so far ...

so much to say. *sigh* mostly we've been eating in various places with various peoples...

saturday: sleeping & myers family bbq w/ dad's side of the fam

i made cocoa samoa for the fam. mostly they said, "you drink that in the summer? in warm weather?" to which i responded that the weather is always warm in hawaii. i think it was mostly received as glorified hot cocoa, but i want you all to know that it is so much more. so much.

cousin tony and gwen

view from uncle bobby's back porch

the kids going out for a boat ride (addi's in the back)

mammaw mildred (my grandma)

my uncle gary, sister alesha, gwen, and aunt judy

lake palestine

monday: big T's bbq for lunch w/ mom's cousins from mississippi & bodacious bbq for dinner (a restaurant) w/ mom

didn't eat at big T's but it was cool to meet people that i didn't know existed. bodacious was so delicious!! ribs, sausage, chopped beef ... and monday night football to boot. unfortunately addi ate way too much sausage and puked all night. the irony was that as we left the parking lot of the bbq case said, and i quote, "i hope she doesn't puke up all that sausage." she did.

tuesday: daniel boon's beans and burgers w/ sis, bro-in-law, and dad 

free beans (pinto or chili) and free ice cream with the meal. mega-good food. and it was so good to hang out with my sister and her hubby, and of course dad. my sister just graduated from nursing school with her lvn. *yeah!* no pics, just food.

wednesday: east texas oil museum & longview 56th annual fair

did you know that east texas has one of the largest oil fields in the world? well, it does. and the oil from these oil fields supported the american machinery used during WWII.  the "big inch" was constructed from east texas to the eastern coast (whoa folks - that's a long way) to supply oil for the war effort. when they struck oil, "black gold", "texas tea", in the little town of kilgore (where my madre lives) the city population exploded from 800 to 5,000 literally within days. 

how oil drilling works ...

why yes, that is an authentic, bona fide, water pump. thanks for asking.

so, oil can result in fires. well, not directly ... it's flammable ... you know what i mean. thus, in the early oil mining days they had their fair share of fires, and sometimes people died in these fires. hence, the below picture. if you look in the smoke, you can see three faces. the story: the faces of the men who died in the fire(s) could be seen in the smoke. there were several of these pictures in the museum, from the 1930s mind you ... unedited. crazy, eh!

the museum was set up like a 1930s boomtown. it was amazing! this is the museum - picture taken from the entrance.

ha ha! we wish these were gas prices.

sometimes the drill bits break or need changing for whatever reason. the thing is, the oil is being drilled sometimes 3-5 miles below the surface, and the bit's at the very bottom. so they have to dig up miles and miles of pipe, that have been sectioned together, to get to the bottom. when they get to each section of pipe, they have to separate the two pipes. there was a fancy, beautiful term for what this separating-of-pipe is called, but i forgot it. still though, here's a depiction of men separated a portion of pipe.

an extremely rare 1929 wurlitzer

count the stars

i don't know what this is called, but it was hanging from the ceiling along with a saxophone, piccolo, and various other band instruments. the band would walk through the city streets and play ... times were good.

my how crafty these oil workmen are! using their tools as door pulls ... impressive.

now for the fair. it was addi's first fair, first time riding rides, first time eating funnel cake. 

4 generations (addi was asleep)

addi and a caramel apple

this was parked at the bikers for christ booth. people in the south love jesus. i've literally been asked 3 or 4 times since we got here if i've been saved. 

i'm diggin the huge headband.

and much, much more to come ... eventually ... hopefully.