A Visitor Flies In

This morning nothing much happened other than the usual. It was bright and sunny with no wind at all and it did warm up to 66F (19C).

Gordon's pbase.com photographer friend called last night and decided to fly down instead of driving so Gordon drove to the Calhoun County Airport for 1:00 p.m. to meet him and John took him up and flew him around the area. I stayed at home and wrote some Christmas cards and read a bit. I did hear the plane so went outside but it was too far up for my camera. Then Gordon brought John back to the RV to talk about RVing. He and his wife have been out in his father-in-law's RV so it's not that they know nothing about it.

We took him back to the airport around 4:30 p.m. Luckily he is rated for flying with gauges as it's going to be dark before he gets back to Houston.

Here's the plane

And here are John and Gordon


On our way back home we took the scenic route. I took a photo of this house with the palm shadow on it

and this beach house
That's our day!

Work, Work, Work!

It was cold and cloudy today but not as windy. I went out for my exercise, had breakfast and then it was time to get busy.

A fellow photographer that Gordon knows through his pbase.com site is coming tomorrow as he's interested in the RVing lifestyle so he's coming down from Houston to talk to us about it. So today was clean up day. I wanted to change the bed and do some laundry so I started that. I told Gordon I needed the bathroom sink fixed. It's very slow draining, the towel ring was coming apart and there were a bunch of light bulbs that needed to be replaced.

While I was out doing a load of laundry, he took the trap under the sink apart and all kinds of yucky stuff came out so he used my clean bathroom towel that I had just put up to mop it up. When I got back and found the towel, I realized I'd have to wash it right away or it wouldn't come clean so away I went to do another load of laundry. The good news is my sink drains well again, my towel ring is fixed and we have light!

After lunch I vacuumed, washed floors, dusted and cleaned up a bunch of niggly little things that I've been neglecting. While I was doing that Gordon went out to take photos at Indianola to get out of my way. In small spaces it's easier to clean when no one's around.

Guess it takes company to get some stuff done!

Then I sat down to read my Debbie Macomber book that I started this week and wound up finishing it.

Don't knkow why but my allergies have really been bothering me today. My eyes are dry, sore and blurry and it's really annoying!

I was going to borrow a photo from Gordon today since I didn't get out with my camera but blogspot isn't letting me upload photos so I'll save it for another time.

Road Trip to Victoria, TX

Boy, was it windy this morning and coming from the north so you know what that means! Canada is sick of all their cold weather so they're sharing it with us. That's not what I came to Texas for! The good news is that it's supposed to be back to warmer temperatures on Saturday. I braved the winds and cold in my Nanook of the North duds for my morning walk and exercise.

Today was the day we planned to go to Victoria, TX. I packed a lunch so we wouldn't have to eat out but we didn't get on the road till just before lunch. On arrival in Victoria we drove downtown and took some photos there then set Miss Pinky to go to the local HEB, a health food store that had gluten free stuff and Gordon also wanted a Sibley's Bird Guide so we went to a bookstore. The whole reason for going or most of it anyway was to go to GNC and I almost forgot to go. DUH! Sometimes I wonder about myself. Anyway, we had to retrace our steps as it was in the mall that we had just come from then on to Walmart to get water and finally, home!

Here's the courthouse in Victoria from 1892, a very interesting building

Here are some photos from downtown Victoria



On our way out of the area we saw this ship in Matagorda Bay and also this armadillo along the road. He was buried in the grass and when he heard us coming he scooted into the trees so this was the best photo I could get.


Also here's a photo of the interesting sky that I took on the way to Victoria


We only reached 59F (15C) today but it was nice and sunny. The wind died down a lot during the day.

A Very Windy Wednesday and Dinner!

It was warm and breezy overnight and although warm today it was very windy. We had a few drops of rain this morning but that quickly cleared away. It was already 69F (21C) at 8 a.m. and it warmed up to 77F (25C) but a cold front is coming in tonight again.

After my walk/run and breakfast, Gordon took the truck into Port Lavaca to get the oil changed and I sat outside in my lawnchair and finished my book 'Corruption of Blood' by John Tannenbaum. It was okay. It's about finding out who killed John F. Kennedy and presents the facts in a different light from the Warren Report apparently. Not really having concentrated much on the Warren Report, other than, Oswald did it, I don't know much about it but it was different from things I usually read and true or not, it did provide a different angle on things.


