It is summertime in Houston. That means HOT AND HUMID! After a very nice spring, we moved right into the heat of summer with temps in the mid 90’s to 100. Oh well that is the way it is in Houston. Now back to events over the past few months.
We had a very nice visit from Pat’s brother and his wife, Mike and Joanne, in May. They stayed in one of the cabins here in the park. Cathy, who was still living with us, had to move out to the cabin as well since a member had to be in residence also. That gave us a few days by ourselves without Cathy and her dog Hallie. Besides eating out, we took Mike and Joanne to the George H. W. Bush museum in College Station. I always find the presidential museums interesting and a reminder of the historical events during each of the presidential years.
In early June, we made the trek up to Southern Indiana with Cathy and the three dogs. The point of the trip was to help Cathy finish packing up her apartment and move her to an apartment in Conroe, Texas. The first day of the trip, we traveled about 600 miles to Blytheville, Arkansas where we spent the night at a Comfort Inn. The hotel was pretty typical and would have been fine except for the little kids upstairs who kept jumping off the bed and running around the room until about midnight. The dogs, especially Abby, did not like the noise and kept barking. We would just get to sleep and “woof” would wake us up. Oh the joys of traveling with dogs!
The second day we made it all the way to Corydon, Indiana where Cathy’s apartment was located. Since she had not been there since mid-December, we looked around and killed lots of bugs. In the process, we discovered that a mouse had decided to make his home in warmer surroundings during the winter. Actually, she was lucky because the only damage was to the carpet and baseboard in three spots. He may have also been in the sleeper sofa (Pat and I had to sleep on it for the four nights) so we decided not to even attempt to move it to Texas. I don’t think the mouse was still in the apartment but no point in taking a chance of transporting him to a new place.
While in the Southern Indiana area, we met Rob and Becky for dinner along with both John and Cathy. On Sunday after church, we had lunch with Mike and Char and then Sunday evening Pat and I had dinner with John and his roommate Bryan. Monday evening, Pat, Cathy and I ate at Point Blank in downtown Corydon. Point Blank is a local restaurant/brewery that is owned and operated by Nathan Blank. This is a neat restaurant and I would highly recommend it.
Tuesday was moving day once we finally got the U-haul truck. There were some problems in that the truck we had reserved was not turned in and they had to find another one. It seems that only certain trucks can be used for cross-country moves so we had to wait to find one. Finally, the Jefferson store manager located one in New Albany but when we got there, the person was not there and we had to wait again. Anyways, all turned out OK and we got back to Corydon and started loading. My job was to puppy sit since I don’t have the strength like a 25 year old has. Cathy had arranged for a couple of friends to help besides family so they were able to get the truck loaded in a couple of hours. While loading, I noticed some people standing at the other end of the parking lot so I walked over to them and asked in anyone wanted a sleeper sofa. Well, a lady said she did so she and her husband came and moved the heavy sofa out so our guys didn’t have to move it out to the dumpster. The apartment complex probably would not have appreciated us leaving it by the dumpster so all turned out good!
After all was packed, Pat headed off towards Evansville while Cathy and I cleaned the carpet (except for the areas that Mr. Mouse had destroyed). Our hotel stays in Evansville and south of Little Rock were much quieter-no jumping kids. Our only problem on the trip home to Texas was when we were driving through Texarkana in a horrible storm. We thought about stopping and waiting it out but decided to keep going. As we drove from one freeway to another and were up on the interchange, lightening struck close by--that was a bit nerve wracking. We finally drove out of the rain and made it back to Willis safely.
By Saturday June 8, Cathy was moved into her apartment which is actually a townhouse complete with a garage. Because Pat and I live in an RV park, we will have to evacuate during a hurricane because the park will be closed. In that event, Cathy will have company for a few days! Hopefully there will not be any hurricane in this area.
In other news, I joined Plymouth United Church in Spring, Texas. Plymouth is a United Church of Christ congregation and the members are very friendly and welcoming. I am part of the Knitting and Crocheting Group. We made 50 multi-colored scarves which were sent to the General Synod meeting in California as an expression of raising awareness of bullying. We have also made hats which will go to Texas Children’s Hospital.
Otherwise, Pat and I have enjoyed going to the pool most mornings during the adult hour. We walk in the water to get some exercise--he walks the length and I walk the width. Most weeks we go out to eat on Wednesday--Texas Roadhouse has a special on Wednesday’s for an 8 oz Sirloin. When we get tired of Texas Roadhouse, we might go to Yummy Yummy (a Mongolian Grill) or Red Lobster or Pizza Shack. Needless to say we do not go hungry!
I hope everyone is having a good summer. I will try to update my blog more often.
Take care!
