Another quiet day...

So yesterday morning I tried laying out with no SPF, which KILLED me to do, but I do think I got a little sun.  Key word there is 'little', but I figure if I do a little bit of time each day, by the time I leave I'll have some color.  But I laid out first thing in the morning, and it was actually nice - I felt the sun, but I wasn't miserable, and there was a nice breeze blowing, so that's when I'm going to lay out from now on.  In the afternoon, Dad set up a hammock for me under the covered part of the porch, AND set up a fan to blow on me - HAHAHA.  Here's my view -

Life is good!!

Near Tragedy

There were dead bugs ALL OVER the front of Hot Tamale, so Mommer and I ran her through a car wash.  Before we went in, she asked if I had a retractable antenna?  I said no, and pulled forward.  As soon as the foam and bubbles started I remembered...DAPPER JACK!!!  So we watched helplessly as he was pitched forward and backward and disappeared in the brushes.  He seemed to be hanging on ok until the last pass, when he was thrown off.  I pulled out, put the car in park, and ran back in to save him from the drain.  Yay!!  He looks a little worse for wear.  Maybe he should be renamed Hobo Jack.

While Mommer and I were safe in the car, I told her the story of how Dapper Jack got his name, and that he just HAD to survive because he was my partner on this roadtrip, and his name was even in the title of my blog!!!  (See, I haven't even told my MOM where to find this - hahaha!!)  She looked at me for a minute and said, 'You know you're weird, right?  You know there's nothing wrong with being normal?"  Hmph.  I replied that I am the most normal person I know...

sunday Sunday SUNDAY!!!

Went to church this morning.  Mom actually asked me if I was going to go to church with them?  Y'all...  That is HUGE.  I didn't know it was an option?!?  Of course I was going!  I may not go all of the time when I'm by myself, but when I'm with family, it's the thing to do.  So I went.  And of course today the Deacon said the sermon and there was LOTS of weird, random singing by the lone guitar player with a really deep voice.  At the end, during the announcement section, the head KofC guy got up with an iPod, and said that for $24, the congregation could donate iPods with pre-loaded Catholic stuff to send to the troops.  Well, during his talk, the 16 year old sitting in front of us got up, genuflected to get on the altar, and said something to Father.  WTF?!  Father nodded, and he got in line behind the KofC guy.  Turns out this SIXTEEN YEAR OLD (he only looked 16; just proves how bad I am at guessing ages) just got back from active duty, and he talked about how much an iPod like this would have meant to him while he was in the field; Mom and I were BAWLING.  Mass ended and Mom tried to talk to him, but initially couldn't!  She finally was able to thank him for his service and tell him a little about Erich - I didn't even try to talk.

Left church and WENT TO WAFFLE HOUSE!!  Yay!!!  Walked in, and not a seat to be had.  No problem, we'll go to the other Waffle House!  Yay!!  Pulled in, not a PARKING SPACE to be had!!  We ended up next door at...Huddle House...  I felt like such a traitor.  The food was near to comparable, but the atmosphere was different.  Clean and open!  In some minds, that might not be a bad thing.  :)  Doesn't matter, since I've already made plans for Blaise and I to go to Waffle House on Thursday.  Just me and him.

After Huddle House, the folks dropped me off at Target while they went to get their haircut.  They had to wait awhile, so Mommer texted me to tell me when she was next in line.  No biggie, I said, I was trying on shoes.  She responded - and I quote - "Please buy big girl shoes!  Not teenager stuff!  Hahaha"  WTF?!?!  Just because she ended with 'Hahaha' doesn't make it all ok!!  So this is what I sent her back -

If you're reading this blog, then you probably know me, and if you know me, then you KNOW that there's no way that I could (or would) walk in these things!!  These are what I had really been trying on (and ended up getting)...

