February 22nd, 2014

Mardi Gras in all its glory!  Galveston hosts the third largest Mardi Gras celebration in the whole US!  Ron, Dora and their son Nate drive their motorhome with a trailer behind to a strategic spot on the seawall, where the parades come right by, and set up a gigantic bbq.  They bbq and serve lunch and dinner (they provide the meat and some dishes which Dora  makes, and campers bring sides and desserts). It's pretty awesome - we all bring our lawn chairs and set them up along the road, for a perfect view of the parades - and we basically hang out their for the day, jumping up to wave and grab beads that are thrown from the various floats.  Get ready for the photos, 'cause I took a ton of them!!

Part of our crew, getting set up near the porta-potty

Ron & Dora's rv, setting up the tables for food

A warm enough day for some folks to be swimming or at least playing on the beach.

Dora looks worried!  Her daughter Angie and grandson Spencer are talking to Chris, another rver

The bbq, with Nate in charge.

Waiting for the afternoon parade to start

That's us!

High school girls

Dora's granddaughter, Ashley, is the centre back girl. She's in Grade 9 and this is her first participation in the Mardi Gras parade.

Rob and Helen - great pic!

Some people dressed up more than others!

Another view of Nate and the bbq

And the evening parade begins!

My haul - actually, this is just the evening haul - I took the earlier beads off because they were too heavy . . . 

And now my bathroom window has a Mardi Gras bead curtain!!

February 18th, 2014

I took a walk over to the beach today, then drove with Susan and Joan (and Daisy, of course) along Seawall Blvd. to the Saltgrass restaurant.  Lots of awesome fog today- I love fog!

Beautiful clear day - no sign of fog

As I was walking down the beach, the fog started to roll in.

The entrance to the park is getting a bit foggy.

The same entrance with the house across the road a bit blurry.

The pond in the park.

The clubhouse, with rows of rvs behind it - can't see any of the rvs.

The pirates in the golf course are being obsured

A lift in the fog and a funny white rainbow

An hour later, driving down Seawall - the ocean is almost obscured - can't see the ships on the horizon

Visibility gets worse

The Saltgrass looks isolated. without the usual view of the ocean across the street!

February 13, 2014

Helen and I drove over to Houston for her new tattoo - we both got Groupon coupons - my tattoo will be done next week.  Imperial Tattoo - we both liked the place and the artists. Helen had a lot of pain, despite the oxyconton tabs that I gave her (from when I had my tooth removed). Lovely tattoo, though.

Don't think there's any need for captions!

February 12, 2014

Some of us went in the park van to see "Menopause - the Musical" at the Grand Theatre in Galveston.  It was absolutely hilarious - and we all got menopause fans to fan away the hot flashes. Mind you, I don't think there was one person in our group who isn't substantially past menopause - but hey, we could all identify - even Rob, our token man, has lots of spousal experience (sorry, Helen). . .

This sign pretty much set the tone for the evening . . . 

Due to technical issues, we had to wait in the lobby for about 20 minutes

Boring

Wish I could have taken pictures during the show - it was sooo funny!

February 7th, 2014

The people from whom Luanne bought her house have bought a house in another area of town, and Luanne and I drove over to check it out.  It's in a gated community, pretty much from another part of the planet  - or something.  

February 1st, 2014

And the renovations begin:  first the removal - lots of empty floor space there.

This is incredibly exciting!  Rob is doing all the work here - what an amazing job.

We (a number of people from the park) went to a big RV show in Houston on Feb. 7 - got some ideas for my own rv - and some crazy fantasy rvs which would be a nightmare to drive.

Inside the show

Big motorhome

A rather nice-looking Class C

Class A

Crazy living room inside a fifth wheel. Luanne modelling the double reclining couch!

From the living room looking into the kitchen and down the hall

From the kitchen into the living room

January 31, 2014

For some reason, there is one corner in Galveston where birds congregate on the telephone wires.  Just couldn't resist taking a few photos of this phenomena. Shades of Alfred Hitchcock!

I'm going to start renovating the inside of my rv - first step is to take out the dinette set with its benches, and the couch.  I'll be posting these on Craig's List.