Friday in Houston

Friday dawned with temperatures well below freezing. Deb let me borrow a scarf to help me stay warm on my walk; it helped a lot. When all were ready, we went to Market Street for a 10:00 A.M. showing of the Second Best Marigold Hotel. We stopped for a light lunch at Ruggle's Green. There is no shortage of good food here in Greater Houston. Crave, the cupcake bakery, is located right next door here in the Woodlands, so we got some cupcakes for supper. We dropped Kris off at Sam Moon and Debby and I went on to her new Costco. It is truly five minutes from her house. She really is in the middle of everything. We headed straight south to Alison's house for supper which we picked up at a place near the temple called Torchy's Tacos, a taco truck that morphed into a popular restaurant. When we got home there was time for a few more episodes of Project Runway before bed.

 The natives are freezing, but we felt fine

 Northern Houston is in the middle of the Big Piney Forest

 The scarf made for a terrific selfie

 Purely for entertainment

 Ruggle's Green

 Crave

 Had some bites of each one: coconut was wonderful

 The local Kirkland Temple

 The completed Reese home

 Take-away tacos for supper

 Fun, campy design

 KBT, Deb, and the Reeses

Grammy worked young John over

Another fun day. There will be more today, but that is all for now.

OXO

D.

Thursday in Houston

Thursday dawned cold and rainy, so there was no morning walk, just indoor laps around the house. When all were ready we drove down to the Westheimer area so Debby could pick up her visa for Saudi Arabia and we ate lunch at Houston's just around the corner from the office where her visa was waiting. The ladies did a bit of shopping while I acquired some Fitbit steps. We drove toward central Houston to River Oaks, a great Art-Deco development restored and full of shops and restaurants. It is also home to the vintage River Oaks Theater where we watched Mr. Turner. It is a beautiful film and the story is interesting, though it unfolds in a difficult manner. We arrived home in time to kill off a couple of more episodes of season 13 of Project Runway.

 The girlies at Houstons

 Top of my list of great Houston restaurants

 We, sadly, missed this wonderful premiere

 A good but different movie

 River Oaks 

Getting our Project-Runway fix

More fun coming today, but this is all for now.

OXO

D.

Wednesday In the Woodlands

Wednesday we didn't stray too far from home. I walked the neighborhood in the early morning hours and after some spa time, and when everyone was ready, we went to look at a new development and model home near Debby's. It is designed with a strong New Orleans/Charleston feeling, and it is quite unusual. We ended up at Market Street where the ladies shopped and I walked. We had lunch at a great place called Cru. Late afternoon, we started a Project-Runway-catch-up marathon. We were joined by the Reeses for supper provided by Chuy's take out.

 Mason Pond in Shenandoah

 The bulbs are up here

 The Gibbs home is my favorite in the neighborhood

 The pool was freezing, but the spa was nice

 Southern-inspired design

 Posh interiors

 The main square at Market Street

 Lunchtime

 Goat-cheese beignets, warm caprese, and lamb "lollipops"

 And Mexican Coke for the ladies

 Alison and John

The Reeses with Gordon this time

It is very cold and rainy this morning, but we have some fun plans for a downtown outing today (Thursday), so there will be more. This is all for now though.

OXO

D.

Off to Houston

Had a beautiful morning walk before breakfast. Later Chip took us to the airport for our flight to Houston. All went well and Debby met us at Hobby and drove us to dinner at Backstreet Cafe not far from River Oaks. Delicious! We made our way home and are now about to watch a movie.

 Greenfield Park at sunrise

 Morning after the storm

 Incredible beauty

 These folks (whose yard faces the canal trail) 

have a little hoarding problem

 That's Flight 40 to Houston ready to board

 Goodbye for now Phoenix, Grandmother, and Maren

 The Astrodome and the NRG Stadium where we will be attending

the Rodeo next week

 Hello Houston

Backstreet Cafe

 Wonderful dinner

Deb and Kris getting comforable

We will let you know what happens tomorrow, but this is all for now.

OXO

D.

Monday in Mesa

I tried a new walking route south along the Eastern Canal. I followed it clear to the other side of the 60 (Superstition Freeway) where the canal crosses under Greenfield. Rain was predicted, but I dodged the bullet. We hung around the house until noon when I checked in on Southwest for tomorrow's flight before heading down to San Tan Village for some jeans shopping (for Kris). I kept myself busy picking up a few thousand extra steps on my Fitbit. We made another stop (with a couple of thousand more steps) at VF Factory Outlet on Power Road. We went to Texas Roadhouse for a late lunch/early supper before returning home for an evening of Downton Abbey.

 Where the Eastern Canal meets Greenfield

 The Eastern Canal south of the 60

 San Tan Village in the Rain

 Walking laps at Dillard's

 Power Road: it rained most of the day

 So it turns out that palo verde trees are really quite "verde," and 

Kia seems to have made a palo-verde colored car

Texas Roadhouse

After three episodes from the first season of Downton Abbey, we headed to bed. Tomorrow we are off to Texas, so there will be more, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.

Sunday in Mesa

I had a good morning walk in Verde Groves, on the street, and along the canal. We went to church with Grandmother and afterwards we shared Sunday dinner with Bonnie. Had another evening walk and we are ready now for the finale of Downton Abbey.

 Green Feathery Senna spotted on my morning walk

 Verde Groves greenway with our car in the distance

 Greenfield Park Ward

 These folks are all in the same ward now 

(except for KBT, of course)

Sunday dinner

 And dessert!

A really nice day. That's all for now.

OXO

D.