The Ray Adventures: January 2016

Greetings from the Coastal Bend of Texas. We've had quite a mix of weather, some winter, fall, spring and summer with an occasional day of 80ish temps'. Time is flying so fast, next thing we know it will be middle of March and time for us to hit the road, we plan to spend about a month traveling to Oregon. Gary hasn't been home since September 2014, he is getting anxious to see family and friends.

We have kept quite busy, Gary is volunteering on the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi 2 - 3 days a week, he is enjoying his time there especially when he can drive the visitor shuttle tram. Lately he's been taking classes to become a tour guide. He likes to ride his bike as often as weather permits, he's not crazy about riding into the wind.

I'm taking Yoga classes twice a week, Dorene, the owner of Main Street Yoga in the historic downtown district in Rockport is teaching here at the park on Mondays, Sharon, Marti and I go to the studio on Tuesdays. Yoga is the Hindu discipline to promote control of the body and mind. So far I've lost all control of both but I'm trying. I go to Snap Fitness 3 times a week for strength training, the Yoga helps work out kinks. With all the Wednesday dinners, pot lucks and happy hours, we have to burn up as many calories as we can. Wednesdays I join several other ladies in the Adult Clubhouse quilting, right now I'm finishing a Seahawk color lap throw. Speaking of the Seahawk's, we were thrilled to see them win their Wild Card playoff game and sad to see the lose to the Panthers.

Sharon, our new co-activities director, has brought in lots of new activities, a horseshoe tournament, exercise classes, WII bowling, bean bag baseball and is now trying to get the park owner to make a pickle ball court. (Now wait, that's for old people) She is also bringing in musical entertainers for us, last night was Cody Dooley from Bronson who spends his winters in South Texas. He sings classic country songs emulating the voice of the original artist. Not quite our cup of tea but he was very good.

Gary, Luci and I took a drive to Goliad, about 90 minutes from here, we have been through there twice but only stopped at the Spanish mission Nuetra Senora del Espirita de Zuniga. The country roads take you through cattle country, we passed a field with 21 Sandhill Cranes, several crested caracaras feasting on something in the field and several deer. We drove into the historic downtown district finding most of the businesses closed on Monday but found a restaurant open. "The Hanging Tree Restaurant" across the street from the still functioning county courthouse and the infamous Hanging Tree. For 24 years in the mid 1800's the court trials of Goliad County were held under this big oak tree. Death sentences were carried out promptly by means of a rope and a convenient limb. We had a delicious lunch, I had stuffed cabbage and Gary enjoyed a specialty of the house burger. Just south of the mission is the Presidio La Bahia, built in 1722, the fortress where Col. James Fannin commanded the troops during the Texas Revolution in 1836, unfortunatelty they lost the battle to the Mexicans on Palm Sunday. All 342 POW's were massacred a few hundred yards from the fort. Col. Fannin, the last to be executed could see the handwriting on the wall, he requested his personal belongings to be sent to his family, to be shot in the heart and given a Christian burial. His things were kept by the Mexicans, he was shot in the face and was burned along with all his soldiers. So much for requests. The Fannin Monument, near the Presidio, is the location where Fannin's and 342 soldiers bones are buried. The centuries old chapel, Our Lady of Loreto, is the oldest building in the compound, was built for the soldiers in the fort and is still an active Catholic Church. The fort, restored in the 1960's is the oldest freestanding fort in the states. For a nominal fee you can spend the night in the soldiers quarters. We picked up several geo caches before we left for Rockport, at one location I heard some brush crashing, I saw an armadillo working on his home. Cool.

We helped RJ and Gail celebrate their 34th anniversary at Moondog's with Bob and Sharon, David and Marihelen, Steve and Marti and Karen and Steve. A fun little eatery on the water in Fulton and a good time. Happy Anniversary RJ and Gail.

And yes, we are"wannabe" birders.

Well that's it in a nutshell. Enjoy the pic's.

TFN,

Gary and Pam

Look closely, a woodpecker

The Lexington, across bay from downtown waterfront

Part of Corpus Christi skyline

Texas Aquarium and C.C. bay bridge

Beautiful waterfront walk, downtown CC

Thought these mushrooms were interesting

A few of the 21 sandhill cranes we saw

Crested caracara with lunch

Restaurant is across the street from historic hanging tree

Goliad County Courthouse

Col. Fannin's Monument

Our Lady of Loreta Chapel, Presidio

Sanctuary

Great Egret and Spoonbill alongside Fulton Beach Road

The actual hanging tree, courthouse and square in background

A Great Egret in a dead tree in rv park

Happy New Year to Ya All! Our weather had been wonderful until the 27th of December, now we are enjoying Oregon weather, wet, cold and windy. What a wonderful busy holiday season we've had. Gary's sister Laurie from Salem joined us for her Christmas break from Salem-Keizer School District. It has been fun showing her the area that we love so much.

