My first card for my blog

With all the excitement from the release of the new Stampin' Up catalog, I decided to also add some halloween excitement of my own. My next stamping class is going to focus on Halloween cards and my favorite is this waterfall card. Today seemed like a good day to post it. :-)

I used Really Rust, Creamy Caramel and Chocolate Chip cardstock.

Really rust and versamark inks.

And the stamp set is an older one--Trick or Treat.

Sleeping on the beach

I decided since I told about a bad camping experience, it was only fair to post something about a good experience.

After the Deliverance experience, we headed out for Port Aransas. We weren't really planning on staying over night, but when we learned that we could camp on the beach for a mere $10, we were sold.

I am so glad we did. We pitched the tent and got all of our blankets and pillows situated, decided on a sleeping arrangement and settled down to sleep. Like always, I couldn't fall asleep in such cramped quarters and we put the tent up at the wrong angle, so we didn't get a very good breeze. So I decided to sit outside and watch the ships go thru the channel.

Truly, I think that night may have been once of the best experiences of my life.

After an hour or so, I started to get a little chilled (imagine that, chilled in south Texas in JUNE) and really, really wanted my comforter. The only problem with that was that instead of buying sleeping blankets that we knew would be too hot, we just brought along all the comforters in the house to pad the bottom of the tent so we'd be more comfy.

Bill was still in the tent asleep. On my blanket. About 3 am, I decided to try to 'sneak' the blanket out from under him. It was no use. I finally had to wake him up. So he grabbed two comforters and we kicked back in our canvas chairs. They are slightly reclined and even had footstools. We slept soundly until the alarm on Bill's crackberry went off just before dawn.

When the alarm went off, we woke the kids so they could see the sun rise over the Gulf. The only disappointing part was that there were clouds on the horizon. It was still beautiful and we got some amazing pictures (like the one on the left) and we decided right then that camping on the beach in Port Aransas was going to be a yearly vacation for us.

If you have never camped on the beach, I *highly* recommend it!

Okay, the Harbor Bridge in Corpus Christi. It's enormous. I have a fear of even little bridges. But because the bridge is part of IH 37 and you HAD to cross it to get to the USS Lexington from IH 37 and we were ON IH37, I put on my big girl panties and gave it a whirl. (Actually, the truth is it came up on us so fast, kind of around a corner and we didn't even realize there was nowhere to get off before the bridge). I got about 20 feet onto the bridge at the very very very bottom and PANICKED. I slammed on the brakes, Bill started screaming at me that I can't stop in the middle of traffic on a BRIDGE and he swears there was a semi heading straight up our tailpipe.

I had my meltdown where the pretty orange flower is at on the picture.

As efficiently as I could, I got to the far right. But there was no breakdown lane, so I was still RIGHT SMACK in the middle of traffic.

Well, then I had to change seats with Bill so he could drive. Meanwhile, I'm about to toss my eggs from fear. I couldn't even get out of the van. And the van was loaded to the top with camping gear. I'm climbing over tents and toys and coolers while Bill is waiting outside the van on the busy interstate.

It's pretty funny now. I think Bill may still be a little miffed about the whole thing though.

What's so bad about hotels?

For our vacation, we thought we could get the most bang for our buck by not staying in hotels, but rather camping everywhere we went. Bryan is a cub scout, Bethany is a girl scout, so we really thought this would be a great opportunity for them.

A few weeks before we were scheduled to leave, we called the lakes in the area we were going to be and made arrangements. Have I mentioned that you should never ever EVER reserve a campsite that you have never seen?

So, Monday morning, we load up the family minivan and head out. A few short hours later, we pulled in to Corpus Christi. (Remind me to tell you about the Harbor Bridge). We figured we would do our thing in downtown Corpus and THEN go make camp at supper time. We had a cooler full of pork chops, hot dogs and hamburger patties, all I needed was a grill.

The Lexington was great--hot but really interesting. The Texas State Aquarium was incredible. Then it was time for supper and so we headed out to Lake Corpus Christi.

Yes, I said Lake CORPUS CHRISTI. That name implies something, don't you think? Well, Lake Corpus Christi is in Mathis, TX. About 38 miles back towards where we came from. WAAAAAAAAAAYY out in the sticks. I swear to you, I could hear the banjos dueling in the background music of my life.

But, we were "roughing it" so what the heck, right?

We get all signed in and they let us know that there is a burn ban and there were to be NO FIRES, even in the bbq pit. So, I guess cooking is out of the question and we didn't pass ANY restaurants on our way in, so where are we going to eat??

We table that and go to put up the tent. No such luck. We had rented a screened shelter, with the understanding that it was a picnic table that was screened in, with an area to pitch a tent nearby. NOPE. We had to sleep in the shelter. That wasn't too bad, except even dirt is more forgiving that concrete. Oh, and the trees were so thick around the campsite that absolutely no breeze got thru.

So, we get settled and head back into town (really, I can't think of another word, but 'town' is just a bit too civilized for what this place was) to try to find someplace to eat. By this time we were all starving. We did find a MickyD's, Pizza Hut and Dairy Queen. We opted for Dairy Queen. Then we decided to try to find a camp stove or something for the next morning.

They didn't have a walmart. They didn't have a Kmart. They didn't have a Target. No Winn's, no Woolsworth, no TG&Y and their only grocery store was an HEB. A very very very small HEB. After a bit of searching, I found a single electric burner. So we were set for breakfast.

Back at camp, it was getting late so we all went down to the bathrooms. Bethany and I headed to the little girls' room on one side and Bill and Bryan headed around to the other side. Well, Bethany and I never made it all the way in as it was dark out and there was NO LIGHT inside the bathroom. Ick.

So Bryan and Bill stood guard while we used the men's room. Icky icky icky. Between the stalls there were half walls (and the stalls had no doors, but who needs them anyway when all you have is half walls between you??) You could actually sit there and have a face to face conversation with your potty mate.

UM, no thanks.

We finish our nightlies and head back to camp. Get the kids all settled down and sleeping and then the locusts and katydids come. I didn't sleep all night. I played brickbreaker on Bill's crackberry all night. Sometime between 3 and 4, I decided that the Texas sized drink from Dairy Queen was a mistake. I needed to make a potty run. Bill and both kids were sleeping, so I was preparing to go alone, until I remembered there was no light in the bathroom and there was no way I was going in there in the dark. (Yes, I am a big chicken).

Now there were some options for me.

I could suck it up and go potty in the girls' potty like the big girl I am.

I could use the men's room and take my chances that nobody scary and male interrupted me.

I could go find a nice bush and hope I didn't get poison ivy on my bum.

I could pray to God to not let me wet myself before first light.


I weighed my options and decided that prayer was my safest bet. So I prayed until first light and didn't even THINK about liquids until I saw the first streaks of dawn.

We left that town as soon as the Lake office opened up.

Lesson learned, never ever reserve a campsite you are unfamiliar with, or "what's so bad about hotels?".