Mon. Feb. 28th Port Aransas/Mustang Island Texas

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, since August 2006

      At 6:00am this morning there was some very strong wind gusts that came thru the resort, so we think its gonna be a nasty day.  But by 7 o'clock the wind had died down, the skies cleared, sun came up and before we know it's 80f (25c).  We had a nice visit from Bill Wilson this morning he dropped over for a coffee and we chatted and did some computing. We are always up early and Carol likes to sleep in, so no problem there.

      Then a walkabout for a while and a bite to eat we decided to take a drive over to Port Aransas and check out the beach. A nice drive to Aransas pass then out the point to take the ferry across the channel. This is part of the Texas road system and is a free ferry, they had three running today so only about a 5 minute wait. Apparently this is one of only three beach areas in the USA that you are still allowed to drive on, I wouldn't swear by it but I know I read it somewhere.

lets go to the beach

       Getting off the ferry we drove around the village for a bit, then on to the beach, 29 kms long. Here is a nice article here in the Montreal Gazette. A sign posted as we enter says the beach driving conditions today are good, then the first thing we see is a car stuck in the sand. But he had just driven right into a big sand drift, instead of around the soft sand. The warm wind was blowing so there was a bit of sand blowing and drifting around. We cruised down the beach a few miles enjoying the sunshine and smell of the ocean. Camping is allowed on the beach here so there was quite a few motorhomes, trailers and even tents scattered along the way. With sign stating a three day limit.

       Now this is winter here so not the busy season, I am surf this place would be hopping on the hot summer days, it is after all a tourist destination, with a magnificent beach, and not overdeveloped like some places we have seen. Now after our self guided sightseeing tour we drove , back home to enjoy our our yard and our books for a while. Then once again Happy Hour evolved shortly after 4 pm and a bunch of us gathered around to relax and chat for a bit, before we decided it was time to fire up our barbies and cook up some supper.

       Tonight I did potatoes w/onions, cauliflower and carrots and smoked pork chops on the BBQ for a nice tasty meal. A perfect way to end the day with a Dinner and a Movie.

Mondays' Pictures

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Sun. Feb. 27th Rockport/Fulton Texas

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, 

 since August 2006

       The usual morning overcast but no drizzly today, just hot and humid, but a refreshing breeze off the gulf to help us out. We putter around, walkabout and chat with some neighbours. Even another couple we met at the Summit Resort in New Braunfels stopped by to chat.

       After lunch we took a drive over the causeway to Goose Island State Park. A nice drive along oak tree covered roadways.

tree lined roads

       We arrived at the Big Tree to see this giant Oak tree, believed to be one largest and possibly the oldest in the nation. It is over one thousand years old! And a trunk circumference: 35 feet 1 and 3/4 inches or 10.71 meters . Quite amazing if you think about it.

Big Tree

huge

spooky

       After this stop we drove along the waterfront enjoying the scenery and smell of the ocean. Along this short stretch we noticed a couple of cars stopped at the side of the road with binoculars and cameras viewing three "Whooping Cranes" . These are huge birds standing 5 feet tall with a wing span over 7.5 feet. This area is their winter breeding grounds and they head north in the summer. The Whopping crane is almost extinct with an estimate of only 400 left in the wild.

whooping cranes

       From here a nice drive along the coast for a couple of miles past a pier with a couple of men fishing with the birds and pelicans waiting for whatever they can steal, and we saw a trailer load of some kind of colourful wire traps. There was also a few nice homes for sale with an ocean view.

fishing pier

traps

       Back home we got to sit outside, out of the wind and read for while before Happy hour evolved again, to chat and share stories for while. Then as it got dark I made supper of a hot pork sandwich, creamy mashed potatoes and cauliflower w/cheese, for a nice tasty meal. Then a movie.

happy hour

yummy

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Sat. Feb. 26th 2011, Rockport/Fulton Texas

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer,

 since August 2006

       Saturday morning and once again overcast and just a drizzly mist in the air, not enough to get the ground or even your clothes wet just, almost like solid clear air, and about 84f (30c) most of the day. Computing and coffees then at 9:00am to the clubhouse for the popular cinnamon buns they bake it the kitchen every saturday and sell for a dollar each. These are large and sweet enough that we can just share one, so yummy.

cinnamon bun

       After this I went to the store for a few groceries, we are waiting for the sun to shine so we could go to the saturday market. I got back home and noticed a huge wrecker (tow truck) getting ready to pull a damaged trailer away. We had not noticed it before, but it was severely damaged.

