December 28-March 4

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes, I am finally feeling good.

I forgot to mention in my last blog, Gary and I went to see Dolly Parton in Corpus Christi in December.  She puts on quite a show.

Sorry it's been such a long time since my last blog.  We started the New Year at the Family Club House, Sharon our activities director organized a fun New Year's Eve party.  We had an appetizer pot luck, hat, horns and champagne.  Jef (yes with one f) and his partner entertained us with a mix of oldies and country.  Since I was still "puny" we left at 10, darn, it was such a fun party.

Chris and Micah came down on the 14th of January for a quick 4 day visit.  We were anxious to show them as much of the Rockport area we love.  They drove down from Dallas, they wanted to see the Magnolia stores, HGTV's Fixer Upper show's stores in downtown Waco, Texas and of course geo cacheing along the way.  We picked them up at the Aransas County Airport, the only rental car franchise in Rockport, about 5.  After a tour of Rockport we stopped at the Oyster House so Micah could try the Gulf shore oysters.  Chris doesn't eat seafood of any kind but she was a trooper and tolerated our "slurping".  Of course the weather did not cooperate, a cold spell came down from the North but it was still warmer than Oregon at the same time.  On Sunday we took them to the Lexington for a private tour.  After climbing up and down many stairs I decided to skip the flight deck and bridge.  The kids really enjoyed seeing the ship.  We had a late lunch at a new restaurant in Corpus Christi, Saltgrass Steak and Seafood, it had only been open 2 days, they were really busy, we had to wait over 30 minutes to get a table but it was well worth it.  After "dunch" or "linner" we drove to Port Aransas, taking the ferry to Mustang Island.  We geo cached along the way until it got dark.  Monday we left at 7 for San Antonio, we stopped in historic Goliad for breakfast, they found a geo cache at the Hanging Tree in the Courthouse square.  Our first stop in SA was the Alamo, geo cached in the area before heading to the Riverwalk for the boat trip.  After we went to County Line BBQ for lunch and geo cached our way back to the car.  We stopped at 3 missions in town before heading back to Rockport arriving at 9.  A long fun day.  The weather started warming on Monday, Tuesday, the day they had to leave, was nice.  Their plane didn't leave until 2:30 so we had time for a little more sight seeing, after picking up 2 gc's within walking distance we walked through the park then drove to LaMar to see the 1,000 year old live oak tree and got a quick glimpse of the Whooping Cranes and other migratory birds.  They left in Corpus on time but their troubles started as they approached PDX,  the airport closed due to ice and were diverted to Seattle.  After spending the night they finally got to Portland about 4 in the afternoon Wednesday.   

Since Chris and Micah left the weather has been nice.  We've had several campfires under the stars.

We had a Super Bowl party at the clubhouse with an appetizer pot luck, we don't miss an opportunity to "pig out".  Most of us were Atlanta fans that day and were sorely disappointed with the outcome.

February 2nd, Sharon, Fran, Gail, Lynda, Gail, Marihelen, Marge and I car pooled to Sinton, a little town about 30 miles from Rockport to visit the Justin Label Distillery to taste Moonshine. We had lunch at the Butterchurn, walked around town checking out stores before heading to the distillery.  We tasted about several bottles including apple pie and lemonade. It all tasted the same to me.  Wow! I think you'd have to be hard up to drink this stuff.  Jason gave us a tour, showing us the processes needed to make moonshine. 

On the 16th of January we joined Gail and RJ, Sharon and Bob and Marty and Steve to help celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary at Bellino's, an Italian restaurant none of us had been to before.  Delicious food and good times with friends.

Valentine's Dinner and dance at the clubhouse was fun, we had a choice of prime rib or chicken cordon bleu, yum,  and live music.
The 17th, Gary and I went to the Lexington for the major fund raiser.  Gary wore his Navy uniform, he looked goooood!  The Lexington Big Band Orchestra played music from the 40's with 4 soloists.

The following week the Lexington honored it's volunteers with a dinner. Dick and Fran (our neighbors), Jim and Connie (former Bay View residents) and Gary and I attended.  This years' event was held earlier in the year than usual so Winter Texan volunteers could attend.  It was a nice dinner with an  open bar.  

