Camping at River Bend on the Frio River

This weekend I went camping about an hour and a half away from Eagle Pass on the Frio River. It is in "hill country" which is beautiful! I went with some of my neighbors that live here on the ranch. Some of their family owns a campground called River Bend and they invited me to come out. Last minte I decided to go. I never did take my camera to the river since water and digital cameras don't mix, but I caught a few shots I thought I would post.

A view of the campground laden with Cyprus and Mesquite trees. They are also all along the river, making for a beautiful float on a tube.

My little neighbor Brandon, with his dog, Elvis

Setting up camp under the pavilion

View from the top of the campground at the hills.

My neighbor Gentry

Ok Holly, Here's a New Post!

Eagle Point Ranch- the ranch next door neighbors:

Holly keeps bugging me that I haven't made any new posts lately. Sorry Holl and any other viewers (if there are any). I have been kinda in a funk. I go to work, hit the gym, come home beat, eat, shower, and bed. I have gone away over the last few weekends, but my camera needs new batteries... :( Here are some pics taken a few weeks back at the neighboring ranch, Eagle Point. It is beautiful there and the owners are developing it into a community. You can buy property and build to suit. Don't worry, I'm not thinking about it. If I HAD to stay, I would build here though. Check out the view of the Rio Grande from the bluffs!

Nephews- I LOVE EM!!!

I just wanted to post a blog with some of the latest nephew pics taken a few weeks ago when we all met up in PA to visit Florida relatives and the grandparents. I flew in for a long weekend from Texas and we all had a blast!

Kaeden Zayne Hinton; 4 years old and JUST like his Daddy!

Michah Lovell Hinton; 3 years old and JUST like his Auntie Kiki!Noah David Hinton; 1 year old and just as SWEET as his MommyGabriel Glenn Alan Weaver; almost 1 year old! A big name for a BIG boy full of "boy", just like his daddy!

To friends, family, and remembering good times...

I made several attempts to try to get away this weekend, but nothing seemed to pan out... So I stayed home, alone, and tried not to be too depressed about it. There is something about a holiday that just makes you wish you were with family and close friends, neither of which I have here. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of people to call "friends" here, but I miss the good old day friends- The kind when we would go camping on the bluffs at Fairhaven, or take a day trip- to Stoney Brook at hike the river, followed by swimming and a picnic; or take a week and vacation in the Adirondacks and do things we would never do in front of anyone but family and dear friends, and feel surprised we even lived to remember it...; or go to a Yankees game and walk around for hours to find a plce to eat, watching fireworks at high falls and everyone getting pissy at each other; going to VA Beach and watching my brother-in-law join the lobster family (need I say more?)

There are soooo many memories made over those years, and most take place over the holidays, vacations, and summer time. I now realize how much I took these experiences and these people for granted. I wonder if I will ever experience such wonderful friendships and adventures again. So, to my family and my dearest friends, I miss you today. I think of you often, but I truly miss the times we have shared together. I can't even find people to take a day and go to a lake here... So, I sit, typing; remembering the good old times...

If we were all together again, maybe we would be hiking waterfalls in Grimes Glenn and I would almost push megan to her death again and fall down the side of a cliff getting stung by hornets...

Or maybe we would be having a family picnic at Letchworth at the Trailside Lodge. Babies would be crawling around, women preparing food, the men (and me) playing football, and all of us just happy to be together...

Or we may be camping- with the Evans family, at Sampson State Park, riding our bikes through deserted paved military paths, swimming, riding on the boat, making s'mores over the campfire, and singing age old familiar songs by firelight and guitar...

Maybe I would be off with Alanna in the Dominican Republic again, exploring the bluffs to sunbathe, snorkeling, eating strange food, meeting people from all around the world, and learning life lessons of true friendship...

Maybe we would all go to a drive-in movie tonight and see a 2-for-1 deal. We would jam into our parents vans, take out the seats and sit them on the ground, and Steve would take out his sound system from his trunk...

