Friday, June 28, 2019

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home. Thoroughly enjoyed our trip through Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas but it was nice to be home with the Hubby, Lilley and sleep in my own bed.
I think Pamela was happy too. She got to cuddle with her pups. She captured some nice Rock'n K pictures. David has been busy planting trees, building raised garden beds, and planting some veggie plants.
 Jerry came up to the fence requesting his jaw to be rubbed. He's such a charmer when he wants to be. I also think he likes his picture taken. Pamela was trying to catch a picture of the dogs but caught Jerry peeking through the fence at her and the pups.

He and the pups have some sort of relationship. Nose to nose. LOL Through the fence of course. Pamela hung out with us till about 11ish but she was ready to get unpacked and rest in her own home.






David asked if I wanted to run some errands on Saturday morning (6/1) with him and off we went. He had been telling me of this place he saw when he went to get some rock that we needed to go check out so this is where we ended up at on our outing just about lunch time.
photo from  Edge General Store FB

Such a cool place. The young lady behind the cash register gave us the tour and history along with future plans for the place.
The Edge General Store was built back in 1907 but was abandoned in 1967 until 2007 when Ron and Teresa Bordeau bought and remodeled the place.

When the store was shut down they just locked the doors and walked away. Everything was left on the shelves and the current owners 40 years later saved everything and proudly display it on shelves around the walls. They have preserved some of the history. We had lunch there. Mouth watering burgers on jalapeno buns. Not Keto but oh my goodness. Now we tried to save where we could.... LOL... We got a German chocolate dessert. It was made Keto and it was really tasty.  They did have other items on the menu but the burgers caught our eye.  They have a big back room where you can have a gathering. They had just hosted a graduation party I think it was. They used to have live music but ran into issues with needing to pay licensing fees for the singers singing cover songs. Did you know that churches also have to pay licensing fees to sing the songs from the hymenal. I didn't.
The store also has Steak night on Saturday's starting at 5:30pm. If I remember right for $21 you get a like a 20oz steak with sides. Wow. To date David and I haven't made it back to try it out but everyone sitting around us said it was delicious and you don't want to miss it. You can call ahead to save a plate if you're running late.
Inside you will find some unique gift items and clothing. They also have displayed the original store ledger and found on one of the pages where Teresa Bordeau's dad did some business back in the day.
The current owners have taken an abandoned store and saved a historical site. They have rebuilt the front porch and added a bathroom.
They've bought a house just down from the store and turning it into the Creek's Edge Retreat. Perfect for those quick getaways or maybe a wedding venue or even stay there when attending a fighting Aggie Game. Between the house and store they are in the process of building a wedding venue. The framing is up. This place is really cool. You'll find it off 974 and Edge cut off road. About 20 minutes NE of Bryan.
When we get home I find Jerry laying amongst the wild flowers. All relaxed and enjoying life.

He can be such a pretty boy.









The girls came to spend the night and play with Lilley. And they do play hard plus running with Jerry. When they come in the first thing they do is lay on the cool concrete. I'm sure it feels good on their tummies.  Brianna is such a pretty girl but she can be loud.

And Sophie has such a teddy bear face. She's our little pillow princess. Trust me after her tummy cools off she finds the pillow on the couch to rest her head.  And Lilley is our pretty lady.  She always looks so innocent but the looks can be deceiving.

I took the girls home Tuesday (6/4) when I went to pick up Pamela so we could go visit Mom. We picked her up so we could go to lunch at the Whistle Stop Tea Room in Tomball and go get her hair trimmed and shaped up. 
With her tummy full we went to see Brittany so she could work some magic on Mom's hair. I've never seen it this long. One day she'll say it's so long and that it's driving her nuts then a couple days later she'll be saying she kinda likes her hair longer.
This could be rough. But it went smoothly.  She said she wanted lots of it cut off then she'd say well maybe not so much.  LOL I wouldn't let Brittany take it too short this time just to make sure Mom was okay with it. The big thing is to give it some shape.
Once Brittany was done Mom didn't stop looking at it or playing with it.  Whew!  It could have gone either way. But when I asked her to turn around she had the biggest smile on her face. She liked it. She called me the next day to tell me how much she liked it but maybe next time we could go a little shorter and especially around her face.  Her hair naturally tends to fall into her face.  It was nice making her happy. Pamela and I did good and Brittany did great!
My sister-in-law Lynn joined the ranks of the retired while Pamela and I were out running the highways in May. I asked her recently how it felt. She said right now it just feels like she's off for the summer since she's always off in the summers.  She's She was a teacher in CyFair ISD. Same district I retired from.  I'm sure it will sink in by August when she would be going back on contract.  Congratulations to her on a job well done on trying to educate the youth of today.
Are you ready for another trip? It's a quick one. This time it's me and David... But more on that on my next post.
Until then....Live every day as if it were your last, because one of these days, you’ll be right… unknown 










Thursday, June 27, 2019

That's it Folks Time to leave Missouri and Kansas. Heading home.

