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| Because everything is bigger in Texas, Papa looks very large next to this Volkswagen in Gatlinburg |
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| A popular North Carolina treat: Cheerwine, which is actually cherry soda |
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| Had to try Yoohoo, per Brandy's suggestion. I'm sure we took a photo of me with Cheerwine (a cherry soda dating back to 1917) . . . . |
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| Nachos at The Lab in Asheville, North Carolina style: homemade chorizo , smoked beans, and gouda cheese. Very, very good! |
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| Do you see the two beetles among the mushrooms? |
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| Such a strange tree in the forest! |
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| A centipede and a beetle saying "hello," we hope |
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| Papa at Rainbow Falls. We made it! |
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| The Rainbow Falls hike was 5.4 miles round trip. We only made one mile per hour on the 2.7 miles up, but managed to hike down in 1.5 ours. |
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| Sunning on a rock at Rainbow Falls |
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| If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is around, does the tree falling make a sound? I think the lesson is that it takes two to hear: one to emit the sound waves and one to receive them. We did not hear or see this tree fall. Too bad! It would have been memorable! |
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| Papa on one of several bridges we crossed. |
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| So green and lush! Papa told me that the Great Smoky Mountains get about 80 inches of rain a year, qualifying the woods as a rain forest. |
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| At Rainbow Falls, so called because at certain times of day sunlight creates a rainbow in the mist. |
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| Bubbles! |
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| Mya on the seesaw with neighbor Eli |
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| Marley takes a drink from the wading pool |
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| Mya and Papa at the wading pool |
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| River on the deck |
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| Mellow Mushroom, revisited. We used Papa's photo under this door from March 2011 for his 60th birthday party invitation. |
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| Come on, Mya! |
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| Mya and River |
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| River |
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| Brandy, River, Mya, Ryder |
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| I wish I could remember the name of this park. It was so beautiful! It DID have a "Texas Street." Mya and I waded in the icy water and found shiny rocks. |
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| Almost matching toes. I told Mya with both had pink toes, but she informed me that hers were pink and mine were purple. |
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| Papa and River |
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| Mya, River, and Brandy |
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| You know you're River's friend when he shares lunch with you |
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| We stopped at the Llano River on our way to Tanya's vineyard: April 28, 2012 |
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| First time to plant grapevines. Tanya and her husband Harold have a vineyard between Llano and Mason, about 90 miles from Austin. |
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| Are those pink toenails, Mya? You will be 4 on Cinco de Mayo. We'll celebrate with a Mya-rita (yet to be invented. I think it must be pink. Any ideas?) Someone once told me that when you are the same number of years old as your birth date, that is your Golden Birthday. Your Golden Birthday will be in 2013. I had to wait until I was 26 for my Golden Birthday. But nobody has to wait past the age of 31. See you Tuesday! |
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| Making a Popeye face after his bath |
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| Such a handsome young man! |
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| Is this the "orange" train? When I was with Otis in March, he kept wanting to ride the "orange" train. LaWanda and I couldn't figure out which train he was talking about. This is the train at the Portland Zoo. Next time, Otis. |
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| Waiting for the zoo train |
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| I'm guessing Otis is looking at an animal on the other side? Or maybe the animal is looking at Otis. |
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| Sunny Otis in the sunshine. |
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| With fellow judges John Beeler and Tanya Cooper at Tanya's Llano County vineyard on Saturday, April 28, 2012. John and I work in the Austin office of the State Office of Administrative Hearings. Tanya is in the Fort Worth office. Tanya and her husband Harold were in the process of planting 1,200 grapevines. We were there to help out and learn about vineyards. This is their third planting. The first year's planting was lost to deer, who ate the vines down to the nub. Deer fencing solved the deer problem. Last year was year 2, and the vines, planted in mid-May, weren't well enough established to take the drought and record heat. Most of them died. We hope the third planting is the charm. |
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| Papa Tom with a bucket of bare root grapevines. The vines arrived from California and had to be soaked in buckets of water for a few days prior to planting. |
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| John drilled holes with the gas-powered auger. Luckily the acreage had been pastureland ; no tree roots to contend with. And the soil was sandy and loose. Nice! |
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| Papa Tom, planting a vine. We had to line them up with the post, so a shield could be supported by the post to protect the young vine from bunnies and dry winds. Gophers like the tender roots; Tanya has reluctantly poisoned the gophers. Maybe not so reluctantly? She says once the roots are established, the gophers will leave the vines alone. Since grapes won't be harvested for another 4 years or so, the poison used today shouldn't be an issue, she said. |
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| Tanya's brother-in-law Greg, Papa Tom, and John hard at work. Greg added the vine protectors after we planted. |
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| Okay, I have absolutely no idea what Papa Tom did to these carrots to make them so unique! Not exactly pretty, but they were good for juicing. |
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| Invasion of the Body Snatchers??? |
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| Jade liked sipping water and orange juice out of a tiny teacup before dinner on April 23, 2012. |
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| Jade, picking the guitar. Unfortunately, earlier, I didn't see her standing right in front of the amp before the first chord. She was blown backwards by the sound waves! She stood up, a lone tear trickling to her chin, and pointed an accusing finger at the offending amp. But she was okay with playing the guitar, thank goodness. Mya, do you see Jade's Papa Bear? He's just like your Papa Bear, except with reversed coloring. |
