grande Valley State Park-2

We had a wonderful visit today to the nearby Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in Mission, Texas. It was a beautiful sunny day and around 78 degrees. We first road the tram through the whole park, and then we walked through some of the sections with the most birds to watch.

It was fun to see all the different types of birds. I especially enjoyed watching the cardinals and the green jays. A special bonus was watching a raccoon watching hungrily for the birds to drop food!

Rio Grande Valley State Park-3

Family Softball!

February 6, 2016February 8, 2016 / Ed Armstrong

It was absolutely wonderful to see Kristin (Nikki) again. She and Charlene were grinning from ear to ear to be able to spend time together!

We had a wonderful time today visiting Charlene’s niece (Kristin) and her husband Doug and watch two of their daughters play softball. It was a beautiful day, about 70 degrees, and a great time to sit back, enjoy each other’s company, and watch two daughters play softball. Katelin and Kyndra both played very well!

2nd Trip to South Padre Island!

February 4, 2016February 5, 2016 / Ed Armstrong

I am holding a puffer-fish!!

Today was exceptionally wonderful. Charlene planned a full day of activities at South Padre Island. We started the day at a turtle rescue facility. It was amazing to see all the turtles! Some were missing flippers from previous trauma.

A previous Arizona Wildcat fan was given the honor of painting one of the turtle decorations at the Turtle Rescue.

We enjoyed meeting this friendly turtle who was missing a flipper.

South Padre Island-2

When then went on a dolphin cruise in the bay and say beautiful sites around South Padre Island. It was fun to see the seagulls flying around our boat. The crew placed a net behind the boat to collect different creatures. This highlights were a sea anemone, a puffer fish, and a sting-ray.

The crew showed us the big tooth in the front of the puffer-fish!

Charlene was able to touch the sea anemone!

Look at the HUGE stinger on the sting-ray!

After seeing the creatures from the net, we went near the entrance to the bay and watched several groups of dolphins!

We loved the opportunity to watch dolphins in the bay from our boat!

There were many seagulls flying around our boat!

The wind was fairly strong and stirred up some big waves along the beach!

South Padre Island, Texas

February 2, 2016 / Ed Armstrong

Beautiful South Padre Island!

Silly me, but I keep forgetting that Texas has beaches. With all the places I have visited in Texas for year and years, I have never seen a beach. However, there is beautiful South Padre Island in the Rio Grande Valley. We love it now, but it is probably a good place to avoid when nearby universities are on Spring Break.

South Padre Beach

It has been years since Charlene and I were able to walk along a beach together. It may be winter and cold in many places, but it is beautiful beach weather in South Padre Island! The water was too cold for swimming, but it was fantastic to walk along the water!

horses on the beach

At one point, we saw some people riding horses along the beach. Horses are common in Texas, but this is the first time I have ever seen horses on a beach!

Charlene South Padre Island beach

Charlene discovered crabs in the sand. She touched one 3 inch crab burrowing in the sand and he came up with one claw raised to challenge her! We saw several small crabs running quickly along the sand.

crab

Rio Grande Valley, Texas

February 2, 2016 / Ed Armstrong

After apartment living in Amarillo for the holidays, we decided to hit the road again to find some warmer winter temperatures. We had the motorhome de-winterized and then we headed straight south toward the Rio Grande Valley. We keep discovering how huge Texas is! We drove and drove the first day and stopped in Junction, Texas, just south of Interstate 10. The following morning, we drove through San Antonio and then south into the Rio Grande Valley. Without exaggeration, I think it took us around 13 hours driving to get all the way from the Texas panhandle in the north of the state, to Mission, Texas at the far southern tip of Texas. The drive was worth it as the winter weather is beautiful here!

We called ahead and reserved a site in a beautiful RV park right next to a state park and the Rio Grande River. The temperatures have been beautiful with highs in the 70s and 80s. We have really enjoyed wearing shorts and flip-flops again!

Many people make the Rio Grande Valley their winter home base. Next door to our RV park is a related development that has casitas and homes with attached RV ports. It was nice to go through some of the open houses and see the setups many people have used with their RVs. Sorry, no photos just yet.

It’s Snowing!

December 13, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

The big beautiful snowflakes were gorgeous!

This morning we woke up to a couple of inches of snow on the ground in Amarillo! On our way to church, it started snowing nice big flakes. After church, it really started coming down! It was very beautiful and refreshing!

Charlene Avenue

December 5, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

We found a street named after Charlene!

We had breakfast with a nice couple we met at our marriage seminar. As we were leaving the restaurant, we noticed on the GPS that there was a street named Charlene Avenue. This is the first time we have ever seen this anywhere in our travels. We drove to the street and had a chance to take Charlene’s photo in front of the sign! Charlene is a wonderful woman and it is great to find a street named after her!

Spicy Mike’s Bar-B-Q Haven

December 2, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

Spicy Mike’s has absolutely fantastic barbeque! We enjoyed looking at all the rustic ranch supplies on the walls.

Today we discovered a special treat! A couple we met at the marriage retreat we attended a few weeks ago told us they liked Spicy Mike’s Bar-B-Q Haven. Today we learned why they recommended it. It is a very small independent restaurant in the southeast area of Amarillo. Charlene ordered the pork ribs and I ordered the pulled pork. The meat was especially tender and we thoroughly enjoyed both barbeque sauces. We had to ask for to-go boxes as we could not finish our meals. Their smoked meatloaf is supposed to be very good too. That will have to wait for a future visit. Maybe we will order a takeout meatloaf this weekend? I absolutely LOVE discovering independent restaurant gems!