The first part of the week of the 13th was pretty routine, Wednesday I quilted with the girls, Wednesday night happy hour and dinner by Chef Betty. Thursday Gary volunteered on the Lexington while I cleaned the coach for our company. The neighbors behind us held a fish fry, yum, yum yum! Prescott and Pat supplied the fish and chips while the rest of us "pot lucked" it. It seems like most of the Winter Texans here at the park are from Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. When we get back to Salem in May, we're probably going to sound like we've watched the movie Fargo too many times.

Saturday we took Luci to Salty Dog Doggie Day Care for exercise while we drove around Copano Bay looking for Whooping Cranes and Spoonbills, we were successful, we spotted 2 pair of Whoopers, about 6 Spoonbills and several Egrets. Ibis and many varieties of ducks. We spotted a pair of Osprey one had a fish in it's talons.   We picked up Luci after several hours, there is nothing better than a tired dog. The activities director (Sharon) thought it would be fun to have a power point slide show of the places people traveled throughout the summer, Gail (with her computer skills) put together everyone's contribution. We timed our visit to their 5th wheel with our photos perfectly. Dinner time. We were invited to join them for dinner. She is a great cook, even her "quickies", sloppy joes and waldorf salad. Thank you Gail and RJ, who served the adult beverages.

Monday we picked up Laurie at Corpus Christi International Airport about 10:30am, she took the red eye out of Portland, on our way back to Rockport we stopped at NAS Corpus Christi, Gary has become the "dealer" for liquor at Bayview RV Park, we had to pick up the weekly order. We stopped for lunch in Port Aransas at the brew pub for a bite before catching the ferry to Rockport. We stopped at Mustang Island State Park where Laurie waded in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. RJ and Gail stopped by for happy hour to meet Laurie before I BBQ'd fresh caught Grouper.

Tuesday morning we planned to take the TX Birds Skimmer tour of Aransas Wildlife Refuge and the Intercoastal Waterway, the fog made the visibility nil, we were afraid we weren't going to see the birds on the refuge. BUT the fog either lifted or shifted and we were able to see Whoopers, Spoonbills. Herons. and many more. The population of Whooping Cranes in 1941 was only 21 in the wild and 2 in captivity due to the loss of habitat. Conservation efforts since then the 2011 count was up to 437 in the wild and 165 in captivity. The average lifetime of a Whooper is 22-24 years, they are about 5 feet tall , have a wingspan of 7 1/2 feet and weigh about 14-16 pounds and they mate for life. The birds migrate from Alberta Canada to Texas, Florida and South America. They lay 2 eggs per year but normally only one hatches because the parents destroy one egg. The Roseate Spoonbills are smaller birds, their plumage is pink because of their diet, have large spatulate bills for sweeping through the shallow water from side to side. They are monogamous for one season, the males gather the reeds and sticks while the female weaves the nest into a large shallow bowl. Beautiful birds.   After, we had pizza at PJ's with Sharon & Bob, Arleen and Bill, RJ and Gail and Dick and Fran. If you're ever in Rockport be sure to check out Panjo's.

Wednesday, Dec. 22nd we took Laurie to the USS Lexington for a very special personal tour by Gary. It was a beautiful day, blue sky. sunshine and only a slight breeze. Perfect. Wednesday means happy hour and dinner by Chef Betty. Laurie decided she wanted to try Texas Hold-um in the clubhouse, I watched while she played. She wasn't a big winner but did win 3 hands.

Thursday we drove up to LaMar, just across the Copano Bay bridge, to check out the 1,000 year old live oak tree and we'd heard of Whooper sightings in the area. The tree is amazing, 35 feet around, 44 feet tall with a 90 foot canopy. We saw about 14 Whooping Cranes and 20 Sand Cranes up close and personal. We had never seen a juvenile WC before, since it was "rust" colored we thought it was a barrel at first until it moved. We got back to Bayview in time to "pretty-up" before going to the Family Clubhouse for the Christmas Eve party. We had an appetizer pot luck before the "naughty Santa" game. Gail made the most delicious Tom and Jerry's. Yummmmmy! Sharon came up with a different twist which was fun, everyone picked up their own gift, we got in a large circle (over 100 people) while she read the "Night Before Christmas" interjecting right and left in the story. Each time she said right or left we would pass the gifts in that direction. At the end of the story you could either keep the gift you ended up with or stay in for the rest of the game. I chose to keep mine, the package looked like a fence post about 4X4, turned out to be 3 bottles of wine stacked. Gary and Laurie chose to stay in the game. Sharon would say for example "anyone over 70 exchange your gift, or bald, or over 4 grandchildren,etc," I wish I'd stayed in the game. Gary ended up with a jar of local salsa and pepper jelly and Laurie got a lightweight throw. We finished the evening singing Christmas carols accompanied by Gail on her keyboard. Afterwards we went to Tom and Joy's, it was her birthday so we sat around a campfire while Tom played his guitar, Lynn and Bob were also there.

