The Ray Adventures: Christmas time in South Texas

Dec. 6-Dec. 16

Sorry I’m so late with my newest blog, I’ve been busy procrastinating.

Saturday, Dec. 6^th. The day started out drizzly and in some places downright raining. We crossed the Copano Bay Bridge to Lamar to pick up the 4 geo caches we need to have a total of 2,200 finds. The sun did come out so we didn’t get wet. We even saw Santa Claus; a portly gent was walking along the country roads with a Santa hat, as we passed him we saw he had a white beard and moustache. You’d think the old guy would have been too busy to be exercising in South Texas, he must be quite organized. Last year when we first arrived in Rockport we saw a sign at a local tavern advertising Sand Belt Racing, we thought, now that’s silly. They “race” the 1^st and 3^rd Saturday of the winter months, as it turned out we never made it to the races, something better always came up. Robert and Diana had mentioned going so we decided to join them. The races took place outside in back of the tavern with several bleachers set up for the spectators. Our “host”, one of the racers, talked to us about the races, what is legal etc. He was from Seattle area, although Belt Sander Racing originated there, he didn’t race until he moved to Rockport. One thing he said caught my attention; it’s the only sport you can participate in that you can drink before, during and after. Does it get any better than that? The track is 75 feet long, 50 for racing and 25 for “cool down”. Any standard belt sander under 24 inches that is commercially sold can be used; the racers can use any kind of sandpaper again that is commercially sold. They are modified by changing the pulleys to race better. The sanders are plugged into an extension cord that was long enough to go to the end of the track; they are “duct taped” on to ensure they will stay powered. Our “host” said that the fastest anyone has gone on their track is 50 mph, the sanders we saw that day went about 20mph. It is formulated like any drag strip, two lanes with Christmas tree starting lights their timing system was quite accurate down to a 10^th of a second. To start they played the National Anthem, announced the racers giving a little bio about each one of them even a couple of women raced. Most of the sanders had specialized paint jobs, the one I liked best looked like the Texas flag. After all the eliminations which took a couple of hours, we had a winner. Depending how many racers there are depends on the “purse”, on that day it was about $50.00, the entry fee is $10.00. Our “host” took 2^nd place. It is truly silly but you have to see it once.

Sunday, Dec. 7^th, Pearl Harbor Day was quite drizzly. We picked up RJ and Gail to go to the USS Lexington, a permanent museum on Corpus Christi’s waterfront. We had decided to go to NAS Corpus Christi to the NEX to pick up some Southern Comfort for Gail’s egg nog she will be making for Christmas eve. (Had some last year, delish!) We all got a bit carried away spending over $108.00 for booze. Well, it won’t spoil! Lunch was at BJ’s Brewhaus, of course, then we headed for the ship for the Pearl Harbor Memorial which was held on the hangar deck. The Veteran’s Band of Corpus Christi started the program followed by the Corpus Christi Fire Dept. Pipes and Drums, bag pipes always make me cry. The Colors were presented by Flour Bluff HS ROTC (a suburb of Corpus). As the program finished, 4 Pearl Harbor survivors, that live in Corpus, placed wreaths in the bay. We must always remember. After we got back to Bayview we stopped to say our “good-byes” to Robert and Diana who are leaving for the Rio Grande Valley to visit friends. We hope to see them again when we get to Louisiana, they plan to be there around the same time as us. Later we played Pegs and Jokers with Bill, Carole, Linda and Al(ice) she was one of the guys that night. Best of all, Seahawks beat the Eagles!!!! Whew!!!!

Monday, Dec. 8^th, this would have been my Dad’s 97^th birthday, happy birthday Dad. I was lazy all day, I felt like I was coming down with a cold. Something caught Luci’s eye, it was a buck and a doe across the road by the laundry. Cool. I did spend the afternoon making Baby Back Ribs for Gary, he said they came out nice great. He was quite industrious in contrast to my laziness, he took a 15 mile bike ride then took Luci for a long walk. Last week we picked up some spray paint in Aransas Pass for refreshing our metal cactus so he got started on that job. I did do some quilting so the day was not lost altogether.

Tuesday, Dec. 9^th, Gary took the car to Aransas Pass to have the transmission serviced on the Jeep, seems like just yesterday we bought it now it has over 100,000 miles. My cold was a little better so I did some more quilting. It’s best if I’m alone when I quilt, the sewing machine is on the table, the cutting board and ironing board are on the counter and I usually have the bed covered with “pieces”. When Gary got back from AP he finished the cactus, looks better than new.