We finally put our kayak in the water, we paddled 3/4 of a mile into Aransas Bay to a sand bar,  several cormorants flew away as we approached.  The wind was picking up so we decided we better head back.  A short trip, hope to find time to go again soon.

We've been to a couple of movies, Fences, which was pretty heavy, I'm sure it was better as a play and Gold, starring a fat, crooked toothed, cigarette smoking Matthew McConaughey as a down on his luck gold miner, it was "ok".

The Wall That Heals came to Rockport, a half scale, 250 foot long replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that is in Washington, DC.  It is made up of 44 aluminum sheets with 3 panels each.  The local boy scouts helped set it up.  Besides the wall there was a mobile Education Center and an information tent.  We didn't linger long, it was a cold windy day.   

Rockport has a marvelous Maritime Museum which puts on Monday Brown Bag lectures.  We went the first time recently to hear a retired harbor pilot speak.  How interesting, I'd always thought the tug boats just brought them in, wrong.  The pilot boards the ship, a tough job in good weather but in rough seas it's very dangerous. The pilot tells the captain how to navigate the bar and shipping channel.

Gary, Luci and I spent an afternoon at Padre Island Seashore National Park, this is our fourth winter and our first time on the island which is only about an hour from here.  Padre Island is the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world separating the Gulf of Mexico from Laguna Madre.  The park protects 70 miles of coastlines, dunes, prairies and wind tidal flats.  It is a haven for Kemp's ridley sea turtles and 380 bird species.  It was a beautiful warm day, Gary unsuccessfully searched for a geo cache in the dunes, Luci loved running down the beach, rolling in the sand and wading in the surf.  We had a late lunch at the Angry Marlin, the food was good but the flies (we ate outside on the dog friendly patio)were terrible.  After we picked up quite a few gc's we headed to Port A to catch the ferry back to Rockport.  The line to the ferry was long, by the time we got to Aransas Pass we decided we were hungry and thirsty so we stopped at Red FishWillies on an inlet,  again sitting in the dog friendly patio, we had peel and eat shrimp and beer.  

It's nesting time for the herons and great egrets atop the live oaks in downtown Rockport.  We saw them here last year in the same place before heading back to Oregon.  It's quite a sight.

We're planning our summer trip, we leave here the 2nd of April, head east to Jacksonville, Fl., then north along the coast to Virginia.  We will poke around Kentucky and Tennessee for a while before we catch the Natchez trail in Nashville and follow it down to Natchez, Mississippi.  This winter has flown by, it's hard to believe we leave in less than a month.  

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

TTFN

Gary and Pam

Chris, Micah and Gary at Mattie's Bakery Goliad, Tx

The Alamo

Gary, Micah, Chris and me on the riverboat, Riverwalk, SA

The four of us at lunch along the Riverwalk

Mission Concepcion, one of 3 missions we visited

Fish fry held at our space, over 40 people came

Cormorants  taking flight just as we reached sandbar in kayak

Campfire at Tom and Joy's

Dancing at the clubhouse

L-R Lynda, Fran, Sharon, Gail, Marihelen and Marge lunching before trip to distillery

Tasting, yum yum?

The first step in making moonshine

Dinner at Landry's Seafood Restaurant before dance

At the Lexington

The Lexington Big Band Orchestra

Dick, Jim, Connie, Fran, me and Gary at Lexington volunteer dinner

The Lexington at night

Blue herons atop live oak trees

Ahhh, feels so good

A quick wade to get sand off

Now there are 3 oil rigs dry docked across from Port A ferry

 

Additional pictures Nov. 9-Dec. 26

Sometimes you have to yield to the forces in the world, in this case the computer "beat" me.

Enjoy the second round of pic's! 

Fun in the sun, one of the many different rental available

View from our beach at Hale Koa

Gary and Stacy's visit to Pearl Harbor

Stacy sitting on deck of Missouri

Their visit to an air museum

Look closely bullet holes from Dec. 7th

Cute little bird

Our room at Hale Koa

Gingerbread house display at hotel

Gary's visit to the Punch Bowl

Gary's visit to the Arizona Memorial

Feeling better at last!

First thing I wanted to do was visit the beach

Yes Gary was on the trip.  Standing under one of the many beautiful  flowering trees at hotel.

