Recovering From Vacation
6:29 a.m. - 2005-05-22


Got back yesterday afternoon from the 10-day trip to Texas. We flew to Dallas and drove down state. Abby had flown on, so we just had the EG's with us. We visited the Johnson ranch, and I was beginning to suspect that the EG's, devout people, would bring us weather luck, since they are obviously on the Almighty's good list. Instead of hot, humid weather, we had a nice overcast for most of the trip, and, since it is mighty hot in Texas, this was most welcome. We enjoyed the Johnson Ranch, because the wildflowers were blooming everywhere, and it was cool enough to take the tram ride. The next big event was the graduation of our Number 1 daughter. I was beginning to get the hang of the digital camera by that time, but I let Abby take the graduation pictures, and there are some amazingly good ones, even some that are OK of me (very unusual).

There were several celebratory dinners, one at the puffy taco restaurant and one at the County Line with Melissa's friends. Melissa took me to the Hobby Lobby and to the knitting store, and I bought some lovely yarn and some new knitting books. Then we drove a long long way to Galveston, where we had rented a beach house. It was not like California, because the house was right on the beach with the waves right in front of the house. It was beautiful, and the EG's enjoyed it a lot. Grandpa sat out on the upper deck most of the time, reading. I had a nice walk on the beach, then discovered the beach was crawling with sand fleas, whose bites I did not seem to tolerate well, so I confined myself to the house and sight seeing. We managed to see the Moody Gardens, tour the Moody Mansion (well worth the fee), and the County Museum. While everyone else was resting one day, Melissa and I drove out and toured the Bishop's Palace, and I got some good pictures of her on the Palace balcony, looking "to the manor born". We also drove to Houston and all toured the NASA Johnson Space Center.

Though there was a lot of caretaking involved in having the EG's with us, the benefits included Grandpa's handicap parking placard. We would just pull up right in front of places and get a great parking space. I was loving that.

After 4 days, it was back to town, where we took the EG's to the Mexican market. I fulfilled a lifetime ambition of buying a beautiful Mexican peasant dress, red with colorful embroidery, and a string of paper mache peppers. The plane flights home were not too bad, since I feel that any flight that does not end in a crash is a good flight. Now we have one day off before we go back to work, which is good because I need a vacation from the vacation.