A whole lotta nuttin'

I know, I know....... I need to post something, but I just ain't feelin' it. I have begun 4 or 5 posts but haven't finished any of them. At least two of them involve photos which have been removed from my camera by one of my children and loaded onto a computer which I do not have the password to retrieve. Hmmm, whose bright idea was that?

We have been busy putting in a garden, planning and attending my 30th high school reunion and work, work, work. It was great to see old friends and I do mean old! Here is a pic of some of my oldest & dearest... then & now... life just wouldn't be the same without them.

Then... 1980

Now.... 2010

We are looking forward to a wonderful Summer, even if we haven't a clue what we shall do yet. We thought we were going to a family event, but they have pretty much 'priced' us out of it. Asking a family with 3 full time college students to take a 4 day trip to Colorado costing 5K is just too steep for us. Jeff and I were planning on taking a trip abroad for our anniversary, but we have decided to wait until 2011 since we will be welcoming a new grandbaby into the world before the end of the year. We will however be taking a few trips along the way.

We recently traveled to Kansas City for Baseball & BBQ. KC has a gorgeous downtown area and we enjoyed our trip immensely. Let me just say that Arthur Bryant's has the absolute best bbq. Here is my sandwich, there is not way I could eat all of it. Fries are their specialty, yum!

We have begun to make plans for a trip to Arkansas in July & Las Vegas in September with Tara and Darrell. We had such a great time on our last adventure we can't wait to do it again.

So, here's wishing you a wonderful Summer filled with great friends, old & new. Simple times like building a garden and exciting trips near & far.

We'll talk again soon, this time I promise it won't be so long.

Chasing the KWS Band

Noah Hunt (lead vocal), Jeff, me, Kenny Wayne (world's greatest living blues guitarist!)

This past weekend, Jeff and I set out on another road trip.  Chasing the Kenny Wayne Sheperd Band to Antone's in Austin.  

It was a quick trip for us, leaving after work on Saturday around 3pm and return a mere 24 hours later on Sunday.  We arrived at the Hilton Austin just before 6pm, not leaving us very much time to change clothes, find something to eat and get to the venue.  We were lucky enough to get a hotel fairly close to Antone's which was on the same street about 5 blocks down.  That made it much easier.  So, once we walked down to the concert site and checked it out we knew it was safe to try to grab a bite to eat.  We ended up eating at a little deli a few doors down from Antone's, Hog Head Deli or something like that.  We shared a sandwich and cheese fries!  Yummo. The sandwich was a Caprese salad sandwich with a few slices of salami on it, it was light and refreshing and absolutely yummy.  (So yummy in fact,  that Jeff came home Sunday night and whipped us up a few for dinner.) 

Then we headed over to the concert, waited in line for about 30 more minutes and then we were let inside.  It was a sold out concert and no doubt many were turned away, but we had purchased our tickets online several weeks back.  There was an opening acting, someone called Shurman, but we really weren't interested.... we were waiting for the real deal.  Since we are members of the KWS fan club, we had passes to go 'back stage' so to speak and we spent that time waiting for our chance to meet with Kenny.  When we did.... we were a little star stuck, but luckily we weren't the only ones.  I am telling you that if you like blues music, you have absoutely got to see the KWS band in concert.  They put on a great show, and Kenny is just incredible.  The show Saturday had to be the best we have seen.  

We had a great time, after the concert around 12:15am we were starving, remember we shared a sandwich earlier.  So, Jeff drug me all over downtown looking for somewhere to eat,  he drug me over to 5th Street and after about 1 block I put my foot down and said I wasn't going any further.  Doesn't he know we are old?  Way too old to be on 5th Street on a Saturday night.  We headed back to the hotel and ordered room service, a toasted Ruben, fries and a bowl of tortilla soup.  Then we were out like a light,  missed the breakfast buffet the following morning.  We packed up and headed for the Green Mesquite and had some delicious BBQ and chicken fried steak.  A couple of funny things there... the back of our waitress' shirt read, "God knows if you don't tip" and a sign on the wall read "Horrifying Vegetarians Since 1988".  Pretty funny.  Highly recommend the Green Mesquite on Barton Springs.

