Racing Season Has Begun!

This plane was flown in from New Mexico. They came in first, with a speed of around 200 mph.







The local t.v. station sent out a reporter to cover the race. Here I am getting a picture of HER taking pictures!

Coloring

Elisa & Sydney stopped in to work tonight. Elisa, of course, is already ten shades darker than me - - bummer :=(

Sydney got busy coloring with some coloring books. Nothing like a child's perspective to make one appreciate the simple things :=)

Memorial Day Picnic

I'd been planning elements of a picnic for a while, but it was Dave's idea to use our deep fryer to tried a new fried chicken recipe...



The chicken turned out really good but we both decided that next time a thinner cut would be better.



Our picnic basket full of fried chicken, deviled eggs, fruit salad, bottled water, plastic cups, cloth napkins, etc.





This park was only about 3 miles away from the apartment. It was in the midst of a good-sized subdivision and golf course, albeit the park itself was not too big.





Other than a couple neighborhood kids who played on the playground for a little while, and an old woman walking her dog, we didn't see a single soul the entire time we were at the park. Next time we'll come prepared to grill :=)

Granbury

Dave & I had lunch and did sightseeing in a quaint little town near Pecan Plantation. Granbury has a town square (1 block down each side) with lots of little shops and restaurants.



We decided to eat at a soda fountain (a la 50's era) restaurant. The food was yummy and the furnishings fun to look at at. There was even a working jukebox!





Some of the original buildings...

Planes, Trains (well, not really) and Automobiles...

The twice-yearly gathering of 99s down in the south occurred yesterday in Granbury (about 2 hours southwest of where we live). Pecan Plantation is just that - - a plantation with TONS of pecan trees. It has become a very trendy, expensive, large sub-division with houses with sit right next to a runway, a golf course, or an equestrian area (depending on one's prediliction!).

The 99s' chapter down in that area played host to our meeting. Of course, it was themed around aviation. They theme within the theme was military women pilots. Special speakers included Betty Jo Reed, who flew bombers and the like during World War II (she is now in her mid-80's), and Samantha Weeks, a Thunderbirds demonstraton pilot [a little trivia here: Samantha is only the second woman EVER to be on the Thunderbirds team; the Blue Angels - the Navy's demonstration team - have yet to have a woman pilot].

Betty Jo is seated; Samantha is the dark-haired gal to the right (she carries the rank of USAF Major); and the red-haired gal on the left has been accepted to start the USAF Academy this fall.



After having the requisite business meeting yesterday, tours of various homes in Pecan Plantation occurred. Let me tell you...it was like going on a Street of Dreams or Parade of Homes tour (i.e. paying money to go see brand new homes going on the market that look like they're straight out of "Architectural Digest" and where you go to get decorating ideas!).

I think the fountains were some of my favorites...













Isn't this the coolest sink you've ever seen!?!?! There is no "bowl". At the edge of the slab near the faucet, there is a gap where the water runs down.



What do you think of this statue? It's very impressive in person.



The view from the outside deck - which runs the length of the house.



This was handmade by one of the women who were our hostesses.



This plane is used in aerobatic competition - which the husband does for fun (he's retired military).



This is the plane they use on a regular basis - a Mooney that flies at roughly 200 mph - and which they use to go places.







I LOVED the ducks...I need to get myself a pair :=)