Bill's Blog

Off to Texas

Our new car was shipped from Sweden after we dropped it off in December. We picked it up in Golden Valley on the 15th of January. Then we wrapped up our preparations to leave the cold, cold North.

The Twin Cities was cold as a snowman's nose on Wednesday, January 26th, being well below zero - that's colder than -20 celsius. Betty and I headed a couple of hours south to La Crosse, Wisconsin. We had come to visit Steve and Ellen, my brother and his wife. We had not seen them since last summer. It was great to visit. Steve is a wonderful cook and he made a great dinner. We had Martinis before dinner and lots of red wine during and after our supper. Betty was feeling awfully good by the end of the evening, which led to an annoying headache the next morning.

We left La Crosse early Thursday morning. We drove all day and finally stopped in Blytheville, Arkansas. The next day we drove the rest of the way to my father's house in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

We spent several days with my dad. We were able to take several long walks. One day we hiked the beach from the bay bridge to the harbor club. We really enjoyed visiting with my dad; we talked and talked and talked. On Sunday we were treated to a dinner with dad and Paul. We really enjoy our stays with him.

On Wednesday, February 2nd, we drove all day long to Corpus Christi. We spent the next five days visiting with Terry and Nanette. They have three wonderful teen-aged children: Daniel, Katherine and Rachel. They were so kind. The thing I like best about Terry was his politics and his critical thinking skills. How such a liberal was ever able to survive and thrive for all these years in this very conservative county in beyond me, but it is surely a testament to his strong and intelligent character. His wonderful wife was just as bright and had a grand warm soul. The children are hard-working and very bright. They each speak multiple languages, from Chinese to Arabic to Italian. As many as seven! We loved the long discussions with the family about life and politics. Everyday was great, except for the weather, which had turned cold. On Friday night ice coated the houses, trees and roads, not inches of ice but maybe a quarter inch. Crazy as it sounds, they closed the freeways for nearly two days.

We spent our days looking for a place to rent or buy. I really did not want to buy before I knew how much I really liked the place. Terry had provided us the name of an excellent real estate agent. She found us a good but pricey rental on North Padre Island.

We moved in yesterday. While it is only a one-bedroom unit, there are four beds and it could sleep eight. We are looking for Birgitta and the girls to visit before we head north again.

The View from Our Balcony of Laguna Madre

Posted by bill at February 8, 2011 05:32 PM