Friday (5/24) is our last full day of adventures with Hannah. She's been a great activity director and host. Stella didn't want us to leave her. Such a pretty baby.
We head out for our last full day of adventures. We have to head home on Saturday.   When we we arrive in Weston and we head to the Tin Kitchen for lunch.




We got there just in time. There was plenty of tables, booths and one big long community table available and we grabbed a booth. Just after ordered the crowd arrived and kept pouring in.

With our tummies full we headed for O'Malley's/ Weston Brewery. O'Malley's is deep down in a basement. I don't remember how many flights of stairs there were, only one very steep ramp with lots of turns.  We finally hit bottom, deep underground. It rather chilly down there.  It was a pretty neat place. Too bad we can't say the hospitality was there.
Friends having a beer. We were the only ones there. The bartender wasn't overly friendly. I think we were interrupting her movie she was watching when we got there or whatever she was doing when we got there.  Of all the places we have been this week this was the only place that was just kinda blah. I mean she wasn't unfriendly but bartender lacked personality or maybe it was me. Either way that didn't detour us from enjoying ourselves.
 We went above ground to find sunshine and heat. Especially since we were in underground cellar. A couple blocks toward the Main St we find this cute little purple building called the Weston Wine Co. This has to have been the friendliest place we've been. The guy serving the tastings decided to give everyone free tastings. He was funny, friendly and very entertaining. He managed to memorize everyone's name there. There was 8 of us he was serving. I figured he wouldn't be able to remember who was who when we moved around but nope! He remember our proper names even when not sitting in our original stools. Great sign outside.

 Drink up girls we need to head down the road to our next stop, Pirtle Winery. Our next stop was around the corner only when we went in there was no one downstairs tending bar. We saw people on an outside balcony but no one downstairs and we couldn't figure out how to go up. No one came came down to check. We could have helped ourselves if we dishonest but we didn't so instead we headed down the road to the Holladay Distillery.

Did I mention that all of the tastings have been $5 for 5-6 wines/beer/whiskey and at this distillery the tastings were free. After a few tastings we all ordered a drink and sat outside on the patio. 

Pamela spotted this cute little bunny. As she talked to it, it began to watch her. It probably felt safe since we we up on the deck separated by railing. It's the Wine-o Bunny.
David benefited from the place with bottle of Whiskey. He hasn't tried it yet but I know he will. I found a T-Shirt and a bottle of Irish Creme and Chocolate liqueur so I could make the drink I was drinking there.

From here we headed back into Kansas City, Mo to Amigoni Urban Winery ..  Hannah called her friend Angela and co-worker at an architect company to see if she wanted to me us. Angela came with Hannah last when came to visit. And she joined us. 
Pamela got a shot of the KC skyline. They say it will start raining later that evening. hmmm 
The winery mainly served dry wines. Not my fav. I like at least a little bit of sweetness.
I'm not a wine a connoisseur but I like what I like.
Photo via Amigoni Urban Winery FB
I found a table to have a seat. I passed on the wine tastings. Pamela bought me a glass of wine she thought I'd like.  She's so sweet. A lady asked if she could sit at the end of the table while she waited on friends. I said sure and we talked while the girls tasted wine. Then they decided to have a glass. I tried to text my childhood friend Mary Jane but never heard back. I was hoping she could join us for a while.  Found out after we got back home there was a reason I didn't hear back. I had a bad phone number. Damn. Next time I get back that way I'll make better plans. It's been a few years now since we've seen each other. Next time.
Anyway Amigoni has a very nice tasting room.


Hannah had one more place for us to visit and Angela joined us there too.  Not sure how we got there but  we did.

Boulevard Brewing Company. Cool place especially when you get off work and want to avoid Friday evening traffic home.

Angela was a hoot. The girls did a couple of tastings and a glass of beer.
  

  Time flies when you're having fun.
While sitting there the weather fell apart. It was pouring out and guess who didn't have an umbrella. Actually Pamela was the only one who brought one in.





We were in need of food and Hannah knew of a good Mexican Food restaurant near her house but we needed to finish our beers and get going.  Pamela told her to drink faster so as Hannah tipped her glass back to chug I sang a chugging song that made almost blow beer everywhere and start laughing. She wasn't expecting me to sing a sorority song for chugging.  LOL. I was in a sorority while in college so yep I knew the song. Can't sing worth a damn but I know the song/chant.

Well the rain was coming down and Hannah decided she and I would head to the restaurant called I think Mi Ranchito while Pamela went to Ladies Room. As we headed out Hannah grabbed Pamela's umbrella. Not that it made much of a difference. When we got to the restaurant we had to wade in water ankle deep. The restaurant was really good.  We're done for the day and head back to Hannah and Phil's place. And that's the end of us till morning.

Saturday (5/25) Our fun must come to an end but before we leave we go to brunch at cafe not far away from Phil and Hannah's house. My sister Jerri Lynn, her husband Kevin and my nephew Josiah join us.
They were heading to my great niece Maren's 1st birthday party.

