Happy Father's Day 2011

Our sweet neighbors, Sandy and Randy, took us on an adventure today.  We met in their driveway precisely at 10:00 a.m.  We put all our trust in Randy as he headed west.  We were given no clues as to our destination and the only instruction were were given was to dress mufti.  Since I knew that was a military term, I pretty much ignored it.  As it turns out, Jay and I had on civilian attire.

Our destination was Willhoite's in Grapevine!  What fun!  This is an old [and I do mean OLD] car dealership that's been an eatery for over 30 years.  Sunday Brunch is amazing.  They had an omelet station, a waffle station, a salad station, a breakfast station, a lunch station AND a dessert station.  You could probably sit there and eat until your heart stopped for the low price of $12 [plus $1 off for 60 and older].  Of course, the Bloody Marys took care of adding to the price and they were delish!

Sandy and Randy

This place is very interesting and will be given another visit in the evening to partake of the burgers and music.  Of course, being Father's Day, the line was way out the door by the time we left.  Randy made the spot on decision to get there early.

We may have to do this one more time before our trip to Carmel.  Of course, it's a Baguette possibility since Rose lives in Grapevine and has probably been to this place.

Great fun!  Thanks to the Russells!

Vacation's Over - Retirement Resumes

The last few days of our vacation were spent TOGETHER which is the very best thing to do.  Of course, we shopped and, of course, we consumed food.

On Tuesday evening, Vicki took us to dinner.  We selected Houlihan's as it's nearby and in the past, the food and adult beverages have been good.  Key words: IN THE PAST and ADULT BEVERAGES.  Jay's scotch and water was fine - how can you mess that up, after all.  My EXTRA DRY MARTINI UP, however, was disgusting.  I asked the waitress to have the bartender remake it as I was sure he's used a flavored Stoli.  She said she had him remake it but it was still disgusting - WAY too sweet.  What does EXTRA DRY mean?  Why, I thought it meant VERY little vermouth.  In any case, we had an enjoyable, albeit sober, evening since we were all together.  Jay snapped this for us:

We passed on our morning walk today.  Vicki was due to leave at 11:35 but I got a call telling us the flight had been cancelled.  Thanks American!  Nice way to start the day, NOT.  But Vicki is so adaptable [as well as adorable], that she took it in stride and switched to the 1:35 flight.  She was very anxious to be home and wanted to start her trip so we got her to the airport several hours prior to her flight time.  I just checked her flight status and she took off at 1:44 - ahead of the horrible storms that are on the way.

So here I sit: SAD.  I wish we lived closer to each other, but have October to look forward to.

I'm not the only one who's sad.  Our front door guard frog is kind of in shock.

And our frog who lounges looks rather lethargic:

And our tree is downright disgruntled:

We had a great time together these last three weeks.  On our Grand Canyon trip, Vicki was such a terrific Co-Pilot/Navigator!  I hope I do half as good when Jay and I drive to Carmel in August.  And she's just so much fun to do things with - she's up for just about anything.  Soon we'll start planning our October vacation.  I think Rehoboth, Delaware and the Amish Country of Pennsylvania will be on the list, as well as Waterbury, Vermont [for family] and Seekonk, Massachusetts for those adorable Little People, Laura and Josh.

So that's it for this bit of Traveling.  Jay and I have a little jaunt or two planned and I may blog about them.

Ciao for now.

May 1 through 6, 2011

Believe it or not, we tried to get some rest this week.  On Monday, a rainy stormy day, My Gal Pal Val, stopped over for a Vicki Visit and coffee.  We also played Make-Up like three teenage girls! 

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we just ran around - Vicki got a haircut, we had lunch at Corner Bakery one day and Banana Leaf the next - just normal stuff.

On Thursday, we picked up Val and then off to the S&P Collin County office to pick up Tami.  We had a lovely, chatty lunch at Fish Express but I failed to take a photo.  :0(   Then, we did a little more shopping - Sam Moon, etc.

Steve met us at Uncle Julio's to celebrate Vicki's birthday.  Naturally Cinco de Mayo was going on so it was quite festive.  Vicki had bought a little jewel encrusted hair thingy at Sam Moon's which she wore, adding to the festivity.

