Oh my gosh! John, Tony and I had a great miniature-vacation! And, we want to thank Charlie and Ellen Cooper, Maribeth and Ben for baby-sitting the rescue ranch—so we could get away! And, thanks to Rick and Andy, and Pete and Kelly—it was nonstop fun and filled with laughter!
The three of us exited the rescue ranch around 10:30, Wednesday morning—aka—Halloween! Our first stop was Medina, to purchase a map and aspirin, so I wouldn’t have any heart attacks along the way. (I have always taken one aspirin every morning—just for protection, and I had run out.)
While Tony drove, John and I discussed our route, with him riding shotgun, in the front seat— reading the newly purchased map, and me in the backseat, holding my magnifying glass while trying to read my four-year old U.S. atlas. When...
Whoa! Tony and I just heard four shotgun blasts outside and our dogs are howling! We are going to go check it out and I will get back to this story as soon as we know what’s going on! It is 6:14 p.m.!
6:40 p.m—We’re back! We went over to Kinky’s Lodge, and it was just one of his friends, who’s a private eye trying out a new gun. On our return, we found that Randy Travis had jumped out of his pen and was doing meet and greets with all of the other dogs. Tony put him back into his pen and here, I now sit at the computer.
Okay, back to our adventure. John and I were in agreement about which route to take, but half-heartedly disagreed on the last hundred miles of our journey. He wanted to take the high road and I wanted to take the low road—even though I always do try to take the high road. Anyway, I suggested we vote on it, but Tony wouldn’t vote because he wasn’t registered and it didn’t matter to him, so after several more debates— I conceded, and we took the high road.
Talk about high road? I had to close my eyes during every bridge that we climbed and crossed, because of my fear of heights, and I was so proud that I didn’t get down on the floor and cover my head with a towel like I usually do!
When we approached the ferry, Tony and I about freaked out, because we have never been on a ferry. Thank goodness John was there, because he knew all about ferry boats—having lived in Galveston, so he helped calm our fears and told us what to do. Tony followed his instructions to a “T”, and safely drove us onto the ferry and parked. Bon Voyage! We were on our first cruise!
Two minutes later, we were back on Texas soil and I wanted to kiss the ground, but Tony wouldn’t stop the car. John then calls Rick to tell him that we had arrived, and Rick gave him directions to where we could meet up. Six minutes later, we parked at a private boathouse and got out of the car. One minute later, Rick opens the locked door of the boathouse and comes out to greet us!
All three of the boats had broken down, in the last three days, and he needed to find his mechanic fast, and suggested that we go see Kelly, who was bar tending at an outdoor bar, a few blocks away. So, we went and found Kelly!
Kelly, has one of the most bubbly personalities of anyone that I have ever met, and I am sure that is why Pete adores her. When we walked up to the bar, she asked us what we wanted to drink and then served us and said, “These are on the house!”
As we sipped our beers, three gigantic dogs carrying empty plastic water bottles in their mouths, walked up and started sniffing us—with tails wagging. I guess they knew we were their kind of people. Kelly told us that the island was very dog friendly and that many bars and restaurants allowed dogs into their establishments—as long as the dogs have good manners. “And,” Kelly added, “More people get kicked out than the dogs!”
In between serving her many customers, she asked me if we had had a good trip so far? After quickly filling her in on the tall bridges and Tony and I having ferry fears—she laughed, and said, “I’m glad that you are facing your fears and conquering them! I always try to do that!”
When she came around again, for a quick visit, I said, “I am also scared of deep water, too, because of a scary incident that I had in the ocean when I was a young child. And, I’m amazed that I didn’t get seasick on the ferry!”
Kelly laughed. “Maybe,” she teased, “you should go on 'Fear Factor?'”
I laughed. Then Rick shows up and tells us that it might be another hour before we could leave to go to the private island. We were getting hungry and he suggested that we go to his favorite restaurant, because they had the best seafood—so we did exactly that!
After eating our delicious meals—we went back to the boathouse to find Rick. “I had to borrow a friend’s boat and the mechanic told me that the boats will be fixed by tomorrow morning—all because of bad fuel!” Rick said. “Let’s go to the island!”
John and Tony quickly loaded up the boat with all of our luggage and then jumped into the boat with Rick, and then they helped me reluctantly come aboard—knowing about my fear of water.
Then we took off for the island.....
To be continued...
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