Rockport & Galveston, Texas - Baton Rouge, La. March 5 - April 11

We are on the road again, we left the 2nd of April for our lopsided loop back to Rockport for our 5th winter there.  Our blogs "should" become more regular during our travels.  I'll try to be brief to catch you up on our "happenings" this last 6 weeks.  

I'll start off bragging, Dick and Fran and Gary and I won the trivia contests at Bay View both times!  Wahoo!  There is talk about splitting us up next year.  NO Way!

David, Marihelen, Dick, Fran, Lynda, Bob, Sharon, RJ, Gail and Gary and I carpooled to Goliad, about an hour from Rockport, for a day of sightseeing in the historic city of Goliad.  We took Luci and Kelsea, David and Marihelen's dog to Salty Paws Doggie day care so we wouldn't have to worry about them.  They are great "buds" and had a lot of fun.  We have been to Goliad several times, I won't go into the history again.  We visited the Fallin Massacre Monument, The Presidio and walked through the historic district downtown.  We had lunch at The Hanging Tree Restaurant,  a bit of an adventure, they seemed to be out of most everything on the menu, it was almost "I'll have whatever you still have in the kitchen", the food was good but not necessarily what we wanted.  The restaurant, right across from the Courthouse, in the 1800's had a hanging judge, when convicted of a capital crime were immediately taken to the hanging tree and hanged.  No stays of execution in those days.  

Every Thursday we have a sewing day at the Adult Clubhouse, this winter I finished Lyla's baby quilt (the most beautiful baby girl ever) and a king size quilt for our bed.  It is brightly colored to jazz up the brown interior of the coach.  This year there were only 4 of us who regularly showed up from 9-3.

We took the kayak out only twice this winter, it seems the gorgeous weather days we were been busy.  We launched at Paradise Key, a busy marina and restaurant next to a wildlife area. A kayak fisherman told us where to go to see the nesting birds but the only ones we saw flew away as we approached.  We paddled across the bay, we  happened upon a Reddish Heron,he stayed in one spot as we paddled near him "shooting", with the camera of course.  Beautiful birds.

Dick and Fran, our neighbors across the street, hosted a fish fry.  David, who is from north Texas has a boat, furnished most of the fish.  The rest of the meal was, of course, pot luck.  The guys fried, grilled and bbq'd. Delish!!!

The 24th we had a good bye party for the Winter Texans at the Family Clubhouse preceding Bo Rivers, our favorite entertainer.  Sharon, our activities director (and friend) does a wonderful job of coming up with fun activities and entertainers.  Bo does a nice job of mixing country and oldies that all the "old coots" can dance to.

After many months of stressing we finally got our new washer delivered and it works!  Very long story but we have been going to the laundromat since the end of November.  Many, many thanks to the guys who did the heavy lifting, especially RJ who was there everytime.  The washer is filled with concrete to keep the machine balanced as it spins, it had to go up the stairs and over my chair.  

Our last Friday at Bay View, Sharon organized a pool party  at the Adult Clubhouse with burgers and hot dogs..  We had a floating poker table complete with plastic cards and chips, beach balls, squirt guns, nothing brings the "kid" out of the old farts like a good squirt gun fight.  I (of course) won the hula hoop contest.

We washed the coach and car getting set for our trip to Galveston.  We have gotten out of the habit of packing and purchased a few new things, it was a bit tricky getting everything put back in the basement.  

Our last day in Rockport I made a decision to cut my hair short, after a winter of frizz I couldn't take it any longer. Big step, I've worn my hair this length for about 20 years. Since it was our last night at BayView we hosted happy hour at our place.  The usual suspects came, lots of yummy app's to snack on and good conversation along with adult beverages.  Will miss our friends while we're on the road, some of them are heading back home, a few stay there year around and some (like us) travel.  

Sunday, April 2,  Moving day, 193 miles to Galveston.  About 30 miles out the skies opened up and poured.  There went the clean car and coach.  We arrived at Sandpiper RV Resort about 3:30, we stayed there last October, what a great park right next to the beach.  Gary talked me into dinner at Yamato's Sushi, we ate there our last night before Rockport in October.  We will be here 5 nights, Luci loves it here and we all know she rules our life.  As we came into Galveston we noticed large pipes on the beach for several miles that ended a short way from the Sandpiper.  We found out they are dredging the ship channel then somehow draining the sand through the pipes and out into the gulf.  Whether that is true or not I don't know, I question that because the ship channel is East of our park.  They were in the process of removing the pipe while we were there.

Monday, April 3, Today is my big brother's 76th birthday.  Happy birthday Punch!  I hope Eliana took you out to a great place in Honolulu. Took it easy today, did laundry and walked 4 miles on the beach.  

Tuesday, April 4. Happy birthday to our daughter-in-law  Barbara.  We started the day walking on the beach.  Since we've seen most of Galveston on our previous visits we get to enjoy ore of the beach and park amenities.  Our trip to Magic Carpet Mini Golf was fun - I'm in a real "slump" Gary beat me by 9 strokes.  It's just a game, right?  We had lunch at Nick's Beach Bar and Grill, pretty tasty!  Another evening walk on the beach after dinner.  Very laid back day.

