Back to our old stomping grounds

 I recently took my mother on a six day trip back to her small town Texas roots to visit old friends. We had been eagerly anticipating the most excellent southeast Texas seafood. And now there's a new personal favorite restaurant - Tia Juanita's Fish Camp. By golly, I think I could eat there seven days a week. It's an interesting mix of cajun, seafood and Tex Mex. Thus far my favorite is the seafood enchiladas. But the shrimp pistolette and boudain balls came in a close second and third. Yeah sure, I could feel my arteries getting clogged with every bite I took of the yummy cream sauce drenched enchiladas. It's a good thing there isn't a Tia Juanita's out here in central Texas or I'd be in serious trouble with my ongoing dieting efforts.

En route to the tiny Texas town where my mother and I were reared, we made the obligatory pit stop at Buccee's for a gas, toilet and snack break. I always love snooping around to see the latest beaver offerings. Pit stops at Buccee's have become a Texas roadtrip tradition for us Lone Star state residents.

Mother had a great time visiting old friends she has known since her school days, while I played chauffeur. We stopped by both my granny and pawpaw's graves to put out some new silk flowers.

Mother's old home place is pretty junked up these days and could use some much needed maintenance, but at least it's still standing. The trailer where I grew up was removed a couple decades ago, so now my old home place is just an empty lot. Time marches on and things change, praise God. That saying about never forgetting where you came from is true, because it keeps me thankful for the road I've traveled and humble about the life I'm blessed to lead today.