Not too long ago I contacted Twitter in regard to what I felt was an overt threat. “We know where to find you, and we are armed,” the tweet read. Twitter decided this was no cause for concern. What say you, friends?
Tag: blogging
Do the Wave
Friday was pretty low-key around Doright Manor. I caught up on the laundry, and we took Studly Doright for a second epidural for his sciatic pain. He’s hoping that this second round will allow him to embark on his annual men’s golf trip later this month. Fingers crossed.
I decided to cheer him on by doing the wave, but a one woman wave isn’t all that effective. In fact, it’s downright idiotic. So I enlisted members of the animal kingdom to assist me. It’s still fairly idiotic, but you have to admit that animals caught in the act of waving are pretty cute.
Peace, people!
Oddities and Noteworthy Sights Along the Way
Now that I’ve returned safely home to Doright Manor after my trip to San Marcos, Texas, I’ve had a bit of time to look back at some of the cool stuff I found along the way.
For instance this drive through daiquiri store in Louisiana, just across Texas border. Isn’t it illegal to drink and drive?
And how about the Wooly Mamoth (sic) head mounted on the wall of a barbecue place in Katy, Texas? I’m fairly sure the disclaimer “REPLICA” wasn’t necessary, but it made my daughter and me giggle. The misspelling of mammoth was a bonus.
Notice the sign on I-10 just west of Mobile, AL. I almost cried because I thought it read “ROAD WORK NEXT 568 MILES.” Thank goodness the decimal point between the 5 and the 6 was just difficult to see.
Technically, the Alamo isn’t an oddity, but it’s worth a mention.
On my way to San Antonio, I spent the night in a Holiday Inn in Gulfport, Mississippi. I’d stayed there before and had fond memories of the place. The staff is friendly and the rooms comfy. This time I snapped a photo of the nifty artwork in my room. I love retro pieces and thought this was a nice change from the artwork one usually finds in hotels.
A red door on a shop in Wimberley, Texas. I like red doors. Once I heard that if you want your house to sell quickly, paint your door red. Works for me.
San Antonio has some nifty stuff to see besides the Alamo.
I feel so fortunate to be able to travel and share my adventures with you all. Hopefully I still have a couple of decades ahead to enjoy adventures like this one. It’ll break my heart when I can no longer take my car on long trips.
Peace, people.
It’s Good to be Home
Top five reasons why there really is no place like home:
5. My time zone
4. My shower
3. My bed
2. My cats
1. My Studly Doright
And then there’s this:
Old and Lost River
Driving on I-10 between Baytown and Houston one crosses a bridge over the “Old and Lost River.” Each time I’ve made the journey the river’s name has caused me to smile and then to wonder how it came to be called “Old and Lost,” but I could never remember to google it. Today, though, when I crossed the river I left myself a reminder note on my iPhone via Siri.
Here’s what I found on Google:
“American composer Tobias Picker (b. 1954) wrote Old and Lost Rivers in 1986. The brief, colorful orchestral tone poem was commissioned by the Houston Symphony to commemorate the sesquicentennial of Texas. Picker describes the inspiration for the piece:”
Driving east from Houston along Interstate 10, you will come to a high bridge which crosses many winding bayous. These bayous were left behind by the great wanderings, over time, of the Trinity River across the land. When it rains, the bayous fill with water and begin to flow. At other times — when it is dry — they evaporate and turn green in the sun. The two main bayous are called ‘Old River’ and ‘Lost River’. Where they converge, a sign on the side of the highway reads: ‘OId and Lost Rivers.’
And now I know the story. The google piece also included the audio of the composition written by Mr. Picker and performed by the Houston Symphony Orchestra. I think it’s lovely.
Peace, people.
Final Final Four Post
And then there were two: Michigan and Villanova. At the end of the day, only one team would prevail as the NCAA men’s basketball champions.
Ashley and I had tickets to the final game. If the Jayhawks had still been in the tourney, we’d have gladly driven back into crazy San Antonio traffic, paid a fortune for parking, and a fair amount to Uber to and from the event. Alas, the Jayhawks were eliminated on Saturday, so we elected to watch the game from our hotel room in San Marcos. Call us wusses. We can handle it.
We weighed a great many factors in making our decision besides those listed above. I still struggle to speak and even though I feel okay, it’s wearing me out. Ashley has a flight to catch and a long drive to her home in Illinois once she lands in Des Moines, Iowa. I have a thirteen hour drive ahead of me. Still, we both agonized about not seeing the biggest game of the year in men’s college basketball.
So we spent the evening watching the game in our pajamas while we tried to cram all of our purchases into our suitcases along with the stuff we brought with us. I really don’t care who wins. Right now Villanova has a hefty lead with 11 minutes to go.
Coolest things this weekend:
Just being there! We’ve watched the pageantry of this tournament for years on our respective televisions, but there is nothing like seeing it all in person.
Ashley ran into a Chicago baseball icon, Ronnie Woo Woo in the Alamodome and posed for a photo with him.
We were live on a CBS television broadcast when we stumbled into view behind the broadcasters’ table. We looked like happy dorks. I suppose that’s what we are.
We enjoyed exploring San Antonio, strolling along the River Walk, and mingling with fans from all over the country.
On Sunday night we enjoyed live music and the enthusiasm of young Michigan fans in a San Antonio pub. Oh, and it warmed my heart that these young people knew the lyrics to all of my generation’s favorite songs!
On Monday, Ashley and I explored the little town of Wimberley. We did a bit of shopping and had a great lunch at Ino’Z on the banks of Cypress Creek.
I’ve most likely mixed up my verb tenses in this post once again, but we’ve had, and are still having, a wonderful time.
Tuesday is all about travel. I’ll deliver Ashley to the airport in Houston, about three hours from San Marcos, before heading east on I-10. My goal is to get as far down the road as possible before stopping for the night.