Wednesday, April 5.  As promised a "cool" (not cold) front blew in, blue skies but winds about 25 MPH all day.  We did do our morning and evening beach walks, we drove up to Texas City (near NASA) looking for a new bike rack, we did find one for $300. Guess we can wait until we get to Baton Rouge.  

Thursday, April 6,  Happy birthday Brayden and Jessalynne, 12 already!  Lots of birthdays in our family this week.  Truly a Chamber of Commerce Day, sunny with a slight breeze with temps in the high 70's.  After the morning beach walk we washed the coach, in the afternoon we rode our bikes down Seawall Blvd. past the Pleasure Pier, I wanted to pick up a souvenir T-shirt and to check out Blvd. Seafood, the restaurant where we planned to have dinner.  We "prettied" up, went to Hotel Galvez a historic hotel, for happy hour before dinner at Blvd. Seafood.  Yum, yum, yum.

Friday, April 7, We left for our 198 drive to Baton Rouge , La. shortly after 9.  Louisiana has rough roads, especially through the Atchafalya basin, the largest wetland and swamp in the United States,  with probably 20 miles of elevated Interstate.  About 30 miles from our RV park in Livingston, traffic came to a halt, it took us 2 hours to get to Lakeside RV park, including the bridge over the Mississippi.  I'm not too keen on looking over the guard rails straight down to the water.  We'll be at Lakeside RV for at least 5 days, we have an appointment Monday morning to have back tires checked.  We picked up dinner at Wayne's BBQ, choosing to eat in the coach, the place was a bit "seedy" but  tasty and enough for 2 meals each.  Luci is missing the beach. 

Saturday, April 8, We took Luci to doggie day care, drove 20 miles into Baton Rouge to take in the sights.  Another traffic jam, this time downtown, a walk/run was stopping traffic.  We parked about 8 blocks away from the river, it would take us less time to walk than drive, with the event going on.  Our first stop was the USS Kidd, a WWII era destroyer located on the river. (of course)  She was launched in 1943, seeing action on Wake Island ,Rabaul, Gilbert, Marshall, Guam and Philippines.  A kamikazi attack in April 1945 killed 28 crewmen.  She was decommissioned in 1964 and brought to Baton Rouge in 1982.  After a quick lunch we went to the state capitol building, the tallest in the US, 34 stories located on beautiful park grounds, the magnolia trees were just finishing their bloom.  We took the elevator to the 27th observation deck for a 360 degree view of the Baton Rouge area, very, very flat.  

Sunday, April 9,  We took Luci to doggie day care again.  Our first stop was the Bass Pro Shop, not as fancy as the one in Memphis, Gary got a new UPV shirt and we walked around looking at all the huntin' and fishin' stuff and dreamed about buying a boat.  We had lunch at their restaurant, Fish Co. we ate at the bar facing a large aquarium of salt water fish.  After a delicious lunch we drove to Brec's Magnolia Mound Plantation in Baton Rouge.  The original 4 room house with a wraparound porch was built in 1791, surrounded by 950 acres of cotton, sugar cane, indigo and tobacco.  The house was enlarged by subsequent owners to 8 rooms, the several outbuildings include the overseers cottage, slave quarters, outdoor kitchen, 3 hole privy and pigeoneer, showing how the operations of the plantation were supported.  In 1966 the city of Baton Rouge purchased the house and 16 acres, they spent time and money renovating it back to the 1800's, the home was occupied by families until 1960.  The furniture inside is not original to the home but are time pieces valued at over a million dollars.  Our tour guide was excellent, wish I could remember everything she said.

Monday, April 10, Bright and early we took the coach to GM Vardo and Sons for the tire check, the back tires are wearing funny, there are less than 5,000 miles on them.  Good news, (for a change) no axle problems. only took an hour and $150.  We are back in Costco land - we took our $335 rebate credit and did a little shopping.

Tuesday, April 11. Our last day in Baton Rouge area.  We left Luci in the coach for our trip to Bluebonnett Swamp and Nature Center, a 65 acre cypress swamp smack in the middle of BR.  The visitor center have many live animal exhibits including a small alligator and way TOO many snakes.  One of the employees was walking around with a snake around his neck.  Ick!  We took the Outer Walk through the swamp, saw only squirrels, a few birds, lizards and many turtles.  A nice walk through the swamp on boardwalks.  A great value, only  $2.50 for seniors.  We had lunch at Roux 61 before heading back to the RV park.

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

TTFN

Gary and Pam

R to L Lynda, Gail, Fran, Dick, Marihelen, David, Gary & me at Fallin Massacre Monument

Texas State Flower Blue Bonnet

The Presidio Goliad

Lunch at Hanging Tree Restaurant

Goliad County Courthouse

Dick and Fran in front of their new 5th Wheel

Reddish Heron Paradise Key

Boat coming into Paradise Key

Pelicans waiting for some good stuff at fish cleaning station

Turtle laying eggs next to our site

Fish fry

Nothing I like better than watching guys cook

The new quilt

Marty at good bye party

More pic's of good bye party

Bo Rivers entertaining at party

Pool party

Our site at Sandpiper RV Galveston

Luci having a good time at beach

Cruise ship leaving shipping channel Galveston

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