Texas Adventure Day 9

6/25/17

Today has been a day of family, so not too terribly much to write journal wise.   Murrell spent the night last night so there are 5 of us in the hotel room here.  You would think it would be crowded, but she is so tiny and I enjoy Mama and  her interacting so much that it's not or if it is I'm not noticing.   We all, including Murrell, got to sleep a little late and went and got breakfast in the hotel... I missed taking the picture again, but the breakfast was good and also free, so win.

After breakfast we drove to Marshall to pick up my cousin - Ima Jean.   Ima Jean has always scared me.  Back when I was younger and we came to visit there as always yelling and shouting in the house she and my aunt lived in - its how they communicated.    I have memories that made me seriously want to never come back to TX so I was very apprehensive about this visit.  However, I was so surprised.  I'm guessing my memories are skewed as she was very enjoyable to be around.  We picked her up and went to the Willow Oak Cemetery in Gilmer TX.

This is the cemetery where Mama's grand parents are buried.  We wondered around, looked at the graves, and tried to determine why everything looks different than Mama remembers.  I think it is the fact that storms have taken trees down which causes the entire place to have a different look - Mama swears they moved the graves.   Who knows what is true, but we did find the markers so I'm considering it a win.

We then headed back to Longview/Marshall area.  Before we took ImaJean back we stopped at a local restaurant, the Bootlegger Grill for some lunch.  The food and service were both excellent.  They did not have a shrimp plate, but they made one for my Aunt Murrell, which was super sweet.   They also had fabulous sweet tea and Amanda's Alfredo was to die for.   I really wish I had ordered that, though my shrimp was also good.

After lunch we drove back to ImaJean's, but we took old rows and Murrell, ImaJean and Mama were pointing out places they and others they knew had lived, things they had done, etc...   Most of it is gone now and it's just fields, but it was nice to hear them reminisce.

We then went back to ImaJeans and her and Mama looked at some old pictures.  My other cousin Steven aka Peanut was there and they were talking loudly and at the same time just as I remember from back as a teenager.   They were not arguing, it is just how they communicate - Mama and Murrell joined right in.  All talking at once and all hearing each other - I don't know how they do it, but they do.   It raises my stress level, but I'm not around it all of the time and am just not used to it.  

We stayed a bit and then headed back to the hotel to do some laundry and nap.  Currently everyone is in nap mode.   In a bit I'll go do the laundry and I think the rest of the night will just be visiting and getting some rest.  If anything else interesting pops up I'll be sure to do a part 2 for the day, but in the meantime I hope you have a good afternoon/evening.