Finding Fun Stuff to Do in Livingston and Huntsville, TX

And in the blink of an eye, another month has transpired!  We rejoice in the glory of each new day and in GOD’s Grace that Dad has recovered fully from his heart surgery.

Determined to keep busy, we continue to attend dancing lessons, play pickleball, hike, bike, and ride motorcycles.

Some of our fellow dancers.

Like our beloved Vernine (Vee) in Quartzsite, our current dance instructor Diane always make our lessons fun!

While motorcycling, we spotted the Christ of East Texas statue...

...along with this group of free-range poultry who seemed to enjoy their neighbor's property better than their own. 

Additionally, we volunteered to assist with the Escapees CARE Health Fair in March, a 5-day fund-raising event that included a Soup Fest, seminars, dessert auction, silent auction, vendor market place, luncheon, and catfish dinner with musical entertainment.  This year’s theme was “Hat’s Off to a Healthy Heart”.  In addition to donating baked goods to the dessert auction and providing Mom’s 50^th Anniversary Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Jacket as a Silent Auction item, we helped set-up for each day’s activities.  And my parents each completed their course for Texas Food Handlers Certification.  By doing so, they served food at both the luncheon and dinner, saving CARE the cost of paying staff members to perform the tasks.  It was a long, tiring week that seemed a bit disorganized for the 27^th annual Health Fair, but it somehow all pulled together.  We so enjoyed working with Jackie/Rod, Carol/John, Sandra/Lloyd, Tom/Patricia, and the other volunteers.  And we were happy to play a role in the fundraiser’s success to assist in the organization’s mission of offering assisted living to aging and retired Escapees.

Chick-Fil-A's cow was one of the venders at the Health Fair market place.  He gave me a coupon for a free salad at our Livingston location (how did he know Dad was plant-based?)

 

 

Crystal, the CARE fundraising manager, created some down home country western ambiance on the stage.

Dad mugging it with fellow volunteers Carol, Shirley, and Sandra.

Volunteers Tom and Patricia were bartenders at the luncheon and dinner.

With my parents now certified as "Food Handlers", this stuffed rat and my pocket pal Nezumi were forbidden from entering the Activity Center kitchen while they prepped and serve lunch.

All decked out in our country western duds.

"Hats off to a Healthy Heart" and a great group of volunteers/CARE staff.

We learned from new RV friends Dave/Debbie about Chazers, a bar/club along Lake Livingston.  We all attended its 80s Dance Party.  My parents were looking forward to a night of new wave music—Billy Idol, B-52s, Devo, Depeche Mode.  Though none of those artists’ tunes were played, we were content with the pop classics of Lauper, Madonna, Wham, and Culture Club.  But then the rap music started.  Dad made his best attempt to go gangsta, but it just didn’t cut it.  So, after 6 rap songs in a row, we all called it a night.

 

We joined fellow Escapees Carol/John at a Livingston VFW Post 8568 afternoon dance, enjoying a fun-filled evening thereafter of good food, great laughs, and wonderful company.

 

We celebrated the birthdays of Jeff/Rosemary one Friday with dinner and Mom’s carrot cake at the Pit Stop.  This was our first time at this cute 50s-style dinner in Livingston.  We continued the birthday celebration the next evening at another VFW dance.  It was our last get-together before Jeff/Rosemary continued their travels.  We said our farewells to Debbie/Dave the following week when we joined them and their friends Dan/Paula for dinner at Patrons, Livingston's most popular Mexican restaurant.  We enjoyed spending time with all these folks, and we look forward to seeing them again down the road. 

My parents and Dave/Deb helped Rosemary/Jeff (center) celebrate their birthdays at the Pit Stop.

  

The Pit Stop is a cute 50s style burger joint.

Dave/Deb, my parents, and Dan/Paula.

