Texas & Williamsburg, Virginia Day One

We have been waiting to take this trip with some of our dear friends for a few months now and the time had finally come.....:-). They had graciously invited us to join them on their vacation and we accepted.  We packed and prepared, repacked (or at least I did) and prepared some more.  We headed for Texas for an overnighter before our big adventure in Virginia...:-).  Since their home is like our second home, we know to get comfortable and settle in whenever we come by to visit...:-). And as you can tell, we have NO PROBLEM doing that when we get there....haha....

This time, I used lotion....hahaha

This is our favorite "indoor" room when we visit with them.  I tried to take a panorama view of the room, but it turned out weird....

We started our trek to the airport getting lost a few times because of the construction that seemed to go on for miles.  I'm glad I was not the one driving as I would still be on my way to the airport!

We were ready to rock and roll......

and as you can see, I was getting more excited as time went by........:-)  Yay!!

Our plane was on time which was good.  Earlier in the week, we were concerned that the weather would not be kind to us because of the storm that had passed through the area, but it seemed that was going to be well afterall......:-). 



We decided to grab lunch to take onto the plane with us instead of waiting to be served this time which worked out better.  Although, I was not impressed with the sandwhich.  The bread made me think I was going to have to use a stick of dynomite to get it out of me if I ate it all, so I at a small piece of it and the "innerds"....

 

It was a short flight compared to some we have been on, but I was glad to be off of it when we landed.  The seats always seem too small for a gal my size.  Chris has long legs so you can tell he was happy to get out of the seat as well.....:-).

We headed to the car rental where our friends had reserved a car........

We were at our destination and while they were gettting things together with the car rental business, I snapped this picture to remind myself that I had not been here for almost  twenty years......:-)

When we walked through the  parking lot, I couldn't help but notice some of the signs that were on the cars......hahaha

I cracked up laughing!  haha

and my friends were swiftly leaving me!  I had better catch up.......:-)

Chris was designated as driver since he has a built in GPS system that will put a Garmen to shame!

 

 The Kings' Creek Plantation and Resort........Now, I gotta tell ya, being an African American woman, I wasn't too keen on the idea of visiting Anybody's plantation, but since it was followed up the word "resort" I figured..... how bad can it be???

We got checked in and made our way to our residence for the week.....:-).  Cool- eh?

after we got there, we still had things to do like grab dinner and find a store to get some things for breakfast since we had a fully equipped kitchen. We grabbed a couple of more pics, took our luggage to our rooms and headed right back out again.  By now, it was pitch black outside.

This is our room for the week.......there is a full bath to the left......each room has a full bathroom and there is a half bath down stairs as well.

The kitchen........

the back porch which faces the woods.  Of course I will have better pictures when the sun comes up again.......:-)

off to find some food!  We all agreed on seafood......yummm.....:-)

From what I could tell, it was very beautiful outside.  

these are the front doors to the resturant..........

and I passed this on the way there......:-).  Its harvest time!

Chris went to park the car and catch up with us..........

Well, since it's a seafood resturant, might as well go for broke! hahaha

Chris looks like he was trying to decide where to start.........

The decor was beautiful....decorated with lovely colonial paintings and knick nacs...:-).
None of us had been here to eat before ......

and the buffet bar looked like ships! 

ahhhhhhhh,  nice.......:-)

 after snapping all of the pictures that I dared, it was time to put down some desert....
I didn't make it!  I was tooo full from all of the seafood I had eaten.......but I did manage to squeeze down a bite of bread pudding.....:-).

then, I had the amazing after thought of snapping this before we left........

Have you ever seen a resturant like this??  There is a lighthouse right in the middle of the room...haha....:-).  Cool eh?

Well, one last snapshop of the ship, and then it was back to the vacation home.....:-). 

Where it was time to get into some pj's, update my blog and catch up on the news and get some sleep.  I'm looking forward to taking some picks in the day light.......:-)


Stay tuned!!

The Slaying of The Dragons!

What a day this has been!  Up early and down the highway to meet some friends for brunch and have a good old fashion "chin wag" about...well, whatever we wanted to talk about.
Since neither of us had ever been to this place, we decided to try it out....

I have no idea why a train was sitting outside...ha.  I guess so that people could say "I don't know why on earth a train was sitting outside".....hahahaha

There seemed to be a line up from the resturant clear to Cincinatti, but we fortunate that we were able to be seated 30 minutes later with our friends.....:-).  It has been a year since we had a visit.