       The story that was going around here was that fellow that brought this 39 ft 5th wheel trailer in last November had hit a cement retaining wall at the entrance to the resort, then continued to drag this trailer thru the park with one wheel missing, a bent axel and a flat tire on the other side, he damaged roads, a few trees and hit a car before he somehow managing to put it on this site. Apparently had he been staying in it waiting to settle with this insurance company that supposedly will not cover the damage.

let's take a look here

       This wrecker had come in from San Antonio 2 hours away to mobilize this trailer and move it to a repair shop in New Braunfels Texas, some 160 miles away. 

lotsa damage

big wrecker and a dolly for the trailer

       Well in a campground if something out of the ordinary happens you have a lot of very curious onlookers. So people gather round take pictures, chat, get chairs and watch the show, it becomes a social event.  Everybody wants to see how he can transport this trailer.

across the road

our group

       The driver of the wrecker meticulously began to lift this very heavy trailer with lots of lumber a large hydraulic jack and some expertise.  Back and forth cautiously lifting and balancing until he was able to get it high enough in the air to roll his dolly under the axels.

getting there

just about

ready to roll

       Well it was about 1:30/ 2:00 o'clock when he was finally ready to hit the road with a 160 mile trip ahead at about 40 mph, he still has a long day ahead.

       Just about this time the drizzle stopped, sun came out and our friends arrived. They were given the site beside the wrecker and managed to wiggle their trailer onto this site before he pulled out This was Bill and Carol from Goderich Ontario and members of our home park, Rock Glen Resort. We have not seen them for a couple of years so it was very nice to catch up with them again.

       With chatting etc. and the sun out finally, it was now too late for the market so we got our chairs and books out to read for a bit while they continued to set up. Around 4:00 pm happy hour evolved again with a bunch of  us solving the problems of the world and all. Suzy and Rick next door had some pulled pork in their slow cooker with a tasty sauce, torillas, beans and fixings and suggested we share this with them. So I made a salad, Sharon and Jim brought a very tasty Christmas cake for desert and six of us had a delicious, impromptu supper. Bill and Carol had other plans. And can you believe it I forgot to take pictures!

      These two couples were going to the oldies dance at the clubhouse for 7:00 pm. We passed tonight as we have found that "oldies dances" are usually real oldies, and are more for listening than dancing other than a waltz or polka, (not what we enjoy) so for the $5.00 cover charge we passed.  But we did have another great day in south Texas and watched a good tv show after a little reading.

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Fri. Feb. 25th 2011, Rockport/Fulton Texas

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 since August 2006

       TGIF,  (Thank Goodness Its Friday) the weekend is here, now we get a chance to relax. No work for two days right? Well when you are retired its the other way around, more things are happening on the weekends so we are a lot busier doing nothing.

       The typical morning starts off with sunshine and warmth, then it just gets better from there. Coffee, computing the morning news on tv, a walkabout and a couple of bike rides, around the resort then across the street and along Fulton Beach Rd. beside the ocean.

Fulton Beach Rd.

small bay

nice house, the open house arrow is pointing out to the ocean

       This is a nice quiet paved road, I am sure could be busy in season, the real hot summer months, this is their winter after all, its only 85f (30c). No boats and no people around their houses, but all the RV resorts are pretty full with us "Winter Texans".

