"Today is a Good Day to Drive!" .....Van-Go

February 28, 2008 We started the day off at the San Benito Walmart. Will got gas at $2.959 with the Walmart card and had just jumped back into the driver's seat when a man appeared at the window. He asked if we had some money to spare as he left his wallet at home. We gave Scott from Port Isabel $5 to get him home in his newish suburban vehical. He said something about paying it forward and we told him we were headed his way. We would be at the Walmart to which he said that he lived right across the street. We parted with the idea that he would bring us $5. We waited about an hour, but he must be paying it forward some other way. Stopped to pick up our camera at the Walmart in Port Isabel. There is a long story yet to tell of sending off the camera in December and getting back today. Outside the Walmart a dance school was holding a recital. We crossed the bridge taking our first picture with our fixed Panasonic camera.

We spent the day in San Benito. Sitting at the Walmart discussing our grocery list a car pulled up and out jumped Baldy, from Challenger Center! He has a little black sports car like Justin use to drive. At the Resacca Park we saw a flock of long billed curloo. Amazing they can eat with that long bill; try using chop sticks to get a feel for their picking! Will fixed our outside lightswitch between computer time. We are getting ready for the Quadrienially Celebration at Harley's on Friday, February 29, 2008. Come on out if you are in the area!!!

Martha is a good mom. Her baby is always with her 24/7. The baby is about eight weeks old now. The other two young ones, Megan and Samantha play a lot together. Mom meanwhile prays that everyone will be okay and that they don't grow up too fast.

February 26, 2008 The funniest thing happened on our way into the Gladys Porter Zoo yesterday. Kathy was off reading a sign and Will walked into the office to get a list of companion zoos we get free admission to with our membership. A young lady happened to be at the desk. She looked up and saw Will's shirt (Van Go) and his cap (Van Go) and exclaimed, "I get on your blog!" Kathy joined them shortly there after. And that is how we met Darlene, Computer IT at the zoo. She and her husband have a blog. He raises snakes so anything you want to know about snakes.... She just had Lasik eye surgery so anything you want to know about Lasik... their blog has a detailed account of both. And if you are having trouble logging on to our blog, Darlene has a link so you can always to to hers and click on ours. Darlene's blog: http://mssnakeman.blogspot.com/ PS. Don's forget to look in the Archives as we have posted lots of new blogs in the last few days.

There are seventeen new blog entries so remember to click on " Older Posts " after each one or look to the right and click on "Blog Archive" and then click "February" to see all the blogs for this month. If you want to leave a comment click " 0 comments "at the end of the entry and type in your views, ideas, questions or whatevers. We love to hear from you. To get back to the blog just click on the blog title at the top of the comment page.

February 25, 2008 Pat Beeve Hudson was a regular at Harleys. She was 90. Pat was a member of the Grannies Gone Wild and she lived up to the name dancing every Sunday with John and Scottie, clapping along to the music and telling the girls to behave when they got a little too silly. We will all miss her. Out of the sadness comes happiness. We have turned an aquaintence into a friendship. After the memorial service at the Presbyterian Church, Jack and Liz invited us, along with John and Sylvia, back to their home to have lunch and share memories with John Buford Hudson, Pat's son . Jack played a CD of the song he wrote and recorded at a studio in Nashville; it was about Liz's parents life and was very touching. Great song!

February 23, 2008 We arrived at Harley's just after one and relaxed a bit. By two the place was packed and so we went in and found a little table in the back corner. People sit sipping this and that and munching on snacks they brought along. They talk and watch each other waiting for the hour of 4:30ish when John Harley and the Bayview Bushriders play their tunes. This week we were surprized by Mary, a former member of the band; she got up and sang along a few songs. We think of this as home; we are here every Sunday for two or three months every year. Many of the same people come and we all say hello and catch up on the weeks events. John and Sylvia's daughter, Calida, is a sweetheart. She calls us her angels because we clean up the dance hall Monday mornings. 2:00pm 5:00pm

February 23&24, 2008 We left Study Butte after the evening concert with Thomas Michael Riley and Mike Blakely. We drove back through the National Park. A deer walked out in front of us. Will was quick with the brakes and just push that big deer a little and he ran off. Rabbits would dart out of nowhere and javelina grazed along the road. We past the largest roadrunner of the west in Fort Stockton. We continued north to the interstate because we thought it would be safer driving at night. We traded driving every hour and the time past quickly. Will again got the deer experience going 70 mph this time. The deer came out and ran right into the car. He bounce off and hit both the back and the front. We were safe and the car was still drivable. We continued through the wee hours of morning and soon saw the palm trees of the Valley. We put the MR2 back in her house and headed to Harley's in the Roadtrek.

February 23, 2008 We enjoyed the drive in the park and made our way up into the Chisos Basin where we had dinner. We watched the sunset on our way out of the park.

February 23, 2008 After a little break in the shade of a Cottonwood tree we continued our drive west to Castalon where we explored the new visitor center and had an ice cream from the little store. We shared stories with the volunteers about our time years ago as volunteers when the border was open and Santa Elena, Mexico was a great place to visit.

We drove along Maxwell Scenic Drive to a little dirt road and headed back to the trailhead. The drive was short, but long for us going very slow as not to scrap bottom. Will is a great driver and we made it just fine. The hike up to Cattail Falls is about two and a half miles round trip. It was well worth the hike in. We saw birds, blooming cactus, flowers, butterflies and deer. After spending time in this little oasis in the desert we hiked out through the Sotol Yuccas and Lechuguilla, the cactus that gives a border to the Chihuahuan Desert of the Big Bend area. What a beautiful place the desert is in the winter!

February 23, 2008 Today is my anniversary; not one of years, but of another kind. More about that later. I was born in Japan in 1986 and sent on a ship to America with others who hoped to be adopted. We were all housed together. We had a big yard and a room of glass that we could look out in all directions. People often came and looked us over. I was barely a year old when I was adopted by a family from Pennsylvania. I was sitting there looking at the sky trying to show off when they came. It was love at first sight. We went out to play; we ran up and down nearby hills. They wanted me!There were lots of papers to be signed, but that day was the best day of my life. I had a family of my own. Life was great. I had my own room. The lady of the house would give me her undivided attention everyday. She made sure I had the right nutriments to give me energy, special creams to keep my skin shiny, and she gave me lots of baths. We had such fun together. There was a change in the family and I s...

February 23, 2008 We awoke our second morning and found a roadrunner sitting on the top of the little hill beside our motel. After getting everything back in the MR2 we drove over to Kathy's Kosmic Kowgirl Cafe for coffee. Dirt bikers all meet up here and head off into the desert.

February 22&23, 2008 You Can Never Get Too Much Texas, so After Work Last Night we left the Redneck Riviera of South Padre Island. Instead of headin' for Jamaica we Hit The Highway for over 600 miles going north and west along the Border Country, Going Nowhere Fast, just to listen to Old Friends, like Charlie Siringo , play some Perfectly Normal country tunes at The Old Bar Seven in Terlingua and The Old Cantina in Study Butte . We thought we might G et lucky and play some Cow Pasture Pool . But First Things First , a Paisano from Rancho Quien Sabe asked if we had gotten Postcards From Heaven . Heaven Yes , we replied and we all raised our eyes to The Seven Stars at The Center of the Universe . We had fulfilled the American Dream! Howlin' at the Moon we yelled, " Let's Roll ". The engine of the MR2 purred like Slow Fallin' Rain as we headed back to our Trailer Home. All bold face words are titles to songs by one or the other of the...