What is one of the most fun things a 10 year old can do? Well I suppose that visiting Rocket City in Huntsville Alabama would rank somewhere near the top so we had to take a stopover here with Parker for a day before heading on down the road for some great Alabama golf courses.
We were sad that Grandmo wasn’t feeling well this day and we had to go without her but….we couldn’t miss the chance to see all the cool stuff.
While visiting Rocket City, we had the opportunity to take a tour into “Redstone Arsenal” where the Marshall Space Flight Center is located in addition to a US Army Material Command, Aviation and Missile Command, and the Missiles Defense Agency.
What was really cool to see at the Marshall Space Flight Center was the ISS (International Space Station) Payload Operations Center. This provided us the opportunity to watch the payload mission controllers interacting with and coordinating the ISS scientific activities live. We were even able to talk with a few controllers that came out to explain what was happening inside ISS while we were there.
While Rocket City was really really cool, it was time to move on down the road the next day for some golf and fun in central Alabama.
Now we are having more fun having moved on down the road from Dallas, But first…
Before leaving Dallas we had the opportunity to see Jamie and it was not how we envisioned our visit. We called her in then morning to make plans for a lunch but she was not feeling well having been struck by some sort of allergic reaction from who knows what. Later in the day we get a call saying she’s on her way to the hospital so we head over there to check on her and we find the hospital was taking good care of her with an IV and some medications to offset the reaction she was having. Her lower lip was so swollen I promised her I would not post pictures of our reunion. Needless to say, our visit was pleasant even though it was in the hospital emergency room.
Now that we are leaving Texas, we have made two drops of our children’s memorabilia, a sewing machine, and some fabrics….The last of what Mom and Dad have been storing over the years and we have a bit more room in the motorhome and jeep to buy some more of our own junk to replace the free space (ha ha).
A short six hours down the road and we check into our new site. What a pleasant surprise as Daisy State Park in Arkansas is absolutely amazing accomodations for our new home. right out our front door we are staring at a beautiful lake, hardwoods and we still have a southern exposure for our Direct TV antenna thats not blocked by trees.
As the picture above shows, you should always take time, as Grandma does, and go kayaking with your grandson. What a great little place that is peaceful, beautiful, and provides opportunities for new experiences such as starting your first fire….
Well, we spend 3 days here and two nights. It was a great location to swim and oh, of course use as a base camp to go diamond mining in the middle of an inactive crater. Well, we had no luck finding diamonds in the field but we did find a lot of unique rocks to take home.
Grampo and Parker Diamond Hunting
This stop will be well remembered for hot sunshine, muddy hands, Feet, and cloths as well as wasps, bees and bugs. It was fun and exhausting all at the same time. I sure hope Teresa and I do not run out of energy before this trip[ is over….
Well maybe I started this blog a little premature as people are now commenting “where’s your latest update?”. To be honest, a lot is and has been happening but that’s no excuse not to stay up-to-date with something once you start it.
Since my last blog, we have been literally 1500 miles from Arizona to California and back to Texas. With that said I will hit the highlights of whats been going on.
First our trip from Tucson to Long Beach to help Teresa’s Dad for a few weeks turned into a sad family occasion with a funeral for Dads wife Beverly. It was a blessing that we were able to be there to help during the difficult time following this loss but it also brought us much closer to family members and a reigniting of Christs love amongst all.
During our time in Southern California, we were able to visit my sister Jean in Palm desert and meet the wonderful new man in her life. Our time with Jean was a nice couple of lunches where we were able to share stories and plans for the future. It was so nice to see the new law offices Jean has opened up and I can mainly recall thinking how proud mom and dad must be of her.
Onward and back to Texas as we were expecting a new member of the family any day. That day arrived on May 1st when Ethan joined the world as our 3rd Grandson. What a great month we had in Corpus (Tears in my eyes just thinking about it again).
Mom and new Grandson
We stayed right on the Corpus Christie Bay at a great RV park and it was reasonably priced for the location. Everyday was full of sun and great weather. We took in the Texas State aquarium, went out for lunches and diners, had great BBQ afternoons with family and did a bit of babysitting grandchildren.
Oh how much fun we had with Elliot who wants to go for a ride in the Jeep, sit down, stand up, and be read too. His vocabulary is nothing short of amazing and everyday he was learning new words. He is a ball of energy and is definitely a handful when you just want to sit down and take a break but that’s ok you can count on him to tell you to sit down again at any minute.
Once the last week of May arrived, Trisha came to town with Parker to meet his new cousin. We all had a great time together enjoying Memorial Day weekend but is was soon time to go and Parker would join us along our journey for 2-3 weeks as we make our way back to Florida.
Saying goodby on the dock of the bay….Last night before heading off with Grandmo and Grandpo for a summer break from home.
Our trip with Parker so far has been very busy moving from one place to another and doing all kinds of fun stuff. First we went to Canyon Lake in the Texas Hill Country. While there, we took a day out to Natural Bridges Cavern where we enjoyed cool 70 degree weather 180 feet below the earths surface.
Once that was done it was time for some fun in the sun so Grandmo and Parker decided they wanted to play on a ropes course….
Once finished there, and I mean finished, as both were exhausted and wore down, it was back to the lake for dinner and a cool evening before moving on to our next stop on this trip.
The next day we headed to Fredericksburg Texas (Also in the Texas Hill Country) where we spent two days enjoying a wildflower seed farm, climbing to the top of “Enchanted Rock” (You can see in the photo below the Geological stake for the summit) and eating at great German restaurants.
Next it is on to Dallas…Opps we just arrived last night so I will end this blog here and continue our blog later when I am sure there will be more fun things to discuss…..
As the picture above shows, you should always take time, as Grandma does, and go kayaking with your grandson. What a great little place that is peaceful, beautiful, and provides opportunities for new experiences such as starting your first fire….
Our Travels 