      Back home and now getting hungry, we can smell the Barbeque at the clubhouse cooking up burgers, hotdogs and sausage so we wandered over to treat overselves to lunch. Pretty good deal we got a, cheeseburger with all the fixings, macaroni salad, baked beans and sweet iced tea for $4.00 each.

tasty lunch

       Well now after this need to work off lunch, so a ride about more of the resort checking out more areas and looking for the alligator in the pond. I still have not spotted him, lotsa birds and turtles thou.

       Now back home we got our chairs and books out to sit in the shade and read for a while. Then we began chatting with Jim and Sharon(from Alberta) that pulled in behind us. We met them at Catalina Spa resort in Desert Hot Springs California and had Christmas potluck dinner with them. Rick and Sharon (from Colorado) beside us and John and Diann (from Michigan) that we saw at the Summit resort in Braunfels. Yes its a small world.

Happy hour

       Once we got all our introductions and stories partly told, it started to cool off a bit, so time to break up the party and have supper. I whipped up a light supper of garlic tilapia, rice pilaf and a tossed salad, chat some more then a bit of tv. We could have went to Karaoke at the clubhouse but thought we did enough today.

tasty supper

       Now you see how busy we were today? I blame it on friday, can't wait till monday when we can relax.

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Thurs. Feb. 24th 2011, Rockport/Fulton Texas

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, 

 since August 2006

       Another nice day, the weather more of the same (overcast, then sunny, humid and hot) and enjoying every minute of it. We puttered around most of the day inside, outside, walkabouts, bike rides just kinda hanging out. If you remember back on Dec. 9th we were in Ehrenberg Arizona I took a picture of the overhead cupboard door panel that had dried out and cracked from the dry desert air, we had been in the desert for about a month. Well today I took another picture and put them together (below) to show how it magically expanded and grew back together after only a few days in the humid air of south Texas by the ocean.

repaired by magic humidity

       Also we have noticed the dampness does effect your breathing slightly and a few more arthritis aches and pains, but the warmth still feels good.

      After noon we had been checking out the various places to purchase fresh caught shrimp and decided we would give Alby's Seafood a try. I picked up 1/2 pound of fresh shrimp and brought them home to test freeze some, they only sell fresh caught shrimp or 1 to 2 lb frozen in a solid block with water, meaning we would have to use a whole pound at a time once thawed. These were not as large as we got in Mexico but a nice size nonetheless, I set aside 4 to sample with supper tonight. We also picked up some store made crab stuffed shrimp to try at a later date.

fresh shrimp

      Back home we can sit in the sun, and the shade enjoying the weather, a good book each others company and the scenery around us, even chat with a neighbour or two.

reading and looking around

       Then once again its time to prepare supper, I made a shrimp cocktail with 4 of our shrimp, (very tasty) and a nice pork roast done on the barbie, accompanied by extra creamy garlic mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, apple sauce and a nice helping of fresh sweet asparagus.

yummy supper

       So there, another page completed in "Our Awesome Travels", I hope you are having as much fun reading this, as we are experiencing it and writing it down.

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Wed. Feb 23rd, 2011 Rockport Texas

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, 

 since August 2006

Today our internet is really, really slow so it took me a long time to post our Blog, not much to say but  I finally got'er done and drank a pot of coffee in the process..

       In case you are interested in the weather here read the following paragraph, if it upsets you just skip it.

The weather has been about the same everyday since we got here, warm overnight 70f (22c), overcast in the mornings until around noon then the skies clear and it gets hot 86f (30c) and very humid.

       This morning we compute, coffee and walkabout then I went to the store for a few groceries. On the way I checked the fish and shrimp prices with some of the vendors along Fulton Beach road then stopped by the Fulton Mansion to take a few pictures. Where the town was named after them. (Rockport/Fulton)

windswept trees

Fulton Mansion

        This was built in between 1874 and 1877 and at the time was very state of the art, with gas lighting, central heating and indoor plumbing with hot and cold running water.

