Snow and downtown

Woke up to a beautiful snow fall and about 1/2 inch on the ground.   It snowed all day (up to 5:00) but did not stick to the roads.  Bill and I decided to brave the weather and we drove into the so pretty town of Anderson.  The snow was just lovely coming down steadily.   Walked many blocks enjoying the windows of the stores.....Most were "closed due to inclement weather."  One store visited was Apple Dumplings Antiques.  Found a couple of neat things and had a nice conversation with the owner - a sweet lady.

Ate a warm and fuzzy meal at Doolittle ' s.   Shepards Pie hit the spot on a cold day!  Took some cool pictures.

Waited for Barbara to get home and then we just kept an eye on the weather reports.   Snow all day tomorrow through Thursday morning:  7-10 " and 1/10 inch of ice.  Awesome!!!

Monday in Anderson

Rainy and dark today.  Had a quiet morning and then we picked up our niece, Diana,  and we all went to lunch at Fatz Café.   Really comfortable and quite delicious food.  Then we went to the Publix Grocery to stock up on food for Winter storm Pax.  Jeez Louise,  snow starts tomorrow and then it really hits on Wednesday all the way through Thursday noon.  We may or may not be driving to NC on Thursday since the storm is heading that way.  I'm sad about not being able to explore downtown Anderson.   We drove through it today and it was like stepping back in time to the 50's and 60's.  So cute and quaint. Antique stores, boutiques, cafes. ....nice.  We'll be taking Diana to a doctors appointment in the morning and we could walk around but everything will be closed due to Pax.  Maybe a movie?   Will let you know tomorrow.   :)

Anderson, SC

Well, here we are at Bill's sister's house (Barbara) in Anderson, SC.   We had an uneventful drive from AL to GA.  Atlanta wasn't fun.  Even on a Sunday traffic was heavy!  Really miss seeing mesas, mountains, buttes,  Western terrain.   Are we really back in the east?    It is in the 50's here and sunny.  Expecting Winter weather Tuesday and Wednesday.   Gas prices are $2.96 !!!!!

Had a wonderful night with Barb.....pizza and beer and good conversation!

Traveling East

Dropped Adam at the airport around 6:30 then started our journey eastward.   No offense to Texans but we just weren't impressed with this state,  especially Houston.  Adam lives in a very nice section and I may feel differently if I were there in a different season but all I know is that we were really happy when we left Texas. The highlights of our Houston tour were Adam, Tom and Jerry,  Mr . Peeples, and the Museum.

Our drive took us through Louisiana (lots of water and bridges - saw a real bayou) then Mississippi.   Stopped at the Visitors Center in MS and saw some amazing Mardi Gras costumes and right in front of the Center was a practice lunar lander.  Cool! 
From MS we started going north into Alabama.  Stopped after 9 hours of driving in Atmore, AL.  We are only 0.1 mile from the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel and decided to check it out.   Ate dinner in the Grill Café and then walked around looking at everything.  Anderson, SC tomorrow.

Pictures:
-Mississippi visitors center
-lunar lander
-Wind Creek Casino and Hotel

Last day in Houston

Our last day here with Adam.  After Adam went to work we got in the car and did some last minute supplies shopping for us and for Adam.   Then we had to find a post office - Google maps took us right into downtown Houston which is really crazy driving.   Just like any big city, it has its own weirdness.  After getting turned around we finally found it.  We were so ready to get back to the house and, with bags in tow, we got to Adam's door only to find it locked.   Adam doesn't lock his door so it was unusual.   He is a prankster so we thought he was tricking us.  Bill thought Adam had locked it, Adam thought We had locked it......it was not a joke and poor Adam had to come home and let us in.  Turns out it was the Orkin man  and when he was finished spraying he locked the door behind him.   :-0

So we're all here and it's rainy, cold, and dreary.......yep,  movie time!   Watched a movie and then got packing for tomorrow.   We take Adam to the airport at 6:30am (he's going to Chesapeake to celebrate Livy's birthday-9 days of reunion with his family!).  We will just continue on our journey to SC to visit Bill's sister.  Are we going into  winter weather?   I guess we'll see!

Rice University

Today saw us traveling to Rice University which is only about 5 miles from Adam's place.  We really didn't see the University but walked Rice Village - blocks of little boutiques,  cafes, international food restaurants, fun shops.  The area was beautiful;  trees on each side of the road forming a lovely canopy.   Most of the streets were "canopied. "   It was pretty cold and overcast.   We had sleet and snow this morning which didn't last.

3 miles from Rice was the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  There was free admission on Thursdays from 2-5 only so we saved ourselves $30.00!  What an awesome time!   We saw 3 exhibits:  Hall of ancient Egypt, Butterfly Center (really cool - thousands of butterflies flitting about, plus neat tutorial of insects.   I know!   Who'd have imagined it would be so interesting! ) and the Hall of Paleontology.  That was the best,  seeing life size dinosaurs and being awed.  There was also a little exhibit of Petrified wood which I find fascinating.  

It was a good day and then we had an  enjoyable evening with Adam.  Here's to warmer temps tomorrow.  :)

Pictures:   Streets of Rice
                 Hogs and fish fountain
                  Pretty Butterfly
                   Real dinosaurs
                      Fuzzy pic of pterodactyl
                      Huge piece of Petrified wood
                      Megoladon- jaws are at least 6 feet tall!!!!!
          

Unexpected Wednesday

Started the day with a trip to the ER.  All is well but I was having a problem with my middle finger on my right hand.   I have a cyst on the cuticle and it decided to become inflamed, swollen, and very painful.  I had the greatest nurse - Jerry - and Thomas, the PA!  They had to cut the abscess open and drain it and I will need to get further treatment when we get back.   This body is really falling apart.   I am just going to have to live life well before it completely gives out.  Anyway, Tom and Jerry were so great!   They gave us all sorts of terrific info about where to eat and what to do in Houston.  What a wonderful duo!  Thanks guys!! :)

After we got home Adam was here so he drove us to The Galleria - a very upscale 3-floor mall.  It had an ice rink and huge Food Court on the ground floor and all the stores like Tiffany 's,   Saks, Neiman Marcus were above.   The Westin Hotel was right in the middle and all the rooms and balconies faced into the mall.  It was Cool!

Then we went back to Adam's place to wait until dinner time.   We had reservations at 6:00 at Mr. Peeples restaurant.   We walked about 7 blocks to dinner (cold and blustery night).  This place was just so NICE.  Fine dining at its finest and Roland was the perfect waiter.  He reminded me of Michael Clark Duncan!   All the dishes were perfectly timed and perfectly delicious!   It is a must do......and this is the place that the Houston Texans like to eat.

A truly wonderful day!

Pictures:
-The Finger
-The Galleria - ice rink and hotel rooms
-A neat ramp in Adam's building