Came home from shopping, 'laid out' for 30 minutes (Joanna said it doesn't count if I'm putting 50 SPF on, which I am), and then Jo and the boys came over.  At first, I got suckered into playing Cop and Robbers with them (there was always only one cop and two robbers).  The parts that were the funniest were when Blaise first realized that - as robbers - Rowen and I were taking too long, so he pretended to sleep; when Rowen (in the cop role) was pretending to sleep but woke up while I was escaping, but he recognized that I was a statue when I froze; and while I was hiding in Mom and Dad's closet (which is the normal place for robbers to hide), I crouched JUST inside the door rather than hiding in the hanging clothes and scared Rowen when he came to investigate.  OMG that still makes me laugh!!!

After 100 rounds of Cop and Robbers, Joanna (bless her) suggested we play Scooby-Doo Sorry, and I jumped at that.  I lost (last place, I think), but I still jumped at it!!

You could only take your initial move if you hit a '6', so Rowen started doing this Zen chanting, meditation-thing to get his sixes.  It seemed to work for him, so Blaise and I tried it.  It didn't work for me.

Yawn!

This entry's probably skip-able, too, but whatever.

First thing yesterday morning, the folks and I loaded up and went to the trash dump - aww yeah!!  The only reason I went is because they were going to Vogelsberg Donuts afterward, so we went, and it's a place Erich likes, and I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE!!  Oh well, just means I'll have to go back.  :)  It was my first time, and I liked them because when donuts were creme-filled, you had two options - the white creme, or the yellow, pudding creme.  I like the white and my mom likes the yellow.  So that was neat.

Next door to that is a frou-frou home decorating shop.  We'd ridden by the day before, and I noticed the neat display in the front window.  This isn't a great picture because of the reflection, but it's a bunch of chairs that seem to be precariously stacked upon each other.  I couldn't see any strings...

Came home from that, and it was time for Mom and I to take the recyclables to ANOTHER dump-type site!  I'm busier here on 'vacation' than I ever thought about being in Walla Walla.  While we were out we also went to the local farmers' market and to look for Georgia postcards; I'm not having ANY luck with those.  Mom also wanted to run into Belk's, but said we'd have to go home and change...I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt?  A) That's what I wear during the summer and especially while on vacation, and B) that's pretty much all I brought!!!

Came home from THAT, and she went to pick things from her garden - she's got a CRAZY garden!!  She got lots of tiny tomatoes and regular-size zucchinis and herbs.  She made real mint tea, which was fabulous.  While she did that, I tried to...LAY OUT!!  I know, I know, it's unhealthy, it's dumb, it's not me, but I'm getting tired of my MOM making fun of my white legs, so I thought I'd try sitting on the porch and reading.  OMG I'm so not used to this heat.  And what a dumb way to pass the time!  But I'm determined to get a little sun before I leave.  This is my view from the porch.

That's my mom doing manual labor while I'm reading on the porch and drinking iced tea!

Finished the day with a delicious baked chicken dinner and two REALLY strong bourbon and ginger ales.  It's all good.  Talked to Erich twice, so that was good, too.  The priest on base is from Pittsburgh, and knows some of our family.  It is such a small world.

Skip

I know y'all don't want to read about EVERYTHING I do, because yesterday was BORING.  That's why I've only told 4 people about this blog, and one of them's Erich, and he can't read it.  But I like to write, so I'm going to, but if you get half-way through this and can't finish it (or fall asleep), you won't hurt my feelings.

Have been sleeping WEIRD.  Won't say that I haven't been sleeping well, but my nighttime sleeps are shorter than normal, which causes me to take awesome, LONG naps in the afternoon...  I should try to break the pattern, I guess.  Anyway, woke up at 5:48, and that was it.  Couldn't get back to sleep.  Stayed in bed while I finished one book and started another.  It's an easy, sometimes trashy (!!) series - perfect for vacation.  Umm, washed my hair (see, I TOLD you it was going to be boring!), examined the lovely ZIT on my cheek that seemed to be growing before my eyes...  Nice, I know.

My dad was at work, and Mommer was at the gym, so I had the place to myself.  Came downstairs and found the Topp Twins on my iTunes while I wrote thank you notes.