Of course, Uncle Julio's is wonderful and we ate on the patio on that glorious day.  You can see the baubles in Vicki's hair!

Jay is a fan of the Girly Drink - and had TWO pina coladas.  He's such a cork sniffer!

On Friday, we took off for McKinney to further stimulate the economy.  I was looking for a new denim skirt as my favorite one is too big [yay!] and I found one at Orison's.  I'd not been up to McKinney in several years and it's all changed.  Lots of new eateries and most of the antique malls have been replaced by less interesting shops.  But, being the frog freak that I am, I found many of these frogs around the square.  I asked one of the shop owners and she said there had been a art show and the painted frog in front of a store meant there was an artist on premises.  Since I have a guard frog at our front door, I took a few photos to think about doing the same.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep our guard frog as she is - just get her a new plant [hat] - which very well could be on the agenda for today.

Steve suggested Square Burger, so we gave it a shot.

My Border Burger

Vicki's Bleu Burger

They were HUGE and could not be eaten like your normal burger.  But that was all right with me since I don't eat grains.  I tried a nibble of the fried pickle, however, and it was very good.  It's a very interesting place with lots of different burgers on the menu, including lamb - which I might try on my next visit to McKinney.  AND, tada, they serve aioli with their sweet potato fries.  We didn't have any fries but found out about it from another shop owner.  Aioli is the only way to eat sweet potato fries!  We learned that at The Alchemist in Waterbury, Vermont.

We didn't stay in McKinney very long since the antique malls were gone, so we headed to The Shops at Legacy for a walk around.  Since it was such a beautiful day, folks were out and about and the restaurant patios were bustling.  We ventured into one or two shops but just weren't interested.  So, we walked around the lake in front of the Marriott and then headed home.

We rested for a short time and then went to Remington's to eat again!  Yes, we're eating like we had good sense, but I'm still avoiding sugar and grains and will continue to do so.

Today, Saturday, we're catching up on homey things.  Of course, by mid-afternoon we'll have had enough of this Home Stuff, so we'll head out to grocery shop!  Steaks for dinner, I think, along with a lovely bottle of Cab.

It's early Thursday morning, and we're going to head back to Dallas.  Along the way, Vicki spotted the Flintstones Campgrounds.  Laura and Josh should get a kick out of these photos!

 Of course, I had to dance with a dinosaur skeleton.  You would, wouldn't you?

I wanted Vicki to see the beautiful rocks on the way down to Sedona so we took a southern turn at Flagstaff.

 We were going to hike the "trail to the bridge" but we had no idea how far it was.  After about half a mile, we decided to turn back.

 Since it was early, not too much was going on in Sedona, we headed back north, but stopped at the Coconino Forest lookout for photo ops AND Navajo vendors.

 Jay had taken me through the Petrified Forest many years ago, but I don't remember any of this.  This is on the south side of I40 and is the largest area of the Painted Desert.  A few memorable sites were The Blue Mesa and The Teepees.  See for yourself!

 Crossing over I40, there's a monument to Old Route 66!

 The north side of The Painted Desert is filled with red as opposed to the south side.

We were going to stop in Amarillo and tour Palo Duro Canyon but decided we were canyoned out!  Instead, we headed home.  I know it had been windy here while I was gone, but good grief!  While we were on 287, I had to keep both hands on the steering wheel as the wind was fierce.  And the dust from newly plowed fields!  At one point there was a fire - we couldn't see it, but the highway was smoke-filled and smelly.

Of course, we were hungry again so we stopped at Rudy's in Frisco and brought home brisket and ribs with some sides.

Believe it or not, we didn't go to bed all that early!  I'd recorded The Royal Wedding and we watched it until about 10:30.  We didn't see The Kiss but after our walk on Saturday morning, we continued watching and saw The Kisses!!! Very lovely.

