Port A

I love Port A (that's Port Aransas for you non-Texans). My aunt was in town, and my parents had never been to Port A before, so we decided to rent the penthouse for the weekend at our favorite condos, and head down. It's about a four hour drive, which isn't bad, and the beaches are incredible. The weather was a bit windy and chilly, but it didn't matter. It was still gorgeous and we had a great time!

Turtles by a pond at the condos

  

Us on the beach

Mom and Aunt Kathie shelling on the beach

Our home for the weekend... the Sandcastle Condos

Best beach in Texas!

GORGEOUS sunset!

One of the ships coming into the port via the jetties

Us at the jetties... one of our favorite places to just sit watch (or fish)

Shrimpers!

Cali 2008

Ok, so I know I haven't been the best blogger lately, and some of you are wanting pictures of our trip to California, so here you go. We had a great time. Thank you so much Josh and CK. We love you guys and can't wait for you to come home!

Our trip included wine tasting at three fabulous wineries (yes, I've already ordered a couple bottles online), and the Gilroy Garlic Festival. What an experience that was! So much food, and not a large enough stomach! If you're ever in California the last weekend of July, I highly recommend you go to the garlic festival. It was fabulous.

Pics from our trip

I don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan...

I'm sorry, I know I have friends, and Jay has family, that live in Michigan, but we all know that I am an Ohio State child. And I'm sitting here in Ann Arbor, Michigan, right now... home of the University of Michigan... Ohio State's biggest rival. You can probably imagine how I feel. I'm not real fond of this place. But, to make me feel better, I did go and take a picture in front of the stadium giving the thumbs down. He he he. It was pretty cool, if I do say so myself.

We drove from the UP on Monday to Minnesota (604 miles), where we stayed for a day. I got to see where Jay grew up, and where his gramma lives now, so that was pretty cool. She actually lives on a beautiful lake, and the weather was really nice so we spent some time outside. We then got back in the car and headed back to Michigan (another 654 miles). Needless to say, we've spent a lot of time in the car. But, I've also gotten to see part of the country I've never seen before.

Here are some highlights from the drive to Minnesota and back to Michigan:

• Lake Michigan. Another beautiful sight. We followed the west shore for about 150 miles and it was gorgeous.
• Wisconsin. I got a glimpse of the home of the Green Bay Packers. Not a fan of the Pack, but it was still cool.
• Flooded fields. It wasn't as bad as what I've seen in Iowa on TV, but it was still pretty bad. A lot of crops ruined.
• Amish. We saw the tracks for the horse and buggy, and a few miles down there was an Amish farmer using six horses and a plow to plow his field. You don't see that every day!
• Chicago traffic. Gang, we don't have it bad in Houston at all. It took us over two hours to get through the traffic in Chicago. Granted, we were about an hour ahead of rush hour, but still, it was not fun.

From Texas, to Michigan, to Minnesota, back to Michigan, and home to Texas

This is the story of my life these days. We made it to Detroit Thursday, drove to the Upper Peninsula (a.k.a. the UP) and are now driving to Minnesota (eh) tomorrow. Yes, it's a butt buster. And, I have no further comments. We'll just leave it at that.

Anyhow, here's a summary of the UP (Sault Saint Marie) so far.

• The Soo Locks are pretty cool. I've never seen anything so fascinating (ok, maybe I have, but at the time I saw it, it was the most fascinating thing to date). These big, hugs ships and barges, some up to 1,000 feet, enter the locks from either the river or Lake Superior, and the force of gravity lowers them or raises them so that they can be on their merry way. And it all takes about 15 minutes. It really is amazing. There are no pumps involved. The water level raises and lowers after the "doors" in the locks are closed. If you haven't seen it, you need to. It's cool.
• The weather is absolutely fabulous. Highs in the 70s (and sunny... not a cloud in the sky!), lows in the 50s (ok, that part I could do without).
• Lake Superior... how gorgeous is this lake? I wish I could download the photos I took today to show you. The water is three different shades of blue for as far as you can see. The water is cold, um, I mean, freezing, but the lake is still beautiful. We went out and just sat on the beach (yes, they do have sand... not rocks like Galveston), and I got a little sunburn on the face!

That's it. It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here. As we all know... "I don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan..." (your response is...?)