From Home to Hideaway and beyond

After a short but very sweet week at home in Vancouver, we're back - in TEXAS, that is!  What a week it was!  Harold relaxed at home and enjoyed some special reconnecting time with Graydon who is only 3 years old so surely must wonder what is up with Gramps and Grammy being gone so long!  I was off for a long scrapbooking weekend at Seaside, Oregon, with daughter Robin and bff Cathy from Surprise, Arizona - so much fun, quality time and we even got lots done on our scrapbooks!!  Plus we made a stop at the very interesting Coast Guard museum in Astoria on our way to the coast.

Robby & Mom in Astoria

Cathy (hiding her face!) & Robin in scrapbooking room

with (at times) about 150 other "scrappers"!

It was cold and stormy when we got to Seaside, but weather improved and we enjoyed this nice view from our hotel room . . .

I sure enjoyed the (too-short!) time at home with Graydon, Alessa and Jade, and it was so fun to see my special friends Jan, Lee and Anita when they dropped by. But sad to say I missed out on a visit from Carolyn - and also sorry I missed out on the chocolate chip cookies that were coming with her!

We didn't like saying good-bye again to Graydon and Alessa.  I didn't take many pictures at home but managed to snap this one as we headed out to the airport Tuesday morning - -

Alessa, Gramps, Grammy & Graydon

Back in Texas (Tues Mar 8th) , Renee collected us from the airport and the next day, after one last visit with the Williams family, we gathered Trixie from the kennel and the RV from storage and made a bee-line for Hideaway.  We were headed there to pay a visit to Harold's cousin and his wife, the Jim McCaleb's.

Well, it wasn't exactly a bee-line - - - more of an S-line.  Back in Texas we'd noticed that spring is here!  Trees - pear and redbuds and who knows what all - were blooming - grass and trees going all green and new-looking!  We opted to skip the Interstate and enjoy another drive off the beaten path.  Our route took us through Terrell, Elmo, Wills Point, Fruitvale and then we rolled through Grand Saline, where  we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves driving by the old Morton Salt Mine.  And eventually we arrived in Hideaway!  All along the way, here and there, the piney woods, colored bright with redbud, had Harold bursting into song - "In the pines, in the pines . . .where the sun never shines"  Well, it was a drive to remember. 

And THEN - a super time with Jim and Claudine at their lovely and comfortable home in delightful Hideaway, Texas!  We talked, ate, laughed, ate, talked, went sight seeing and just totally enjoyed their friendly hospitality.  Claudine fed us deliciously! We also had some great eats at The Back Porch - a Kilgore tradition - and learned a LOT about the oil industry at the East Texas Oil Museum in Kilgore. A fabulous exhibit and WOW what an amazing story.  Ate out a couple more times and Harold got his fill of his latest craving - catfish!  It was a fun visit which passed way too quickly - but we look forward to another meet-up in the not-too-distant future!  

Cousins enjoying a sunny morning on the patio

At The Back Porch

Oil derrick in front of the East Texas Oil Museum

See Jimmy under the RV?  He & Harold repaired the damage
and we were on the road in no time! 

Before we knew it, Friday dawned and it was time for us to hit the road again.  Jim helped Harold with a minor RV repair and we were headed south again.

The drive from Hideaway took us through Tyler and then Jacksonville, Lufkin and finally into Woodville where we settled in once again at Camp Wal-Mart.  A gorgeous drive this day as the landscape changed - growing greener and even more lush as the road took us through rolling hills flanked with piney woods, small family farms and the occasional little town - the kind you miss if you blink!

Along the way - fruit and vegetable stands and little unassuming cafes  boasting cat fish and barbecue - also, duck ponds, barnyard animals, many old tumble-down farmhouses, shacks and barns and other reminders of yesteryear - and more than a smattering of steepled country churches.  There's no doubt about it - we are now in the deep South!

Sat Mar 12th - It's time to put Texas behind us!  In Beaumont Dunkin' Donuts at the moment (Starbucks eluded us somehow), but moving on into Louisiana towards our next planned stop at Bayou Segnette State Park.  Today we'll explore pieces of the Creole Nature Trail along the Gulf of Mexico, meander through a birder's paradise and maybe, if the travel books are right, even see an alligator or two!!!