Posts Tagged ‘Texas’

Wide Open Spaces of Texas

July 14, 2011

The Texas landscape west of Amarillo. June 12, 2011.

One of the first decisions Betsy and I had to make when planning our trip west was to fly or to drive.  There were advantages and disadvantages to each means of travel, but since our Prius, Mrs. P, is comfortable and gets 50+ MPG, we decided to drive so we could see more of our great country.

I must admit that I found the different landscapes we saw on our recent trip to be fascinating.  I’ve spent most of my life in the Midwest, in the Carolinas and here in Tennessee.  The wide open spaces of Texas were amazing.  At times it seems you could see forever.  We thought Texas looked as dry as it is in fact.

We passed a corral around an old-fashioned windmill.  We didn’t see any cattle around what I assume is a water station, but it did help break up the horizon.

Trees with green leaves were so rare that we were excited to see the trees around those buildings in the distance.  If you look closely you can see wind turbines on the horizon to the left of the trees.

As we got closer to New Mexiico, we began to see some mesas on the horizon.  We also noticed a little more green in the landscape.

There were even more windmills now and then.

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Posted in Travels | 17 Comments »

Down Memory Lane: Our Texas Visit

March 22, 2010

Scenes from our trip to Texas. April, 2009.

In April, 2009, Betsy and I went to Texas to visit our family down there.  We went down there to see our granddaughters play softball.  Both are outstanding athletes and they had games scheduled through the weekend.

Unfortunately, the weather  had other ideas.  Very severe thunderstorms moved through the area (with a couple of tornadoes for good measure) and caused wide-spread flooding.  All the games were canceled.

Instead of seeing games the day after the storms, Betsy’s son took us around to see some of the damage around them caused by Hurricane Ike six months previous.  The amount of damage still visible was really amazing.

We did see signs of progress and normalcy both on the Texas mainland and on Galveston Island.  On the western end of the island we found a beach that looked like it did before the hurricane struck.

We didn’t get to see the girls play softball, but we did  have an enjoyable time with our family on our Texas visit.

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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I’m grateful that our family got through the hurricane unhurt and with no damage to their home.

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Posted in Family | 9 Comments »

Skywatch Friday: Galveston Sunset

December 4, 2009

Sunset at Pointe West, Galveston, Texas. April, 2007.

This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world.  To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.

This picture was taken on Galveston Island, Texas, in 2007 before Hurricane Ike did so much damage on the island.  I like the silhouettes of the palm trees against sunset afterglow.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 15 Comments »

Texas Weather

April 23, 2009
Damage from the storm. April 18, 2009.

Damage from the storm. April 18, 2009.

I mentioned in my last post that we didn’t get to see our granddaughters play softball because of the Texas weather wouldn’t cooperate.  We knew before we got to Houston that the outlook wasn’t very favorable, but we weren’t prepared for Texas weather.

It rained most of the day on Saturday.  But in the afternoon the wind picked up and the rain started blowing horizontally.  There was no warning from the Weather Service, but I have rarely seen such rain.  Seabrook, Texas, (where we were) got about seven inches of rain in a little over an hour.  Streets were flooded and I thought I would have to convert our car into a boat.

And then there was the wind!  The picture above shows the backyard of our son after the storm.  That heavy propane grill was blown over — it took two of us to put it back.  If you look carefully at the picture above (it can be enlarged), you’ll see the leg of a chair that went through their fence.  It was later reported that a tornado touched down a couple of miles from their house — I’m glad we didn’t know about that at the time!

All in all I now have new respect for the slogan ‘Don’t Mess with Texas’ — or at least the weather!

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Posted in Weather | 21 Comments »

We’re Off to Texas

April 16, 2009
Texas Welcome Center. April 17, 2008.

Texas Welcome Center. April 17, 2008.

Betsy and I are leaving a little later this morning for Texas.  We’re going down to see our (Betsy’s) two granddaughters play softball.  They are both excellent athletes and have been playing softball for several years.

We were in Texas last year, but neither girl had a game while we were there.  They both have games scheduled for the coming weekend so we’re hoping the weather will cooperate so we can see them play.

We’ll hopefully be back next Wednesday.  I don’t think we’ll find any waterfalls on this trip, but if we get on some back roads you never can tell.

I hope all of you have a great week.  We’ll catch up with you when we get back.

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Posted in Travels | 23 Comments »

Skywatch Friday # 39

April 9, 2009
Pointe West, Galveston Island, Texas. April 15, 2008.

Pointe West, Galveston Island, Texas. April 15, 2008.

Sky Watch Friday is a weekly meme in which people share pictures of the sky,  Last week over 350 people shared beautiful sky pictures through this meme.  To see more pictures from around the world or to join and post your own pictures, click HERE.

The picture above was taken on Galveston Island in April, 2008, before Hurricane Ike devastated the island later in the year.  Betsy’s son worked at a new resort on the island and he was giving us a tour of the resort club house when I took this picture.  I like the clouds floating in over the Gulf.

It’s difficult to reconcile this pretty picture with the damage caused by the hurricane.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 22 Comments »