Nice rest areas, storm damage, and the garden

We hit some really neat rest areas once we hit the Texas border. The last one we hit was recently updated. It had a nice playground, new building, pond, and a nature trail. We were not far from our destination, so we only stayed about 15 minutes. But it was a nice treat after a really long 900 mile trip from Iowa to the Houston area of Texas.
We all stayed up late visiting with aunt Heidi and uncle Brian. Cliff and Holden hooked up the laptops right away to play WoW into the night. Camden and I watched King Fu Panda with aunt Heidi. Holden played Pirate King Online with aunt Heidi as well. Of course both boys rode their bikes a little after we first arrived last evening. My sister even opened the yummy fruit cake they get every year from her in-laws. It has pecans in it. It is the only fruit cake I like. We passed the bakery it came from in Corsicana on our way south.
We woke up to a gray day and cooler temps. We brought the colder weather with us! It is only going to be in the 40s today. But don't feel too sorry for us. It will be in the mid 70s by Thursday. We decided to put on pants and walk down the trail to see our horse friend, Brownie. When we got there we saw some of the aftermath of hurricane Ike in September. A tree had fallen on the fence in several places and Brownie was no where to be seen. He must be at a boarding facility or something until they can repair all the damage. We've seen a lot of down wooden fences and fallen trees that haven't been completely clean up yet since our arrival.
And just for fun I am including a photo of the garden we helped uncle Brian fence in last spring.

Today or tomorrow we will be helping to decorate the Christmas tree. It is a really gorgeous real tree. And the nice thing is we didn't have to buy it or put it up. We are really relaxed here and having a good time. We can't wait to see more family while we are here. But for now we just decompressing after the two day torture trip. Cliff and I were so stressed that we contemplated divorce a few times. LOL. But thankfully we worked it out.