Gladys Porter zoo- Gorillas

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the majority of our time at the zoo seems to be watching this family and talking to them. Sometimes I think they would like to talk back with us.


This is the newest addition to the family, Penny and baby Samantha ..


Playing on the "tree house is a favorite and shows how strong and agile they are.


It looks like Mary is going to be the next one to become a mother again.
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I am not sure who this young "teenager' is but she sure loved my troll doll. She would sit on a narrow ledge and poke and try to touch and grab the toys.

You Looking At Me!!!!!!!!!!!

Gladys Porter: our favorite zoo

Our first trip to the zoo each fall is exciting .. There are new babies and sometimes even a new creature to view. The one this year is the Komoto Dragon.. Now this is an awesome looking lizard. Weighing around 200 pounds, he watches every move you make. Being so close to him is scary, He watched every move I made and even came closer. I backed up..So glad the glass was between us.



Last year a new Orangutan was born. The mother is 18 years old and only has one arm. She is a good mother and the baby is thriving.


Here is CJ the camel that nuzzled Connie's hair in the "Small World" petting nursery last spring. CJ is back with the adults now. I wonder if she is still friendly??
It seems everyone at the zoo today was watching us as much as we were watching them.


Next come the best time of all, trying to guess which gorilla is going to come and greet us...

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Finally, Paradise in sight

It is Sunday and we are up early and on our way through the Dallas , Waco and the Austin area . We seem to be on a mission to get past San Antonio also, but traffic has picked up.. The last few hours of the long day take its toll.. We make our final night on the road at a "picnic /parking area on 77 South of Corpus Christi.. Texas picnic /parking areas have paved parking , picnic tables and lights but no buildings or rest rooms. A couple of campers and some truckers share the area but it is not as crowded or noisy as a regular rest area.
Miles traveled on Sunday -449 ..







It is always exciting to know your are finally in south Texas when you see the Palm Trees in the median of the roadway. It makes you smile to know you will soon be in your winter home..









Seeing all your friends greeting you with the never ending "Welcome Back'....Lots of hugs, waves and handshakes.. Soon we are on the frontage road coming up to the gate.We can see the sign. Miles today 125..Arrive at 10:30 AMTurning into the gate..Looking to see what has changed. Now we see our home , the one on the corner # 378....Now comes 3-4 days of opening up the house ,getting things set up and unloading the motor home. We must ready the coach for its winter rest at Dixie Storage where she will be under cover for the winter.











Now we take a break even if the work isn't all done, there is always tomorrow, we must do what we come here for..................................................check it out.
Maryann and Dick are some of the regular afternoon "school of fish" that show up most days.










Hot Tub off to the right is a good ending to pool visit.


The path to pool gate always smells good. the flowers are pretty and hardy.



They even grow in the cracks in the cement. It is good to be back...

rest of trip to Texas

After leaving the Dotson's and getting back in the "groove" of traveling in the motor home we spend the first night at the first rest area west of Indianapolis on I 70. It is a nice one with lots of space for trucks and motorhomes. Seen a pretty malamute dog traveling with a trucker who had a heavy French accent, the trucker not the dog , arf arf.. ha ha..Traveled 270 miles today.

Back on I 70West to I57. South.
Soon we get to our first crossing of the Mississippi.. This route is the greatest for a couple of reasons, the first being, we get to cross the Big Muddy three times. No we do not zig zag, the river does. We pick up I 55 south near Sikston, Mo. Motoring south we are never far from the Mississippi River .



Crossing into Memphis at sunset.
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We stop at all the Flying J truck stops for our gas. They are pretty easy to get into and out of for someone towing a car. The BIG exception is the one in West Memphis..We avoid that one . The lanes are way too narrow to get to the gas pumps. At Memphis we go back east across the river again and just cut across the tip of Tennessee into Mississippi still on I55.We talk about heading to Tunica but decided to keep moving.We stay the night at the welcome center in Miss.

Travel 460 miles on Friday.




--We spy fields of cotton, some picked ,some being picked, and some waiting to be picked. We think the ones waiting are the prettiest! Takeing pictures of the bales lined up in a field waiting for transport to market. Cotton fields always remind me of Martha and her stories of having to drag the long sack and sore fingers of the "cotton picking" days of her youth.

The miles keep adding up ,sometimes slow and sometimes faster, probably not so much for the man in the Captians chair. I sometimes wonder how Bob can sit so long but we do try to stop every few hours.

Transfer onto I20 west at Jackson , Miss and make the third and last crossing of the Mississippi at Vicksburg , Miss. We are now in Louisiana..

Clicky clicky, bumpy bumpy, rough road for about 20 miles coming into Shreveport. Hurrah!,, we pass the welcome to Texas sign. Stay at the rest area east of Dallas and have WIFI ..I work on the first travel blog..miles Saturday-522....getting closer.. to be continued...

Texas Bound by way of Kalamazoo

We left Lakeshore drive at 3 PM, Monday October 29, 2007, after saying good by to numerous people who stopped by to wish us well and say they will miss us. Bob drove the motor home and Mary drove the car. We went as far as Kalamazoo and left the motor home in Meijer parking lot and drove the car to Connie and Charley's.. Waiting for us was a great dinner of steak, salad, cheeses potatoes, corn and choice of desert.. Instead of the plan of driving back to motor home the cold weather and Connie's pleading convinced us to stay the night.
The next day Mary accompanied Connie to her Plastic surgeon to get saline injection and ask the many questions Connie has become famous for at the Doctors Office..

Bob and Charley went to Meijer and picked up the motor home. They brought it back to Dotson's and parked it in from of the garage. We all drove into downtown and ate Coney Dog's to revival those of Angelo's Coneys..Charley is very proud of what K-zoo has to offer. . Mary and Bob had to agree they were very, very good.

Back to Dotson's after a stop at Dollar General in Delton.. While on the ride Mary reaches over to remove some hair from Connie's shoulder and comes away with much more than was ever expected. Shock and surprise as more and more keeps falling.. It was like a switch was turn off and the hair was no longer attached.. There were a few laughs but mostly it was a shock even though it was expected. By the time we got back to the house it was evident what was happening and happening fast. Connie decided to move on to the next step very quickly. With only a couple minutes of sadness the scissors and clippers were brought outside and Charley remembered his days in the Army and gave Connie the GI haircut. Back inside the house we tried hats , wigs, laughed and joked to smooth the transition..
Sandwiches and chips and salsa were some of the offerings for supper.



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Wednesday is Chemo day for Connie and Mary and Bob are going with her for treatment. The day starts with a talk with Doctor Lipeman who is very nice and enlighting with all of us. Getting blood drawn is an issue for Connie today and Chemo starts 1 1/2 hour late. Once it starts it moves right along and is over around 5:30. We make a stop at the mall and meet Charley at Benningans for a fun Halloween night supper. The rain starts misting as we head back for the house. Connie is so very upbeat and looks so cute in her pink ball cap.
Thursday ,Denise comes over about 11with co-op goodies for Connie and gets to tell Mom and Dad goodbye again as they leave for the warmer south for the winter. What a great visit the last three days have been. Connie has made a gorumet breakfast and then cooks beef stroganoff for us to take on the road plus many goodies for the motor home.. Denise and Connie will be going into K-zoo for Connie's shot.
Mary drives the car and Bob gets back into the "bus" until we get to Meijers and hook up the car and get milk and a few items and get back on 94 to 69 south and go as far as the first rest area west of Indianapolis on I 70. After supper of great beef and noodles, squash, a drink, TV and phone calls ,the motor home is warm and cozy so it is off to bed under the down quilt..