The cat was actually quiet all night so we were able to sleep until past 7:00 this morning. We got ready and decided to go to the zoo today. I wanted to go to the zoo in Houston but then I read that the San Antonio Zoo was one of the country’s top zoos, so we planned to go while we were here. It really was a very nice zoo. I took a bunch of pictures. We started in the reptile house [lots of snakes, but I won't put any of those up here :)]

Then we continued to walk around to see the monkeys. One monkey even squeezed out of the netting and was swinging around outside of his cage (last picture)

The africa exhibit is huge, and under construction to make it even bigger

There were some bears

This zoo has tons of birds

There was a very small aquarium

And since we missed the butterflies at the Natural Science Museum, I paid an extra dollar to see the butterflies

Then there were some other animals

After the zoo, we stopped at a HEB grocery store on our way back to the campground. We didn’t need anything but it looked like a brand new store, so we decided to stop and take a look. We had leftover pizza for dinner, then watched a little of the election coverage and a few shows I had recorded. It was an early night as we were both tired.

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We didn’t make it to the grocery store yesterday, so we went today. We didn’t want to drive all the way into Cypress, so we just went to the little grocery in Hempstead. We only needed a few things so it didn’t matter that much, but we are never happy to have to go to these small town grocery stores around here. The prices are high, and they only have the bare minimum for fresh produce and dairy.

So we got back home and I started making some bar cookies from a recipe I found online. I wasn’t super happy with the way they came out, so I won’t link to the recipe I used. They were Okay, and I think part of the problem was our oven, but they seemed very greasy.

Then I wanted to make another recipe I found online for chocolate yeast bread. I followed the recipe, but then I had a few chocolate chips left over, so I just dumped them into the mixed dough. It turned out good, but it actually didn’t need the extra chocolate chips. If I made it again, I wouldn’t add them.

At around 5:30 I started making a big batch of mashed potatoes. We are going to a going away/birthday potluck tonight. Linda and David are leaving for their new job selling pumpkins, then Christmas trees in Phoenix. And it was manager Debbie’s birthday. I took the mashed potatoes and the bar cookies. The last time we had a get together, there wasn’t nearly enough dessert, but this time there was too much, so I brought most of the cookies home and froze them…

Thursday we were off as well, but besides a little house work we mostly just relaxed. We made some teriyaki chicken and rice for dinner, then watched a bunch of television.

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We got up early and headed North towards Waco today. It is the opposite direction we will go when we leave here, and there were a few things we wanted to see before we left Texas. Our first stop was College Station–the home of Texas A&M University. The George Bush Library is located here, adjacent to the College. We took our time and looked at all of the exhibits, including family photos, Barbara’s wedding dress, the elections, the gulf war, and beyond. They also had a temporary exhibit area that displayed the space program. When Judy and Kathy were here, it was a baseball hall of fame exhibit, which they both said was their favorite part of their visit…

There was a mock-up of the oval office as well, but that was where the museum took souvenir photos for visitors, and personal photography was not allowed.

Then we continued on to Waco. The main thing I wanted to see there was the Dr Pepper museum. It was interesting, but the actual Dr Pepper museum was kind of small, especially for the $6 entry fee. They also had displays of other soft drink brands, and how Dr Pepper fit in. I guess the best part of it was that the museum was in the actual building where the company started–there is an artesian well in the building that supplied the water, and the original uneven wood floor on the second level. Plus a gift shop

After Dr pepper, we went to lunch. We were near the university, so there were lots of fast food options. We went to Fazoli’s, a fast food Italian place. I had heard of it before somewhere, but we had never been there. I got the Tuesday special which was noodles with half meat sauce and half cream sauce with a slice of pizza and a breadstick for $2.99. Kevin got the same, but just meat sauce. It was not the best Italian food ever, but it was good for the price, and I would eat there again.

Our last stop of the day was the Texas Rangers museum. There was a 45 minute video that we could have waited to see to give more history and facts, but we didn’t want to wait for it to start, then watch a video that long. So we just started on the exhibits. There were lots of guns, then there were more guns, and then some more guns. There were also exhibits on The Lone Ranger, Texas rangers in film and television, and the history of law enforcement, up to present day.

Right across the parking lot from the museum was an old cemetery. It looked interesting from the road, so when we were done in the museum, we walked over there to take a look around. Some of the grave stones were very old, dating from the late 1800’s, but many of them were in disrepair. There was also a section that looked like it was better taken care of, but it was not nearly as interesting as the old area.

After wandering around for a short time–the sun was beating down on us and we had no hats–we headed home. It is about 140 miles one way, so it was a long day and we were tired when we got home. I had planned on stopping at the grocery store to get a few things on the way home, but we decided we will go tomorrow instead…

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Tuesday we were off, so we went into town. We stopped in Cypress and had lunch at CiCi’s pizza buffet, then we drove into Houston to go to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. On Tuesdays, the museum is free after 2:00 pm. And with free parking on the street, it didn’t cost us anything. We went and looked at all of the exhibits, including dinosaurs and fossils, rocks and minerals, and African wildlife.

