WORLD’S CHAMPIONSHIP BAR-B-QUE…HOUSTON

Saturday, February 27 – We attended the World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest (often refereed to as the Houston Bar-B-Que) with our daughter, Carrie, and a whole gang of her friends.

It is held at Reliant Stadium. This is the same location as the Houston Rodeo. It is the unofficial kick-off for the rodeo.

Carrie co-sponsors one of the cook-off tents, the Holy Cow Cookers, and sells tickets to dozens of her friends.

Sponsors get recognition on the 15+ TVs in the tent.

You can see in the background of the next photo, that the Holy Cow Cookers won the Most Colorful Team and runner-up to Best Team Skit.

Mike, Carrie, Paul and Marsha

We were there early so we could grab a few photos of inside the tent. All drinks are included in the price of the ticket.

Besides delicious BBQ ribs, brisket, chicken and all the fixin’s, they have tons of different kinds of coffee, fried Oreos, delicious ice cream, homemade cookies, etc.

Carrie is so sweet to provide us with free entry tickets to her tent and even paid our way into the stadium grounds. This is another amazing Houston event with more than 250 entries, with three international teams competing for the first year from Great Britain and Japan. And they don't do things small here either. Remember, this is Texas and everything is bigger in Texas. These tents are crazy with all types of Texas decorations, bands, picture booths, free drinks, and of course all the barbeque you can eat.

Even a group from Japan.

We sure enjoyed the evening with Carrie's friends. It's so nice they include us “old folks” in this social event.

We spent the evening eating, drinking, laughing with the group, dancing, people watching and just having a great time.

If you attend the Bar-B-Que or Rodeo, be sure to wear your boots.

Just a sample of how big her group was. People kept coming and going.

There are bands in most of the tents and one out in the public arena for those not entering one of the private sponsored tents. Entry fee to the Bar-B-Que includes a free barbecue lunch.

Carrie’s tent even had three photo booths.

The carnival rides for the rodeo are open, and 1000's of people take advantage of enjoying the rides. Eating barbecue and drinking just doesn't go with carnival spinning rides so we steered clear of the rides.

One of the nice things about the Houston Rail is it makes a stop at the stadium so there is no reason to drive and no reason to pay the $20 parking fee. Of course the train was packed with 100's of people packed into each train car. We did buy a train ticket for $1.25, but there was no way anyone was collecting tickets among this mass of humanity.

Next up is the largest rodeo in America.....the Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show.. It runs the entire month of March. We plan on attending on Wednesday which is $10 day. Now that's a bargain! Stop back and enjoy the rodeo with us.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

ENJOYING OUR TIME HERE IN HOUSTON, TEXAS

Sunday, February 21 – Gosh, it is actually cloudy today, and rain is a possibility! It hasn't rained in the Houston, Texas, area since we arrived back here at the end of January. Actually, we can' really remember any significant rain in Texas this year. Great for Mr “Tan Man” as they refer to Paul here at the Elks Lodge Campground. We do enjoy spending a significant amount of time outside, and our tans show it! The weather has been fantastic!

We've been enjoying spending time with our daughter, Carrie. We try to see her about once a week, if possible. She's very busy with work but usually spends a couple hours on Saturday or Sunday afternoon with us. She's shared several of her haunts around Mid-town Houston with us. The social life around Mid-town is really quite amazing. There are always young people out and about enjoying the Houston social scene.

Of course, that means stopping at many of the hundreds of bars and restaurants in the area. We took a short trip to Sugarland, just south of where we are staying.

 

It is an amazing maze of shops, eateries and bars. The Flying Saucer with it's over 100 beers on tap and The World of Beer, are just two of the many, many places to sit, eat and enjoy a cold one. It's wild and difficult for us to keep up, but we've given it our best.

A new place just a mile from the Elks Campground was just beginning to be built when we left here last April. Well, it opened up over the summer…Houston Badminton Center

The parking lot is always packed. We just had to stop and take a peak. Not only does it have five badminton courts but five pickleball courts, or they can all be used for badminton or pickleball!

This guy was giving lessons.

This is a pretty amazing place. Hopefully, after Paul’s knee heals, we can hit one of the pickleball courts. We haven’t played in years.

Between our visits with Carrie, Paul’s knee surgery and just enjoying the sunshine, we were able to meet up with long-time friends, Barb and Bruce. We met this neat couple less than a month after we became full-time RVers. We have been able to meet up with them several times over that last six years. They were passing through Texas on their way to AZ and were able to meet for a very long lunch. It was wonderful spending an entire afternoon with them. Talk was nonstop. Thanks for fitting us in Barb and Bruce. Hope to see you down the road again very soon.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

ARTHUR STOREY PARK

Wednesday, February 10 – We discovered a new walking/biking path this morning....the Arthur Storey Park. It is located a couple miles from the Houston Elks Lodge campground on nearby Harris County storm drainage land.

It was a large pond created by storm water run-off with a 1.75 mile paved path around the perimeter.

Arthur Storey Park is one of the successful flood control projects in Houston since 2008.

There are also numerous additional path crisscrossing the area. There is also a physical training area where you can stop for sit-ups, pull-ups, etc., a playground, picnic shelters, and plenty of benches for people watching.

There are all types of birds making the pond home or a stopping off point while migrating south. There are signs warning of alligators in the lake, but we didn't see any laying around on shore.

Now this is interesting….alligators?

The track runs along a narrow bayou.

This is a nice park for a walk or bike ride if staying in the area. There's acres of additional land for future expansion if the county sees a need. There are numerous wonderful parks around Houston we've enjoyed in the past and were glad to add this gem to our list.

Paul’s surgery was a success on Monday. The doctor said it was worse than he thought but did what he could to clean up knee area. Paul has a little pain. He is only to do limited walking. He will go back to see the doctor next Friday. Thanks to everyone for your prayers, well wishes and wonderful words of encouragement. We hope that this will buy him some time before a more drastic surgery is needed.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

 

HOUSTON’S DIVERSITY…BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir

Tuesday, February 9 - Our next stop was at another temple we've frequently passed when driving around the area. It is the first tradional Hindu Mandir of its kind in North America. It is called BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir – Houston. There are only four Mandir Temples in the United States.

(Note: To see some of the intricate carvings, please click on the photo to enlarge it.)

 

All 33,000 pieces of intricate carvings are made in Italian marble and Turkish limestone were hand- carved by skilled craftsmen, shipped to Houston and then assembled by volunteers in just 11 months.

BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha was established in 1907. The Mandir opened to all after the Murti-Pratishtha ceremony was performed by His Holiness Prmukh Swami Maharaj on July 25, 2004. The Mandir serves individuals spiritually and nurtures the community through its activities, festivals, cultural programs, and religious cermonies. It is open daily from 9:00 am till 8:00 pm. There is no charge for the self-guided tour.

Remember…everything is handcarved. Just amazing.

Stairway up to the Temple.

Entrance gate.

An exhibition and educational building is also located on the grounds along with a gift and book shop. We found the exhibition hall very interesting and informative.

Sahajanand Exhibition Hall

Again, there was no charge to tour the temple but no pictures are permitted inside the building. Again, you are required to remove you shoes before entering. No shorts or bare shoulders are permitted. Shawls are provided to cover up if necessary.

All shoes must be removed before climbing the steps to the Temple.

The Mandir is a house of God, open to all. This is a great culture experience.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!