Today was Blaise's last day at Art Camp, so we had to go pick him and all of his 'art' up.  Jo is so funny - when she signed Blaise up for this, she thought he'd be doing painting and traditional art.  Nope.  It was all about using recycled materials, so he had an eel made out of plastic bottles that I swear was 6 feet long, and a HUGE paper mache fish...and all sorts of things that she was not excited about bringing home.  So of course I egged him on  - "Oh Blaise, that eel is going to look SO COOL hanging from the ceiling in your room", and things like that.

Me and Blaise with his paper mache fish.  He didn't tell me until AFTER I'd grabbed it and held it all against my shirt and pants that he'd just finished painting, and so there's might be some wet spots...

Dropped my phone TWICE.  The first time I broke the protective plastic cover, and the second time the backlight wouldn't go off.  It finally did hours later.

Dad took us all (Jo and the boys, too) to dinner at Longhorn.  I don't eat a lot of beef, but this summer I'm doing things that I normally don't, so I ordered a big ol' steak, and it was fabulous.  (On that note, Mommer's been asking me to get a (barf) PEDICURE with her, and I initially told her NO!, but remembered what this summer is all about, and so told her to make an appointment.)

All of us at Longhorn

Then we went to K-Mart to get a Spirograph.  Remember Spirograph?  Rowen loves to draw, and my dad and I got to talking about that toy the other night, but we couldn't remember what it was called, so guess what I did?  Nope.  Un-unh.  JUST LET ME TELL YOU!!  I Googled "art toy plastic circles", and got Spirograph!!!  Google cracks me up.

Blaise as the Green Lantern

While we were in the restaurant, a rain storm came through.  It let up to let us get in and out of K-Mart, but by the time we got home, it was CRAZY with wind and thunder and lightning.  I talked my folks into sitting on the porch, but that didn't last long before we started to get damp.

And then I came in and read some more.

And that was my day!!

Day WHATEVER - folks' in Carrollton, GA

I'm in Georgia!!!  Made it here on Monday.  It seemed like the drive took FOREVER.  I stopped a lot.  I made it here around 4, and we had my mother's best dish - fend for yourself!!!  Then we went over to visit Jo (my sister-in-law), and her boys, Blaise and Rowen. 

Tuesdays and Thursdays are kid dollar movies at the local theater.  Blaise, the oldest, is in Art camp this week, so Mom and I took Rowen to see "Kitty Galore", one of those computer animated movies about cats and dogs.  I guess it was ok...I fell asleep!!  Rowen asked me to sit in the back seat with him on the way to the show, so of course I did, and we played with the action figures he brought.



On Tuesday nights, my dad teaches a class at a satellite campus.  Mom and I rode with him.  They took me to a Cuban restaurant for dinner (no picture, but it was delicious!  Every meal got a side of plantains, which I love.).  We then dropped off Dad, and Mom and I went SHOPPING!!  Aww yeah!!  I got a sweater for $1.46 at Old Navy - how crazy is that?!?  I also bought myself a pair of those Adidas sandals with the nubs on the soles.  OMG, I love THEM, too.  When I take them off and walk on my folks' carpet, it feels like I'm walking on marshmallows.  Or what I imagine it feels like to walk on marshmallows.  Also got a pair of earrings that are already fabulous, but come holiday season?  (head shaking)  They will be SUPER fabulous.


Me and Mommer being silly in the shop where I bought the fabulous earrings.  The apple didn't fall far from the tree...



My $1.07 scarf!!!  Oh, and there are my earrings.

 Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday...  What did I do on Wednesday?  I know I've taken lots of naps and read lots, and I know I did SOMETHING else, just can't remember right now.

Blaise was spending the night at a friend's house, so Rowen and Jo went to dinner with us.  My dad asked Rowen (who's 5) what he wanted for dinner, and he said "RIIIIBBBBSSS".  He cracks me up!!!  So we went to a bar-b-que joint, which worked out, because I needed to have Southern bar-b-que at some point on this trip.  Bar-b-que and sweet tea?  Do I need to tell you how good it was?