We also saw an energy exhibit.

The third floor was the hall of the Americas with artifacts from native American tribes ranging from Alaska to Peru. Photography was prohibited there, but we saw blankets, costumes, dolls, and various other items. The seal-gut water proof coat was pretty cool.

I had wanted to see the butterflies exhibit, but it was a separate ticket purchase and the ticket had to be purchased by 4:00, since that part of the museum closed at 5:00. I missed it by about ten minutes. Since we missed that, we spent a while looking around the gift shops. They had a lot of over priced “gifts” relating to the exhibits, but they didn’t even have a decent postcard, so we didn’t buy anything.

When we were finished inside, we went outside and walked around the Sam Houston Statue and the sun dial waterfall at the front of the museum. The black globe is a 5,000 pound ball of granite that spins on a fountain of water. That was kind of cool.

It was getting late, so we made a quick stop at Jack in the Box for drinks, then went back to Cypress to get groceries at HEB. It was dark by the time we got home, so I read for awhile and Kevin worked on the computer. We are off Wednesday and Thursday too, but we don’t have any plans to do anything…yet.

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We got a late start this morning. We didn’t leave for town until almost eleven. So the first thing we did was have lunch. Bob–one of the park owners–gave us a $25 Olive Garden gift card a while back (because we are such awesome employees). We decided to go there. The closest Olive Garden is kind of far from here, but not too far from the Costco we go to. So we had lunch–both getting the never ending pasta bowl. We both ate our first servings, and only tasted our second. I brought mine home, but it was without refrigeration long enough that I probably will not eat it. Then we backtracked a little to go to Target. We got some ant baits, some mosquito candles, some oatgrass for the cat (for Yuma–no grass there), and a couple of other small things. I guess they don’t clear out their outdoor rooms in this part of the country. They were still full price.

Then we went to Costco. We got what we needed, then I went to see if I could get in to see the eye doctor. My contact lens prescription expired and I was down to one fresh pair. I had to wait about ten minutes, but he was able to get me in. He checked everything, and yes I need a stronger prescription, although my close vision is still perfect. The doctor said that would probably change within a couple of years. Wonderful. So I got my prescription and scheduled a follow up appointment for next week, then we went to Randall’s for some groceries. We didn’t need much, but I got some beer, so we still spent around $40.

By the time we got home it was after 5:00, but we weren’t hungry at all. We snacked a little and had some of the ice cream we bought, but we certainly didn’t need dinner after such a huge lunch. Our mail came today so I paid some bills and watched a little TV.

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We have had quite a bit of rain the past few days. The soil here is a heavy clay, so the rain water takes a long time to soak in. Sunday the flooding was the worst we have seen since we have been here. There was so much rain in a very short period of time the whole park was flooded–huge pools of water in the lawns, down the roads, and on the snack bar patio. We heard from another work camper that the new managers were having an open house for anyone who wanted to stop by. Kevin didn’t want to go, so I went with Judy. By the time we got down there, most everyone had come and gone, so there were just a few people there. That was okay, because we got to know the new managers a little better. After that, the rain had mostly stopped, so the cat took me for a walk. I was really tired, so I went to bed early.

We are off today (Monday), and it is still raining, although not as much as yesterday. We went to IHOP for breakfast again, and I ordered the exact same thing. It was that good. After that, Kevin got his haircut while I did a bit of shopping, then we went to WalMart for groceries. Now the cat and I are sitting under the awning watching the rain. It is nice and cool today–only mid eighties. Usually it is too hot to be outside mid afternoon, but it is nice today…

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As you may have noticed, I have not posted anything since last Saturday. Our workdays are mostly about the same every day, and we didn’t do anything special on our days off. We did have a moment when we thought we were losing most of our co workers. There was a rumor that a certain couple was to be promoted to assistant managers. That was a problem for a majority of the people they came in contact with. At least four couples were planning on leaving if this happened. To stop the rumor and keep everyone here, the owners sent that couple to another of their parks Now everyone is happy again. At least for now…

There are a few places that we would like to visit before we leave the Houston area, but August is just too hot to be outside all day. Plus after Labor Day, the park is mostly empty during the week. We should be able to take more days off and do some longer trips away from the park. We want to go down to the Texas coast. We want to go to the zoo. Both of those trips will be nicer when the days are cooler.

Well it looks like we will be wintering in Yuma for sure. We have site 57 reserved, which is right across the street from my Mom’s place. We just have to mail in the deposit, which we will do on Monday. We should both be able to get retail(or whatever) jobs there for the winter, and even though we will have to pay for our site ($450/month + electric), we will make more per hour than we do here so it about evens things out. Then we will look for another work camping job starting around March first.

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