Texas
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Bastrop State Park
This past weekend we drove to Bastrop to camp, hike, and enjoy some time outside. Jae’s Kindergarten is on Spring Break this week, and LisaDiane (as she is always so good about) planned ahead to get us a very nice campsite for the first few days of his holiday. Bastrop State Park is a beautiful wooded park not very far from Austin. The park is filled with post oaks and loblolly pine trees, part of the Lost Pines Forrest. The park is in the early stages of recovery from the Bastrop County Complex fire, which swept through Bastrop County in 2011 and burned 96% of the park. I volunteered in…
- Abroad, El Paso, Fort Davis, Glacier National Park, Logan, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park, Zion National Park
Summer 2012 Vacation Highlights
Joey has finished posting all of the photos from our vacation this summer. We drove about 5000 miles, through eight states, and visited four National Parks. Check out the map below for details of our drive: Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip. Below you can find the links to all of the photos, which, if you know Joey, you know there are lots of pictures! Here are some of Joey’s Flickr Albums from the trip:
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SoCRA
I dashed off to Dallas on Friday for the Society of Clinical Research Associates (SoCRA) Annual Conference, where I gave a presentation on Audit Readiness. The conference was really great, with many good speakers and interesting topics. I got to stay at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, and had a room on the thirty-first floor! An added benefit of the trip to Dallas was getting to hang out with Laura and Jason the day after their return from Amsterdam. I drove up to Denton to see them. Naturally I asked to go to Sweetwater for ceviche, and Beth Marie’s for ice cream. Reading that sentence, it dawns on me that beer,…
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3 cities in 14 hours
Joey’s maternal grandfather, RD Cline, passed away last week. We all called him Granddaddy. One of my favorite memories of him occurred the first time I first met him. We were introduced, and within five minutes, he had opened up his wallet, which was full of pictures of his children and grandchildren, and pulled out a picture that he had of Joey and Joey’s former girlfriend. He handed the picture to Joey and said, “I like LisaDiane. This picture is no good anymore. I need a new one with LisaDiane.” We actually got a picture taken right away and sent it to Granddaddy. That was the first of many portraits…
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Opera in Dallas, A Weekend in Denton – May 2009
Last Saturday LisaDiane and I loaded Ela into the car and made a road trip to Denton to visit Laura and Jason and to see Laura’s new opera in Dallas. Ela stayed with Laura and Jason, and was well behaved around the cats (although she did knock over that one flowerpot in the living room). We visited our favorite stops on the square – Beth Marie’s Ice Cream, Jupiter House Coffee, and Recycled Books – and added a new favorite stop: Laura’s new business, Massage on the Square. Laura and her partner Wendy have opened a very comfortable, beautifully appointed studio right next to Recycled Books. LisaDiane blogged about it…
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The Ruby Jane Show at Central Market
Friday night Lee and I went to see the Ruby Jane Show at Central Market. They were spectacular. We were treated to some blue-ribbon bluegrass and high-spirited fiddle work as Ruby Jane Smith led her band through a set of original songs and standards. The cafe was standing room only as about 400 people crowded in to enjoy the music, but somehow I managed to take a picture when only a few people were between our table and the stage. Ruby Jane’s fiddle work was wicked splendid, her exchanges with the crowd and her band were warm and charming, and her smile was electric. If you’ve not had a chance…
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Massage on the Square
You may or may not know that in addition to being an amazing opera singer, my sister Laura is a registered massage therapist (RMT) in Texas. From the time she was a little kid she would volunteer to give people a neck rub, and everyone always said she did a great job. She took her natural talent to the next level when she attended massage therapy school between her undergrad and graduate degrees. She has been working as a massage therapist for about five years (I could be wrong here). She does all kinds of massage from hot rock to deep tissue. She is always looking to improve her technique…
