Spring 2023: Houston

 Tuesday, 4/4: 229 miles, parked at Lakeview RV Resort, Houston, TX

The drive today was four hours. We left Peach Country at 9:30 and arrived at Lakeview at 1:30. Traffic was a bit of a zoo for this Country Bumpkin, but with the generous help of the females in my life (Siri and Judy) we arrived safely and reasonably stress free. 😅

Lakeview RV Resort, Site 133

Lake by day

Lake by night

Lakeview is a large park with sites surrounding 2 manmade lakes. All the roads and pads are concrete, and the landscaping is immaculate. Many of the RV's here are long term. One of the reasons is the nearby renowned medical facilities at the Texas Medical Center. TMC is the largest medical complex in the world with over 10 million patient visits a year and employing over 120,000 staff. One of the collaborators is the well known MD Anderson Cancer Center. A shuttle bus services the campground to the medical center.

Judy's daughter Pamela stopped over for a visit shortly after we arrived. We last saw Pamela in October 2022 on our Mississippi River trip. 

Wednesday 4/5: We drove to Pamela and Clyde's home about 10:00.  They took us to the amazing  Houston Farmers Market, and then to the El Bolillo Bakery across the street. 

El Bolillo Bakery

We picked up lunch at Pinkerton''s BBQ and took it back to the house to eat. 

 

Cafeteria style lunch at Pinkerton's BBQ.  The place was packed!

  

After naps at the camper, Pamela picked us up and we met Clyde at Hungry's in Rice Village for dinner.  Clyde had ordered starters for us with a platter of homemade garlic hummus and another one of baked goat cheese, and they were amazing.  For dinner I had honey ginger salmon and Judy ordered lemon pasta with shrimp.  Both dinners were excellent.

Hungry's at Rice Village

Thursday 4/6: Parker had a vet appointment at 10:30 this morning to get some more puppy vaccinations that were due. Neartown Animal Clinic was recommended by Pamela, and the service was amazing. Sarah, the tech, and Dr. Brandi Miller were excellent with Parker. After the vet visit, we stopped at Pamela and Clyde's for a short visit to introduce Parker to Clyde. Parker and Clyde hit it off instantly.

Then it was back to the camper to take Parker home and grab a nap. We went to the Menil Museum for a visit, and then across the street to the Menil Bistro for an early dinner. For starters we ordered a cheese platter to share, and for dinner, Judy and I had salmon, avocado, citrus salads, which were not what we expected, but never the less, excellent.

We had expresso back at the house, and then back to the camper by 7:30. Having slept all day long because of his vaccinations, Parker was in full riot mode this evening. Then to top it all off, there was a strong thunder and lightning storm during the night. Zoey was panicked and on and off the bed at least a dozens times. It was almost impossible to get any sleep. Parker the puppy, however, slept through the entire event.

Friday 4/7: Pamela stopped by the camper shortly after 10:00 and took us grocery shopping. Since our last visit here, we have wanted to go back to a Central Market grocery store. CM appears to be a high-end foodie place. For example, imported ham from Spain, French cheeses, great beer selection, in house chefs and bakery. We wanted to shop the huge fresh seafood display. This is how Wikipedia describes CM.

"Central Market deliberately limits floor space allocated to packaged products, allowing more space for fresh produce, meat and seafood, bulk products, and chef-prepared items. The produce section stocks items such as crab-apples, Meyer lemons, sweet limes, and pink lemons that are hard to find at other stores. The limited space for packaged products is devoted primarily to items that cannot be found at other supermarkets. Other aisles follow the same pattern with an emphasis on local, imported, organic, and gourmet brands rather than standard supermarket products."

We also stopped at H.E.B., the grocery chain that owns Central Market, to pick up some generic items like coffee pods, etc. We were back to the camper by noon and we agreed to meet Pamela later in the day for dinner plans.  

Well, dinner plans change.  As did the weather.  With heavy rain all afternoon, wet dogs from their walks, and tired bodies and brains from the previous night of thunderstorms, everyone decided to take the evening off and just stay home.  So we spent a slow and relaxing time at the camper, munching on snacks,  watching TV and reading, and basically, just resting up for a busy day tomorrow with better weather in the forecast.

Saturday 4/8: Pamela came to the camper, and she and Judy went for some girl talk coffee at Starbucks.  They didn't return until 2 hours later.  The rain finally quit and the temperature warmed up to the mid 70's. For our goodbye dinner, we cooked salmon, peppers and onions over black bean rice at the camper.

This was our second visit to Houston to visit Pamela and Clyde, and we had a really good time.  We can't wait to return.

Circus act trying to get adults and dogs to pose at the same time.

Tomorrow, Easter Sunday, we are on the road again heading east.