The Wedding

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Saturday was a big day for our family......... our daughter got married!!

As we approached the dock area, the view of the cruise ship dwarfed the dock area.

We got there on time, but the ship's schedule was running about 20--30 minutes behind, and we had to wait to get through boarding security, and then go aboard the ship. However, we were boarded first.......... ahead of all the sailing folks.

The wedding was held in the library on the ship, and it was very elegant. There was a second wedding that day, but it was held elsewhere.

My mother with her 'great' grandchildren............

All in all, it was a typical wedding......... except it was just with close family. We had the wedding (with pictures taken with our personal cameras, which are what I have to post), the photograher took a lot of pictures, we had a nice recepion and lunch, and we got to visit. The luncheon was held on the same level of the ship as the wedding, and we had the whole restaurant to ourselves. The venue was excellent.

and here's Deanne and Mike with Patsy and I..................

Our son and daughter-in- law with their children.......

The following is a collection of pictures of the reception/luncheon area before we got there:

The grandkids had a good time, and they were well behaved the whole day. While their mom and dad went back to Victoria, they spent the night with us in Galveston. Although they got a full nights rest, they were still tired on Sunday morning, and slept most of the way home, and then watched cartoons via Direct TV......

On New Year's Day, the cruise returns to Galveston, and we will be there to meet them. The main reason is to deliver Deanne's dog, Izzy, prior to them driving back to Little Rock.

More later.......................

A Galveston Wedding

Our daughter, Deanne, is being married on Saturday to Mike Key, a fellow ENT Surgeon in Little Rock. The wedding to taking place on a Carnival cruise ship prior to their departure on a honeymoon cruise. Deanne has been planning this wedding for weeks. While she was in Victoria for Christmas, she dressed up her nephew and niece (our grandchildren) in their "Ring Bearer" and "Flower Girl" formal wear to make sure it fit. The children are four and three, respectively, and the formal clothes made them look much more mature! Here are some samples:


A couple of weeks ago, I did an internet search, and chose to park the Bus at Bayou Shores RV Park in Galveston for the wedding. We left Victoria on Friday morning, and arrived in Galveston at about 3:00pm. We had not thought about the damage to Galveston from hurrican Ike last September, and were a little taken aback when we started to see the visible scenes of damage that is still very prevalent. The Bayou Shores RV Park is full of contractors, and it was also a muddy mess, thanks to a heavy rain on Christmas Eve. While it is not what we expected for $37 a night, it works well for our purpose. Here is a picture of the Bus parked:

After we got the Bus parked and hooked up, we drove around town to get our bearings. The cruise ship dock is near The Strand, so we got to see it again. The Strand is still there, but I would say that it is less than 50% of what it used to be. All over town, there is a lot of evidence of the storm. Here are some photos of the strand:

Tomorrow, the WEDDING!!!!

Lake Somerville State Park -- Part 2

On Saturday morning, we woke up with 13 rigs attending, plus 2 guest that visited for only the day. The day started out with a really big breakfast at 10:00am.



After breakfast, most people sat around and visited, or played dominoes or other games. During the afternoon, we all pitched in $5 and bought $60 worth of lottery tickets. On Sunday morning, we should know if we won anything!!

At 5:00pm, we had our Christmas Potluck dinner. There was a lot more food than we could eat, but we tried our best. Below is a picture of our club at dinner, and a closeup shot of the "Tiffin" women:




Shortly, after dinner, we had a gift exchange. The method was the same that many have used before. We each drew a number from a bowl, and the lowest picked a gift from the tree first, than the next and so on. Of course, instead of picking a gift from under the tree, you could 'steal' one that someone had already opened. It was fun, and no bloodshed!! John and Mary Ann 'managed' the event.

At the end of the gift exchange, the winner of the RV decorating contest was announced, and ............... it was Patsy!! She won a set of handpainted wine glasses. Below is a picture of her standing in front of her handy work with her prize.

Tomorrow, we will get up and head to San Antonio to meet with our Allegro Amigos Camping club for a lunch at Papasito's Cantina.

Lake Somerville State Park

We are spending this weekend at the Lake Somerville State Park, with a spinoff group from our old Gulf Coast RV Group. There are 14 rigs registered and we are in the Group Trailer Area. We arrived here with our Tiffin Motorhome friends, Connie & Manuel Esparza and Sue & Mark Didelot. Here are pictures of our rigs right after we arrived, and also with our outside Christmas lights............ the outside lights are sort of a requirement for a lighting contest to be judged later in the weekend:

The latter two pictures are closeups of our Bus. I failed to tell Patsy about the contest, and therefore, she did not pack anything. She did bring some stuff to decorate the inside, and the hall, so we had something. She got creative, and I think she did really good!!

Today, we drove into Brenham to do some shopping, and along the way, we found not a housboat, but a "carboat'........ I guess that is what you would call it. It looked kind of strange sitting along the side of the road, but I wonder what folks that see it on the water think!!!!

We arrived here late Wednesday evening. The folks from San Antonio and Houston drove through some heavy snow flurries. Patsy and I managed to miss that coming up from Victoria. Activities since we got here have included unloading firewood, sitting around the fire pit and visiting, and eating & playing dominoes in the hall located in the group area. Here are some pictures that tell the story better.............


More to come as the weekend continues..................................