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Random Image Widget – Cousins
The Etherlimits main page has a random image widget at the top right corner. Each time you visit the page, you see a different picture. Today the random image was a picture of me and my female cousins in Market Square in San Antonio. This picture was taken right after my grandfather’s funeral on 09 January 2006. I totally love this picture, and since it is extremely unlikely that anyone else will see it on the random image generator, I thought I would share. The five granddaughters of Esperanza and Louis Rodriguez, from left to right: Madelynne, LisaDiane, Laura, Lydia, and Katie
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Trip to Fort Worth
Joey and I drove to Fort Worth on Friday night. The main purpose of the trip was to see Ross and Kat before they leave Texas and move to Baltimore, Maryland. Joey got us all packed for the trip, and arranged for Elanor to stay with Lee, Billy, and Cali. Troy came over to pick up Katy for the weekend. As he left our house, he was holding her bed, and the bag with her food, etc. He called Katy, she followed him into the driveway. Katy was confused about what car to get into, since the tailgate of our CR-V was open, she she stood behind the CR-V waiting…
- All Saints', Camp Allen, Diocesan ECW, Friends and Family, Lee and Billy, Lindsay and Don, Misty and Brian, Twenties and Thirties
Episcopal Church Women Annual Meeting and Retreat
Many of you know that I was president of the Episcopal Church Women at All Saints’ Episcopal Church back a few years ago. The last year of my tenure, our church hosted the Annual Meeting of the Diocese of Texas Episcopal Church Women. The meeting was well received, and everyone had a great time. It was a really tough job, and I was glad to take a break and relax once it was done. Apparently people sat up and took notice of the job I did as Annual Meeting Chairperson, because this past spring I got a call from the president of the Diocesan ECW, Anne Hart, asking me to…
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Aerodynamics
frustrated grackle - tortilla in autumn breeze - I can't fly like this.
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Mental Health Day
Lee has been working like crazy lately. Billy asked her to take a day off for mental health purposes. He asked Joey and me to join them for a day trip. We decided to drive out to Shiner, Texas to visit the Spoetzl Brewery. We had fun trying the beers that were on tap at the brewery. The tour was interesting, and we had a nice tour guide, but there was also a crazy tour guide who always sounded like she was angry. Billy and I had a good time laughing about how much she yelled. We also stopped into Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church in Shiner, which is one…
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Unexpected Day in Fort Worth
Joey and I got up early on Thursday, 19 June 2008, to travel to Troy and Christinne’s wedding in Cozumel, Mexico. We boarded the plane in Austin at 5:45 am for the forty minute flight to DFW. From DFW we were catching a connecting flight to Cozumel at 10:25 am. If any sane person had to guess, they would say five hours is plenty of time to get from Austin to DFW, find the correct gate, and board the second plane. If they were on our flight, AA1038, they would have been wrong. As we approached DFW, the pilot announced that we would have to circle for a about twenty…
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Kat’s Birthday – February 2008
LisaDiane and I drove up to Fort Worth yesterday to eat cake, slay a piñata, and celebrate the beginning of Kat’s 32nd year on the eighth return of her birthday. Tim’s father was at the party and I spent some time chatting with him and Tim and Rod about home improvements, cellular networks, recumbent bicycles, and other worthy engineer topics while feeding my Yitzchak Spector glass a fair supply of bubbly sweet red wine. Kat made a wonderful yellow cake with rich chocolate icing – I had two pieces and took a big piece home after the party. Sad news for Fort Worth – Tagel is moving to Seattle to…
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A day with Papa in San Antonio – July 2007
LisaDiane and I spent Saturday in San Antonio with Papa – It was so nice to see him. Papa was in SA to attend Promise Keepers. We met him after the event and enjoyed an afternoon browsing in the shops on the Riverwalk, exploring the dragon exhibit at the Institute of Texan Cultures, and shopping in Market Square. We had dinner at El Mercado and bought desert at the candy counter at Mi Tierra.
