Foggy and Warmer

Well, it is getting warmer 49F (9C) but it was pouring rain when I got up this morning so again, no walk.

Just before noon the rain stopped but there was quite a bit of fog so I set off on my walk. There was a snowy egret on the boat dock and I got very close to him to snap a few photos. On to the rec centre and there was a male and female cardinal on the lawn but I couldn’t get very close to them before they took off on me. I had too many clothes on for my walk today. It almost felt warm! I actually turned the electric heater off when I got back as it was 70F (21C) inside. The last 6 days it’s been 65F (18C) at the highest and that’s inside!

Top left: male and female cardinal;
Top right: we think a mockingbird;
Bottom left and right: snowy egret;

This afternoon we went to the office to see if we could stay here longer. We booked an extra day, then the bayfront is booked up for 2 days. After that we could come back. So our options are to move to the wooded area or go out of the park – decisions, decisions!

After that we drove along the St. Charles Bay waterfront which is outside of the park and saw a lot of turkey vultures, coots and some ducks. We drove over to Bahia Vista RV Park but decided the roads were too narrow and too many trees so came back and drove around the wooded area. We could see the satellites from some spots so we’ll have to decide what to do before Thursday. We can always go down the road to Ancient Oaks. He had lots of room and then come back.

Our high today was 58F (14C). At least the temperature is going in the right direction!

There is a bird club here at the park that meets mostly every morning (weather permitting) at 8:00 a.m. at the fishing pier. Tonight the hosts for January gave a bird identification slide show at the rec hall which we attended. For anyone who doesn’t know, my father was a naturalist and birds were one of his hobbies. Unfortunately I don’t take after him but as I’ve grown older, I do enjoy watching the birds and learning what they are. The slide show was very well attended and we had a good time.

Just Veggin' Out

It was 42F, rainy and windy when I got up so no walk. Instead I sat in my recliner and did some internet surfing – not exactly the exercise that I enjoy in the morning but it’s something I do every morning when I return from my walk.

The rest of the day was spent watching TV, having a nap and reading. I didn’t go outside all day. Oh, and I made a Chicken in a Crockpot recipe for dinner that was quite good.

Gordon went into town to take twilight shots but I stayed behind to watch Ghost Whisperer and keep the heater running.

No photos today.

In the Pink!

Wow! A Roseate Spoonbill!!!!!

It was 38F (3C), cloudy and drizzly when I set out this morning but I was determined! As I was crossing the bridge by the boat dock I looked into the marsh at the viewing area and lo and behold – A Roseate Spoonbill! This is the first closeup I’ve seen on our trip although Port Aransas claims to be the Roseate Spoonbill capital. We did see some from afar but nothing that either of our cameras would reach. I called Gordon (lucky I took my phone) and he ran down and got some really good photos. They are a really pretty and interesting looking bird. See his photos at Gordon’s latest photos.

Just before lunch I decided to go into Rockport by myself. I haven’t done it before as I have a fear of crossing bridges and to get to Rockport there is a fairly lengthy causeway and a bridge that separates Aransas Bay from Copano Bay. So I decided to suck it up and go and as usual with phobias, it wasn’t as bad as expected. Traffic was light. I did some shopping and had my Asian salad at McDonald’s for lunch, picked up some groceries and got home around 4:00 p.m.

Did I happen to mention we saw a Roseate Spoonbill today?

Still Cold But Not as Nasty!

I stayed in bed until 9:00 a.m. today as it was warm and cozy. When I got up it was 32F (0C) and cloudy but very little wind so I walked over to the wooded area of the campground. On my way back I saw a roseate spoonbill flying overhead, very evident by its pink wings. Two egrets were also flying over and I saw a couple of herons at the viewing area so hopefully the birds are coming back. We had some snow or sneet (as I like to call it) last night. Not nice! It’s supposed to be at least warm here but is very much below the normal temperature for the area for this time of year.

This afternoon we went into Rockport to do the laundry. It was way past due. The closest laundry is not wonderful. A lot of the washers and dryers were out of order and some of the washers tops were so rusty they came right off the machine but I persevered and got it done. We looked around at a couple of other campgrounds but didn’t see anything that would suit us.

The high today was only 39F (4C) but it’s supposed to get warmer from now on.

Photo today was taken of the water drops on the plants.

Cold - but no freezing rain - YET!

This morning was 34F (1C), cloudy and windy but at least it wasn’t raining so I set out for a walk. I didn’t walk as far as usual as the forecast was for sleet to start around 8:00 a.m. so I was only gone about 20 minutes. I saw some white birds in the distance in the viewing area across from our boat ramp. Gordon came along in the truck and he was able to distinguish that some were egrets and some were white ibis as he had the ‘big tool’ on his camera. Not much was happening. There was one boat out, I can’t imagine how cold it must have been on the water that early in the morning.

Gordon went out and got propane this morning as we had run out on one tank last night and while he was gone I did a vacuum job. Other than that we lazed around today.

We are due to leave Goose Island State Park on January 24^th. Over the next 15 days the weather will be quite cool only reaching the 60s for the highs while it is in the high 70s and low 80s in Florida so do we leave early for Florida where it’s more expensive but definitely warmer or stay here? That we’ll have to decide over the next week. We’ll want to be sure that the route along I-10 through Louisiana will be okay for travel. Right now it is icy!

Our high today was 37F (3C). I don’t like this weather!!!!

Nasty Weather Day!

Fog over Aransas Bay taken from our rear window this morning

We had some wind gusts overnight that buffeted our home about and this morning was nasty – windy, rainy and 40F (4C). I went for a short walk but it wasn’t pleasant at all. Besides the rain there are big mud puddles around and where there’s not puddles, there’s mud. I thought considering most of the area is oyster shells it wouldn’t be that bad, think again!

I forgot to mention we finally got the bugs washed off the front of Big Harv yesterday. We’ve been really lazy. It took all of about 45 minutes to get it done. We didn’t wash the rest of it to get the black streaks off as we knew it would be rainy for the next few days so we’ll get to that another time. It’s just difficult to find an RV park that will allow washing of your RV so I wanted to get it done here before we move elsewhere.

Today was a nasty, cold day. The rain stopped earlier this morning but the wind kept up and our high today was 40F (4C) this morning. By 4:10 p.m. it was down to 35F (2C).

We stayed inside all day and tried to keep warm. I read, napped and made some stew for dinner and tonight watched TV.

Our Last Day Before "The Big Freeze"

Boat Ramp at Goose Island State Park

Monarch Butterfly

View from my lawnchair

It was 56F (13C) this morning but quite foggy as I set out for my walk along the bayfront. Gordon had gone out earlier and I thought he might be at the fishing pier. When I was about half way to the pier it started to mist and as I got close to the pier and saw the truck wasn’t there I turned around and came home as it was a heavier mist by then. Gordon came home about ½ hour later and said he had been over along the highway. There’s an old highway that they use for fishing that runs across Copano Bay and he was taking photos there in the fog.

I sat outside for a while as today is going to be the last warm day for the foreseeable future. As I hadn’t completed my walk this morning due to the rain, I went for another walk this afternoon.

The low for tomorrow night is supposed to be 31F (-0.5C) with a windchill of 16F (-0.9C). Not what we signed on for! They are also forecasting freezing rain for Tuesday! YUK!!!!!

Today we drove into Rockport and drove around looking for birds but I guess they all know that it’s getting cold and they were holed up somewhere and not in their usual spots. The owner of the other Titanium in the park dropped by and introduced himself.

The plan for tonight is to watch Desperate Housewives!