As we drove around Austin with the windows down and the sunroof open, enjoying the 77 degree weather, we decided to make one more stop before heading home.  We drove down Congress and stopped at Hey Cupcake and shared a 24 Carrot stuffed with fresh whipped cream and listened to the guitar player who serenaded us in the sunshine.  The we jumped on 35 and headed home, of course making one more stop at West to buy some kolaches for the girls.  Whew!  We have had a busy couple of weeks, time for some rest.

1226 miles and 3 days later!

Ok, once again we have survived a road trip.  I think I am really getting to old for this.  We

filled our cupboards and frig with food, told our children to not leave the house and then .... headed out on our road trip in the snow!

We spent the night in Bossier City.  Already totally wiped out after what should have been a 3 hour drive but turned into a 5 hour drive because of the weather.  Here we are the next morning getting ready to drive another 6.5 hours.

We ran into trouble in this snow because the freeways & overpasses were closed and we had to drive around Bossier City and make a big loop to get back on 49.  We saw a lot of crazy drivers and quite a few wrecks along the way. We had planned to be in New Orleans by lunch, but after way too many hours on the road we made a pit stop at Race Trac for hot dogs and finally made it to the New Orleans Hard Rock at about 3pm.  Here we are with the staff of HRC New Orleans.

Then we made our way on to Biloxi. Where we checked in to another hotel, changed our clothes and headed over to Hard Rock Hotel/Casino/Cafe' Biloxi for the concert.

Heart put on an awesome show and we were about 15 feet from Nancy & Ann!  Here is Nancy belting out Barracuda!

Then we headed over to the cafe' and had a later dinner.  We had a great time and I think Darrell has turned Jeff into a HR groupie like himself!  Here we are with the staff at HRC Biloxi.

 

When we got up Saturday morning in Biloxi, we were exhausted.  We couldn't believe we had to do that drive all over again.  I mean... seriously, what were we thinking?   We are definitely too old for this.  We drove back through New Orleans as Saturday was the first day of the Mardi Gras parades.  The town was a mad house.  We stopped and ate lunch at one of Jeff's favorite places, Frank's and had muffelatta sandwiches.  The walked around the square for a little bit.  We walked down Bourbon Street for about two blocks and decided we were just not part of that crowd, if you know what I mean.  We quickly detoured and headed toward Cafe du Monde for biegnets.

 As we began to head home from New Orleans at 4pm on Saturday we quickly realized that we did not want to make the long trek of 8 hours home that day.  We finally found a hotel in Alexandria and spent the night.  We we began making plans for this trip we had no idea that we would be hitting New Orleans during Mardi Gras and thus making every hotel from Biloxi to Baton Rouge booked up and even Shreveport/Bossier was full for Saturday night because of Valentine's Day.  We finally arrive home about 4pm on Sunday, exhausted but content.... and ready to plan our next adventure!  But next time.... if it's more than about 3 hours, we're flying!

Hello from New Orleans

Hard Rock Cafe Staff & us, New Orleans LA

The Road Trips are coming, the road trips are coming...........

Jeff and I have big plans for the next two weekends.  I am so excited.  Our friends, Terrell & Derrell* & Jeff & I are going to Biloxi to see Heart in concert at the Hard Rock.  And on way we are going to stop in and see New Orleans by way of Bossier City.  Sound like fun?  When we planned this trip we had no idea we would be in New Orleans the weekend before Mardi Gras and of course now that NO is the home of the Super Bowl 43 Champions I am sure it will be 'partay town'.  We are going to hit two Hard Rock Cafes in the process.  T & D have a love affair with HRs.  They travel round the globe visiting HR.  It's going to be fun!

Here we are at the Hard Rock, Dallas.

Next weekend, we are heading to our favorite Texas city, Austin!  My beloved, Kenny Wayne is going to be there.  I just can't believe it!  I was on the fan site a few weeks ago just checking to see how far we were going to have to drive this year to see him and there it was listed, KWS at Antone's in Austin.  Austin, just down the road a piece.  So, Jeff I will head to Austin next Saturday.  It's going to be great!

Pics coming soon... hopefully one with me, Kenny & Noah!
PS - Happy Birthday Jussy! ~xoxox Mom




* Terrell & Derrell, aka Tara & Darrell or is it Tara & Dara?