We hopped on the motorcycles to spend a day in Lufkin. We started with hiking at Kit McConnico Park then went to lunch.  My parents generally don’t relish buffets, but they make an exception for Golden Corral because it has a good selection of vegan options for Dad while satisfying Mom’s carnivore tastes.  Afterwards, we went to the Cinemark Theater to see the film, Jesus Revolution.  This stuffed rat is too young and innocent to know fully of the happenings of the 60s, but I found the movie uplifting.   Weird thing, though:  every time we go to the movies in Lufkin, there are very few seats available from which to select at the payment booth, leading us to think the theater will be packed when we enter.  Then we find we are among only a dozen viewers.  What gives?

 

We just renewed our Texas State Park Pass.  At $70 for a 12-month period, it is a bargain, and we will offset the cost with a total of 6 day-use visits.   We have applied it already to 2 visits to Huntsville State Park.  We enjoy this Park immensely, as it offers a variety of trails that make it easy to get our minimum 5-mile hikes completed.  We had lots of reptilian company on the trails during our hikes.  Dad was excited to spot a juvenile garter snake, but Mom upped the ante considerably when she detected a cottonmouth.  Dad insisted it was dead, but the snake proved Dad wrong when he nudged it with a stick.  As for this Rambling RV Rat, I have an aversion to snakes—I worry they might make a meal outta me.  So, I amuse myself with more docile objects, like a group of gnomes hiding inside a tree stump.

In addition to the State Park, we have toured Huntsville many a time, usually visiting all things Sam Houston:  the National Forest bearing his name, his grave site, and of course, the towering statue of the great statesman.  For something different on our latest visit to Huntsville, we opted to tour the Texas Prison Museum.  This is a small but very interesting place.  The establishment of a central state prison occurred in 1848 with the construction in Huntsville of the Walls Unit State Penitentiary.  The Texas Prison System has housed some well-known perps including singer/songwriter David Crosby. Many offenders served time, got paroled, committed more crimes, and subsequently returned to the penal system.   So very sad, particularly when you see the talents displayed by the inmates:  intricate carvings made from bars of soap, musical instruments made from newspapers, keepsake boxes made of matchsticks, beautiful wood furnishings, and hand-crafted leather accessories.  Some even performed and held records within the Texas Prison Rodeo, which operated from 1931-1986.  Too bad these criminals didn’t parlay their talents into respectable livelihoods and instead resorted to lives of crime.  

This chess set was carved from bars of soap!

All of these were made by inmates from matchsticks!

Guitar, banjo, and dumb bell weights--all constructed from newspaper!

Look at these examples of... 

...wood craftsmanship!

Mom says I will end up here if I ever have another pop-up party for my rodentia pals!

Right next door to the Texas Prison Museum is the H.E.A.R.T.S. (Helping Every American Remember through Serving) Veterans Complex.  It has a replica of the D.C. Vietnam Memorial Wall.  It breaks my heart to think of the number of men and women, most just starting adulthood, who lost their lives in this pointless war.   

Our visits to Huntsville always include a late lunch/early dinner, which we typically spend at 7 Leguas Mexican Restaurant.  But now that Livingston Restaurateur Joe Ilir is expanding his Italian Grill empire, we dined one afternoon at his new location in Huntsville.  We were privy to the same great food, attentive service, and reasonable prices to which we are accustomed at his Livingston restaurant.  Joe's pizza and 7 Leguas always score a Rambling RV Rat 5-cheese rating.

 

My buddies at 7 Leguas.

It is a pretty time of year here in Texas:  Spring flowers are abloom.  The squirrels are back to their antics now that we hung up our backyard bird feeders.   We have planted some vegetables in food-grade buckets with auto-watering system, so we hope to get a bumper crop of tomatoes and zucchini.  We found a local farm from which to purchase eggs (especially for me to color with Easter fast approaching). 

We concluded the month of March with breaking bread with good friends Lisa/Jim, who made a quick stopover in Livingston after Escapade and before heading East to host HOPS and Boot Camps.  Always an enjoyable evening filled with stimulating conversation and hysterical laughter.

 

Well, I’ve gotta run.  I hear Mom and Dad whispering about my upcoming birthday, so I need to do some eavesdropping to see what they have planned.  I’ll tell ya all about it in my next blog.  Talk to you again soon!