Saturday 2 May 2009 - Marshall

The morning started with a trip out to Josey's Ranch to watch the barrel racing - yee har!!!

The atmosphere was fantastic and we all had a blast cheering on the men and women of all ages fanging around the barrels on their trusty steeds!

The team then took a tour with Frank and Craig to the historic home of Grady Lee. Grady is a well-known country music singer. He and his wife were kind enough to give a tour of their beautiful home, let us wear his cowboy hats and gave us a copy of two of his CDs (which we're listening to right now as we write the blog - thanks Grady!!).

We also drove over to Jefferson to see the annual Pilgrimage and mooch through the plethora of antique shops.

The girls spent the evening with the host families. Nina and Grace cut up the dance floor with some bootscootin' in town; Tilai went to a converted ranch "Sacred Spur" for one of the best steaks around; Gracie and Nikki spent time at home with their families and Renee went to a fundraiser to celebrate the Spanish holiday of Cinca de Meya.

The biggest story for us all was at about 1.30am the following morning when the Tornedo sirens went off in town! The winds were howling and the sirens automatically go off when the barometric pressure drops too low. Yes indeed it was just like the movie Twister!!! Fortunately it was only a warning - but still makes a great story to take home!!

Friday 1 May 2009 - Longview/Marshall

Institute for Healthy Living

Move Marshall

Thursday 30 April 2009 - Longview

University of Longview

Le Torneau Univesity Leggs Program

Dinner at Tomberlain's Ranch

Wednesday 29 April 2009 - Longview

Our last full day in Longview.

The team visited The Enoch Stomp Winery and spent an hour or so chilling out at Shirley's home before heading off for a farewell dinner.


Below is Tilai giving President Pat a well-earned hugs of thanks.

Saying goodbye is the hardest part of this trip (sniff sniff).

Picture of Nina, Louise, Grace, Shirley and John at the Restaurant.

Thank you to everyone for sharing dinner.

Tuesday 28 April 2009 - Longview

We're in Oil Mining Country!!

The team took a very interesting tour of the Letourneau Plant.

Lunch was spent with the Rotary Club of Longview where we presented our Aussie information to a large and enthusiastic crowd. Thanks very much to President Pat and all who attended.

EAST TEXAS OIL MUSEUM in Kilgore

After lunch Shirley Griffin and James Roberts took us to the East Texas Oil Museum.

It was an excellent and very interactive museum full with a movie theatre, a lift that took us to the centre of the earth and all sorts of fun displays including an old drug store which Grace and Nikki enjyed rummaging through.




Dinner was at the famous Country Tavern and boy does it deserve it's famous name! There are no menus - basically you have either a small, medium or large serve of ribs - and we all agreed that they are the best ribs we've ever tasted!

Monday 27 April 2009 - Longview

Texas Eastman Tour. More information to come - watch this space!

Sunday 26 April 2009 Mount Vernon/Longview

Our last day in Mount Vernon commenced with each group taking in Sunday mass at our family’s respective churches. Tilai and Nina had a second dose of holiness with a visit to an Evangelist Gospel Singing Church.

It was an interesting and enthusiastic experience and both girls arrived for lunch bouncing off the walls with enthusiasm, and outbursts of “Praise the Lord!!!”. Fingers crossed another opportunity to rock a Sunday morning away will come our way.

Lunch was held at the Mount Vernon Cafe where we met our wonderful new friends Shirley and John Griffin and President of the Longview Rotary Club, Pat Florence.

After a teary farewell to our Mt Vernon friends we hit the road for Longview. 1.5 hours later we arrived in Longview and headed home for a quiet evening with our new families (not without a quick Starbucks fix).