I got to show Teresa some of my childhood memories in Colorado and now it was her turn to show me Galveston, Texas.

Galveston, Texas

We live on the Gulf Coast. The Gulf on this side is different, more arid. Of course, there is more oil production in this area.

Galveston is a coastal resort city and port / harbor off the southeast coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the American State of Texas. The community of 209.3 square miles (542 km2), with an estimated population of 50,180 in 2015, is the county seat of surrounding Galveston County and second-largest municipality in the County. It is also within theHouston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area at its southern end on the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

We made reservations at Moody Hotel/Gardens. We had hoped the Schlitterbahn water park would be open, but we were there a bit too early in the season.

Moody Hotel and Moody Gardens are quite unique. The gardens are more like an aquarium and a rainforest in the pyramids.

Horseback riding on the beach

We had been wanting to ride horses on the beach since we moved down to Tampa. Now we were in cowboy country, this was our chance. I had searched for and found a few places.

We drove south to the place and parked. We were shown the horses. Teresa had not been on a horse (pony) since she was a child. It had been several years for me too. They gave me an Arabian horse, one that could handle my weight. Teresa’s horse was named Bob. The owners rode with us, including a young girl. She let us know that Bob was her horse. We rode across to the gulf and began our beach ride.

Teresa’s horse was very laid back whereas mine was antsy. Bob was so laid back that he knew only two speeds: slow and stopped. When we reached the turnaround area, we all gathered and the wranglers took our pictures.  It was then time to head back. Bob, we learned from the young girl, was actually an abbreviation. B.O.B., or Battery Operated Buckskin and his batteries were wearing down. He seemed to want to move at his own (slow) pace and one of the wranglers had to hang back. I reined in my steed too. The rest of the group moved ahead of us and soon were over a hundred yards ahead of us. The more I tried to hold back my horse, the more he chomped on the bit. I looked over at the wrangler and said I was going to catch up with the group. He said to loosen the bridle a bit.

I did and my horse felt that was his signal. He stepped up to a trot and then into a full gallop. Now remember, I had not been on a horse in several years, but I knew NOT to sit in the saddle. I stood up in the stirrups, bending my legs and letting them act as shock absorbers. I kept the reins loose and enjoyed the ride. I heard the wrangler yelling. I looked ahead and those wranglers had turned. One thought my horse was a runaway and turned his horse and started toward me. As my horse and I got closer to the group, I reined him in and brought him out of his gallop to a walk and then stopped him. The wrangler looked shocked and I could not stop smiling. That was such a rush.