I was just getting dinner ready when the owner of the campground (AKA Grandpa) knocked on the door and said they were having a fish fry tonight and would cook it in cornmeal and buttermilk if we wanted to come. This is the 4th invitation we've had for dinner so we decided we'd better go. They really do go to a lot of trouble to be sure that Gordon can eat it. Gordon's not big on fish but I love it and never have it. We had a delicious meal of fish, shrimp, french fries, roast potatoes, cauliflower, deviled eggs and chocolate cake! Now I'm stuffed!

Today's photo is of Powderhorn Lake in front of our RV with the rain coming in (top left) and our site with the truck gone (bottom right).

Flu Shot, Propane and A Trip to Seadrift

I was up a little earlier today as we had to get ready to go into Port Lavaca for our flu shots. I still did my exercises just moved a little faster than usual this morning.

Luckily I called the doctor's office where we planned to go. The flu shots didn't come in. Sure glad I called otherwise it would have been mostly a wasted trip. I called another doctor's office and they referred me to the the County Health Department. We were told to come ahead in.

We still hadn't gotten propane so Gordon packed up the propane tank and we took that in too. First we went to get our flu shots. They were only $20/each at the Health Unit. Then we found the propane place finally and it was open! That taken care of I thought we were going home but no, Gordon wanted to go to a little town on San Antonio Bay called Seadrift. Just across the Bay is Austwell, TX which is where the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is located, home of the whooping cranes. Unfortunately we didn't see any whooping cranes but did see lots of pelicans!

Palms along San Antonio Bay at Seadrift, TX

If you look closely you can see the pelicans sitting on the poles in the forefront


This pelican was sitting at the very top of this boat's rigging

Harbor scene at Seadrift

This egret looked like it was the captain of the boat

Houses near the waterfront


We then headed for the RV but stopped for Gordon to take a few photos along the way. There's another birding spot quite close to us so we drove down that road and saw quite a few ibis, heron, and egrets although they were far away.

Road through the bird sanctuary


The area where the campground is located is called Powderhorn



It was very windy today but I sat outside for a while and managed not to blow away. It was 75F (24C) and sunny though. I came in to read after a while and guess what - had a nap!

When I woke up I got the meat packaged up and put in the freezer that I bought yesterday, also cleaned the strawberries and brussel sprouts so we're ready to eat again!

November Expenses and Shopping in Port Lavaca

This morning was cloudy and 50F (10C) at 8 a.m. and not as much wind as yesterday. I took off for my morning walk/run and exercise.

Here are our expenses for November in both U.S. and Canadian dollars. Anything paid in U.S. dollars I calculated in Canadian dollars at the exchange for that date and vice versa so you can see that the Canadian dollar is no longer at par! Our largest expense this month was truck fuel but considering we drove from Ontario to Texas, I don't think the amount is too bad. I'm hoping for better results for December though!

Pyro came to visit a couple of times today.



Late this morning I went in to Port Lavaca to get groceries and look around. I also stopped at a doctor's office and was told if we come in tomorrow morning we could get flu shots - $25 each. On the way in I went to the post office, then stopped at McDonalds for lunch. They no longer have Asian salads so I got a southwest salad I picked up some stuff at Ace Hardware that I've been looking for, stopped at Payless and Bealls but didn't see anything I couldn't live without. I went to HEB and got some groceries, then on to Walmart for more stuff. I also got a new pair of sneakers at Walmart as my old ones are starting to hurt my back. I can always tell when the heels are worn out by how my back feels. Hope the Dr. Scholls that I got work ok.

When I got back Gordon wanted to go for a drive over by the marshes and in to Indianola for sunset so we piled in the truck. Here are a couple of photos.



I also made a pizza for Gordon for his dinner and since I had eaten out for lunch I had a sandwich, some avocado, celery and grapes.

We did reach 68F (20C) today and the sun came out this afternoon so it turned out to be a nice day after all.

Sunday at Powderhorn RV Park & Marina

A cold front blew in last night so when I got up it was 46F (8C) and it was still windy so I bundled up for my morning exercise.

Today's plan was laundry. There's only two washers and two dryers here and you pay on the honor system. It's $1.00 to wash and $1.00 to dry and you put your money in the lock box or pay in the office. I've seen one other campground that does it this way and it's also in Texas. However when there's only 2 machines and 3 loads of laundry, it takes a while to get it done, so about 2 1/2 hours later I was back at the RV. Of course I had to wait for someone to get theirs done so I did some sitting around when I first arrived there. I'm in no hurry, I'm retired!

A pretty hibiscus


A lone orange on the tree


This afternoon I read and had a nap.

We both went out to the pier to take photos of the sunset.







They put up the Christmas tree and decorated the rec hall