East Texas Trip

One of my aunts passed away this week and we went to her funeral in Jasper. I had wanted to get to Jasper before nightfall Thursday, but Jeff was working, so we left later. In the end, night driving was great, because we got to see all the pretty Christmas lights popping up along the country roads. Also, no traffic!

The funeral was really nice. The last two funerals (well, probably more than that) I've been to were Catholic masses, which of course are very long and formal and less personal. This was a small town, small church funeral, where the paster knew my aunt and told stories about her and brought a lot of warmth to the ceremony. Super nice people there.

On our way home, we had lunch in Huntsville at Bennie J's Smoke Pit. It was REALLY good. Looks like they're only open for lunch and they run out of things, so you should get there early. We rolled in around 2 and they were about to shut down. We were able to get sausage and ribs, which rocked. Super smoky and yummy. They also let us sample some of their pecan pie, which was delicious.

I've never seen so many pickup trucks in one town in my life as I did in Huntsville. I would have thought there would be a lot of pickups in, oh, I don't know... Jasper? But Huntsville wins that award for sure. The semi-official Pickup Truck Capital of the World.

I wish we'd had more time in east Texas, because there are probably some really neat historical places in the area that we've not seen. Had to get back here for a winery trip to Fredericksburg with Kathy today! Her wine club purchase was ready for pickup, so we made the quarterly jaunt. Beauuuutiful day!


Friday Five: Seasons

1. What foods are most representative of each of the four seasons?

Winter - chili

Spring - salad

Summer - ice cream

Fall - pumpkin pie

2. What are good songs to represent each of the four seasons?

Winter - "A Hazy Shade of Winter" The Bangles version

Spring - "Cake By the Ocean" DNCE

Summer - "Summer Nights" from Grease

Fall - "Be True to Your School" Beach Boys

3. What would be good films to represent each of the four seasons?

Winter - Love Actually

Spring - Emma

Summer - 50 First Dates

Fall - Dead Poets Society

4. If you could divide the calendar year into four seasons some other way with some other theme besides weather or major professional sports, where would each seasons begin and end, and what would each be called?

Jan-Mar: Chillin'

April-June: Anniversaries

July-Sep: Beach Dayz

Oct-Dec: Birthdays

5. What’s something in your area that’s extra fun in the winter?

going to Stars hockey games at Cedar Park center