(Here are a couple of shots of the area around Fort Davis:)
While we were there I received a call inviting me to speak and sing 14 months later for a tour of 4 Christian Women's Clubs in South Texas: McAllen, Harlingen, South Padre Island and Brownsville. That was when my Dad had just become very ill, and at that the time we had no clue that we would be taking our long summer adventure around the U.S. So I gave them a tentative yes, not knowing at all if it would really work out. 6 months later when we packed all our belongings in a storage unit before setting out on our trip, I made sure that all the quilts I needed for this series of talks was kept where I could reach them. My topic centers around the process of making a quilt and how that compares to living life. I show lots of my quilts in various stages of completion...which provides me a guilt-free excuse for not finishing them all off!
Here we are fourteen months later (where does the time go?), and we're on our way back to Rockport after spending several lovely days in South Texas.
We started out early Tuesday morning (6:30 a.m.....whooooeee! I'm not used to that!). As we headed south through the early morning traffic of Corpus Christi, we saw sights that we don't have in Rockport. 
And as we went through the town of Robstown, we couldn't believe our eyes when we saw the name of the high school athletic teams. How would you like to be starting quarterback for the fighting Cotton Pickers??!!! I was laughing so hard I barely caught the photo op...
After a delicious breakfast of eggs Benedict, fresh fruit and all the trimmings, I spoke and sang to a roomful of about 60 women:
A large bridge over the Bay,
The early morning sun catching the reflections of the huge oil industry...
And the tall buildings of downtown Corpus Christi:
We saw this great mattress-hauling truck on the highwy:
We'd never been in this part of Texas before. People had told me it was flat and scrubby. We found a few points of agricultural interest, but pretty much, what I had been told was correct.
South Texas topography:
Juxtaposition of a South Texas ranch and a cement plant:
The first place I was to speak Tuesday morning was in a small hotel in Edinburg, Texas, just outside of McAllen. The ladies were warm and welcoming. We had a wonderful buffet lunch before I spoke and sang.
All went well. Usually when I speak at these events, I bring my own microphone and small sound system. But unfortunately, my sound gear was not one of the things that we managed to keep accessible in our storage unit in Kerrville. When we were there last week we searched and searched and couldn't find it anywhere! The chairman of the first club where I spoke was able to round up what I needed. But I knew the rest of the groups would be much larger, and since I'm using a guitar and vocal
mike, I really like to have my own equipment so I can be sure of the quality of the sound. After my first speaking engagement, we headed into McAllen, which is the largest city in south Texas and the center of shopping for the area. We located a Guitar Center and were able to pick up the sound gear I needed. It could be a year or more before we are able to really dig into our storage unit, so I know I will need the gear before then. Figured we may as well get it now.
That evening we headed for Harlingen and were treated to the warm hospitality of Ines and Adali Velez, a wonderful couple from Puerto Rico. We stayed in their lovely home, and enjoyed fellowship and great conversation long into the night.
Up early Wednesday morning to get ready for the next talk. This one was in the activity building of a very nice RV park. The venue was large and lovely and there were over a hundred women there. I was certainly glad for my new sound system here!
In the afternoon we drove to Laguna Vista, where we stayed in the amazing home of Sharon Nelson. She was so sweet to share her lovely home with us. We felt like we were in a palace!
In the evening we were treated to a terrific Mexican buffet and enjoyed great conversation with Sharon and her friend Jackie Henchman. We ate at the Isla Grand Hotel on South Padre Island, the venue where I was to speak today. That was great to get a preview trip, so we knew exactly where to go this morning.
And that's just what we did. I was scheduled to speak twice today, so we got an early start. Crossing the bridge into the well-known resort area of South Padre Island:
...and into the beautiful Isla Grande Hotel:
And this is where the real crunch came. We had to pack up all my things quickly and trot it downstairs and into the car and take off for Brownsville. My next engagement was to start in an hour, and it was a 40-minute drive! We scrambled, but we made it!
Another beautiful buffet, but this time we didn't eat. I had time for a glass of iced tea, and then I was "on" again. Each of these groups of women was so warm and welcoming. We both really enjoyed ourselves the full trip. I've done these multi-club tours by myself before, but it was SO much nicer to have Curt along. There's a lot of stuff for me to haul and set up for my presentation, and Curt is so supportive and helpful. He keeps me laughing and loosened up as well. And he NEVER minds being the only man in a room full of women. Here he is with Mary Ann, one of the great friends he made in Harlingen yesterday while I was visiting with other ladies. The women love him!
More gorgeous South Texas scenery on the way home today.
This is a shot of the famous King Ranch, one of the best known ranches in North America. From this vantage point, it kind of makes you wonder why....
Back over the bridge at Corpus Christi:
And a nice view of the USS Lexington, an Aircraft Carrier that is docked at Corpus and is open to the public:
Curt and I toured the Lexington last year when I did this same type of speaking tour in Corpus Christi.
As we drove into Rockport in the evening drizzle, I got excited to get nearer to home and began shooting a few pictures along the way:
Then we rounded the corner and saw our little beach cottage. Bur wait....what's that hanging from the telephone pole in our yard? Oh, my, we have a lighted snowman right outside our window!
Once it got dark, we could see that the City of Fulton had been busy while we were gone. From our bank of picture windows, we can now see lighted reindeer, Angels, candles, and a wreath, not to mention the snowman that's front and center right outside our window. Not only that, the Palm trees across the street that you saw in a previous blog posts.... You know the ones that I said looked funny because the trunks are spiraled with lights but you couldn't see the tops? Well now you can. Every Palm tree top has an oddly shaped clump of frantically flashing blue, green and red lights. My, what an interesting view we have for the holidays. As we stood outside and marveled at it tonight, Curt looked at me and said, "Well, after all, it is a beach house. So sure, we can do tacky." We can't wait to see what else the holidays may bring!
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