February 2019....Heart Month

 Beach bums...our first trip to South Padre Island

this year was on February 5th...we were too busy to relax!

 Believe it or not, Dirty Al's is a good place to eat!

Bob and Nancy were the first ones in the door.

On the 7th, we went to "The Day the Music Died"
concert in a neighboring park.  "The Big Bopper,
Buddy Holly, and Richie Valens" put on a great show.

 February 8th was the annual Chili Cook-Off

in our park.  This was my first attempt at chili

since I taught in Germany.  I had a "little help

from my friends"...:-)

The judges were some of the local firemen. 

They even brought their truck (in case the chili

was too hot?)  The half-bowl was all that was

left of my batch.  The prizes: some edible and

some practical.

On Valentine's Day, our "gang" toured 

the Mozma Chocolate Factory in Hidalgo, TX.

 We learned about the process from the trees to the table!

This machine is grinding up the beans...we tasted cacao
beans from four countries.  Each had a different flavor
which gave the final products a unique taste.

The newest machine does everything...grinds, crushes,

softens (it was 84 degrees in the room), and makes

the chocolaty syrup.

 
We each had the opportunity to taste the chocolate
(with little plastic spoons) right from the vat. 
(No double-dipping).  Yummy!

 Some of the fancier creations....yes, we bought sugar-free
protein bars with orange and peanuts, with coconut 
and pecans, and with sapodilla and almonds, and
 hot chocolate mix with cinnamon. They gave me a 
 chocolate heart on a stick for my birthday! 

 We stopped at a great BBQ place afterwards, and the gang 
came to our place for pie and chocolates that evening.  
One of "the girls"brought Wisconsin chocolate 
made from cheddar cheese, and the others gave
me a new apron purchased in Mexico.

We took a trip down the Rio Grande on the 22nd. 

these are the developments on the Mexican side...

 a lot of resort areas

 blurry because I took the pics

 with my phone.

 This was the extent of development on the U.S. side

 Afterwards we went to the La Lomita Chapel

 which is on the National Register of
Historic places, but they want to destroy
it to build a wall.

 Outdoor oven at the chapel site

 Our Lady of Guadalupe

The next day, Bob, his brother Jerry, and I 

went to a German sauerkraut fest 

and enjoyed the oompah band, too.

On the 27th, we played in the round-robin pickleball

tournament in Harlingen.  We won a few and lost a few. :-)

Happy New Year January 2019

 RJ is starting to take hockey lessons!

On Jan. 3rd, we went to see Donna's new office

in the Longworth Building.

 Bob and I had tickets to watch Donna's swearing-in

and the election of the new Speaker-of-the-House.

 The kids and Donna in her office

 We met cousin Jade 

 Jade, Jett, and their dad Mark

are part of the Buffalo branch of the family!

 Donna with Sara, RJ, and Julia

Cousins at the reception:  Sara, Debbie, Diane, Sean, Bob,

Donna with Julia and RJ, Jett, and Mark. Debbie and Mark

are brother and sister. Sean is from the Cleveland East Side

branch of the family.

We drove through three states to get to DC 

and back 

to Cleveland on Jan. 4th.

 We flew to Texas on Jan. 5th 
and discovered that the shrubs Bob planted 
had survived the summer and fall.

 Our first expedition was, of course,
to the Padre Island Brewery.

 I ordered the kale salad! 

 On Friday Jan. 11th the gang headed to Mexico.
Jerry got a "boot shine" at the Alley Bar.

The guys all had pedicures.

 
We ventured to Port Isabel on the 12th 
for the Causeway Walk to South Padre Island.
It was almost four miles from start to finish.

We celebrated with breakfast at Yummie's.
Diane, Wendy, Bob, Dennis, Nancy, and Jerry.

I "shot" the Eclipse last night. 

:-)
After playing pickleball in Brownsville this morning,
we decided to drive to Boca Chica to see the
SpaceX rocket that was supposed to be launched
in four to five weeks.  Photos below show what happened!