Bar-b-que plate

 Then...after dinner...we went to Bruster's.  Bruster's is only the best ice cream in the whole world.  They say it's made fresh every day.  I don't know, and don't really care.  My favorite flavor is Birthday Cake, which is a whole different animal from Cake Batter - don't even try to compare the two.  Birthday Cake has blue icing swirls through it.

Birthday Cake ice cream from Bruster's - I wish I had the cup turned so the name showed!!

Jo and Rowen came back in the house and we visited for awhile and it was nice.  I let Rowen pick from all of the postcards that I've collected so far on this trip to send to his dad.  Well, he picked one to send to Erich, and TWO for himself.  That was not how that was supposed to work.

Today (Thursday, yay!  I'm current) Mom and I went to IHOP for a good-bye breakfast for my Dad.  He's not really going anywhere - he's just done with his job as Interim Associate Dean and will continue to teach.  I had to MEET lots of people, which is not my favorite thing, but they were all very nice and it was fine.  I had an omelet that - once I covered it in hot sauce - was pretty good.

Went to the Thursday dollar show with Jo and Rowen.  Today was "Ramona and Beezus" and...I fell asleep again!!!  The soundtrack for the parts that I was awake for was good.

Umm, Mom and I went to Hobby Lobby and the new Dollar Tree, and while we were in there, it started to RAIN like I haven't seen in years.  It was neat.  Nothing much else exciting.  Which is fine with me.

Day 9 and 10 - Robert's in Schriever, LA

Woke up Saturday morning to an empty house.  I'd had great intentions of waking up so I could ride in to the airport with J and his dad, so his dad wouldn't have to drive back alone.  Nope, didn't happen.  Not only did I not wake up as they got ready and left, J also dug in my purse, got my car keys, and moved my car because I was blocking them in!!!  I love that he knew that he could do that.

The rest of Saturday was all about food.  I went to a gas station by the old house that used to serve beignets, and was pleased to find that they still did.


 As I was sitting there with my beignet, a familiar face walked by, and I FLEW out of the gas station to get him!

Hank, one of my brother's best friends

Rode around town, past the old house, high school, junior high school...  I wasn't supposed to meet Robert and Monica until noon, so I went and got a snoball.  My favorite has always been Popeye.  I think it's only because my favorite color used to be green.

Met Robert* and Monica and one of their sons at Frostop, which is a local burger chain that makes their own root beer.

*Robert is my 3rd best friend.  In high school, he and Tony and I were inseparable.

Come to find out, they'd ordered a sack (40 pounds) of crawfish, and Robert was boiling it for dinner!

Alive

Alive

Not alive

He added corn and sausage and potatos and onions.

Finished product!

Well, Tony and Belinda had also come to Thibodaux to pick up their kids from her folks...who live right across the street from Robert and Monica!  How crazy is that?!  So while Belinda was hanging out with her friends, Tony came over and we watched dumb movies*, again just like the old days.

*We went to Blockbuster.  They picked out "Get Him to the Greek", and I picked out "The Green Hornet".  Just like in high school, their movie was awful, and my movie got more laughs.  I've told you that Hot Tamale doesn't have the best antenna, my iPod doesn't last all day, and the only CD's I brought were medical terminology?  Well, Blockbuster had a Glee soundtrack, Lady Gaga, and Maroon 5, all on sale for less than $1.50, so I picked up all 3!!  I've listened to them, and so far I think my overall favorite is the Maroon 5.

Three amigos!

Sunday was Fathers' Day, so Robert and his son went to play golf.  Monica and I went to the mall and then to a restuarant called Bayou Delight, which is in Bayou Black, and - obviously - sits right on a bayou.  I should have taken a picure of that, but I didn't, so here's a picture of my seafood gumbo.  We also got fried alligator as an appetizer, and a praline for dessert.

Pralines don't photograph very well.  I think this could easily be mistaken for vomit or a brain.