Road Trips & Kenny Wayne, 2009

Jeff and I have once again embarked on what is now known as our 'Annual Pilgrimage' to see the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band. We began our trip on Thursday afternoon driving to the half way point between Mansfield and Vicksburg, MS... Bossier City, LA. We had plans for dinner, I know how shocking that is for most of you! We wanted to go to the Cypress Inn, nestled on a beautiful lake in Bossier City. Well, apparently the original burned down about four years ago and it is now nestled in a strip mall. The catfish was ok, just.... ok. And of course, the ambience is gone. It was nice enough though. When we got to the hotel to check in they wanted a $100 cash deposit 'just in case we decide to fill the in-room hot tub with jello shots'. Seriously that is what the clerk said to me. Did a little gambling at the casino, lost about $30 in a penny slot machine. I am NOT a gambler. Ok, we are not going to talk anymore about that.

Friday we got up and drove the final 3 hours to Vicksburg. Stopped at a Love's along the way and the first thing Jeff did was lock our only set of keys in the car. But something magical happened... a sweet LA Highway Patrol officer came along within about 5 minutes and got them out for FREE! Then we were on our way again. We stopped for lunch somewhere around Monroe and had BBQ. Yep, BBQ. Mmmm good. We stopped at a new place called Bodacious BBQ. Not a very unique name, but the Q was good. As we were about to get into our car the 'pit master' walked over to us and asked us how it was? We told him we thoroughly enjoyed it, he said this was their 5th week open. It's nice to see small food places thriving. Three cheers for the little guy!

We arrived safely in Vicksburg, and I must say the only thing this town has going for it is a couple of casinos and a giant cemetary. We tried our best, but we couldn't find anything to do. Found one or two antique shops, but nothing we even thought twice about buying. Saw a show at the Bottleneck Blues Bar on Friday. A group called Ugli Stick, just back from a USO Tour, they were good. If they ever come to Texas I would go and see them again.

Saturday was Jeff's birthday and it was all about the KWS show that night. We were super excited because the venue (Bottleneck Blues Bar) was so small and we had VIP seating. Sure enough we were up close and personal. Kenny & Noah and the guys put on an awesome show. After the show we went up to the steak house in the casino for a celebratory birthday dinner, Kenny was there too! Ok, ok, he wasn't exactly sitting at our table or anything, but he was there. Next morning when Jeff went down to get coffee at the hotel Kenny was there too. It was a great weekend.

Ok, as for next year.... Kenny please play somewhere close to Texas. Please ! Even though right now I can see on your calendar you will be in New Orleans and that looks like the closest, at least we can fly there for a decent price. So until then Kenny, take care!

Last Year's Pilgrimage.

Jeff made me steal a woman's purse....

Friday, my much anticipated passport arrived in the mail! Coincidentally, Jeff and I were headed off on a trip to San Antonio. No you don't need a passport to travel to SA. As we were driving down I35 we passed through Hillsboro. When in Hillsboro I am always reminded of another time Jeff and I were there.......and Jeff made me steal a woman's purse.

It was August, 2000, Jeff and I were headed for a long weekend to Fredericksburg for our 20th anniversary. It was our first trip away from the girls. Did you hear that correctly, first trip together away! My inlaws came to stay with the girls, ages 8-16 or so. Any how, we started our trip early in the morning and decided to stop at Shoney's in Hillsboro for breakfast. We had been sitting there for some time when Jeff noticed the couple sitting across from us had left the restaurant and the woman had left her purse sitting on the table. He said, 'Julie, that woman left her purse. Go get it off the table run it out to the parking lot.' So, being the obedient, dutiful wife (LOL) that I am, I did just that. I went across the restaurant, snatched up the woman's purse and took off running out into the parking lot. Mmmm, there is something wrong with this picture. There I stood in the Shoney's parking lot looking for some woman..... my only description of her was that, well.... she didn't have a purse. To say the least after about 5 minutes, I didn't find her. I went back into the restaurant fully prepared to hand the purse over to the cashier when much to my surprise there sat Jeff, red faced..... you see the couple had not left the restaurant as Jeff had thought.... they had merely gone to the buffet line! I had no choice, but to walk over to their table and give her purse back. They sat there dumbfounded, they didn't even realize it was missing. I had stolen it right before their eyes. Jeff and I were so embarrassed. The couple were really good sports about it and bought the whole story, after all it was so pathetic they had to.

I vow to never again feel peer pressure from my husband and steal a purse.