       Across the street is the waterfront with many piers that go way out into the bay, I assume that the locals and tourists use for fishing.

fishing piers

       Now back home we had lunch then Suzie sorted the laundry and took it to the resort laundromat to let the machines do their magic while I read my book and supervised the cycles. While I was out of her hair Suzie did the vacuuming and dusting, so that we both done our chores at the same time. And we were able to sit in the shade and sun to enjoy our books for  while. Then before we know it, its time to fire up the barbie to prepare a cornish hen, roasted potatoes with onions and some sweet fresh asparagus for supper.

yummy

      Another great winter day just slipped on by, thanks for stopping in.

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Tues. Feb. 22nd 2011 Rockport/Fulton Texas

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, 

 since August 2006

       Another nice day with lotsa sunshine and quite warm in the morning. Putter around a walkabout and a quick trip to the store then before we knew it was lunch time. After a bite we went to downtown Rockport to a exchange a few more books, not such a good deal here so we only exchanged two.

today's excursion

      No big deal about the books we have lots, and were on our way to Aransas Pass (15minutes away along the coast) to visit with Rob and Pat from Ontario once again. This time we went to their campground The Palms RV Park and checked it out. Very nice, clean, cement roadways, parking pads and patios, even green grass between sites. But its not a membership park so they have to pay a monthly fee (extremely reasonable) for a 3 months stay. But we are not ready to sit still in one place we still love to travel and keep moving every week or two.

nice visit

their spot

       We had a very nice visit catching up more before they head out thursday to begin their journey back home to Ontario. We will see them again this summer at Rock Glen Resort in Ontario, safe travels guys!

       Heading back home about 4:30 pm we decided to check out Stevie Lew's BBQ Kitchen right across the street from our resort. This is a real Texas Pit BBQ, and a family run operation. Suzie ordered the Beef Brisket on a bun with potato salad and I had the Jalapeno pepper smoked sausage on a bun with cowboy beans. Both excellent choices for a tasty, filling supper for under ten dollars. There is nothing like checking out some of the regional recipes and supporting local business to really get a feel for different areas of the country.

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MOn. Feb 21st 2011, Rockport Texas

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, 

 since August 2006

       We are getting accustomed to the humidity here a bit. This morning the windows and car looked like it had rained but it was only a very heavy dew overnight. Our kitchen cupboard door that had dried and a 1/4 inch wide crack appeared last fall in Arizona (dry air), has closed up, the crack is gone, in only 3 days, thats humid weather.

       This mornings walkabout there is lots of birds by the pond always an abundance of Egrets in this area.

Egret

       Back home putter around a bit then made some mini pecan tarts again. One thing we have not been able to purchase here is mini tarts, or even tarts of any size are hard to find. Once in a while we enjoy a small nibble of a butter tart or pecan tart, so we will just make our own, and we still have some of our pecan harvest to use up.

pecan tarts

       After a bite for lunch we took a drive along Fulton Beach Road, into Rockport about 10 minutes. This is a nice drive past some very expensive looking homes, the Fulton Manor, Fulton Harbour with lots of fishing boats, fresh seafood restaurants, and seafood stores. We stopped at a couple of seafood vendors to check out the varieties of fish and shrimp that they had for future reference. Another interesting thing we noticed is the windswept trees drastically leaning inland from the constant on shore winds.

windswept trees

downtown Rockport

       Along this road to downtown Old Rockport past more fishing boats, stop at the visitor centre, then back home to relax in the shade with our books for a while, much too hot in the sun.

relax in the shade

       After a bit our neighbours returned home and joined us for a happy hour. Rick and Suzy from somewhere USA have been fulltiming since last summer and enjoying it. Then before we knew it was time for supper so after 10 minutes in the pressure cooker, I whipped up some finger licking, melt-in-your-mouth BBQ'd pork ribs, (w/sauerkraut of course), bbq'd potato, rice and broccoli. And there ya go we made it thru another exciting day.

yummy

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