Raylene Lewis

Located just 1.5 hours from College Station, Texas, Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park is a fun and entertaining place to get away from home and have a mini-vacation. The park is filled with camping aminities and there are many park activites. Jellystone allows day visits or you can stay and camp out overnight. The park has tent space available as well as a fully equipped RV sites with sewer, water, and electric hook-up and comfortable heat & AC cabins.

The park isn't the place to go if you are looking for outdoor piece and quiet under the stars. The camp sites are closely set next to each other, and it is very easy to meet your neighbor. However, when it comes to things to do, this place has it covered! Park activities include: fishing at their large fully stocked lake, a lazer maze, a petting zoo, minature golf, nature trails for hiking, a children's playground, basketball, volleyball and tennis courts, pool and a little heated water park filled with different types of slides. The park also has an outdoor movie theater that plays a movie Saturday night and there are occasional visits throughout the day of Yogi Bear himself. Despite the fact that the park is usually crowded, the restrooms and shower facilities are unusually clean and definitely better than those that you would find at a Texas Park.

Other sight seeing places that aren't too far away from the park include: the Washington-On-The-Brazos state park, the Pleasant Hill Wineary, and the Monastery where Miniture Horses are raised.

If you want to get away from the house, and take the kids for a mini-adventure, I highly recommend Yogi Bear's Jellystone park. It is a safe, fun place to take your picnick basket!

Kids, Family & Personal Stuff

Original Article

Easterwood Airport is the only airport in the area, and it is owned and operated by Texas A&M University. It provides both commertial and general aviation services. When you are headed out of town from Easterwood, your choices are American Airlines or Continental, and currently approximately 85,000 passangers choose one or the other each year. When you depart from Easterwood, your next stop is either Dallas or Houston and the cost will be at least $100.00 and will theoretically take you a little over an hours time.

A drive to Dallas, in comparason and considering only minimal traffic, is approximately a 4 hours trip, and you are looking at a minimum of 2 hours if you are headed to Houston. Gas prices being what they are, a short plane ride for the money doesn't sound that bad at all. And isn't time money to begin with; so why is there an issue at all?The problem is that if you are flying to or from Easterwood Airport, you are rolling the dice as to whether your little puddle-jumper aiplane is arriving or departing on time as scheduled.

It seems that more offen than not, the flight you booked has either been delayed or canceled. If you are flying to Houston or Dallas on a strict timetable with a connecting flight to catch, and your flight out of CLL has been delayed, you now have no choice but to drive like crazy to the major airport to try and meet your connection. Refund for the now useless ticket? Not a chance. Since the airlines could get you on a later flight, you are now out the money for your attempt at flying from Easterwood. If you are lucky enough to depart without delay, there is no guarantee luck will be with you on your flight home. This means that you are now stuck at a major airport with no vehicle. The delays ususally last between 3 and 4 hours so if you had a car, you would have made it home sooner that if you paid more for the "Quicker" flight back to CLL.

So what do you think? Is the conveninece of Easterwood Airport worth the risk of missing your connecting flight or a potential extended stay at a major airport? Personally, I don't like to gamble. If I have to fly out of Dallas, I'm more willing to roll the dice. If Houston has my connecting flight, I'll take my car and the 2 hour guarantee.

Kids, Family & Personal Stuff, Texas A&M University

Original Article

The new Outet Mall in Cypress Texas has finally opened. The property consists of 75 acres with 430,000sqft of space for 120 stores, 95 of which are currently open and ready for business. It is located off of HWY 290 just 30 miles northwest of downtown Houston and just over 1hr 15 minutes from College Station, Texas. The shopping offers some fairly good deals on name brand products, and the Outlet advertises everyday prices to be between 25% and 65% less than what you would find at the namebrand version. The shopping selection is far better than that at Post Oak Mall, but the inventory each store offers is smaller, and in some cases a little more out-dated, than you would find at the regular store. There is a variety of merchandise offered including clothing for men, women and children, fashion accessories, shoes, cookware, houseware, leather goods, jewlery, gifts, and more. There are several play areas for children scattered throughout the Outlet. Most are located between store rows but you'll need to bring quarters to keep the kiddos intertained. There is also a main playground area located just outside the food court. The food court itself is somewhat disappointing. The selection is extremely limited and much less than what you would find at Post Oak Mall. The Outlet does have a good Customer Service booth, where a representative can answer most of your questions, and you can rent strollers or wheelchairs at the booth as well. If you are an avid shopper, you can also join the Outlet's VIP Shopper's Club for free which provides exclusive online coupons for additional savings. For more information on the Outlet mall, visit their website at www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=77 A list of the current stores at the mall is below. I'd give the mall 3.5 out of 5 stars, but I definately think it is worth the drive.

Suite	Store
949	2b bebe
701	Aeropostale	June 2008
422	Anne Klein
876	Bass
131	Brooks Brothers Factory Store
601	Calvin Klein
622	Charlotte Russe
101	Columbia Sportswear Company
946	DKNY	2009
943	Eddie Bauer Outlet
234	Gap Outlet
928	Guess
807	Izod
413	Juicy Couture
813	Kenneth Cole
922	Levi's/Dockers Outlet
420	Lucky Brand Jeans
501	Nike Factory Store
864	PacSun
810	Perry Ellis
937	Puma
707	Reebok
201	Tommy Hilfiger
849	Under Armour
604	Zumiez

Suite	Store
713	Adidas
876	Bass
410	Clarks Bostonian
507	Converse
816	Easy Spirit
822	Johnston & Murphy
111	Naturalizer
501	Nike Factory Store
937	Puma
619	Robert Wayne Footwear
861	Skechers
873	Vans

Suite	Store
616	Carter's
867	Gymboree Outlet
870	Stride Rite Keds Sperry

Suite	Store
428	Coach
213	The Luggage Factory

Suite	Store
205	Claire's Accessories
425	Cole Haan
419	Kate Spade
968	Michael Kors
930	Sunglass Hut	July 31
931	Time Factory Watch Outlet
846	Ultra Diamonds

Suite	Store
214	Calphalon Kitchen Outlet
119	Le Creuset
207	Waterford Wedgwood

Suite	Store
962	The Cosmetics Company Store
211	Harry & David
843	Perfumania

Suite	Store
983	Asian Too
986	Chicken Now
995	Jody Maroni's Sausage Kingdom
901	Starbucks Coffee

Kids, Family & Personal Stuff

Original Article