Post Cruise - Pre-Holiday !

We are back from our Vacation (from Retirement ?)........and our Livers hurt !  We had great weather and good times.  The Ultimate Beverage Package (Free Booze) was great promo, but it probably made us drink more than we should have................just saying...................

We did make some new Friends, David and Chris, and Pete and Tiffany.  We met them as we were waiting to get on board and hung out with the most the cruise.  Good peeps and good friends.  We even made plans to meet up with them on our trip back up to Montana later this Spring for the Famous Llano Texas Crawfish Boil Weekend.  Here are a couple of pics........

 Pete, Tiffany, Chris, and Dave.

All of us in the Theatre (Not the best pic)

Our first port we went shopping in Cozumel, and then to Margaritaville for a drink.  In the second port, Belize, we went shopping and then to the Wet Lizard where we.................yep, had drinks and some local snacks like Lobster and Conch Fritters and little local meat pies.  All were very good.  The third port, Roatan, our favorite, we went to West Bay Beach and spent the whole day in the sun.  This beach is my favorite that I have been to yet.  I could easily spend a week or 6 there ! 

 My finger and a northern shot of the beach......

 A southern shot of the beach.......

A couple of swimsuit models.......

Here is one of our transport vehicle, The NCL Jade.  The perfect size ship with about 2400 guests and 1900 crew members.......................

We are heading home to Michigan for the Holidays tomorrow and are looking forward to spending time with Family and Friends.  Next blog will be after the 1st of the year.  Until then, Happy Holidays from Bren and I and we are wishing you and yours a great holiday season!  

HAPPY HOLIDAYS !

More to come............................

Beach, Beer, and BBQ !

We are still here at the beach and loving it.  Although we miss our family and friends, we do not miss this !

OR this !  (our recent Houston Trip)

We prefer big surf days like this...................

When the surf is up, they come down from Houston in droves.  This was a Wednesday after a big offshore storm and there were about 100 surfers of all shapes and ages out there.  I guess they call it wave flu !  One guy I was talking to said he could even get my big ass up on a board if I wanted to try.  Maybe another day when the waves are not so big............

Speaking of our last trip to Houston we had the opportunity to visit the Corkscrew BBQ, home of the best Brisket in the Houston area.  Now if you know me, you know I love my Brisket and my favorite to date is the Brisket that Bubba whips up at Lockharts BBQ in Royal Oak Michigan.  BUT, Texas is known for its Brisket and this brisket was suppose to be the best in the area and our initial reaction upon showing up was...............we must be on to something.................................

Yes, that is a line, and there are about 150 people in front of us !  About an hour later, we made it through the front door.................................

Very cool, especially the ceiling treatment..................

Once we made it through to the front of the line we ordered the Brisket and what they called the "Loaded" Sandwich which had Pulled Pork, Smoked Sausage, and Ribs on it,..................

My apologies for the Brisket pic, I was so into eating me some BBQ that I forgot to take a pic 1st.

The Brisket was very good.  Great flavor, Great Crust, Sliced a little thinner than I like it, but very good.  Maybe a tie with Bubba's !!  Then again, I get the Bubba cut when I get to Lockharts !

A Saturday night trip to Lake Jackson had us stopping at a little Bar / Restaurant called the Wurst house.  They are known for their German food and their Beer, all 102 draft beers !!

I had a Dogfish 90 Minute IPA, MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, and a Bourbon Barrel aged beer who's name escapes me (prbly, cause it was not very good).  Only 100 more to try.  They also had a great little blues band playing.  A good time.

I would be remiss not to mention that on the 20th, we had our 33rd Wedding Anniversary !  That means that Brenda has put up with me all this time and we should all stand, remove our hats, and bless this woman.  Thank you sweet heart for the best 33 years of my life and to many more on our new adventure !

November 20th, 1982

November 20th, 2015

Hey, I just realized that I have come full circle on the beard too !!  LOL.

Soooooo, we got a great deal on a Cruise from the Houston Cruise Port (no AIRFARE).  Who even knew that part of Houston was on the water !  Any way we got a 7 day cruise to Cozumel, Belize, and Routan for $224 each........................WITH the full drink package !!  So next Saturday we are off.  After we return we will head back home to Michigan to spend Holiday Times with our family and friends.  It may be awhile until my next post, but it should be eventful.........

I will leave you with a couple of funnies........................

Here's one with the spirit of FREE drinks on the cruise in mind..............................

Then there is this one for my SON..................

Behave, more to come !

Settling into the "Beach" Life !

We have been here at the beach for about a month and are starting to settle in !  Make that relax.  The rain that was pelting us seems to have settled down and mid 70's and sunny are the norm.  In past posts I talked about our "job" here at the beach was to get in better shape, and it seems to be working.  I am at 31# loss since we left on this adventure last April and Brenda is down about 20.  We enjoy walking on the beach, riding our bikes, and working out on the boardwalk.  Our latest challenge was to ride over and back on the island Bridge................................