And yes, I did lose a little weight!  LOL

 

Nov. 9 - Dec. 27 2016 Rockport, Hawaii Rockport

 Due to technical difficulties far from my expertise I will continue more pictures separately.

I don't really know where to begin it's been, it's been about 7 weeks since my last blog but also seems like a lifetime.  I''ll touch on the highs and lows because I experienced a life changing illness.

First things first!!!!  We welcomed into the world Miss Lyla Noffsinger, 8 lbs 14 oz born in Salem Oregon on November 23rd. The little girl arrived two weeks early, eager to start her life with mom Sam and dad Nick.  We've seen pictures of her, can't wait to get our hands on her.  Our first great grandchild!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with 110 of our friends here at the park, the park provided the turkeys, dressing and gravy the rest of the dinner was pot luck.  There are so many good cooks here, as usual we over indulged.

David and Marihelen's daughter Krista, from Red River, NM., visited with her dog Piper, 130 pound great dane.  Luci wasn't enamored with her, I think she thought she was a horse.  The three of them charted a fishing boat in Copanao Bay catching 25 fish which many of us got to enjoy.  A local restaurant prepared them either blackened, grilled, fried or cajun, we only had to pay for a couple of side dishes.  Delish!!!!!  Thanks Marihelen, David and Krista.

We've been enjoying happy hour on Tuesdays at the Oyster House, a restaurant right on Aransas Bay, enjoying oysters on the half shell, a dozen for $4.50.  Gary and I have really gone "round the bend" eating raw oysters and liking country music.  The last time we were treated to dolphins swimming just off the pier, a beautiful evening with not a breath of wind.  

They say things come in three's, first our washing machine died, we got a rip in our awning and developed a crack in the windshield.  You hate to ask "what else?" but sure enough soon the sky was going to fall.

Tom and Joy from Minnesota, gave us the tub from an old washing machine to use as a fire pit, actually I traded a bottle of Reisling from the Northwest for it, we've had several evenings with a groups sitting the campfire telling hilarious RV stories.  We had a special viewing of the Super Moon, although none of us really paid much attention to it, just another excuse for a party.

We were so excited to take our trip to Honolulu and the Big Island for ten days.  Dorene, our yoga teacher dog sat Luci, no worries---right?  The day before we left we enjoyed Rockport's Symphony by the Sea with the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra and the Rockport-Fulton High School Choir.  Lovely as always, this was our third year attending.  We left immediately after for San Antonio, about 3 hours, to spend the night before our 8:00am flight on Monday, Dec. 12th.  Wouldn't you know it, I haven't had a cold in ages and I woke up sick with a sore throat!  After a grueling 7 + hour flight from Phoenix we landed in Honolulu.  We were both looking forward to seeing Stacy and Barbara who were visiting at the same time and my brother Punch who lives in Honolulu.   I went to "Doctors on Call" tuesday, they offer pick up and delivery.  I was diagnosed with a throat infection and ear infection. SWELL!  We had lunch with the kids on Wednesday, Gary and Stacy went to see the Missouri and an a air museum on Tuesday. Friday Gary and I drove to the North Shore and around the island, by the time we got back I was really getting sick.  We called Doctors on Call again.  Once they put the oxygen "thingy" on my finger the doctor said he was calling the paramedics.  Hmmm, I knew I felt bad BUT!  I "got" to go on my first ambulance ride to Straub Medical Center and Hospital, I as admitted with Acute Respiratory Failure, What the Hell?   I had pneumonia, upper respiratory influenza, low sodium and a bunch of other shit.  I was one sick puppy, I spent 5 days in the hospital and lost 8 1/2 pounds, I know that because they drug me out of bed every morning between 4 and 5 to put me on the scales.  Poor Gary was stuck with not only the stress of my illness but canceling plane and hotel reservations.  We stayed at Hale Koa, a military hotel right on Waikiki Beach, a lovely hotel and they were so kind, we didn't have to change rooms or even leave for another hotel, we had to extend for another 7 days.
  My brother stopped by the hotel on Thursday, the day after I got back from the hospital.  We had some laughs, he, a former full-time RVer, swapped stories about life on the road, it had been at least 3 years since I'd seen him, a sight for sore eyes.  His wife stayed away from my germs, her 92 year old Mom was visiting from Olympia, Wa.  I had two days to recuperate before we flew back to Texas, arriving in San Antonio Christmas eve about 11pm.  We had a lovely breakfast at St. Anthony's a historic hotel in downtown San Antonio before heading back to Rockport Christmas Day arriving about 2:30.  Luci was very glad to see us!  The park Christmas dinner was in full swing but dear friends RJ, Gail, David and Marihelen brought us dinner.