That afternoon, I went to visit some family friends.  They were in graduate school with my dad, so I seriously have known these people since I was...5?  She made beef curry for dinner, and for dessert she made my favorite - a popcorn cake!!

This was a belated birthday cake!!

Got back to Robert and Monica's in time to spend a little more time with them, and then it was off to bed.  (Their guest bed is a WATERbed!!)

Me and Rob

Day 8 - J's in Thibodaux, LA

My final morning in Houston began with me going to the Open House for the new building that Tony's company had bought.  They were serving food and champagne and all of the families were invited.  I told Tony that I didn't want to intrude, and all I had to wear was a t-shirt, but he said he knew people, and it'd be ok!  And it was ok, and again, all of his co-workers were super friendly to me.

Got on the road to Thibodaux.  Pretty uneventful trip.  Unfortunately, now that I was in familiar territory, I didn't even bother to check websites or books for cool things along the way.  Think of all of the cool stuff I probably missed!!  Sigh...

I did hit my first Waffle House of the trip!!  Vanilla coke, and hash browns - scattered, smothered, covered, diced, peppered and capped.  Life is good.

I hate that this picture doesn't scream 'WAFFLE HOUSE'.

My grilled cheese plate.

 Get to Thibodaux, and there's someone I want to see before he takes off the next morning.  His name is J, and I've known him FOREVER.  He's a few years older than me, and I think (?) he originally taught me swimming lessons?  Then we worked together during the summers at the pool, teaching swimming lessons.  He was a student of my dad's, and went on to get his doctorate at Mississippi State while I was still there, and then he returned to Nicholls where he worked with my dad.  Weird.  He spent Thanksgiving with us.  Anyway, just a good friend, but he was leaving the next morning, and if I wanted to see him, it had to be Friday afternoon, since I was meeting Jason (my second BFF) for dinner.  Well, I texted and left messages on J's phone all day on Friday and got no response.  Well, he knew I was coming, so I figured I'd just go to his house.  I found it, and he wasn't home, but his dad was.  So his dad lets me in, and we talk and talk.  I have to meet Jason at 6:30, and J doesn't get home til 5:45.  No biggie, any time is better than no time, so we visit and hug and then I have to go.  I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE!!  I was so upset with myself, because who knew when I'd see him again?  But I was already running late, so I just went on to dinner.

I get to the restaurant (Bubba's) at 6:32, and Jason shows up at...6:50!!!  Ugh!!!  I had had PLENTY of time to go back and get a picture with J!!!  Anyway...  Jason and I met my Senior year.  He sat behind me in math, and for the first half of the year, all he'd ever do was ask me for a pencil, so that's one of our many jokes now ('hey girl, you got a pencil?').  I don't know how we overcame that and became friends, but we did and we are.  OMG he makes me LAUGH.  So we sat in the bar at Bubba's and were loud and obnoxious.  When we finally ordered dinner, it was almost 9 o'clock; it took us that long to look at the menu!!  I got a crawfish poboy.  I started eating the second she put it in front of me, and forgot to take a picture until it was halfway gone.

Those are homemade potato chips - YUM!!

Me and Jas



  Well, I didn't have a place to stay for the night.  I did that because Jason drove in from New Orleans to see me, and if he'd wanted to stay until 2am getting caught up, then I didn't want to sneak back into someone's house at that time; I figured I'd just get a hotel room.  Well, he wussed out at 10 and headed home.  I KNEW J would still be up, so I called and told him that I needed to take a picture...and a place to stay...!  By the time I got there, he'd pulled out the couch bed for me.  I asked if there was anything I could do to help him get ready for his trip, but he said no, and I was out like a light.  He apparently stayed up and kept lights on and watched tv and walked in and out of the house, all right around the couch where I was sleeping.

Me, J and Bandit

Day 6 and 7 - Tony's in Houston, TX

Wake up Wednesday morning, and the house is super quiet.  Go downstairs to learn that Belinda (Tony's wife) had left early that morning to drive a few hours and drop the kids off with her dad, and Tony was taking vacation so we could all hang out together!!