Down hill is easier than up hill !

It was about an 8 mile round trip ride, both the up hills were pretty hard, but we made it and worked up quite a sweat.


There has been some major progress back at our Son's house that we were helping build this last summer.  Thought I would keep you all up to date..........

This last weekend was the Lone Star Rally.  It is supposedly the 4th largest biker event in the US next to Sturgis, Daytona, and Laconia.  It was just up the road in the Beach / Island town of Galveston.  The four of us (Me and Bren, and Shannon and Debbie, our gracious hosts) headed down to check out the action................................ 

A good time.  As you can see the girls did some shopping.  I guess that is what they get for putting up with us checking out the bikes and cars..................  Along the street they had a booth set up for Galveston Island Brewing Company, and I for one will never pass up a chance to taste locally brewed beverages.  There Citra IPA was excellent.  I went back for seconds.  It is a pretty good duplicate to my all time favorite IPA at the Royal Oak Brewery.  In fact..........

Thursday, after pickleball (in Galveston) we found the location of this brewery and went in for another IPA.  Very cool, small, locally owned brewery.  Cool little tasting room too...............

So as we are hanging out I overhear something about a "secret tap" (the one in the pic above with out a handle).   I waited a few minutes and asked our bar maid "what was on the secret tap these days ?".   She knocked me over with her response.........it is a Stout called Sampson.  It is aged in Four Roses Bourbon Barrels !!  If y'all (texas slang) know me at all, I like Bourbon as much, if not more than beer.  Combine the two and yep you guessed it, Brenda drove home.  It was delicious and reminded me of my favorite Bourbon Barrel Beer, Goose Island Bourbon County.  We also left with a Growler of the IPA as they would not allow me a growler of the Sampson, but we will be back before they are out..........................

 Sampson !

Did I mention they have the coolest urinal ever !  Kinda kool that their beer starts and ends in a keg !

I will leave you with this sign that we saw in downtown Galveston that made us smile..................

More to come !

Rain, Rain, and More Rain !

It all started last weekend with 2 Tropical Lows that then combined with Hurricane Patricia to give us about 11 inches of rain in a 48 hour period !  There were times where I feared we might have to move the rig to higher ground.........

 Angry Waves !

 Wet and winds of about 40 MPH !

 The Front Yard or Moat as we called it !

 It is amazing what a Jeep can go through !

These are streets in "dontown" surfside....................

 Then came Monday !!  Yes, SUN !!

Tuesday afternoon, this showed up on the horizon and as we watched it get closer, we just had to take a ride down to the Jetty to see what the Hell it was !  Vehicle hauler.  Several decks loaded by the ramp on the back starboard side.............................

It is a crazy shaped ship for sure.  Never did figure out where it went or what was going to be loaded into it vehicle wise from this area ? !

Sunrise - Sunset.  We get both here and usually in spectacular fashion.............................

Up !

Down !

Every Thursday we take a ride up the coast to Galveston to play pickleball.  On our way home we found it funny that from the north our rig looks like someone ran it into a house !

Yesterday was Halloween !  We went with our friends / landlords (LOL) down to their Daughters family's home to hand out candy and see there kids costumes.  It was a good time.

Did I mention that it rained here again almost all this weekend, EXCEPT, when it was time for the kids to go out and Trick or Treat..............................

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY !

More to come..................................

Time to head south for the WINTER !

Sooooooooo, Fall is almost over here and the nights are getting crisp so it is time to head south for the winter.........

The leaves are falling quickly.....................................

The park is all but empty !

Time to say goodbye to the kiddo's until the Holidays...............................

My favorite place to relax in between "assigned" tasks, Tony sometimes has to think before we act.....

As Willy Nelson says.....................On the road again !  Texas Bound........................

Sunset somewhere in Wyoming......................................

TEXAS !  We left Polson Montana last Monday, and arrived in Texas on Thursday.....................

1st stop in Texas................Gas Monkey Bar and Grill (Dallas)!  Had a Grilled cheese and Brisket sandwich with smoked gouda cheese !  MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM !

Next stop, the Escapees National HQ and Campground............We spent Thursday and Friday night here with most of Friday spent cutting through bureaucratic bullshit getting our license plates and drivers licenses switched over................Bright and early Saturday morning we were off to Surfside Beach Texas for the next couple of months.  Our good friends Shannon and Debbie have a house right on the gulf and our rig tucks right under it !

Tight fit !  We made in just in time to get set up and watch the U of M debacle.....................

I am glad Shannon and I had each other to console ourselves...............

Bren and I have decided for the next couple of months while we are hanging out here at the beach that "our job" will be working out and losing weight.  Today was day one.  We were pretty creative in the way we used the board walk for some of the different exersizes.  Then a 3 mile run / walk (mainly walking) on the beach.....................Planks suck............................

Pumped up !  LOL

It is beautiful here and we are looking forward to exploring this great little beach town !!

More to come !