Big windstorm last night...blew the rocket right off the base!
Blue--rocket on the left; silver base on the right.

Doesn't look like there will be a launch in February!

 Site of the launch pad down the road from the
rocket construction.  This pad is barely started.

We went down to the beach on the Gulf of Mexico....

 Pretty windy...not really a beach day. :-)

On Friday, the 25th, we went to a fundraiser
for the La Feria Fire Department.

 The next day we sang along with ABBA FAB 

 On the 27th, we headed north to visit Mikki and John.
Diane and Mikki taught together in Germany 
and had not seen each other since 1977!

John built an awesome home in the Texas Hill Country.

This is the playhouse.

 
Inside there's plenty of fun--note the firemen's pole
from the loft to the main floor! :-)

The Bunkhouse provides more space for family and guests.

 John and Mikki's favorite restaurant.

Back yard

 Bob on the awesome deck

 Thanks to John, we woke to a warm fire one morning. 

Dining room big enough for all the kids and grandkids..

 With great sunshiny weather, 
they took us on a tour of the Hill Country.

 First, we went to the Kendalia General Store.

Hill Billyz was closed, but as luck had it, 
Billy came by to do some work and let us in.

 There is food, music, and dancing on weekends here.

Billy's wheels..inside.

 Of course, we had to stop in Sisterdale

 at the Winery

 I think every spot in the hills has a dance hall

and some "refreshment." This wine was "resting."

Great spot for sorting bolts...
This pic's for Jane who sorted out
Bob's bolts when she and Mary Jo 
came to the farm!

We didn't want to miss Luckenbach,
but Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings
were here only in spirit.
Mikki said that years ago, the musicians would
drop in unannounced once in a while.

 Took advantage of the Kissing Booth....

 and were entertained by the local musicians.

The rooster outside was competing with the music inside.

Jack (Mikki's first husband) came for coffee the morning we left.
He was an insurance rep in Germany and went to UND.

 Bob, John, Mikki, and Jack

 Of course, Jack had his UND Sioux Alumni 
license plate holder on his car.

 Thanks for a great time, John and Mikki

 Love the "Adios, Y'all" sign :-)

We then headed to Johnson City to see LBJ's childhood home

 and drove out to the LBJ Ranch after that. 
They called it the "Texas White House" because he had
many meetings out here, including some in the pool. 
The tour guide said LBJ spent 490 days here during
his tenure as President.

Bob and LBJ's Corvette...

and "Air Force One-half"

 Lady Bird, LBJ, and Diane :-)

After driving through Austin traffic,
we found the LBJ Library and learned a lot of history.

LBJ's presidential limo

Images of LBJ with other famous people

The museum was on three floors; most of the rest

of the building was the archives--note the red files above.

 Leaving Austin at 5 p.m. is probably not a great idea.
The city has grown exponentially, but the roads have not!

We stayed at San Marcos that night on the way to San Antonio

and had Texas waffles for breakfast! How cool is that!

We took a tour of San Antonio, ate at Augie's BBQ,

and walked the River Walk.  The weather was 40 degrees,

and no one was down by the river (not even in a van).

I forgot to take pics down there.

Then we headed to Corpus Christi.

 

The next day we toured the USS Lexington

 aircraft carrier up on the deck with the planes.

Our timing was perfect--the rain began after we got inside.

So, we went to the living quarters down below,

the dentist's office, (Ouch!)

 Engine room,

 and food service areas.  Can't imagine living on a ship;
I got claustrophobic just touring down below the main deck.

The Rising Sun flag at the top indicates where a
Japanese kamikaze hit the ship during WW II.

I thought most of the oil activity was in the western part of Texas,
but we spotted this huge refinery just outside Corpus Christi.
Took the pic through the raindrops on our vehicle window 
on our way back to La Feria, our winter home. :-)