The Ray Adventures: December 2015

We have been enjoying mostly beautiful weather, in the 70's and 80's with an occasional cold front that haven't been "too" cold, we've had to put on long pants a few times.

On Wednesdays I spend the day with other quilters in the park at the Adult Club House sewing on our newest project. It is nice to spread out all of our "stuff", in the coach I put my sewing machine on the table, the ironing board and cutting board on the counter and the bed is usually covered with fabric. Gary and Luci usually make themselves scarce. Gary went to see the Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 with RJ and Gail, he has not seen the first three so he was a little lost. I love Wednesdays, this week Chef Betty she prepared Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, delish. Yum, Yum, Yum.

Friday morning after I left Snap I went to the Family Club House for a cooking class taught by one of our residents who is a chef and cook book author. The focus of the class was food processors (I don't have one) but probably can figure out a way around that. She made baguettes, cilantro dressing and a yummy Jalapena romelade for spicy boiled shrimp. She topped the meal off with a rustic apple tart with moscato. Of course we got to eat everything she made. Delish!

Saturday afternoon we went down to Rockport's "A Tropical Christmas" held on the festival grounds by Little Bay, which was full of vendors, food and entertainment. We watched the Dog Costume Contest sponsored by the local Humane Society. What a hoot! Cast in Bronze, a performance of Carillon Bells, a musical instrument of at least 23 cast bronze cup shaped bells in varying sizes, he has 36, played on stick like keys, called batons, with fists and pressing the keys of the pedal keyboard with the feet that connect to metal clappers that strike the bells. The varying intensity of the notes are determined by the force applied to the keys. We saw a carillon on the shore of a lake in Stone Mtn. Park in Georgia but no one was playing. This artist has his bells mounted on a trailer that he pulls with his motorhome to all his shows. He has played all around the country, he has even played for the Queen of England. I was surprised to learn he doesn't cover the trailer while towing down the road. That must be a sight. Gary, RJ, Gail, Bob, Sharon, Bill and Arlene and I had a bite to eat at the Poor Man's Country Club Grill before heading back to the festival ground for the lighting of Rockport's Christmas tree, the parade and fireworks. The weather was beautiful, a perfect evening sitting beside the bay watching fireworks.

Sunday, after a rousing game of Pegs and Jokers we had happy hour at Bob and Sharon's with several other couples. Another beautiful day.

Monday Gary went to the USS Lexington, his job was to shuttle visitors up to the hanger deck for the Pearl Harbor ceremony. There are still three remaining survivors of Pearl Harbor that live in Corpus Christi. NAS Corpus Christi had an important role in WWII, over 35,000 pilots were trained there.

Tuesday I took my second Yoga class, I'm really enjoying it, the hardest part is the last seven minutes, you are supposed to lie (lay?) down keeping your mind and body still. Ya sure.

Wednesday after exercise, Gary and I went to Corpus Christi to do some Christmas shopping and a trip to the NEX for booze, the prices are a little lower than retail and you don't have to pay sales tax.

Thursday we went back down to Corpus Christi, Gary, Jim and Bob volunteered while Bob's wife Lynn and I took the car and went to the two quilt stores in the area. Pegs and Jokers again, sometimes the cards are good and some well-- not so good.

Friday Gary rode his 12 miles along Fulton Beach Road while I went to Snap. We split a burger at the Family Club House along with yummy potato salad and cookies. It's a good thing we exercise. I wrapped the grandkids Christmas presents after lunch and got them to the post office. It cost $50.00 to send the packages, next year we'll shop in Oregon or send them money. After Happy Hour we ate a couple of crab stuffed jalapena's for dinner.

Saturday we started to walk the Fulton Beach Road but by the time we got to the water it started to rain, we turned around and went back to the park where it wasn't raining, and walked the perimeter, about 1 3/4 mile. About lunch time we got the promised cold front, it basically rained the rest of the day but still warm.

Sunday turned out to be a nice day, we went to the Symphony by the Sea with Gail and RJ. It is a major fund raising event for Rockport-Fulton ACISD, featuring the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra and the Rockport-Fulton High School Choir. The guest conductor Andres Franco was back again, his mix of music and humor makes it an enjoyable event. After, we had "linner" at Moondog's, a fun Bar and Grill on the boat basin in Fulton. On our way home, just as the sun was setting, we drove back to the park, passing a bunch of the white pelicans, the lighting gave it a surreal look.