I've always heard about "near death" experiences changing your whole outlook at life.  I must say I felt the change too, I'm not eloquent enough to express how I feel but probably in a word, Grateful, for the many things in life that I've taken for granted.  Enough of that!



Last night we had a campfire, friends Larry and Lorraine are leaving for Florida today.  A lovely evening.

That's it for now, enjoy the pic's,

TTFN

Gary and Pam

Sitting around the campfire, David, Marihelen, Krista, Lorraine & Larry

Dick stoking the fire, Fran, Arleen, and Bob

Sharon, RJ, Gail and me

The super moon

Thanksgiving at the clubhouse

Not hungry for long

Our new kitchen configuration

Another campfire Fran, Dick, Larry, Lorraine & me

Gail loves Luci and Luci loves her

The sweater Gail knit for Lyla

View from breakfast table Hale Koa Honolulu

All's right with the world, our first breakfast

The view from our lanai 

 

 
 

Galveston to Rockport Oct. 31 - Nov. 8

We pulled into Rockport Tuesday, November 1st, since we left Rockport the first of March we have traveled through 15 states and  driven the coach 8,227 miles,  since purchasing our new coach we have put over 31,000 miles on it.  We're always just one step ahead of the bill collectors.

Monday, Oct. 31, Happy Halloween, our last day in Galveston.  This visit we have been blessed with the most beautiful weather, 80's with a slight breeze.  Gary, Luci and I took a long walk on the beach, this time we remembered to take a toy along to throw into the surf for Luci.  She had a great time, a tired dog is a good dog.  We had lunch at Smooth Tony's, Gary found the listing on line and thought it might be fun.  As it turns out it was in the UTMB campus,  the main medical for center for UT.  The food was good, we ate on the patio, a funky place with lots of "fun stuff" including "rusty" musical instruments hanging on the walls.  Our son Stacy had major neck surgery today in Spokane, Wa, the incision is made in front of the neck to repair the bulging disc, fuse and place a titanium plate to protect the repair.  All went well, let's pray that it solves the problem permanently.  Since this is our last night on the road we decided to go out to dinner to celebrate, eating one of our favorite foods, sushi.  Yum, yum, yum.  Then the two of us enjoyed a lovely walk on the beach.

Tuesday, Nov. 1st, We left Galveston about 9:30 for our 200 mile drive to Rockport, we chose to drive down the length of the island, crossing the bridge to Hwy 35 South, arriving a little after 2.  It's very warm, mid to high 80's with high humidity, better than cold!  It is very good to see our friends again, a bunch of  us went to Panjo's for delish pizza.  

Wednesday, Nov.2nd, We cleaned the inside of the coach, it was getting pretty deep in here.  I had a hair cut appointment, my first since we left Salem.  Happy hour at 4 followed by dinner, cabbage rolls, mmmmmm.  Our chef for the last 2 years, Betty, left for Arizona, one of the residents Lynda has taken over the kitchen, she did a good job.  

Thursday, Nov. 3rd, Happy birthday to me!  Gary volunteered at the Lexington  for the first time this year while I worked on a baby quilt for our 1st great-grandchild due Dec. 12.  Friends Bob and Sharon went to Progresso, Mexico with 4 others to have dental work done so we let their dogs a couple of times.  Gary started washing the coach, a BIG job, we still had North Dakota dirt on it.  We went to Camper Clinic for new tire covers, Gary wanted black so we ordered a new set, will be in tomorrow.  I talked with 2 daughters, our son ( who is doing well after his surgery), my oldest sister and brother wishing me happy birthday.  We will be celebrating my birthday tomorrow with friends so we decided to go to Moondog's for dinner, Marihelen and David had a bad day, they had to have their little dog put to sleep today and were headed to Moondog's too, so the four of us rode together.  Moondog's is one of our favorite places, right on the water, we sat outside on the patio, what a lovely evening and hopefully we helped take their minds off their heartache.  