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Grandpa’s Memorial Services – January 2006
Sunday January 8, 2006 and Monday January 9, 2006 Lisa Diane and I celebrated Grandpa Louis at two wonderful solemn memorial events. On December 30, 2005, Grandpa Louis Rodriguez passed away. Grandpa Louis was married to Esperanza for 63 years, raised six children – scientists, soldiers, businessmen, teachers, and musicians – and shared his smile and charming character with the world. He was a charter member of the Pan-American Golf Association, sang with the San Antonio Chordsmen for 20 years, and retired from Southwestern Drug Corporation in 1983. His family and friends gathered at the funeral home on Sunday night. Members of the Chordsmen sang, friends told stories about his…
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Dialogues of the Carmelites – January 2006
Great show. Real guillotine. Principle overcomes fear through fellowship and faith. Faced with death, nuns lose their heads. Laura was terrific. Our trip up to Fort Worth was the first part of a whirl through central Texas – we went to the opera on Friday, celebrated Dory’s 80th birthday in Houston on Saturday, and sang at Grandpa’s memorial services in San Antonio on Sunday and Monday. Not only did we see the opera and get to spend time with Laura, Jason, and Nathan, but I finaly got a chance to meet Mary and Gordon.
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Thanksgiving in El Paso – November 2005
LisaDiane and I spent Thanksgiving week with my parents in El Paso. She and I had just recovered from a couple of weeks of flu, so we took it easy – LisaDiane spent a lot of time knitting, we took a drive through the upper valley, we had lunch at Little Diner in Canutillo, and we saw a couple of movies (’Good Night and Good Luck’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’). Toward the end of the week we were feeling a little more adventurous, so we went hiking up above the theater in McKelligon canyon and then drove to Chico’s Tacos for some lunch.
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Nanny’s Memorial – November 2004
Our paternal grandmother, Nanny to us, died on November 15, 2004. She had been living near our our Uncle in Kansas and had made arrangements to be buried alongside her husband in Pampa, Texas. Kay, Troy, and I made the drive from Austin to Pampa and attended Nanny’s Memorial service in Pampa on November 22. Our parents drove from El Paso, and we spent most of our visit at Aunt Suzie’s house visiting with our cousins, aunts, and parents. I was so happy to meet for the first time some of our cousins from Massachusetts. Nanny’s obituary is archived at Charmichael-Whatley.com. A photo of the obituary from The Pampa News…
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Mustang Island State Park – November 2004
We decided to take a trip to the beach. Trusting that the weather in Texas is always warm, we set out for Port Aransas the second weekend of November. Our weather theory proved incorrect, and we had rain, wind and forty degree temperatures! We also had a great time relaxing together, playing games, walking on the beach and kicking back and taking it easy for a few days.
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W.H. Taft High School Class of 1994 Reunion, San Antonio, Texas – June 2004
Even though I graduated from “that other school” my friends from Taft High School encouraged me to join them at the 10 year reunion. Luke and Joey opted to stay in Austin, so Aleisha and I went to the reunion together. We went to a picnic on Saturday, the dinner and dance on Saturday evening, and on Sunday we had breakfast at April’s charming home. We caught up with lots of old acquaintances, and spent time with our longtime friends. We had a lovely time!
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Mother’s Day in El Paso – May 2004
Troy, Kay, and I drove to El Paso on May 5th with the intention of spending the Mother’s Day weekend remodeling Mama’s kitchen. (Roadtrip!) Papa had already removed some of the cabinets and taped, floated, and painted the new walls. We spent the next few days cutting tile, sweating new joints into the plumbing, running new lights and outlets, and replacing all of the cabinets and countertops. Ross and Kat were in El Paso while we were and we spent some time with them. I hope we can do more family projects like this. It was fun to all work on the project together.
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Kat’s 7th Birthday Party – February 2004
Kat celebrated her seventh birthday on February 29, 2004. LisaDiane and I drove to Ross and Kat’s house in Fort Worth to attend the party. It was good to see them – we don’t manage the trip often enough. The party was the right kind of low key – friends and family – and everyone took a swing at the Piñata.
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The McNay – January 2004
Kay and I drove down to San Antonio to see the Nightmare Before Christmas exhibition at the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum. The exhibition had original models and artwork from the stop-motion animated film “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. The museum is housed in a 24-room Spanish Colonial Revival smansion set on a manicured twenty-three acre lot. The collections include works by Cézanne, Picasso, Gauguin, Matisse, O’Keeffe, Cassatt, and Hopper. Kay and I spent the day touring the various collections on display.