Monday and Tuesdays were ordinary days, we exercised in the morning followed by our walk along Fulton Beach Road. Gary volunteered on the Lexington Tuesday while I cleaned the RV. The past three weeks we have been going to Panjo's Pizza with several other couples. Their pizza is among the top we've eaten. Yum, yum yum.

That's it for this week. I hope you aren't too bored, we're not. Enjoy the pic's.

TTFN,

Gary and Pam

Great Egret alongside lake in RV Park

Still unidentified bird in park

RJ, Gail and I at Festival by the Sea grounds

RJ, Arlene, Bob, Sharon & Gail

Pirate's entertaining the crowd

Gail and I telling Santa what we want for Christmas

Cavalier Spaniel as Santa

Doxie not pleased with his outfit

Carillon

Gail, Arlene Bob and Sharon waiting for parade

One of the floats

Blue Angel plane under restoration in front of Lexington

North of the Lexington

Decorating the club house, Bob and Gary did the tree, Sharon & Connie in foreground

Marjorie and I trying to fancy up the bulletin board

Rockport's Christmas tree

Fulton's Christmas tree

Decorations in Fulton

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Orchestra with RF Choir in background Beautiful harp

Pelicans at dusk, picture doesn't do it justice

Pearl Harbor survivors getting ready to place wreath in bay

Fishing boats at night

We can't believe that we've been in Rockport a month already. It seems like we're always busy, Gary has been volunteering on the Lexington twice a week. I've been a good girl going to Snap Fitness three times a week plus a I just started a Yoga class. Gary rides his bike 12 miles as often as weather permits. Of course many happy hours and dinners here at the park.

The weather until this week has been pretty nice, mid 70's to 80's. We do our Fulton Beach Road walk several times a week, spotting the usual birds but one morning we saw an osprey sitting on a fishing pier.

We've watched our Seahawks and Ducks get past their "slumps" winning games again. Looks like the Ducks will get a bowl game and maybe the Seahawks will get a playoff berth. Last year both teams finished second, the Ducks losing to Ohio State in the National Championship game and of course the ill fated Super Bowl, ( We still don't talk about that game)

Gary needed some cargo pants to wear while volunteering on the Lex., it seems they need lots of pockets for "stuff" We drove to Corpus Christi to La Palmera Mall, first stopping at Bed Bath and Beyond for some new area rugs, success we found some we liked. After lunch at TGIF's we first went to Dillards, Macy's and Beall's (pronounced Bells) with no luck. At Penney's we scored, he got $48.00 pants and a $100.00 jacket for $67. I love sales.

Bob and Sharon (from St. Louis) arrived from frozen Denver, they had been helping out with a new arrival and couldn't leave until the 21st, they had ice, snow and 80 mph winds. The day they got here it was about 80. AHHHHHH! That night we had Panjo's Pizza with Bob & Sharon, RJ & Gail and Bill and Arlene, who met B & S this year in their travels.

Thanksgiving was a beautiful day here, we wore shorts to dinner. I helped decorate while Gary peeled potatoes and carved turkey. The birds, potatoes, gravy and stuffing were supplied, the rest was a pot luck, what a bounty with over 100 people attending we had a wide variety of choices. Chef Betty asked me to help serve, Gary was so nice, he waited for me to finish to eat with me. Bad idea, we ran out of stuffing so we went without but needless to say we didn't starve.

We play Pegs and Jokers twice a week, the men versus the women, it gets quite cutthroat and sometimes harsh words are spoken. But it's only a game. Right? Right. Almost every night you can play different games at the Clubhouse. I've asked the activity director about forming a pinochle group, I miss my weekly games with the "girls".

Earlier this week Gary, Luci and I took a drive to the Aransas Ferry, stopping just before the landing to look at an offshore oil rig in dry dock, it looked to us that the huge rig was on land. I did a little investigating, it is actually in water. The rig was towed from the Louisiana coast in July to the Canyon Port Harbor Island facility, a private deep-water port complex at the entrance to the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. Oil rigs are leased for a certain time frame, if they are not being used they either abandon them to decay or dry dock. Due to the low oil prices it was not being use so the oil company towed it to the Port Aransas dry dock facility, in this case they figure for a couple of years. It's less expensive to move the rig to dry dock than to build a new rig that costs billions. We stopped at a nearby geo cache on the way back to Rockport just as an osprey took flight with a fish in it's talons. Cool!

That's it for now, we do have some pictures this week,

TTFN

Gary and Pam