Grand Canyon April 26 and 27, 2011

We left Dallas at 5:30 a.m. on Monday morning.  It was dark and Vicki was a terrific sport as she's not an early riser, but certainly rose to the occasion.  After about an hour on the road, she did take a little nap.  Our first day out was completely [thank you, God] uneventful.  Once we crossed over into New Mexico, we stopped for a photo-op.  This was just a pretty little scene we spotted, and

this is the spot at which we stopped.  I guess vendors set up here, but have no actual proof of that.

We stopped in Albuquerque to spend the night at around 4:00 local time.  Since, we'd not stopped for lunch, just nibbling on the fruits and veggies Vicki prepared, we were hungry.  The hotel recommended a local eatery within walking distance, and since we'd been sitting all day, we opted for Mariscos Altamar & Mexican Food.  Vicki had the chicken fajitas and I had the beef.  It was good but over salted.  The guacamole was very good.

 Then back to the hotel where we turned in VERY early.

The next morning, after eating at the hotel, we headed west again.  Once in Flagstaff, we took I180 through some very nice country.  We stopped a few times to snap some photos and was it ever chilly.  These are the San Francisco Peaks with snow and a few other sites.

We got to The Squire Inn Grand Canyon around noon local time and couldn't check in until 4:00 p.m. so we decided to hit The Hole!  We'd brought hats to protect ourselves from the sun BUT the wind was incredible and we didn't want to lose them, so we left them in the car.  Here's Vicki, and a few photos of The Hole.

 We decided to take a hike along the rim and ran into this guy.  The reason for his obesity is his penchant for chips.  Though warned NOT to feed or go near wildlife of any kind, visitors feed them.  In fact, after I took this photo, an equally obese man fed him and the squirrel ate right out of his hand, leading us to believe this wasn't his first rodeo.

 Along the rim path, there is a geology museum.

 Since we did the rim path, we "walked a million years."

Since we'd walked so far, we decided to take a shuttle bus back to the parking lot.  Along the way, our driver pointed out two Elk laying in the sun.  I wish I'd been able to take a photo!  So after our three hour trip along the rim and museum and El Tova and Hopi House, we checked into the hotel AND since we were ravenous after all that fresh air, we dined in style - filet mignon and grilled veggies AND a 'tini! After touring the gift shop, we headed back to our room and again, hit the sack early.

We woke early and after a lovely breakfast, were out the door by 7:30 a.m.  We'd planned on taking a hiking tour but Diligent Vicki found a site she wanted to visit and we decided to save the $180 and go on our own.  Truth be told, we saw the tour on our hike yesterday and it didn't look all that terrific and certainly not worth the price.  There's an IMAX theater just 'steps' from our hotel.  We saw the film showing the history of The Grand Canyon and it was amazing - National Geographic, of course, and I must say my stomach did flips several times.  Since there was a gift shop attached, we had to tour that as well.

Back in the car and back into the Park.  However, instead of going straight toward Mather Point and the unwashed masses, we turned right along Desert View Drive.  Our first stop was Yaki Point and it was amazing.

 Then, we hit Lipan Point and Navajo Point. 

 We found Tusayan Ruin and Museum and did a little self tour as many other folks did.

 Below is a photo of the San Francisco Peaks again.

 Navajo Point was absolutely spectacular.

 You can actually see the Colorado River and in some spots, the rapids.

 Below, you can make out The Watchtower which was our destination.

 A local surveying its realm, and what a realm it is.

 Here is The Watchtower.  It was built in 1932, reminiscent of ancient structures the architect, Mary Colter, saw through her travels.  A visitor can climb the 85 steps to the top and get a 360 degree view.

 We climbed to the top.  This is a photo of the ceiling from the first floor.

 After leaving The Watchtower, we headed back as we'd missed two stops:  Moran Point and Grandview Point.

 Here's Vicki celebrating the beauty of The Hole.

We met some very lovely folks along the way, including two British ladies who we wanted to kidnap.  They were in their 70s and with very young spirits.

Back at the hotel, we ate burgers in the sports bar while chatting with two ladies from Wisconsin and Illinois.  We thoroughly enjoyed our two days at The Grand Canyon.  We retired early [are you shocked] in anticipation of our stops along the way home.