Maybe this week we would be camping in the Adirondacks. Jen and I would be riding double on the wind-surf board being puled by the boat, trying to get up, and end up with massive bruises. They would later be numbed by the evening activities, and Joy would fall in the campfire. Steve would catch everything on film to blackmail us if we ever ran for political office... Holly and Ty would be caught in awkward positions, Kinyon would take 2 hours to jump from the cliff; And we would ALL wear funny hats and leave with enough memories to tell a lifetime of stories...

Or, maybe I would just be hanging out at the house with my mom and nephews, discovering how little boys make cookies, with water guns as measuring devices...

I love you all so much and miss you!

New Beds for the Beasts!

This is where they used to sleep... On my bed taking up too much of my king-size bed and leaving too much hair for me to brush off in the morning.

So, mommy decided it was time to invest in some "Prince" and "Princess" beds for her babies.

I put treats in them and brushed and petted them. It was a big hit at first, but Sebastian apparently likes pink and keeps stealing Ariel's bed. Most nights they start out in their beds, but by morning, they end up back in bed with "mommy". Good thing I don't have real kids yet. (All you real moms must be laughing, but hey, at least it's some kind of practice...)

Scorpion Scare

So, I don't have a pic to post, because from the time of death to the trash was so fast, I didn't even think to get a pic first, but I found my 3rd scorpion in the house today while my cleaning lady was cleaning the house. It was the biggest one I've seen yet, and I'm thankful my cats didn't get stung! The creatures here in Texas are something else! I have a big lizard living on the side of the house I'll try to catch a shot of soon!

Off Islanding again!

Why was I born in the North??? Didn't God know I belonged on the ocean? Well, I guess he just wanted me to have to figure it out myself- I'm sure he knew all along!

So, I was back at the bosses condo on South Padre Island again, covering for him while he was out of town- poor me. :)
My friend from Eagle Pass, Norma, and I ready to go out for a fresh sushi dinner. Boy, was it amazing! I could eat sushi every day and never get sick of it! Again, why did I grow up in Upstate NY???
This sea turtle lives at the Sea Turtle rescue mission on the island. They house injured seat turtles, most of which have had one of their flippers bit off by a shark. Believe it or not, this lucky guy is having a prosthetic flipper engineered for him by a team including a surgeon, a dentist, and and engineer! Pretty lucky little guy!
Notice the dolphin jumping in front of this huge barge on the ocean! Pretty cool!
Norma and I on the Dolphin watch cruise!

Corpus Christi and Padre Island

Girls Weekend Getaway!
Adrianna (Del Rio PT tech), Nancy (Del Rio PTA), and ME (Eagle Pass and Del Rio PT) all embarked to Corpus Christi, TX for the long weekend for some beach time and R&R. We stayed at a nice hotel on the bay and found lots to do from eating fresh seafood to swimming, and sailing!

Cousin Jacob and I. We haven't hung out since New Years and it was great to see him again!

Loading up in Jacob's Jeep Wagoneer to pick up the sailboat and go sailing! Getting my first sailing lesson! Jacob said I did a great job for my first time and even said I could come back and do it again! I only have 3 bruises and a nice sunburn regardless of multiple sunscreen applications... I'm the "Gueda" as they call me here... (white girl)

The sailboat- small, but fast!

My First Tarantula!

So, I am noticing a trend in my blogs- crazy weird creatures and island trips. One I like. One I do not. Can you guess which is which? So, this was waiting ON the door of the clinic last week for us! My hero/secretary elicited the help of the FedEx man next door and together they battled it to it's demise. They would have saved it and released it, but it was too close to the patients and decided we don't want to scare them away, and it was WAY too big to pick up....

South Padre Island

Ready for the island!

Hi! Sorry it has been awhile! I was away this past weekend on South Padre Island. My boss owns a condo there, about 45 minutes from his clinic in Harlingen, TX. He was going on this big fishing trip and needed me to cover his clinic on Monday. The perk was, I got his condo for the weekend before- right on the Gulf. Well, needless to say, he twisted my arm... Had a blast. Swam in the ocean. Ate seafood. Gobs of seafood. Ate sushi. (I know that's seafood too, but it deserves its own category). Drank island drinks. Met cool island people who, btw, are SO "chill". Layed on the beach. Listened to the waves. Read magazines for the first time in a year. DIDN'T watch any TV. Watched old people dance to a live band at an ocean side dive. Laughed at them and decided I wanted to be just like that at age 70. Got sunburned bad! (SPF 50 doesn't help if you forget to put it on the back of your legs and lay on your stomach all day on the beach!) Went skinny dipping in the middle of the night. (Do not try that at home- it's an Island thing). Woke up on a pillow full of sand and smiled about it. Chilled with my boss' wife at Wahoos and watched the sun go down. Got a job offer to move there next year, but we won't expound on that as of yet. Is expound a word??? I think it is. Anyway, trip a HUGE success and a much needed break.
I got a wake-up call at work on Tues and had one of the craziest work weeks yet. TGIF! More later!








