Horseback Riding

Amy and I went riding with her mother on Friday afternoon. We took out Nipper, Raven and Dixie and a good time was had by all. I took this with my new shiney Treo 650. Not the best picture but passable.

The music man

Captian Biggs (Joe) performed several very funny songs through out the night. Here he is capping the evening off with an original piece about how life is a little messed up now and and example is that cartoons moved to things like Sailor Moon (little girls) and away from GiJoe and Thundercats (Ho!)

Wrap the Pole

Amy made quite a lovely pole. We had to use 6 rolls of toilet paper and completely wrap the pole using all of the paper. We did not win but it was fun. 

Costumes

There was a wide array of interesting costumes. At the peak of the evening there must have been 30 - 40 people there and most of them in costume. 

The games begin!

Here Mr. Prostitute (April) is explaining the rules to the ship race. We had four teams and we had to compete on several different games like: Hum that tune, Sharades, Pictionary, Wrap the pole. (They are way too organized) 

A Pirate Tavern

April and Joe spare no expense. Joe built this very mood making set in front of his house. With out a flash it had much more effect. They had a fog machine hidden in the bushes and a sign on the door saying "Here there be Pirates (and Rum!)" You have got to love these guys. 

Captain Biggs and Mr. Prostitute

This is April and Joe getting ready for the most excellent party. He actually shaved his head for his costume. I am not worthy! 

A highland Laddie

We had several costume ideas for me but we ended up just going with my scottish highlander outfit as we could not figure out a way to pull of an Internet pirate or Jimmy Buffett (A pirate looking at Forty). We are at April and Joe's Halloween party. It is quite an affair.

A wench and a pirate

Amy and John in their very excellent costumes. Amy is very fetching as a wench!

My friend Jill

I hung out with Jill today and helped her bring her very own blog into existence. She is getting close to having her first baby and it seemed like a very cool way for her to be able to keep her family involved in the whole experience since they are not close. Her blog is at jilllustberg.blogspot.com.

Amy and Raven

Amy does look great on Raven, or is that Raven looks good under Amy. Hmmmm....

Tom and Dixie

Dixie is a much better fit for me than Nipper. Amy, Karen and I went out riding this morning and a good time was had by all. This is shortly after Amy and I put the spurs to Dixie and Raven and really stretched their legs. Dixie is a great horse and is a blast to ride.

Sony Camera Failing

My Sony camera is really starting to fail as you can see from this horrible picture. I called Sony to get support for the camera when I discovered that my camera was purchased at a time they had issued cameras with bad CCD's. The Sony rep asked me a ton of very ambiguous questions and then proceeded to tell me that my camera was not failing due to a bad CCD. He never asked to have me send him a photo or anything. When I expressed my surprise that he could so absolutely diagnose my camera by just asking me questions and not examining the camera or pictures he suggested I send it in and if they decided I had the problem they would not charge me and would reimburse my shipping charges. (Yeah Right!) I said thanks but no thanks as my family has owned several Sony laptops and every time one of them has had to be "serviced" they would disappear for three to four months!!! That is the most ridiculous and terrible service I have ever heard of in my life. I will never again purchase a Sony product. Amy looked around and we have a VERY good warranty with Wolf Camera on the Sony so if they can not fix it they will give me a new camera thankfully. I guess I will have to purchase a new one so Amy and I might have a camera for the coming Holidays. DOH!!!!! Sony you suck!

The Parental Blog

Well I spend sometime yesterday showing my mother and father how to Blog. They have a new blog up at victorjones.blogspot.com. I am very excited to see if they can keep it up at least for the trip to New York. It will be fun to get to see and hear about their trip as it happens. We also played with the very interesting feature of Picasa to do collages. The picture pile was our favorite one but unfortunately it seems to be tied to the resolution of the computer making the collage I guess so that it can be used for a desktop background. On mothers computer at 1024x768 this means her collages get very crowded very quickly. On my fathers computer as 1400x??? they are very nice and spacious. I will have to file a bug report and see if they can make it an option to set the desired resolution of the collage instead of using the computers current resolution. Hmmmmm.....

Horseback Riding

Amy and I went horseback riding today. We took out Nipper and Raven and rode around the area of the barn. I managed to ride Nipper at a fast gate and not feel like I was about to fall off. Amazing.

Hapgood

Mom and Dad had extra tickets to the play Hapgood at the Alley Theatre on the Neuhaus stage. Amy rode in with Mom and Dad and we met at Birraporetti's for dinner. We had an excellent wine and a very nice dinner. The play was a spy thriller / physics lesson. It was quite excellent. Mom did not feel good so she and Dad left at the intermission. Amy wore her new sexy tight fitting brown zip up shirt and form fitting brown skirt with her tall brown boots. Yummy!!!! I am a very luck man.