Tony and I got going.  Here's another one where I'm not real sure what he does, but it's pretty cool.  He works for a company that (I'm going to oversimplify this again) builds engines for ships.  BIG engines for BIG ocean, deep sea drilling kind of ships.  He travels all over the world to get these things installed.  Amazing.  He took me to his office to see where he works and introduce me to folks (and to check in; he's one of those that can't totally remove himself from work, and I was ok with that).  People at his office were SO nice, but you know, this trip has reminded me that people everywhere are pretty nice.  He also took me by a building they'd just bought and are going to transfer to.  It was HUGE.  I would not want to be in charge of that move.

I'd told Tony that there was one tourist-y thing I wanted to do while I was in Houston - visit the Museum of Funeral History.  I realize that this might not be interesting to everyone, so I also told him that if this wasn't his thing, no biggie, I'd go by myself.  Well, he was up for it!!  He knew it was near the last  building we visited, but not sure exactly where, so he called OnStar for the address.  It was pretty funny...THREE times they asked him, "Sir, you want to go where?"  Finally he said "Funeral.  FUNERAL.  Like you die, and you have a funeral?"  The OnStar guy said he thought that's what Tony had been saying...  Finally find it.  The Museum of Funeral History is pretty darn interesting!!  Lots of old-timey hearses, sections on the history of embalming (Did you know that embalming became popular during the Civil War, when families would search battle fields for their loved ones, and then carry the bodies home?  Some entrepreneur set up an embalming tent on the battlefield, so the bodies would 'survive' the trip home to be buried!), the history of Papal deaths and the ceremony that goes along with their burials, Presidential deaths (Lincoln's wife was so distressed that she did not leave DC to travel on the train with her husband's body to be buried, and his living son chose to travel alone and meet the body for burial, so his son that had died while he was living in Washington was exhumed, and they made the trip together), crazy coffins, and military deaths.  It was in this last section that they had a short video on the guarding of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Tony and I sat and watched it twice.  It was amazing, and I now want to stop there on my way to Delaware.  Since it's summertime, they change guards every half hour.  Hit the gift shop on the way out, and they had NO postcards and NO keychains!!  What kind of gift shop is that?  Tony and I got t-shirts that say "Any day above ground is a good one".

UGH!!!  I'm having trouble loading pics.  Blech.  Ok, now I'm bummed.  WHY WON'T THEY LOAD?!?!  I can't write anymore...  :)

Do I have to pay?!  I can't figure it out.  What a mess.  Apparently by loading pictures here, I now automatically have a Picasa account, and it looks like I still have room.  OMG!!!  I'm very frustrated.  It's $5 for the next step of storage, and I think I'd pay that, if I knew for sure that that's what the problem was, but I don't think it is.  Crap.

I am going to SCREAM!!!  I don't think I've used even a fraction of my allotted space, so WTF?!  I have so many more pictures to share!

I have wasted SO MUCH TIME on this.  I don't know what to do.

Me and Ton in my new t-shirts.  Mine is on backwards.  I wanted black, but the museum didn't have it.  Do you get that?  A museum of FUNERAL HISTORY didn't have a black t-shirt!!

YAYYAYYAYYAY!!!  I got it to work!!!  Have no idea what I did different, but I GOT IT!!!
Let me get more pictures on now while it's working...  OMG I'm SO EXCITED.

Ok, so where was I?  Tony and I left the museum and went to lunch at a burrito place called Freebirds.  The "F" is backwards, and it's decorated with lots of pop culture/current stuff and figures that people have made out of the aluminum foil that covers the burritos.  It's similar to a Moe's.  Here's a pic of me and Tony.

After lunch we called Belinda, and she was back in town so we picked her up and went out riding some more.  They took me to Tony's boss' lake house.  There was a Hummer there, and I asked Tony to take a picture of me, because who knows when I'll be near a Hummer again?

I'm not real sure what's up with my expression...

