March came in like a lamb in east Texas. The weather was beautiful and we were itching to get out and about. On the 2nd, we drove to Washington on the Brazos State Park for the celebration of the 176th Anniversary of Texas Independence.
Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 in the town of Washington. The Declaration was signed on March 2. Texas was a nation until 1845 when it became a part of the United States. The state park contains the site of the signing. We visited the Star of the Republic Museum and the reconstruction of Independence Hall. A re-enactor representing one of the delegates who formed the new state gave an interesting and informative talk about the gathering and various members of the group.
Washington was a town until bypassed by the railroad and then it slowly died. The reconstructed Independence Hall is not an exact replica; no one knows exactly what it looked like. 3 of the cornerstones were found in 1960 and the present building does replicate the approximate size of the original. We had a great day and enjoyed being out in the spring weather.
Later in the week we visited the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to see the exhibit Pompeii, tales from an Eruption. This wonderful exhibit gives you an idea of what life in the city of Pompeii was like before it was covered in ash on August 24, 79 AD.
The exhibit contained many beautiful pieces of jewelry, table silver, items used in everyday life and sections of beautiful fresco walls. Plaster casts of bodies of victims of the eruption were also displayed. It was an interesting and informative day and we would highly recommend this exhibit to anyone who has an opportunity to see it.
On Saturday, 15th we spent the day at the Houston Livestock Show. Most of the day was spent attending the mule and donkey show, which is one of our favorite activities. It was a pretty good show, although not nearly as many teams were competing as there used to be. While they were taking a break and setting up the team pulls, Millie walked over to the exhibit hall to see the Llamas and Alpacas. Following the pulls, we walked over to the Reliant Hall to see the quilt exhibit. The quilts are from most of the counties in the area and some were quite spectacular.
Mustang Mania is an exhibit of mustangs that were painted and on exhibit on the Rodeo grounds. We walked along and viewed the ones on display. Some were really elaborate. They will be moved to other places for display after the close of the Livestock Show.
On the 17th, we went to the hospital to have the cyst removed from Dick’s chest. He came through the surgery with flying colors and we were back home by 1:00 that afternoon. Now we can get his knee surgery rescheduled!
The 25th was his follow-up appointment on the chest and the Dr. released him. The incision is healing well and with no signs of infection, he is ready for the knee replacement. We stopped at Dr. Hoover’s office following that appointment and the knee surgery is now scheduled for the 21st of April. Our original plans to be back on the road by the 1st of April are certainly scratched, but that is one of the great things about our lifestyle, we can readily adjust.
Debbie called and Rikki had gone for her last ultrasound of her pregnancy. The baby would not cooperate and so the sex is still unknown. Debbie and Millie were hoping we would know so we could shop accordingly.
We went to Victoria, TX on the 28th for Millie to attend the quilt show of the Quilt Guild of Greater Victoria. It was not as large a show as the one she attended in LaGrange, but still a very good one. She was particularly pleased that she won a door prize while there.
On Sunday, the 29th, our son Robert called and let us know that we are going to be great-grandparents for the second time late this year. Our grand-daughter, Amanda and her husband are due in November. Millie is going to be kept busy trying to get things made for both these new babies. We will be getting one in August and one in November! This will make number 4 and 5 Great-great grands for Ann!
Next month – Surgery and rehab?
(Lots of new photos in the gallery, take a look. We couldn't link to all of them.)