Merry Christmas. Gary took his 12 mile bike ride to start the day, then the three of us took a walked down Fulton Beach Road, not many birds out but a beautiful walk none the less. By the time we got back we were just dripping, the temp was mid-70's but very humid. The park provided the ham and potatoes with the rest pot luck. Delish!

Saturday we drove up to San Antonio, just about 3 hours, to show Laurie one of our favorite towns. It was a windy day but not too cold, Laurie was surprised the Alamo was small and right in the middle of the city, I had the same reaction.   I did not know the Bald Cypress trees along the river were deciduous, the river and sidewalks were full of their needles. Every January the Riverwalk water is drained and the canal is cleaned, I wonder if it is in part due to the mess the trees make. We took the river cruise which covers the 3 miles in the heart of the city, lunch at County Line BBQ before driving to three of the missions along the San Antonio River, The San Jose, Concepcion and San Juan Capistrano. On the way back to Rockport we drove bit out of our way to see the Mission Espada in historic Goliad. We got back to Bayview about 6:00, thanks to Bob and Sharon for taking care of Luci,

Tuesday, Laurie and I went to Yoga, her first time.   For the past 2 years we have been wanting to see Fulton Mansion which has been under renovation, it turned out to be a bigger project than planned, it took 3 years to complete the work. The mansion was built by Col. George Fulton and his wife, finished in 1877. Years head of it's time it had indoor plumbing, gas lights, central heat and 3 bathrooms two with copper bathtubs. After the Fultons sold to the Davidsons it fell into disrepair, it was even a RV park for a while, then sold to the state to become a State Historic Site. Laurie's flight was scheduled to leave at 7:30, on our way down to Corpus we stopped at the Lexington, she wanted to purchase a couple of baseball hats for gifts, then we took her to a Texas tradition, Whataburger, for lunch. Better than In and Out. We dropped her off at the airport, on our way back we ran a few errands, got home, put the groceries away when Laurie called. Her plane had mechanical difficulties and due to the storms in Dallas over the week-end she couldn't leave until the 1st. Back to CCIA we went. Just about a mile from Bayview on our way back the second time we had "blue lights" behind us, Gary pulled over to let him pass, well he pulled in behind us. Gary was speeding, how unusual. The State Trooper let him off with a warning.

Wednesday Gary and Laurie went to see Star Wars while I quilted. They both enjoyed the movie and felt like the ending left room for more Star Wars movies in the future. Chef Betty made pork loin for dinner.

New Year's Eve! I got a jump on my resolutions by going to Snap for a workout with Laurie. Gary volunteered on the Lexington, a cold day on the ship. Our New Year's Party at the Family Clubhouse was potluck appetizers, music by the "Jam Session Guys", a group of 5-6 men from Bayview. They are pretty good. We didn't stay until midnight, we had to get up at 5 to get Laurie to her flight.

Happy 2016! We kidded Laurie, after we dropped her off at the airport we were going to turn our phones off. She did take off on time and made it all the way to Portland without any problems. We stopped at the Oyster House on Fulton Bay for breakfast before coming home. After cleaning the dirt and grime in the coach we crashed and slept for a few hours. The weather was "yukky" I hunkered under my quilt all day.

Saturday, another horrible day, it rained and rained and rained with wind. Brrrrr. Another good day to hunker down and watch football. I did go out to lunch and the movies with Lynn, Joy, Diane, Karen and Gail. We saw the movie "Joy". It is the loosely based life story of Joy Mangano who invented the Miracle Mop. I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it. The Alamo Bowl was a tale of two halves, unfortunately our Ducks lost after a triple overtime.

Sunday, The sun came out! And so did I. I made it to Snap, so far so good for my resolution. We played Pegs and Jokers at 2:00, three close games but the women won 2 out of 3. We watched our Seahawks beat Arizona 36-6, well almost watched the game.   Fox Sports decided since the game was lopsided they switched to the KC-Oakland game. BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

That's all the news for now, enjoy the pic's.

TTFN

Gary and Pam