 When I got there, Belinda said she wanted to get feathers.  I had NO idea what she was talking about, but said yes anyway.  Well, here's what she was talking about.  We dragged Tony to a hair place in the mall, and had these feathers put in.  They were $10 A FEATHER.  Later on, we found a place that put in clumps of 7 for $35, and we both got the group called "Rainbow".  I don't have a picture of them, but they are - obviously - all different, bright colors.  They're held in place with a metal clamp, and will stay in until I have someone un-clamp them with needle-nose pliers.  I'm going to keep them in for awhile.  I read an article that said fly fisherman are not happy with the trend, because it is raising the prices of feathers.

My originally, lone ($10) feather is the blue one, Belinda's is the yellow and black striped.

 That night we went for pizza at a local place called Star Pizza, I think.  I had two slices with crazy toppings like artichokes and avocados and cilantro and stuff.  It was delicious, but a $400 order had come in right before ours, so it took forever.  It really wouldn't have seemed that long, since we were visiting and getting caught up, but several employees came over and apologized for our order taking so long.  No biggie.

Then we went to a dueling piano bar.  It was not crowded, and there was lots of audience participation, so we were forced to participate.  We hadn't been there 20 minutes when they asked every table to pick out the drunkest person.  Well, we didn't really have one, but there were only 8 or 9 tables of people, so the piano guys called out our table and said we had to pick someone.  Well, Tony and Belinda immediately point to ME!!!  Long story short, the 'drunkest' people had to go to the front and do the YMCA.  BEFORE I MADE IT BACK TO THE TABLE, Tony had it posted on Facebook.  And he's my best friend?!?

I'm guessing that guy on the end really IS drunk, because I have no idea what letter he's doing.

Belinda and I had lots of fun, because we were doing some major people watching.  There was a bachelor party sitting next to a group of unrelated women, and we had stories for all of them.  It was fun.

Next morning, we get up...and go on a 200+ mile ride on their Harleys!!  I rode with Tony.  I don't know if you're familiar with the seating on a two-person Harley, but both of us have backs to lean up against, so I wasn't smushed up against him.  As we left his neighborhood, we had to drive through some residential and business areas with lots of traffic, and I almost chickened out.  But I figured if I was going to do this, I trust Tony more than just about anyone, so I might as well do it with him.  After about 5 minutes, we got on back country roads, and I was fine.  I leaned back, relaxed, dug in my pocket and got my phone to take pictures...  When we got to our first pit stop (aka biker bar), one of the other riders in our group asked Tony, "Do you know what she's doing?!?"  Well, he didn't.  They told him that I was taking pictures, and waving like I was in a damn Homecoming parade.  Apparently that's not appropriate Harley behavior.  So I was corrected.

Notice the trees WHIZZING by!

Over Tony's shoulder.  I could BARELY see how fast we were going, which was probably a good thing.

I'm going to make this my new Facebook profile pic - see my reflection in Tony's helmet?

My artsy pic.

Biker bar.  Had a DELICIOUS hamburger on a jalapeno bun.

Super cool bathroom faucet in one of the bars.

We were on the bikes for over 6 hours.  It got REALLY hot near the end (104), so to get home faster, we jumped on the freeway.  I'd been fine up until then, but I really didn't like that.  I know Tony was going over 70mph.  That gave me the shivers just writing that.  Anyway, when we got home, we were tired, hot, and FILTHY.  I'd worn capris, and below is a shot of my exposed leg.  Guh-ROSS.

It looks like hair, but I swear it's dirt (although I don't know which is worse).

After cleaning up, we went out for CRAWISH!!!  Tony is allergic, so we had to pick up a sandwich for him to take (ok, so I guess that makes up for the Facebook picture).  The 'restaurant' was seating under a metal shed, and the restaurant was open for 10 more days, because then the season is over.  They were delicious.  It was here that we saw the woman with the clump of feathers and we got our new additions while everyone else was waiting on the food.



THREE POUNDS OF CRAWFISH - aww yeah!!

After dinner we went back to their house, where Tony and I watched "Wipeout" and laughed and laughed.  Like the good old days.  Belinda is a saint.  :)