Dutch at the Dog Park!

Dutch is having a blast playing with all of his new friends at the Millie Bush Dog Park.

Rita: Dutch and Wyatt at the homestead.

We got the dogs out of the vet were we had been boarding them and took them almost immedietly to my grandparents land in Longview. Both the dogs and Amy and I greatly enjoyed being on the land. We hung out in the woods and pastures and let the dogs run free for several hours. 

Rita: Entering the Seven Pines Stable

We went to the stable everyday to check on and feed the horses. They got grain and hay everyday. They are eating better here than at home. ;-) The stable had several pumping oil wells on it that had the most annoying sqeeks. Amy and I both agreed that we would have gone crazy if we had to listen to them for any extended period. 

Rita: You have got to be kidding!

On the way between the RV and the stable Amy and I would pass this baseball field. Only in east Texas would you find several pumping oil wells in the middle of the local schools baseball fields. 

Rita: Leaving Terrell, Tx

On 9/24 we discovered that Rita was going to come right over us in Gladewater and there might be up to 75 mile an hour winds. We decided to move the RV and head west. We got the RV ready for traveling in record time and headed out. The drive west was very windy but we found shelter in Terrell, Tx just east of Dallas. That evening we cooked steaks and had margaritas and drank almost an entire bottle of tequila. We were feeling no pain. The next morning we headed back to Gladewater so we could take care of the horses and dogs. Dad and I almost hated to leave as this RV park had free and pretty reliable internet access. :-)

Rita: In Gladewater, Texas

Here we are finally in Gladewater, Texas at the RV. We arrived in Longview and started offloading the horses at about 2:30pm till around 5:00pm. So it took us about 18 1/2 hours to go from Houston to Longview. I have made this drive many times going to Grandmother and Daddy George's House and it never takes over 5 hours. The evacuation of Houston for Rita was a truely memorable experience that I would not wish on anyone. If it had not been for my parents also choosing to go to Longview area we would not have had such a nice place to go to. Amy and I were very lucky.

Rita: Amy in Kountze

We are in Kountze at about 8:00am. We have been driving with the horses since 8:00pm the previous day. We tried to get gas here but after asking the attendant if all the pumps were working we pulled up to one to discover that it was nonfuctional. Since we had about half a tank we decided to head further north in search of gas once we discovered that Beaumont and the surrounding area was being evacuated at that moment. It was now a race north to try and stay ahead of those people! DOH! It was about this time that I decided to ask my parents to call around in Longview for a stable so we could stable the horses and Amy and I could stay in the RV instead of sleeping on the ground at my Grandparents land in Longview. They managed to find us the Seven Pines Stable and a vet that could perform coggins tests on the horses so we could stable them. The vet was extremly nice and the Seven Pines Stable was an excellent place. Thanks Mom and Dad!

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Rita: Amy on 146 South of I-10

This very hard to see picture is Amy driving the truck. We are south of I-10 still in Houston heading north on 146. (Who has ever heard of 146? Why not 59?) We left the barn at 8:oopm or so and after 6 hours are still in Houston. Incredible! Rita was supposed to be coming to Houston and the horses were in danger so we decided to evacuate on Wednesday 9/21. UH closed early and I headed home to get us pulled together while Amy went to the barn to prep the horses. She then headed back to the house so we could pick up the truck and take it and the Explorer to Pasadena. We loaded up the horses and then took them and the Explorer to her mothers house so she could borrow the Explorer and evacuate her and her dogs. We almost could not get gas and had to stop twice since at the first place I managed to get gas for the truck but they ran out before we could get gas for the Explorer. Luckly Amy manged to fill it at a gas station near the barn.

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Echo Canyon Trail

Almost back to the car in Echo Canyon trail. Now that is a rock!

Lunch on the Lake

Quality food with quality people!

The Dog of the Lake

At Moss Lake we found a perfect shady spot to have coffee, cheese and boiled eggs with crazy salt. Gus found the spot good for other reasons.

Loop Trail, Enchanted Rock

Here we are starting our hike around the loop trail at Enchanted Rock. It was a very beautiful day. Wait a minute, Gus still does not have his own backpack. I have got to work on this one.

Shopping in Fredericksburg

Mom waiting on Dad in a bookstore on Fredericksburg's Main street. We shopped till we felt a nap calling, ah vacation is a bitch.

The Tree.

Mom really dug this tree. I also wanted to post proof positive that she made it up the Enchanted Rock. Way to go Mom.

A Magic Kiss!

Got to Love her!