She is definitely enjoying that cake. LOL

 She is such a cutie. Hate that we had to miss but the highway home is calling our name.
We need to wrap things up and head down the road to hopefully avoid any nasty weather. It was great seeing everyone and visiting. Just not enough time to see everyone.
I can't believe I missed so many photo chances. I'm BAD. Got too involved with the visits and hugs.
Before we could get on the road Hannah and Phil took us to one more Winery on our way out of town called KC Wine Company Pretty neat place out in the middle of nowhere . Well not really but Siri took us on the long path to the winery. LOL.
I thought Pamela or I had more pictures of that last stop but I only found a couple. 
There was already lots of people there. Live music was setting to start and the food trucks were serving up some tasty lookin' foods.
Everyone seemed happy with their food and wine.
I came away with a bottle Vidal Blanc. 
My car now looks like we're getting ready to open up our own bar. I mean Neither of us want to find ourselves short of wine when we have guests.  LOL like that will happen.
Of course I couldn't leave without at least a picture of the winery truck. It's almost 2pm when we got back on the road to head to the Rock'n K but I was determined we'd be home soon and drove straight through.

 
Can't thank everyone enough for their hospitality....Barbara, Cresia, Hannah and Phil. Y'all were awesome. These guys showed us a good time and the sights. 
Hannah and Phil will be in Texas In December for a wedding and we're already thinking of where we can take them when they're not at a wedding. And Maybe Angela if she decides she can get away.
We were very lucky in our travels to avoid the bad weather except Friday night with all the rain but really that was it. 
We hit Oklahoma City around 6:30pm Saturday the 25th the bad weather was supposed to hit around 9pm. We found the next morning that a tornado hit. Then Hannah and Phil had tornadoes on miles away from their house. I tell you we had a Guardian Angel on our dashboard and shoulder.

 My niece Melissa sent Pamela and I a Picture of Maren for her 1 year mile marker photo.


Aww Maren is sitting on the quilt I made her. 'Love Notes'


Again another big smile. I swear she always has the biggest smile.
So does her big brother Beckett.  LOL of course I know my Niece Melissa and Nephew Jeremiah see plenty of frowns and tears but all I see is smiles.  Works for me.



Pamela and I arrive home at 12:22am Sunday the 26th safe and sound. I started getting tired when we hit Waco but we only had an hour to go and I wasn't stopping.

Home Sweet Home.

Until next blog....  “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the trip.” – Babs Hoffman

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Time to save some Wine.

I realized that Hannah lives in my old neck of the woods. I lived in Overland Park Kansas for about 3 years. I saw the High school I would have gone too just down the street from her house. Things have grown so much since I lived there. I recognized street names.
We all get up Thursday (5/23) Morning. Hannah has cooked us scrambled eggs and french toast. Too sweet and tasty.  Our first stop is somewhere in Kansas City, Missouri. LOL Yes I drove but I just followed the directions to get to Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant. After our tasting we decided to go have a drink and shared a dessert because our next stop might need this liquid courage and something in our tummies.  A S’MORE BUDINO
A little toast for friendship and our next adventure.
So it's time to head to our next destination. Are you ready for this? I mean I wasn't sure if I'd actually do or not until we got there and I thought 'What the Hell'  Our next stop was Hannah's tattoo parlor. Yep the girls were going to get their 2nd tattoo together of wine glasses and they convinced me to get one.   Nope I wasn't afraid.

I went first so I wouldn't chicken out but I doubt that would have happened.   When Pamela told David I was going to get one, all he said was 'a Tattoo huh?'  End result came out pretty good. The only time it kinda smarted was when the tattooist started coloring in the wine but not unbearable.
 End result. I think I surprised Pamela and Hannah that I actually went through with it.
I got my courage from a former co-worker who also had recently got a tattoo. Her name is Letty and I call her the Butterfly Whisperer because she raises Monarch butterfly's and releases them once they bust out of the cocoon. So cool.
Now it was Pammy's turn.


The girls were getting them on their ankle. To me that might be more painful.   Cute! Wine glass with her initial 'P'.

From here we headed to another winery called The Stone Pillar to celebrate our tattoo's.

When we got there Hannah's boyfriend Phillip greeted us with a bottle of wine.  Thanks Phillip.  I think he may have had to drink most of it because we drank our glass and then had a tasting. And the we got a wine slushy. mmmm  Very tasty and refreshing.




These girls are so silly and fun.  Pamela got a picture of me showing off my new tattoo while taking a drink.
Phillip left us to finish up our drinks while he went to pick up a pizza and meet us at home. It was very yummy.


We were hungry. There wasn't a slice left.

Then we watched a movie called 'Wine Country'  It's a movie about 6 gals who have been friends for years that decide to go on a vacation to the wine country to celebrate their friends 50th birthday. It's a trip they won't forget.  It was pretty good and it made you laugh.

That's how we ended the day watching a movie and TV. Hannah had a big day planned for us on Friday.

Friday morning came and as I type this I don't remember what we did for breakfast but we headed to a cute little town called Weston for lunch, wine, brewery and distillery fun.
I'll have to finish  this journey blog later. Typing about all the stuff we did has made me tired. LOL  Yes Shirley W. I do get tired. LOL

Until my next post....“It doesn't matter where you're going, it's who you have beside you.”   

And this time it was my daughter/navigator.