I ordered coffee which didn't hit the spot for me at all and the lady kept bringing it!  hahaha.  I'm spoiled now that I use a french press.  Everything else taste weak to me now..:-(.

And then there was brunch.  We were sitting right by the door and it was rather chilly out.  Needless to say, half of my food was not eaten as it got cold before I could get to it......:-(.

After our visit, Scootard and I headed downtown in hopes to be able to finally get a pass to the national parks....only to discover that the building is not open on the weekends.  I was sure they were open on Saturday.   Perhaps they changed their hours to save money..?  Who knows.....:-(. 

So, we decided to ride around and take a chance at a tour of the state captital. It reminds me of the White House.  But alas!  It's only Oklahoma.. Notice..no cars.......foiled again! ugh!  oh well.....what else can we see today?...

Downtown looked like a ghost town; which was strange to me for a Saturday.  But I haven't lived here full time since 2008.  So, I guess things changed between visits...

Down the street from the VA hospital were these medivac helicopters.  The last time I was in a helicopter was over 20 years ago as part of my military training.  I was glad I didn't have to jump out of that thing!

then we drove over to Scootard's favorite store.....:-).  Bass Pro Shops is a lot like Cabela's.  We don't have either in Canada.  Pity.....

 They have some of the strangest things.....outside......

and inside........

He ain't real........

I decided to strike a pose remembering the sharpshooter that I used to be in the military....complete with my Davey Crocket hat........jazzy eh? 

oh dear.......if I EVER look this bad......just put me out of my misery!

Scootard trying to climb inside a "getaway car"......haha.  Doesn't he look mischievious!

yep.... a plane hanging from the ceiling........:-).  Strange.....

We decided to head back to our own city so that I could try out my AirHawk which I had just purchased a couple of days ago.  It had been to windy to ride.  So, it had been sitting in its box for a couple of days.  I figured riding for about 20-30 miles should tell me whether it was going to be a dissappointment or not.  So, we headed back up to the mountains taking the long way around.  But first things first.  Off with the lamb's wool and on with the Airhawk.

Then Scootard decided to test out the lamb's wool for himself..... Not that he had monkey butt or anything.....he just wanted to see how it was......:-).

He is "Ms Vickey" with her new duds.........:-).  We shall see how it works out......

We started toward Ft. Sill Army base where I was stationed several years ago and took the highway from there......

After braving the brisk highway, we arrived at the first "dragon that I had to slay....FEAR of crossing this bridge!  The last time we came to it, I got off my bike and Scootard rode it across for me.....:-(.  I just couldn't do it!  But this time I decided to slay the dragon!  

Scootard gave me instructions to look at the end of the bridge and aim for "it".....Well, I got half way through and my eyes started darting about looking at all of the splinters and ruts on the bridge......

I screamed all the way across......hahahaha, but I MADE IT!!!  And I didn't have a "dirt nap"!!   YAYAYAYAYA!!!!

When I got to the other side; which by the way felt like it took SEVERAL DAYS, I wanted to throw up....ha.  My stomach was in knots and I had to take very deep breaths to get my composure again.  After several "Way To Go, Baby!!"  from  Scootard and a few chuckles over my expressing my desire to vomit.....we went to get warm and I wanted to "try" to eat something.  I have been to this place often and love the scenary from the window......

Nice -eh?......:-). This is the view from our table.

Now, I have always been intrigued by two trees growing smack dab in the middle of the floor!

my hands were very cold even though I had on gloves with liners.  So, the first order of business was to get something warm for my hands and for my nerves....ha

I ordered the grilled trout with broccoli, salad and rice pilaf......it was "ok"......

It started to get dark and since some of the roads aren't the best, we decided to get going.  Besides, I couldn't finish my food anyway because of my queezy stomach.....:-(.  We boxed it up and headed toward home.....at which point, I realized that I had also defeated the "monkey butt" syndrome......yay!!  That was the second dragon that had to be vanquished!   

 We arrived home after dark, but my stomach was settled and my butt no longer screamed "Get Me Off Of Here"!  

The dragons have been slain! 

It was sooo cold when we left that my figures went from cold, to hurting, to feeling warm while traveling at 70 miles per hours in 44 degree weather.  I knew that "warm" feeling was the first sign of hyporthermia and that we needed to get home fast.  But the rest of me was ok......I since I had failed to pack my insulated pants before we came, I had put some thick pajama bottoms on under my jeans and chaps before leaving the house......

and believe me, they saved my bacon on that brisk ride back!  My toes are curled because they are feeling a little chilly after my all day adventure.....:-)

Now, I'm back home...."chillin"....no pun intended...haha