Rememberence of the Fourth 2010

As the Fourth of July approaches and the lake gets in full swing for the summer, we must remember those who have lost their lives due to utter stupidity. I mean, crossing the road to get to a beer might be a good idea in theory, but was it really worth it? We definitely enjoyed a good laugh on the way to the store in the morning on Sunday! Kay, a Texas girl through and through, had to capture a piece of famous roadkill. Keep in mind SAFETY, above all, on the streets between The Dock and lakehouses. They're dark and two lane. In fact just take your boat, no armadillos will be harmed in the process!! PS. Forget the Bud Light, stick with the Dock Rockers!

Fort Worth Air Show 2011

Unbelievable how close these guys get to each other!! Before the show they start out by taxiing to the active runway in formation even. Sunday the active was 17 with a mean headwind tossing around the small planes. At the beginning of their show, the Blue Angels do several passes with only 18 inches from wingtip to the capsule of the plane beside it!! This is God given talent and ability. The Blues' own C-130T Hercules got the crowd pumped up with a super slow flight. Not many people were sitting down for the main event. The music was rocking and the commentator one of the best!! Cleared for takeoff.

Happy Easter!!

Look at the cute chickies!! Nana had these at a coffee in Mississippi before she came to Dallas. She and Kay made them with pretzel sticks, white chocolate, Jelly beans and marshmallow chicks!! They didn't actually look like they would taste good, but anything covered in chocolate has to be delicious!!

Then, here is my Easter basket!! Lots of tea for me!! Along with chocolate covered pretzels and Godiva chocolate Gems!! The Easter bunny was super nice to me. Hope he is just as nice to you ; )

Bruno House - Ransom Canyon

On our first drive around the neighborhood then on our first walk mother took me all the way up the canyon to see this marvelous steel house overlooking the lake. It took him 34 years to build this before he moved in and died 8 months later from pneumonia as a complication of his cancer. He had a daughter who is now in school in Florida.

It happened to open for the second time ever to the public while I was there. The inside is just as weird as the outside. He lived very simple. Surely he was not completely finished with the inside when he moved in and died. The floors definitely weren't finished, but the kitchen was crazy. Only a refrigerator and microwave, no cabinets or stove. What a true bachelor pad, no cooking involved.

The most amazing part was the view of the lake from inside!! From every spot in the living room I was captivated by the stunning view!! We meandered around the relatively small spaces to the bedroom where the view was just as amazing, even from his bed he had this view. We never figured out how he was supposed to clean the outside of the windows as they were really dirty, but he was a bachelor and probably didn't care.

From the outside the house resembles a dog sniffing his oversize water bowl, the lake. On the inside I felt like I was in a spaceship about to take off across the water. To the left is a view from the vessel about to launch into the sunset. All the glass panes had to be specially shaped, sized and cut.



There were tour guides who knew Bruno personally. They just opened the house up to raise money for some neighborhood organization. She lives across the street and 2 doors down from this house, so she knew him pretty well. It was neat hearing her talk about him and the house. Then we asked her about 'the house' across the street. Ha. Mother calls is the Flinstone house. Somebody wanted a monument to his ego and built a house rivaling for attention right across from Bruno's. It was never finished either. The neighborhood tried to get him to open it up for the Art exhibit but never heard from him. She said he showed up when it was almost over and charged something outrageous to get in. She was funny in telling how much of a pain he was as a neighbor. It's obvious no one ever lived there because there's no drive way. We opted not to pay his fee and tour the inside.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

They go up in waves and have to be cleared for take off. So, the ones already in the air were in a previous wave than the ones waiting for take off clearance and just being blown up. This day was Flight of the Nations, where 2 balloons from each country represented here flew up first flying their country's flag. It was very neat for me picking out each country's flag. The only problem was that the flags hung down, not to the side like normal. One flag looked like Monocco, the second smallest country in the world, so I had no idea it would be represented or that anyone else even knew what it's flag looked like. Turns out, it depends on the way you look at that flag. Monocco's flag is Poland's flag backwards!! Boy I got a lesson in flags. The red and yellow balloon is flying Poland's flag, while the Shamrock flies Ireland's flag, no surprise there, although it resembles Italy. The coolest though was looking up to see the American flag on a balloon and the German flag hanging down from it's gondola. That spoke volumes to me personally.

Bad Beach Day Gone Good

Finally a little ocean love. The water was frigid, but the sand felt normal between my toes.

Mother saved me from the bad weather. She was on the phone when I told her it looked a bit dark behind me. She looked it up on weather.com and said, "You better pick up your little towel, like now." Mere seconds later I was pelted with flying patio furniture scooting across the deck from a mean howling wind!! Hours later I find..... my sunroof open..

Gypsy Fun

The ever popular Zagat rated sushi restaurant in Buckhead!! People fly into Atlanta to eat here. A friend and I found it by luck one time, hungry and staying in a hotel nearby. Funny thing, I never noticed these little stickers until another friend pointed them out at another local eatery!! This is the BEST sushi I've ever had!! So fresh!!

Then, on the way to Daytona I saw a billboard for an Aviation Museum. It was at Fort Robins, GA Air Force Base. Free and super big, several hangers later, a few smashed pennies and an hour and a half detour, back on the road again...