Game Day

There was school before heading to town.

That's handy parking.

We got here early enough to walk around for a while and enjoy the sights before going to the game.

This is the cleanest city we've seen.

Jake knows Elvis as well as anyone else on this walk of fame.

 There was  jubilant anticipation in the air today as Paraguay was in town to take on USA.  This group of fans is making their way to the field in the back ground.  We met Paraguay fans who'd driven 11 hours from Maryland to watch the game.

We've gotta back track!  I forgot to get pictures at all the hard Rock cafes in the other cities!

The Ryman is the hall credited with the dubious distinction of the birthplace of bluegrass in 1945.

This group of guys from home flew to Detroit, rented a van and followed the Canucks on this road trip.  They made watching the warm up very fun.  We felt like we were with family.

Guess which Sedin.

Hint #1

Hint #2

If you still don't know, I'm sorry for bothering you, but they'll probably be 1,2 in the scoring race this year, and for me it was the biggest honour to see them up close.

The equipment manager called Jake and James over to the glass at different times to reward their fanaticism with an Ehrhoff and a Salo stick.  A great day just got way better!

Game on!

We won 3-1 with an empty net goal, and the third period was worth the drive.

On our way out we joined the crazies in a rousing rendition of our anthem.  I heard one of the preds fans say, "I hope their bus crashes."...........What fun!

It's nice to be able to blog without talking... 

...I may not have my voice back for a while.

The Road to Nashville

Louisiana: At Chicot State Pk there was lots to do and see.
These are the two main trees that grow in the swamps and give the landscape a very distinct appearance.  The twisted one is the tupelo, and the one on the right is the cypress.

There's enough poison ivy in this forest to keep you from enjoying frolicking off the trail.

                                                                            

We had hoped to see a rattler or a cottonmouth, but this little non venomous dude will have to do.  There are lots of these lizards here.  I walk right by them, but James spotted five of them this morning.

The bike trails at Chicot were better for running than for biking, as this ride turned out to be more of a bike hike.  22 mi. around the lake, but we bailed out early.

There were plenty of these harry little guys around.

Chef Janna making Saturday's breakfast......

..pancake ala caterpillar.

When you meet the right kids you may get an electric scooter ride.  I told Jake it was pink so he couldn't ride it.............. That didn't slow him down.

Frank gave gator rides to the kids.

On to Vicksburg, Mississippi, the site of the most costly battle of the Civil War.  This fort was on a high point above the Mississippi River, which was a major supply route helping the Confederate war effort.  The blue signs on the 16 mile driving tour show the Union positions.  The red signs show the Confed's.

If James were a Union soldier he would have succomed to friendly fire early on.

There are monuments everywhere in this park, but none are neater than this one for the Illinois regiments who fought.  Echoes bounce around inside for more than five seconds, so we felt like we were in a monastery, so we sang the doxology because it's the slowest song we know, and when there's that much echo you've got to do something.

It was here that the first black soldiers were recognized as more than capable.  A law was finally passed to allow them to formally enlist, and within a short time 20 000 men were added to the Union's forces. Major Gen. Ulysees S. Grant led the Union charges and was turned back time and again from December 1862 through June 1863.

On July 4th General Pemberton surrendered because his men were dying of starvation and sicknesses.  20 000 Americans died here and 13 000 had to be buried as unknown.  This national cemetery holds soldiers who died in battles right up to the Korean Conflict.

On a lighter note, Vicksburg is also the place where Coca Cola was first bottled in 1890 something.

It's a cool museum where we only stayed long enough for a few pictures.

Tupelo, Mississippi.

Elvis at 13.  If I was holding my guitar this picture would be way cool so pretend with me.

This was the actual home Elvis was born in in 1935.

His first church was pentecostal........  I think He'd have been better off in an eternal security church.

Trace State Park near Tupelo has amazing sites and sights.........

..

......and 18 holes of frisbee golf.

All of us hit the water except Jake today.

We always check out the play grounds for a game of grounders.

We drove north to Nashville on Sunday after church.  On that 4 hour drive we left late spring  and arrived in late winter.  It's not quite freezing, but whoa does it feel cold.  Whenever I feel this cold I phone Edmonton to keep things in perspective.

Tomorrow night should be good.  We get to see our league leading Canucks take on the Nashville Predators.  Six can go in Nashville for the cost of one in Vancouver.  We'll probably check out the Grand Ole Oprey while we're here too.

Leaving Houston

We took way too few pictures in Houston, but we got to mountain bike, play tennis, volleyball and soccer, and just generally have a lot of fun with Trevor, Jodi, Emily and Jade.  We went to the Houston Rodeo on Wednesday night and it's quite a production.  The Reliant Center is an indoor stadium which seats 75 000 people, so we were a little further from the action than in San Antonio, but it was an excellent rodeo.  We headed out Thursday to Louisiana and we're enjoying the state parks here.
Pictures won't load at this site, but there will be a bunch on the next post.

Back to Houston

On our way out of Big Bend we stopped at Del Rio and we got to watch these planes practice landings and take offs for about half an hour.

 

The men doing a little trailer maintenance.

Cardinals become common place, but they're still very difficult to get close to.  Over in Luling the animals were not hard to get close to.  This was the most amazing mauling, I mean petting zoo we've ever seen.

Janna had a knack for holding the little squealers in a way that they would settle down.

James became a safe barn for at least 10 animals, and other kids started bringing more to him.

We stayed at Palmetto State Park which was full of these Dwarf Palmettos.  It was a beautiful place for running and biking trails.

On to Brazos Bend State Park.  We counted 50 alligators during a walk along two little lakes.  There are almost 300 alligators in this park, and they're only counted once they are over 6 ft. because under 6 ft. are still considered prey for other alligators.

 Running around the lake one warm muggy morning, Yvette and I heard two alligators roar.  It was much like hearing thunder in the distance.

This 3 footer was hard to spot.

This 7 footer was easy to spot.  

It's a lot more comfortable to walk by one of these guys in the water than when they are facing you on the path with their jaws open.

What ever kind of ducks these are, they carry on like monkeys and make you feel quite like you're being laughed at.

Back at the campsite we were treated to a little Romeo and Julliet.   Jake was the nurse and had to say, 'Oh lamentable day'.

At the visitors center we got as close as we'll ever get to an alligator and a tarantula.

We were invited to a crawfish boil in Houston.  When Jake saw the pork his appetite failed, so he mostly watched the rest of us pig out.

 

My nephew, Trevor, did the carving.

Jodi, Emily and Jade showed us how to eat crawfish.

It's almost time to move on, but first I must tell you about hunting blinds.

You can buy these at most hardware stores in Texas.  Hunters climb into these to become invisible to the prey they are after.  This raises a few questions for me.  Do blinds have air conditioning?  What are they trying to blend with?  Are deer blind?  Are deer armed?  Why are some blinds bright pink?  Can you  get a blind with indoor plumbing?  If you put in 3 hunters how long will the oxygen last?

At least in Big Bend this has to give the deer a sporting chance.  If the hunter does not die of heat exhaustion and the deer does not recognize the outcropping as something unusual, then the deer deserves to die.

We are all having lots of fun on the road still.  Everyone in missing our friends, but we're looking forward to meeting our folks in the Maritimes.