Day 3: July 26, 2018

This morning, Sherry Ann, AJ and I went to the Dallas

temple. We left really early (6:15) for the 7:00 session.

AJ was able to do 10 Baptisms and confirmations, then

he just waited for us to get out. He was planning to

officiate in the baptistry, but there wasn’t anyone else

there. Sherry Ann and I enjoyed a good endowment

session. The temple was very beautiful, and the workers

helpful.

After the temple, we returned to the hotel and were

about to grab breakfast quickly before they closed it

all down. It was great to get something in our bellies

before we went on to the next part of our adventure...

Six Flags over Texas!

We went to Costco on the way to see whether they

had any discounted passes. No such luck. We had a

lot of fun at the park. One of our favorite rides was the

Texas Giant...

It was really wild! Other favorites included Mr. Freeze, Titan,

Batman the Ride, and La Vibora. It was really hot today. I’m not

sure what the high temperature was, but when we got
back to the car after sundown, it was still 104.

On the way back to the hotel, we found a chicken place and took

it to go. We are all exhausted and ready for bed. We will be

sleeping in tomorrow. It’s well earned after today.

Day 2: July 25, 2018

Oh, what a
beautiful morning! Sherry Ann and I woke up before
sunrise. We grabbed our camera and iPad and
walked across the street to the harbor. Without knowing
the danger that lurked ahead, we decided to make our way
across the grass as a shortcut. Little did we know, the
grass was full of blood-sucking winged beasties.
We counted not less that 6 or 7 mosquitos on our
arms and legs...EACH. But the pain was worth it.
Not long after we arrived at the waterfront, the sun
began to rise slowly
from the horizon, a deep red through the haze of the
Gulf Coast. It was so nice to sit and watch in serene
silence, holding my love’s hand and watching. Pretty soon,
the sun was too bright to look at any more, and we made
our way back to the hotel...where we promptly crawled
back into bed and tried to sleep for another hour or so.
It didn’t work out too well, so we went down and had
breakfast at the hotel office. It was small, but worth it.

We decided against going to the Bourbon Street Candy
Company, since it’s just a candy shop, and not a candy
factory. So, we just headed off toward Austin. Our long
day in the car began at about 9 am. At some point, we
discovered that we were only a few (40 miles) away from
Granada, Texas, where my Grandpa Reep (age 98) is
at the care and rehabilitation center. So, we made the
detour today instead of on Tuesday when we planned to.
We entered his room, where he was sleeping so
peacefully. I wasn’t sure whether we should wake him
up or not. I knelt down at his bedside and gently said
his name. He opened his eyes and looked around. He
was a bit disoriented, and didn’t

really know who we were. The conversation kept
going in circles. He kept asking AJ when he gets out of
the service, and commented on how tall and big he is.
We only stayed for about 15-20 minutes, but it was
well worth it.

We got back in the car after our visit and decided
that it would be better to just go directly to Dallas
and to our hotel. It was a loooooong journey. Just
outside of Houston, in Sugar Land, we stopped for
gas and a few snacks at Costco and then grabbed
lunch at Subway. Sherry Ann and I split a Cold Cuts
footlong, and AJ had his steak and cheese footling...with
double meat. It was a good lunch; just what we needed.

After we arrived at our hotel in Dallas, at 6 pm, we
rested from the loooooong journey before going to
dinner at Bone Daddy’s House of Smoke.

Can I just say that I barely finished
my dinner? I was so full. Sherry Ann and I split a
3-meat plate with mashed potatoes and Texas potatoes
(kind of like loaded potato salad, with cheese, bacon,
and potatoes). We enjoyed sliced smoked brisket,
BBQ pork ribs, and pulled pork. AJ ATTEMPTED to down the
Flying Pig sandwich (pulled pork, glazed ham, hot link sausage,
hickory smoked bacon) with fries and mac & cheese
.
He ate the Mac, half of the fries (maybe) and only about half
of the sandwich. Ya...remember the double meat footlong
from lunch? He was still feeling the effects. The service
was great, and the BBQ was AMAZING!!!

When we got
back to the hotel,
we spent about
half and hour
in the pool. It was
nice to have the
time to relax and
unwind from the
day.

AJ’s Texas Size Graduation Trip

Day 1 July 24, 2018

Today was legen…(wait for it)...dary! It started really early. I mean, we left Grandma Baer’s house at 4:10 or so. AJ had his first plane trip on his own ticket. AJ was even able to have the window seat. We flew from Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix to San Antonio. Sherry Ann noted that there was plenty of turbulence.

Once we got our rental car, we drove straight to Schilo’s Delicatessen. It’s a German deli really close to the San Antonio Riverwalk and the Alamo. We enjoyed a great German meal and some FABULOUS root beer. Sherry Ann had hanchenschnitzel, and AJ and I loved our wienerschnitzel sandwiches. And really...the root beer was great (thank you Bishop Colf for the recommendation).

After lunch, we had some time before we wanted to hit the road, so we took a stroll on the San Antonio River Walk and ended up at the Alamo for a couple of minutes where we were accosted by members of PETA, who were protesting and wanted to make us aware of the evil Sea World Corporation that is torturing orcas. We let them ramble a bit, then went our way.

We returned to our car and tried to get out of town. We got turned around a bit, and it took us a little longer than it should have. We finally got on the correct road, after many wrong turns and one way streets. Then we were on our way to Corpus Christi. It took a bit longer than 2 hours. We found our hotel, which looks directly over the harbor with sailboats and little seafood shacks.

We decided against sitting and checking our email and Facebook accounts, and drove to our next activity...Horseback riding on the beach.

This was a great activity! We went for an hour and a half at sunset on the beach; weaving in and out of the surf and avoiding cars parked all over the beach. Sherry Ann rode on Hobo, AJ was buddies with Chester, and Aaron had fun with Jac. The guides were awesome, and … certainly DID NOT get off their horses and take our picture with our camera. That would be against company policy, you know. Hobo went through a name change during the ride. Sherry Ann renamed him “Twirls” because he would not stop turning in circles. Sherry Ann could not keep him going straight. Apparently he just started this new trick about a week ago. It was a unique experience for Sherry Ann, for sure. We got back to the stables a little sore and ready to be on our own legs.

From the stables, we made our way back to Corpus Christi to get some dinner. We chose to dine at Blackbeard’s on the Beach. It’s a little seafood place near the USS Lexington, and is supposed to be a bit haunted. Sherry Ann had a Crab Cake burger with fries, while AJ and I enjoyed some tilapia, shrimp and crab sautéed in garlic pico. I had mine with a side salad and baked potato, while AJ had his with fettuccini. It was all really good.

We finally get back to the hotel, and are now winding down for the night. We found that we don’t have the USB cable for the camera, so we can only include the pictures we have taken with the iPad. Sorry. We’ll get the rest of the pictures when we get home.