We stayed overnight tonight in northwest Florida, on our way to our next campground. Normally our overnight stops are not too noteworthy, but this campground was pretty cool. There were a couple of lakes, plenty of lawn games, and they provide complementary firewood.
This afternoon we took one last trip to the French Quarter. We visited the French Market first. We were looking for a shirt for Mari, but a nice vendor ended up giving a shirt to Rose. After that we walked down Frenchmen St, before hitting up Costco for dinner.
This evening we went to Lafreniere Park, just a few miles north of our campground. It is a large, beautiful city park, with a carousel, nice playground, and a bird sanctuary, that is overrun by birds.
This afternoon after work we went to the French Quarter. We parked a few blocks from Jackson Square, had some beignets, looked at Bourdon St, and then it was time to head home.
This morning we headed out early for Arlington, TX. Our friends , Sarah & Kevin Walters, live there. Susan volunteered with Sarah in Kentucky and Sarah is the sister of one of our good friends in Des Moines, by coincidence. They also have two kids about our kids age.
Ahh, where to begin? Each of the Reagen kids was scheduled to come visit us this year. Cameron came to San Francisco with Erin in October. Ian joined us in Phoenix in January. Hope just wrapped up her visit in Austin. Hope flew out with Aunt Mary. Their trip coincided with a trip that I had scheduled for Cincinnati. They were scheduled to arrive a few hours before I left, but their flight was cancelled and they ended up arriving very late on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. I was gone nearly the whole time they were here. I got back on Saturday afternoon and they left this morning.
Overall, I think everyone had fun. The weather for our week in Austin was maybe the worst weather we have had on the whole trip. It was relatively warm, but very rainy. We like to do things outside and that was definitely a limiting factor.
Over the past couple of days we have been celebrating Elliot’s 11th birthday. It has been a rainy, but fun couple of days in Austin, TX. Last night we ate cake and today he opened presents and we went bowling. Mary and Hope were supposed to arrive today, but due to some flight issues they are slated to arrive very late.
Elliot at 11 is a nice, helpful guy. He likes to help around the RV, especially with the outdoor tasks around setting up and tearing down. His daily rhythm follows that of the other kids. He usually wakes up around 8 or 8:30 and reads in bed for a little while. By the time he stumbles out of bed he is ready for breakfast and his schoolwork. During his free time he likes to read and ride scooters & bikes outside.
At night he has been helping get Rose to sleep, snuggling with her until she falls asleep, and then moving to his bed.
Favorite song: None
Favorite color: Red
Favorite food: Skyline
Favorite band: None
Favorite book: Harry Potter 7
Favorite sport: Soccer
Favorite movie: None
It has been rainy so far in Austin. I had to leave town for work in the afternoon, so we stopped on the way to the airport for some birthday bowling.
I have to leave town tomorrow, so we took some time tonight to celebrate Elliot’s birthday. After dinner and a supply run at Costco, we enjoyed a delicious cake that Susan made.
Over the past few days we traveled from Las Cruces to Austin. We left las Cruces Friday night to head to Whites City, outside or Carlsbad Caverns. On Saturday we drove to Ft. Stockton, TX, stopping at my cousin Anna’s on the way. Today we made the final push to Austin. It was a long drive, punctuated with traffic from San Antonio to Austin.