Friday, Nov. 4th,  After we finished washing the coach we ran down to Camper Clinic to pick up our new tire covers.  They were having a free BBQ, music, prizes and of course killer prices on new RV's.  The last time we went to a RV dealership for a free lunch it wasn't too free, we ended up with a new coach.  We enjoyed their lunch, grabbed our new tire covers and "beat it out of there!"   Happy hour at the clubhouse at 4, I made jalapeno poppers for appetizers, we had reservations at the Oyster House on the patio, right on the water to celebrate my birthday, there were about 13 of us.  David ordered oysters on the half shell, I got brave and tried one, then two, then we ordered another dozen then another.  Gail is hooked on them now too.  I think Gulf oysters are better then Northwest oysters.  (sorry NW folk.  The food was delish and the alcohol flowed freely.  The music started at 7:30 (good for the old folks), they sang happy birthday to me then played a nice "belly rubber" for us to dance to.  What a special evening, thanks to all of you for helping me celebrate #69.

Saturday, Nov.5th  Pretty quiet day, the weather is still in the mid 80s with high humidity so we took it easy.  Gail and RJ stopped by for an impromptu happy hour then we watched Oregon get beat very bad.  Woke at 3 am to the promised thunder and rain storm.

Sunday, Nov. 6th, Gary went to the Lexington, he had a fun day driving the courtesy cart most of the day - the ramp from the sidewalk to the hanger deck is pretty long and steep.  I took a bike ride around the park, dodging the puddles, after, I worked on the baby quilt, when Gary is gone I can spread my "stuff" all over the coach,  I'm slowly making progress.  When he got back,  Luci, Gary and I took a long walk around the park, spotting many Spoonbills, Great Egrets, Ibis and ducks.  Happy hour was at Bonnie and Jerry's,  their 39th anniversary, I went with Sharon and Gail, Gary was napping, RJ was working and Bob was practicing with the band he belongs to.

Monday, Nov. 7th,  Yikes!  Election Eve.  It rained pretty heavy again during the night, I skipped my bike ride and went to Snap for the first time since leaving Salem.  GROAN!  In the afternoon I had a doctor appointment, it's nice to be established with a doc here, Urgent Care (not so urgent) is miserable, a couple of years ago I had an ear infection necessitating a visit the day after Christmas, I waited about 5 hours, everyone around me was hacking, I wanted to pull my hood up and hunker down away from the germs. After my appointment we made a wild goose chase to Ingleside, about 15 or so miles, looking for a cabinet re-finisher.  We didn't call ahead,  they had moved out, now in North Carolina.  Let's just say Fleetwood didn't spend a lot of time or effort  finishing the cabinets, they are getting terribly chipped.  We ended up finding a cabinet maker close to Rockport, they will finish them for us if we strip them first.  Not sure where we'll do that, where there's a will there's a way!  On our way home we picked up some fresh caught Gulf Coast grouper  for dinner.  Yum.  We watched our Seahawks squeak out a win over Buffalo.  My friend Carol was at the game in Seattle with our former neighbors Brian and Susan.  We text'd  back and forth, almost made me feel like I was at the game.  I told Gary I really miss going to the Seahawks games, especially the Monday night games, but NOT as much as I love our life now. 

Tuesday, Oct. 8 Election Day! Double YIKES!!  Gary went to the Lex, driving through some very heavy rain.  About 8:30 I was walking Luci when I heard thunder, started sprinkling so we hurried back, good thing, the rain came down in torrents.  It rained several hours with flood warnings, is this a sign of things to come?  We went to bed early, didn't want to  watch the election returns.  Enough said, as usual we canceled out each others vote.

Enjoy the pic's,

TTFN

Gary and Pam

Galveston Island beach by our RV park, Pleasure Pier in background

Walked down to Pleasusre Pier

Luci enjoying the surf

Took walk on beach last night, Pleasure Pier

View from or table at Oyster House

Time to order

Happy hour

David and Gail after eating oysters

Birthday girl and Gary

Gail with RJ