Valero Family Day

Valero reserved Six Flags Fiesta Texas for Valero Family Day, and only Valero employees and their families were allowed in the park today. Not only was it an absolute blast, with basically no lines and great weather, but everything (including parking, admission, food, snacks, and games) was free. It was an awesome day!

We started out on Goliath, the newest roller coaster.

The picnic area. Lunch was hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, and beef brisket with potato salad and chips. There were a few huge white tents and also large shelter areas.
A sign welcoming people to Valero Family Day.
We were stuck on this roller coaster for about 10 minutes, but it wasn't too hot out and it was nice to sit still for awhile.
This roller coaster was down for about 30 minutes while they cleaned the first car after someone had thrown up.
And you might be able to see why that would happen...

Renee on the swings (Scott passed on this one).
View west from the top of the ferris wheel.
View east from the ferris wheel (the whole park is surrounded by a sheer rock wall, like it was built in an old quarry or something).
And Scott on the ferris wheel.

Guadalupe River State Park

Saturday we went for a drive and found Guadalupe River State Park, which is about 45 minutes north of our apartment. These pictures don't do it justice but it was really beautiful with the sheer rock cliffs on the side of the river. The trees cover them up in these pictures but it's really cool. We're going to go back sometime with Bridget to walk and maybe even go camping. You can also swim and fish in the river.

Quick Update

Scott took the written test today for his instrument rating and passed with flying colors. He's scheduled to fly Saturday to get checked off at the San Antonio Aero Club, and hopes to fly at least 3 times a week to get his rating. At that rate, he should have it by the end of the year. He's looking forward to getting back after it now that he has more time!

Saturday Drive

Scott made it home safe Friday night and Saturday we went for drive through the Hill Country northwest of San Antonio. We only saw a small part of it, but it's really pretty with the rolling hills. We also saw a few small ranches with farm animals.

This donkey seemed to be herding this group of goats.

Georgia Vacation

Renee visited Scott in Savannah over the weekend...we didn't have much time but we managed to see quite a few things while taking it easy and having a relaxing weekend.

The view from the top of the Talmadge Bridge, a big cable bridge near downtown Savannah. Across the smaller bridge at the bottom is South Carolina.

For some reason we had never visited the squares in Savannah so we made it a point to this time. The squares are how the early settlers of the city organized the neighborhoods...there are somewhere around 24 public courtyards, called squares, that the individual residences are arranged around. They're all different and have individual names. This is Chatham Square.
This is Monterrey Square, which is the one Mercer House is on.
Mercer House, from the book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." It's now a museum.

An example of the pretty, historical-looking residences that surround the squares.
Forsythe Park, which is located on the southern side of the area where the squares are.
Tybee Island, the pier in the distance.
One of four swings on the beach facing the ocean. We were lucky enough to nab one.
View of the ocean from the swing. Renee on the pier looking back to the shore.
Scott enjoying the surf, not wanting to have his picture taken, but being a good sport about it.
On our way to St. Simon's Island, we saw a sign that advertised the "Smallest Church in America--Next Exit" and decided to check it out. It doesn't seem operational, but is upkept for visitors. Twelve seats total.

Scott signing the guestbook. St. Simon's Island, view from the pier back on shore, lighthouse in the background.Main street on St. Simon's Island.
The bridge that goes from the interstate to Jekyll Island and St. Simon's Island. It looks a lot higher in real life.

Bridget Goes to Camp Bow Wow

Friday afternoon Bridget checked in to Camp Bow Wow. She had fun all weekend long playing with the other dogs, slept soundly in her cabin at night, and enjoyed a camp shower before Renee picked her up Monday evening. We did check in on her a couple of times over the weekend on the "Camper Cams" on the web site. She looked like she was having fun, and was always easy to spot in the group of dogs since her white tail was always wagging high like a little flag.

The front desk.
The electric fireplace in the lobby.
The trail that leads back to the cabins.

A couple snapshots from the Camper Cam...It was hard to catch her, she moves pretty fast!

Bridget in the shaft of sunlight

She's the beagle to the right of the play structure.