Sandy toes and flip-flops. It doesn't get much better than this!
The beach. On the Gulf of Mexico, South Padre Island
The sign says it all... :) Ignore the smeared eye make-up. This is a self-portrait of absolute relaxation. I LOVE the beach!

The light house at Port Isabel, entering SPI.

My first rattlesnake experience!

I know, it's just a baby, but the cop said it had 4 rattles! (The cop that "got rid" of it)

So, I was at work yesterday when one of my patients walked into the clinic and said, "Hey, do you know there is a rattlesnake outside the clinic?" I practicly ran over a poor old blind patient with her walker trying to get outside to see my very first rattlesnake up close and personal. So, it turned out to be a baby, and by the time I got there, it was partially hidden behind a rock, but I still got pics- and here they are! Oh, the exciting things that show up at my clinic door. (At least this time it wasn't feces or vomit! - Long story...)

It's so funny, everyone else posts new pics of their kids, and I post pics of rattlesnakes... I'll try to get one of a giant tumbleweed next. :)

I'm BACK!!!

Doing NMES with a 12 year old patient with Foot Drop after surgery to remove bony tumors that grow on his bones, a condition called osteochondroses.
Stretching a patient after surgery following a wrist fracture.

HI AGAIN!

Well, sorry to all 2 of you who read/comment on my blog. I have not written since getting back from visiting home in NY. All is A-OK. I have been swamped at work, which is good cause the day goes by fast and bad cause I feel like I have no down time. I also joined the gym when I got back and haven't missed a week day yet. (Pat myself on back). I have enjoyed discovering spin classes (Andie, I know how you feel!) and am also power-walking 2 miles around our Eagle Pass "lake". So, by the time I get home, feed the kitties, and drink my cactus, celery, pineapple smoothie, and shower, I pretty much am ready to crash. I have managed to revive my social life though- well, not that it died, but I see lots of people I know at the gym, friends, former/current patients, MDs, ect.

One sad note- I "lost" my phone. Actually, I do believe it was "swiped", but I will probably never know. After a dramatic weekend without it, and a day long frantic search of the entire property, I did get a new phone on Monday with my same number, but I lost everyone else's numbers... So, now I am sad... so, if anyone reads this call me and give me your # and any numbers I may need! Thanks! Well, That's about all for now. I am posting some pics of me working away. Some of these pictures may be used in an article my PT School is writing about me and my work on the border (so the pts have given permission for these photos to "go public") In case anyone was worried. Ok! Bye for now!

Going Home!!!!

I am going home on Saturday for a week and I am so excited!!! I leave tomorrow after work, am driving 3 and 1/2 hours to Austin, staying the night in Austin, and flying out Saturday at 6am. I'll be in Roch-cha-cha by nooner!!! I am SOOOOOO thrilled to see the fam!!! And Andie! If you read my blog- I will call as soon as I get in so we can see each other before you leave! So excited you're kinda gonna be my neighbor! Well, my state's neighbor at least. lol ;0
Must go change cat litter, pack (ughh), do laundry, and get some Zzzz's. See you all soon NY'ers!

Piedras Negras, Mexico

A map of Mexico...
Eagle Pass in relation to Mexico

I went to Mexico a couple of weeks ago to take pictures in this park just across the border. It is a beautiful park filled with sculptures, statues, and huge paintings depicting ancient legends and stories. So, I thought I would post them to share. I love exploring Mexico, and have gotten a little braver as time goes by. I still don't go alone, but I've mastered driving, shopping, and am even able to order off the menu in Spanish now!