Christmas for the cats

The boys got a new scratching post for Christmas.

Earl doesn't see it that way.

It is his and his alone.

The first night the feather toy disappeared.

Winston is a cat of substance.

I have tried to take a photo of him laying on his back, but it's impossible to catch the moment. 

We believe the pressure on his diaphragm makes breathing difficult if not impossible.

Sadly, I do not have a wide-angle lens.

Pat O'Brien's

We went to Pat O'Brien's for lunch today.

For those of you who don't know, 

Pat O'Brien's is an Irish Pub -

.

serving Cajun food-

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in a Tex-Mex city.

Of COURSE I forgot my camera!

.

I brought a few things back to show you!.

A napkin with 

drink recipes...

Earl loves the to-go bag!

.

Pat O'Brien's is also famous for inventing the Hurricane

and they will happily sell you the mixer.

I will happily buy it.

.

.

The Hurricanes are $8 -

and worth every penny!

.

.

Sadly, the food was not as good as I'd hoped.

Our friends Jake and Candy are Cajuns, and their cooking has spoiled me.

If we are lucky enough to hook up with them this winter I'm hoping for a cooking lesson.

Ball Moss

 There is a peculiar growth on the live oak trees here.

I first noticed it several years ago in another San Antonio R V park, 

and assumed it was some kind of parasite.

The clump below is about the size of a baseball.

If you click on the photo you may be able to see the small branch the moss was 

attached to. Look at 2:00.

Turns out the moss isn't living off the tree at all, but absorbing moisture and nutrients from the air.

Some of the trees are loaded with the moss, looking like proof of an alien invasion.

When winds pick up like they have here the last week, the balls of moss break the twigs they're

attached to and the odd little plants fall to the ground.

 These things seem kind of familiar to me. 

I think they may have been sold in the mid-70s, stuffed in to sea shells.

If anyone else remembers something like this, leave a comment.

Earl???????????

Earl is not the cat he used to be.

After seven years of being the definition of aloof,

he is trying on a new persona.

 Instead of the usual  "DON'T TOUCH ME!" response to affection,

Earl is allowing the occasional caress.

.

.

He will, for a short time, happily sit on John's lap.

I'm not sure what this means, but the universe may be shifting.

 Be ready for anything.

San Antonio

Amber, Jeff and Coen met us in San Antonio for a little pre-Christmas, pre-birthday vacation.

The weather turned out to be dreary despite the promise I'd made of warm sunny days.

On the news today they reported San Antonio has had measurable rain for the last six days, the first time in 16 months!

The people here are (mostly) happy about it.

We made the best of it, touring in the damp.

Coen shares his Papa's love of weaponry,

trying to site the cannon by peering through it.

This is on the grounds of The Alamo.

Coen loved the cannons and could have spent more time there.

The riverwalk cruise is a must in San Antonio.

I think I've done it at least six times and each guide adds something new.

I highly recommend it.

Here we are at Sea World.

He's petting a stingray.

Always good to have friends in high places.

Coen is watching a stage presentation with his favorite Sesame Street characters,

Elmo and Cookie Monker, joined by assorted other characters.

It was amazing!

The Tower of the Americas, built for the Worlds Fair in 1968.

Riding up the outside elevator is almost better than the view at the top.

Since we were there last they have added a 3-D theater.

Not only does the rattlesnake strike get your attention, you can feel him slither past your legs to get away.

Coen generally dislikes loud sounds, but this show was fun.

The San Antonio Zoo is well worth the time. It's much larger than I assumed it would be.

The Hippo pool is really the most amazing exhibit. 

Looks like they're napping, right?

Every few minutes the hippo would surface, get a breath and sink back down.

The fish were grooming only the hippo facing us.

Maybe her name is Dinah.

The 'gator didn't look as trustworthy, no toes on the window here.

This zoo has the largest assortment of birds!

Even a flamingo fan like me was overloaded.

Coen's  third birthday will be on December 22nd, and we won't be there.

I had to have an early B-day party for him here, so when he woke from his nap he found

cake, balloons and party hats.

NO, the Corona is not his.

Even though I couldn't edit out the beer bottle you would never know that this was a pants optional party.

Coen is wearing only underwear

and

.

.

.

A PARTY HAT!!!!

We ALL had to wear them, but we didn't look this cute.

Yard Art

Santa in a camper!

The trailer behind this inflatable is only slightly larger than the display,

but there is an inflated hot tub in the back of the site

The Hill Country

Texans love the Hill Country!

When they talk about it you can actually hear the capital letters in their voice.

Since most of Texas is as flat as an ironing board,

it doesn't take a lot of elevation to excite them.

We took a drive through the Hill Country; to Comfort, Boerne (say Bernie)

and Fredericksburg last week. Fredericksburg was the home of many German immigrants in the 1850's and is still filled with German restaurants. According to local legend the accordion was introduced to Tejano music by the residents from Germany and Austria.

The area is home to another notorious town.

Luckenbach Texas, made famous by Waylon, Willie and the Boys.

As you can see it wasn't really hoppin' when we were there,

but I'm assured that the free dances in the evening pull a lot of people in.

Luckenbach is really nothing but a dance hall and a beer joint,

supplemented by a general store/Post Office

and about 5 acres of open field parking.

There wasn't a lot of grass growing in those parking areas either

so I'm bettin' they fill 'em up.

The population is in single digits and they have no city limit signs.

Tourists keep stealing them.

And no we didn't - it was too light out.