Send us some good travel vibes if you are so inclined. And as always, peace, people.
A Moment in the Spotlight
Ashley and I made our national television debut yesterday. For one brief moment we were caught on camera during a live CBS sports broadcast in downtown San Antonio. Ashley’s middle child took a screenshot of our appearance and texted it to her mom. I’d love to say we were models of beauty and grace,
but we were closer to being doubles for dumb and dumber. What can I say? Every time I see the photo I collapse in a fit of giggles. My hair. Ashley’s expression. Priceless.
I still don’t have my voice, so I text Ashley anything important I need to say. As I write this we are sitting outside listening to live music on Saturday evening at a venue filled with Michigan fans.
What fun we are having! Thanks to the Stewarts for putting their tickets up for sale, and thanks to my Studly Doright for buying them even though he couldn’t attend. Thanks to Ashley for saying “yes” to joining me, and thanks to Ashley’s husband for agreeing to be the sole Easter Bunny at their home this year so Ashley could join me, as well.
We’re still bummed that the Jayhawks lost so badly to Villanova, but there’s always next year. Might need to start making plans for Minneapolis.
Peace, people!
Too Tired and Sad to Write (much)
Our Kansas Jayhawks lost to Villanova in the semifinal game of the NCAA Final Four men’s basketball championship. Villanova set a new record in three-point shooting and dominated the Jayhawks by a score of 95-79. Even though we scored two quick points early, the first half was brutal. I’m so sad.
The Jayhawks had a great year, though, winning their 14th straight Big 12 conference championship. And I had the opportunity to be in the Alamodome with my wonderful daughter in the amazing city of San Antonio, Texas, to watch two games of one of the premier American sporting events. It was still an amazing day.
May I take a moment to praise my daughter, Ashley? She is a logistics dynamo and kept me from worrying about transportation and directions and all manner of things. I’d have been a nervous ninny without her along. Plus, she’s just a lot of fun to hang out with.
Oh, and thanks to an ongoing sinus issue I lost my voice sometime on Saturday morning. I could kind of croak sometimes and whisper other times, so Ashley had to interpret for me, as well. It’s probably best that I couldn’t yell during the KU game. There were small children around.
Now Ashley and I find ourselves with two full days in San Antonio before her flight out of Houston on Monday. What will we do? Anything we’d like, thank you very much.
Happy Easter everyone. And as always, peace, people.
Good Morning from Houston
It’s Saturday morning, and a fine one as far as I can tell. My daughter and I arrived at my brother’s home in Houston within minutes of each other around five on Friday. She flew in from Des Moines, Iowa, while I drove from Florida and, voila! Here we are.
For a good twenty minutes yesterday I wasn’t sure I was going to get here at all. My gps took me on some rabbit chasing adventure just outside of Beaumont, Texas, and soon I was bouncing along on backroads, some covered in gravel, some partially barricaded, and one completely blocked to traffic. It was obvious that the gps had lost its freaking mind and that I would most likely die alone at the end of this middle of nowhere dirt lane.
I sat and thought for a few minutes then realized I needed to backtrack and just find the damned interstate again. No need to get all melodramatic; although, part of me wondered what future archaeologists might conclude when they found my skeleton sitting upright in my Mazda hundreds or even thousands of years from now.
“Probably senile. Right age. Car had evidence consisting of junk food wrappers and plastic cups that once most likely contained diet Coke. I guess she didn’t remember her Mazda had a reverse gear. Poor girl.”
As I backtracked I realized that the gps had most likely tried to help me avoid some traffic issue on the interstate and didn’t factor in that roads around Beaumont, like the one it directed me to, had been seriously impacted by the flooding that accompanied last year’s hurricanes. Guardrails were warped and in some places lay mangled on both sides of the road, and there were places so degraded that I couldn’t drive on the correct side of the road without endangering my safety. Intense!
When I finally made it back to an entrance ramp for I-10 West, I breathed a sigh of relief and completed the rest of my journey without incident. I hugged my daughter and my brother and my sister-in-law, then we went out for drinks and dinner and more drinks and had just a wonderful evening dining alfresco in one of the best cities in the world.
I slept like a drunken sailor and am now up and ready to continue my journey, as my daughter, Ashley and I drive to San Antonio for the NCAA men’s Final Four basketball tournament starting tonight! Just to be safe, I’m putting Ashley in charge of navigation.
Peace, people!
The Road to the Final Four
If you’re expecting a recap of the college basketball season, forget about it. I’m just checking in to say I successfully navigated through torrential rains and horrendous road construction on my journey to San Antonio to attend the men’s NCAA college basketball tournament that begins on Saturday. I feel like the driving conditions should be charged with a flagrant foul or two. Maybe a technical. It was a brutal day of driving.
Before the bad stuff happened, Studly and I met friends from Illinois for a late lunch in Destin, FL, where they’ve been enjoying spring break, then I began my drive westward, and Studly returned home to Doright Manor.
I’m writing from my hotel room somewhere in Mississippi. Dinner was a grilled cheese sandwich from the kids’ menu in the hotel’s restaurant and a Guinness. Is that classy or what?
My daughter is flying in to Houston from Illinois, and then she and I will meet up at my brother’s home. He and his sweet wife have invited us to spend the night with them in Houston before we push on to San Antonio on Saturday morning.
Now I’m just trying to unwind and to keep my verb tenses straight. I wrote this on Thursday night, but won’t publish until Friday, so I kept getting confused. Another flagrant foul. (I always want to call it a fragrant foul. Doesn’t that sound more pleasant? Or maybe contradictory.)
I would apologize for the randomness of this post, but I’m too tired. ‘Night all.
Peace, people.
Praying for Eyebrowz 