Enjoying what may be the last warm day for awhile

 It was a beautiful day today, so we spent a lot of time outside.  One of the first things we did was wash the car and motorhome.

 I then walked Buddy around the campground.  It is a lot bigger than it looks at first glance.

 These are for playing horseshoes.  The back boards look more like headstones.  LOL

 This large canopy is for large functions.  The last time we were here a wedding reception was being held there.

 I love this tree.  In fact, it is one of the things, if not the only thing, that I love about Louisiana.  It has these huge old oaks trees.  Limbs on these huge trees are as large as trunks of trees in Arkansas.  They are always covered in that soft moss.  Just a big beautiful sight.

 I didn't realize there was this many cabins here.  They just went on almost all the way around the campground.

This older Prevost caught my eye.  I have not seen one this colorful. It had pink, purple and blue on it.  He was out polishing all that chrome later in the evening.  That's a lot of chrome.

We finished the evening by going over to the casino.  I lost my money pretty fast.  Doug put $10 in a machine hit it a couple of times and won $408.00!  The last time we were here he won $450.  If he can do that every time we come, we will have to come more often.

It's late, turning cold and I am getting sleepy.  It must be time to get under the covers and warm up.  Buddy is already there!
Later

Heading to Louisiana

Last night on my walk thru the campground I tried to take a couple of night pictures.  The pond with its fountain sits in the center of the resort.   I have a lot to learn about taking night pictures.
We headed to one of our favorite casinos, Paragon, in Marksville, LA.

 The sites are large with full hookups.  If you have Passport America, the sites are $8.50 night!  You can't beat that.  They have shuttles that pick you up at your site to take you to the casino.

 This is what I see looking out the windshield.  These picnic tables are at each site.

This is just a shot looking down the road.  It's a very neat and clean place.  There is a lot to see and do around here.  We missed a few things last time we came through, so we may check them out this time. We will be here for 3 days.
The weather is a little cooler here than in the Houston area.  It looks like by the time we get to Arkansas, it will be cold.  Time to finally put up the shorts and drag out the coats.  It's been nice to have an extended summer.  Especially since the areas we have been have had low humidity.
Time to go eat some crab legs.... yummmm
Later

Baking Banana bread and thinking about my Mom

I actually cooked today.  Well, I baked.  Banana bread to be exact.  Haven't made that in a long time.  I use to make it with my mother.  She never wasted a banana.  Only thing missing was the pecans.  Mother always had pecans in her bread.  All I had was over ripe bananas.  I have been throwing them away.  Just to lazy to bake the bread but this time I had 6 over ripe ones and that was just too many to throw away.

                                                             Made two to be exact.
It was good to be in the kitchen baking again.  It was even better to take the time to remember things I enjoyed doing with my mother.  She loved banana bread.  She always wanted the outside piece spread with butter while it was still hot out of the oven.  I ate my piece that way, smiled and just thought about my mother.   It was a good day.
I didn't have mom's recipe but this one was close.  Mom's added 1 tsp. vanilla.  Other than that and the pecans, this one was closest, that I can remember.
Banana Bread

1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.



Enjoy!
Tomorrow is a travel day.  The bread will make a easy and quick breakfast!
Later

Last Day at the lake

Today was a relaxing day at the lake.  We took a long boat ride and Mike taught me how to use some of the settings on my camera.  There sure is a lot to learn.

I didn't realize there was so much math in using a camera.  I don't know if I will ever understand all of that.

                              A lot of people decided to enjoy the beautiful weather here at the lake.

 The water wasn't warm enough to be doing any skiing.  Someone didn't think so though.

This jet boat will go 0 to 95 mph in 800 ft.  It has a 1000 hp engine.  All I knew was that it was loud.

                                              The sunset reflecting in the tree was beautiful.

                                                          Oh look, it's the moon....
It's a travel day tomorrow so off to bed I go...
Later

Beautiful Lake Summerville

Oh what a day we have had!  We left Yogi :), early well not early, we both overslept.  Then we stopped in Waco to get one of my meds refilled and pick up some groceries.  Things went sour after that.  We stopped at the Flying J for fuel.  While filling the tank, Doug cleaned the windshield.  Normally this wouldn't be a bad idea, but today, it was.  Somehow the nozzle came out and spilled diesel everywhere.

Not a little diesel, a whole lot!

Looking at our average gallons we usually get, we spilled around 20 gallons!  There was fuel everywhere!

Doug called for someone to come out clean the mess up.  He apologized, they said it happens more than you think.  There were people everywhere throwing down absorbent towels and long diaper looking tubes.

Of course, pushed the fuel bill to $236.00.  We had a half a tank!  Our tank holds 90 gal. and we put in (mostly wasted) 65!  Oh dear me!  Lesson learned... I don't care how dirty the windshield gets, no washing it till someone has eyes on the nozzle!

The rest of the trip here was pretty calm but it seems to have put Doug in a "short fuse" mood.  Think I will be as invisible as possible till he calms down.

This is our site here at Yegua Creek Campground.

The bad thing is there are stickers on the ground everywhere.  Poor Buddy is having a bad time.  We put out the rug, now if we can just keep him on it.

We don't do this type of "camping" often.  It's nice, reminds me of when we did camp with the boys.  Some very good times then.

I counted 7 deer on our walk right before sunset.  The sun was right behind the deer making it almost foggy looking.
Mike and Kaitlyn arrived right before dark with their new travel trailer.  I will take some pictures tomorrow.
Later.

Visiting with Yogi again

We left Amarillo this morning with the rain coming down.  We have had great weather while we were  there so I guess I can't complain about it raining this morning.  It rained on us till around 1:00.  After that the weather was fine.

I hope the trucker up ahead of us makes it to his destination.  Can you tell in the picture that his load leans to the right?

We got to Ft. Worth at 5:00, and then there was construction on the road.  Can you say, S L O W!  It took us 45 minutes to go 16 miles.  On the good side, I drove the RV today.  I drove 61 miles and did great.  I was smart enough to pull over and let Doug drive through Ft. Worth.  :)

                                     Yea, this is a no-no... We are still on the road and it's after 5!

 We are back at Jellystone RV Resort.  This time it's not crowded like it is when school is out.  This place is a must, if you have children.

This is our site for the night.  We opted for the other side of the park this trip.  The last time we stayed here they put us right next to all the action.  That side of the park not only has all the "action" but a lot of trees which means a lot of birds and noise.  This side has smaller and less trees, is very quiet and the sites are roomier.

                                           Another view, these are all pull throughs.

                                       There are some cabins mixed in with the rv sites.

                                              Nice cabins... I would like to see inside them.

                                 This place has a lot of these iron works.  They are all beautiful.

                                                      Just playing with my new camera

There is so much I need to learn on this camera.  Hope I'm not to old to learn!  LOL

Still in Amarillo, but not much longer

                                         We are still in Amarillo enjoying our grandkids.

                                             It is going to be hard to leave them.

                                                              But time is running out.

I have to get all the kisses I can, while I can.

This new little one is a mess.  He sleeps all night long but just about refuses to take a nap during the day.  He can wear you out fast.  I am being reminded why babies are for the young.  LOL

I am still loving my new camera.  I just need to learn all it will do.  

Later...