Wednesday, Dec. 10^th, My cold is gone, Airborne sure works wonders. We took Luci on a long walk (off a short pier) through back roads so she can run, the weather has warmed again with high humidity so by the time we get back we’re just dripping wet. Just a few things we have noticed here in Texas; it seems like every other ad on television is for attorneys, Evangelists come in second. Then we saw a crazy add for a drug store in Corpus, Drugs and Guns, they even have a shooting gallery there. So come get your drugs and guns, listen to the Evangelists and then sue someone. On Wednesday nights we have a dinner at the clubhouse, tonight Betty made Burgandy Beef Stew, salad with dill dressing, rolls and a peppermint frosted brownie. Yum.

Thursday, Dec. 11^th, We listed our timeshare on Kauai for sale several weeks ago. We got a call from the Real Estate agent, he had an offer for us to consider. It was a couple thousand dollars less than we were asking so we had to give it some thought. We drove to Corpus to get some new phones. What an ordeal, we both got the iphone5, the newer phones are so large they don’t fit in pockets. Thursdays we play Pegs and Jokers with RJ, Gail, Bob, Sharon, Bill and Carole, girls versus boys. The last game I got real lucky, I must have had 6 or 7 jokers, they are like a wild card.

Friday, Dec. 12^th We started the day with a walk along Fulton Beach Road. It was another beautiful day especially compared to the cold weather we had here last winter. We spotted an egret in a tree along the road and several pelicans perched on fishing piers or cruising the water for breakfast. It seems most RV parks are near railroad tracks, busy freeways or airports. We don’t have any trains or freeways here but are on the flight path for Aransas County Airport. Do you remember Baa Baa Black Sheep, an old television series about pilots in the Pacific during WW2? NAS Corpus Christi sends single and twin engine planes to the airport for training, it sounds just like that as they take off, circle and land. Then there are all the helicopters that fly personnel to the oil platforms out in the gulf. I’m not complaining, I actually enjoy watching the planes.

Saturday, Dec. 13^th,I have decided to go to Salem for my best friend Charlotte’s birthday, I won’t say how old, so I spent most of the morning on the phone booking my flight with my frequent flyer miles. I’ll leave New Orleans Jan. 28 and return Feb. 3^rd. Gary was needing a new pair of walking shoes, I guess he spends too much time walking Luci, so we went to Portland (only about 15 miles from Rockport) to Academy, a sporting goods store similar to Dick’s or Sports Authority. We weren’t too smart, we didn’t need to go on a Saturday during the Christmas holidays. He found a pair of Merrill’s that fit and felt good. After lunch at a deli we picked up 4 geo caches in the area, then headed towards Aransas Pass. We stopped at a Hispanic cemetery to pick up 2 more gc. Later we watched Marcus Mariota win the Heisman Trophy, he had twice the votes as the other two combined. Wah hoo.

Sunday, Dec. 14^th, We attended the Symphony by the Sea at Rockport Fulton High School with Gail and RJ. In addition to the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra about 150 members of the high school choir sang. It was a fundraiser for the Education Foundation of Aransas county that provides grants and providing monies for other things such as field trips. The guest conductor was Andres Franco from Columbia, now living in Fort Worth. He is quite accomplished especially for his age. Brian Otripling, the trumpet virtuoso, was amazing, his voice, a deep baritone was delightful and could he ever play the trumpet. He is a soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra as well as a featured soloist on PBS. The Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra now in its 69^th season, have had many featured artists such as Van Cliburn, Marvin Hamlish and Itzhak Perlman make appearances. Their principal performance venue is at Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi, Performance Center. After the symphony we had dinner at Charlotte Plummers Restaurant by the sea. Gary and I haven’t been there before, we thought it was one of those fancy overpriced places but were pleasantly surprised. Everyone but Gary had a margarita, delish! We were seated by the window, it’s right on the harbor so we could watch the boats come in, one of them was the excursion boat we took last winter to see the whooping cranes. After dinner we drove around town looking at the city’s Christmas decorations. We got back to the coach for the last quarter of the Seahawk game. They did kick the niner’s behind. We played Pegs and Jokers at 7:00 with Bill, Carole, Alice, Linda, (we called her Bob, she was on the boys team) and Gary and I. Such a fun game.

Monday, Dec. 15^th, A quiet day, we started with our morning walk along Fulton Beach Road. Gary spent some time at the club house using the wi-fi putting info into our new phones while I quilted most of the day.

Tuesday, Dec. 16^th, almost identical to Monday, we walked, Gary worked on the phones again and I finished my quilt. I BBQ’d a turkey breast, I smoked it for about an hour then turned the heat up for a couple of hours. It came out PERFECT! We had an offer on our time share that we turned down, the agent called back after talking with his client, it sounds like they’re going to purchase it at our asking price. Yea!!

Enjoy the pictures,

TTFN

Gary and Pam

Legends Saloon Home of Belt Sander Races