Tuesday, 24 Jan 2012 - Livingston, Texas

Wayne and I have a great early morning routine, that doesn't usually change regardless of where we are (in the LuvMachine, home, hotels, etc.). He generally gets up early, gets dressed and goes off to have breakfast while I take my time waking up, getting up, and starting the day. Today, I woke up first and we went off to breakfast together. Today, I saw him smear peanut butter on his waffle. Today may be the last time we are ever up that early together again.

The best part...the very best part...of this kind of trip is making plans, changing them, making new plans, changing them, etc. We are in the middle of a big change!

I spent lots of time on line, looking at the stock show/rodeo happening in Fort Worth over the next two weeks. There were so many things happening that really interested me...I'm a rodeo geek and love bucking bronco's, bull riding, and all the rest of the kitsch that's involved. However, when I went on line again yesterday, and got down to the part where I actually had to start making definite plans to be somewhere specific on a certain day, it turned out that just about everything I wanted to see was happening at a time where we wouldn't be there, ie, on the weekends. There were some lesser things going on but it seemed to be a waste of time & money to spend a couple of days there so we've decided to head on down to one of our favourite places, Galveston, and spend a couple of days there. The last time we were there was right after a hurricane (Ivan?) and we could not get over the devistation still evident a few months after it had happened. We'd spent time there the previous year and just loved it so it will be interesting to see if things have improved. There are a number of National Wildlife Reserves we'll have a look at while we continue down towards South Padre Island. A definite look at Gilchrist will be mandatory...the hurricane left one single house standing. Galveston is many old, restored, historic homes and I'd like to spend a bit more time looking at them as well as other old buildings in the city.

At 12:27 pm today, we turned on the van's air conditioning! The sun shone all day with a brief shower later in the afternoon. We've just come back from supper and it has clouded over and the temperature has dropped...rain is forecasted for the next couple of days I think.

As soon as we crossed the Arkansas/Texas border, the landscape started to change. Gone were the rolling hills and fir trees and the wide flat, scrubby plains started. It didn't take long to see the wrought-iron gates of local ranches...and it all feels like home! We really love Texas but the drive will probably force us to choose Florida for future winters. However, if we could find a nice condo in Panama, well........

I'm looking forward to start taking some photos. Winter at home is not my favourite time to be out so getting back to taking pictures every day is something I really am excited about. Hopefully, I'll soon find my 'cookies' and eliminate them so I can post a few here on the blog. Otherwise, it becomes Lynne Babble.

Hope you are all well. Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx