Last Day of the Visit

Skylar riding her bike down our long driveway!
Ella on her bike!
Claudia and Joel watching the girls blow bubbles!! We had a great visit. We hope we'll have more visitors from Arizona!!

Sitting in an Elephant's Footprint

Skylar and Ella fill this elephant's footprint! We couldn't get as close to elephants as we normally would because the male was in his "mating season" which makes him cranky!

The Starrs at the Zoo

I couldn't resist taking another picture of our guests - this time sitting among the blooming violas! This time of the year in east Texas there are blooming flowers everywhere!!! Remember Lady Bird Johnson and her wildflowers? Well, east Texas certainly benefitted from that campaign. The roadsides are a blaze of color right now.

Alligators

I thought this was a good picture of alligators sunning themselves!

Visiting the Aviary

As we entered the Aviary, someone handed Skylar a popsicle stick with birdseed on it. These birds are accustomed to being fed like this. Here Annette is holding a cockatiel.
Then Claudia held the cockatiel. The bird just went from one visitor to the next - very social!
A little finch (I'm not sure) is visiting with Ella.
And then he visited with Skylar, busily eating bird seed from the stick.

A Trip to the Zoo in Tyler

The Caldwell Zoo in Tyler was a good zoo to visit. It is not huge but it is very well maintained. Until 2006 entry into the zoo was free. The entry price was very reasonable and we had a fun afternoon.

The Starr Cemetery

In Texas it seems like there is a cemetery every few miles as you drive on the rural roads. I've been passing the Starr Cemetery for months. So we decided to make a visit since the Arizona Starrs were visiting. John and Susanna Starr were the first folks buried here and that was in 1872. This is a family cemetery and it was very interesting to take a look at their history. Since our visit I learned that the area is called Starr Hill. I believe John and Susanna homesteaded this land.

Fishing at the Lake

These fellows caught a fish while we were watching. There are campsites around the lake. I hope Doug and Marni bring their kayaks when they come - this would be a beautiful place to spend a day. Who knows - maybe I could try kayaking!

Want to go swimming?

This is a shot of Ratcliff Lake. The area with the border is for swimming. The water was clear and inviting - the air was too cool. But a place to return to this summer!

Ratcliff Lake

In the forest is this lake. The forest is beautiful and so is the lake.

The Starrs in Crockett, Texas

On Tuesday of their visit, it was raining in Palestine. So I suggested we take a ride to Crockett, which you've seen before in my blog. About 10 miles from home it wasn't raining. So we proceeded to Crockett, had lunch at the Moosehead Cafe and then headed out for the Davey Crockett National Forest - largest national forest in the state of Texas. First I took a picture of the tourists in front of the Houston County Courthouse surrounded by pansies.

Queen Bees

Todd and Annette were interested in the bees. Here Johnny was showing them some of the queens he is producing this spring.

Fishing in the Pond

Kristin and Johnny have two ponds and a creek on their twenty acres. Here Skylar and Ella are trying their luck at fishing. They didn't catch anything but Kristin and Johnny caught sunfish in this pond last summer.

Cute Puppy

Skylar and Ella playing with a puppy by Kristin and Johnny's pond.

Feeding the Cows

Terry has a bucket full of tubular shaped cow feed.
As you can see, Ella was not at all afraid of the cows. She didn't seem to mind
the cow slobber, either.

Do you know how big a cow's tongue is? Skylar and Ella are up close and personal with it.
Kristin has done this before.
Todd was trying to feed this one, but she knew her "sisters" were over at the trough eating the rest of what was in the bucket and she wanted to join them.

Running Home for Dinner

On March 10th at 11:45 p.m. Todd, Annette, Skylar, Ella and Claudia Starr arrived in Palestine. On Sunday, the 11th we went out to Maydelle to feed our friend, Terry's, cows. These are registered British Whites - they are a creamy white with just a little bit of black. When we got there, they were out in the pature doing what cows do. Terry started whistling and calling and they came a'running!

After - The Floor is Finished

I love the look of the new floor. It gave the house a warm, country feeling that goes very well with our outdoor surroundings.

New Flooring - Before and During the Work

The kitchen, breakfast area, formal dining room and entry way all had white ceramic tile that was really showing signs of wear. So I chose an attractive laminate to cover it. First they put down a thin pad and then they laid the boards.

Across the Red River

I took the pictures of the casinos while visiting the Louisiana Boardwalk Outlet Mall. These pictures of the mall were taken from the parking lot of the El Dorado Casino.

Did Elvis use this dressing room?

He could have!! I had heard that there was a tour available at the Municipal Auditorium so we went inside to check it out. We were the only ones on the tour that day and the ladies took their time showing us around. These dressing rooms are still used today when a performer is booked here. In 1960 Elvis was scheduled for his last performance at this auditorium. So many tickets were sold the show was moved to the county fairgrounds. He performed and the crowd went wild. There were other acts to follow him and the story goes, that to get the crowd quiet so that the other performers could come on stage, an announcement was made that "Elvis has left the building". The halls were decorated with pencil sketches of some of my favorites: Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Dolly Parton, Charlie Pride, the Everly Brothers and Marty Robbins, just to name a few. I loved the tour and hearing the stories that were shared with us.

Elvis Presley and James Burton

In front of the Municipal Auditorium are these statues of Elvis Presley and James Burton. Everyone knows who Elvis is, but I doubt any of you are familiar with James Burton. He was a backup guitarist who accompanied many performers, including Elvis.

Municipal Auditorium on Elvis Presley Ave.

Construction on the Municipal Auditorium started in 1926 and it was completed in 1929. This building was built to honor World War 1 veterans. It was the home of the "Louisiana Hayride", a Saturday night radio show broadcast across the U.S. from 1948-1960. Elvis Presley is just one of the artists who got his start in this auditorium.

The Red River

The Red River separates Shreveport and Bossier City. The color of the water is a muddy red. The population of this metropolitan area is over 375,000. We were impressed with the clean air and riding through the streets of Shreveport what a clean city it is.

Casinos on the Red River

This part of Shreveport, LA is similar to Laughlin, NV - a little slice of Las Vegas. However, in LA the casinos must be in the river. So the hotels are built on the edge of the river and the gambling casino is actually a boat in the river. When you are in the hotel lobby you walk up a slight incline to enter the casino. However, in LA absolutely no one under the age of 21 is allowed in the casino. There are guards posted at the casino entrance to check IDs.

Louisiana Rest Area

As we have traveled around the country we have encountered some utilitarian rest areas and some very pretty ones. This was one of the pretty ones - even in January it was very inviting. I'm sure spring, summer and fall it would be very pretty.

43rd Wedding Anniversary Trip

Sorry for the delay in posting to my blog. I've been experiencing some technical problems, but thanks to my brother, Doug, I believe we have overcome them.

January 25th we celebrated our 43rd anniversary by taking a two-day trip to Shreveport, Louisiana. It's just a two-hour drive from Palestine to Shreveport through some very pretty country. Louisiana is the Pelican State as you can see on this sign at the rest area at the state line.

Brave little chickadee

This brave little chickadee paid a visit to the bird feeder yesterday. If you double click on the picture, you should be able to see him. He has a yellow breast.

Looking for Ice Skates

We have two bird baths and they both look like this. Poor little birds need ice skates!

Icicles on the Bird Feeder

If you look real carefully on the top right side of the bird feeder you can see little icicles. They are longer today.

Snow in Palestine, TX

The white stuff on the roof of the house across the street is snow! This picture was taken yesterday morning, and it is still there! It hasn't gotten above 32 degrees in two days. They tell me we need a freeze like this to kill the bugs in the spring. Anything that kills bugs makes me happy!!!!

Riding the Chopper

Once they got it running, they all had to take a ride, even in the drizzling rain!

A new motorcycle

How many people do you know have bought a motorcycle on e-bay? Joel Scott saw this 1968 "chopper" on e-bay in November. Since the bike was actually in Tyler, TX which is an hour north of Palestine he asked us to go check it out. We did, he bid on it and he won the bid. The fellow in Tyler trailered the bike down here to us and we stored it in our garage until Joel Scott could come and get it. He brought his uncle Doug and his friend, Fred. The left Flagstaff at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night and arrived at our house at 12:30 Wednesday afternoon. Played with the motorcycle all afternoon. We had a fun family dinner and they all went to sleep. Up early on Thursday morning, they loaded the bike on the truck, left here at 7 a.m. and arrived home in Flagstaff at 11:30 p.m. Approximately 2200 miles in 52 hours. They thought it was a great adventure. You can read more about it and see more pictures on Doug's blog.

We had a very relaxing visit with Doug and Marni. Went to see the new house they are building in Strawberry (you can check it out at www.deserthawgs.blogspot.com ) and we played a rousing game of dominos that lasted for several hours on Friday afternoon. It was a fun trip. Much colder than we are used to. It was fun to visit with everyone. Now we're hoping they will come see us and check out east Texas.