Big Tree

This is the road to Big Tree - pretty live oak trees

This morning was mostly cloudy and 62F (17C) as I set out on my walk. Fortunately I had taken my sunglasses as the sun came out shortly after I set out. I again walked in the ‘Oaks’ part of the campground going farther this time so the walk took 45 minutes and might have been a bit too far as my lower back was complaining. I didn’t see much of interest this morning except the different ways the oak trees grow here, no deer, no herons but I did see a trail that I’d like to take but will have to bring binoculars with me.

Later in the morning we went to see Big Tree. It is more than 35 feet in circumference, 44 feet high and a crown spread of 89 feet and is supposed to be over 1000 years old. My camera couldn’t get the whole tree in a photo so I took a photo of its base as you will see below. Then we drove around some of the side roads in the area to see what we could see returning home for lunch.

I read this afternoon and had a long nap. It was cloudy outside so only sat out for a bit this morning. Just before sunset we went for a walk along the water and over to the boat dock where the pelicans were again gathered looking for handouts.

The Silence is Deafening

I slept a bit later again this morning. I had put the electric blanket back on the bed a couple of nights ago and it was just so warm and cozy that I didn’t want to get up even though I was awake. When I did get up, I realized it wasn’t as cold as I thought – 55F (13C) and partly sunny. I set out for my walk. It’s always interesting coming to a new place and walking around. There are two parts to this campground – the waterfront and the oaks. So I walked toward the oaks and on the way saw a great blue heron sitting in the top of a tree. It was pretty walking in the live oaks area. They are an interesting tree. Their branches are often as big as the original tree trunk and due to their weight often grow along the ground. On my way back, I saw two mule deer standing quite a distance off the road but as a truck went by they scampered away. There were quite a few egrets and some other birds that looked heron related but were too far away and my binoculars were in the truck. When I walk I have my phone, my camera and my radio so I don’t really want to add binoculars to the list but here I might make an exception!

I sat outside and read for about four hours today. The sun was warm but the breeze was cool so I had my afghan with me and that made it cozy. I even ate my lunch out there. I went for another walk this afternoon and found that they have a book exchange at the rec hall. Its only open a couple of days a week but I’ll have to check it out as I just finished another book.

There were guys cleaning their fish at the boat dock and a whole flock of pelicans were waiting for handouts. They really are moochers! Photo below.

This is the view from my lawnchair

This is the waterfront part of the campground

This is the live oak trees part of the campground

These are the mule deer that I saw on my morning walk

This tree reminded me of the divi divi trees that you see in Aruba

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. We got a new neighbour this afternoon and now their hind end faces our living room window but that’s the way it goes!

It really is quiet here at night, quite different from being in town.

Now at Goose Island State Park in Texas

This is me relaxing in our 'back yard'

This is the view from the front of the RV

The following two photos are our site. Behind us is Aransas Bay

We made the short trek from Port Aransas to Goose Island State Park via the ferry which was an interesting experience. There was a large diesel pusher (motorhome) as well so they put us on opposite sides of the wheelhouse for balance and managed to get 4 cars on as well behind us. It was definitely a shorter trip that way – 27.8 miles compared to 80.6 going through Corpus Christi. We got to Goose Island State Park a little before 11:00 a.m. and got booked into our site backing on Aransas Bay as we wanted. We’re lucky we got here when we did as the place is filled up now.

We got set up and then went for a bike ride along the bay and took some photos of the birds. There are the usual pelicans, some egrets, white ibis and sandpipers along with a blue heron or two.

I didn’t get my walk this morning as we wanted to get here early to be able to get a good spot. They won’t reserve a particular spot for you until you arrive but they were able to hold us one backing on the water, just not a particular site.

We’re here for two weeks and from here, who knows!

More Photos

I love palm trees!

Pelican trying to digest his catch

Tonight's sunset

Our Last Day in Port A

It was 48F (9C), sunny and windy for my last morning walk to Roberts Point Park, at least for this trip. There wasn’t much in the way of bird or mammal life around due to the windy conditions.

After breakfast and showers we took a drive toward Padre Island as their was a stand of palm trees that we wanted to photograph as it looked so much like an oasis (however since this isn’t a desert, I guess it’s not). It’s on private property so we had to photograph it from the road. We also went to the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center and even it was fairly quiet but had lots of ducks, 1 pelican, 1 great blue heron, some scavengers and quite a few black-necked stilts but no butterflies today. We could see a couple of roseate spoonbills in the distance but they never come close enough to get decent photos.

These are the black-necked stilts

Here's the oasis on Mustang Island

After we returned home, I sat outside in the sun where it was really nice even though it only reached 61F (16C) as the wind had died down from what it was this morning.

We thought about going on the dolphin/lighthouse cruise this evening but decided it was too cool. That will be something to do next time we’re here.

Just before sunset, we took a tour of our favourite places - The pier, the beach, the south jetty, one of the piers in town and Charlie's pasture for sunset photos. At one of the piers a fisherman was feeding fish to the pelicans. They were almost too big to get down but that didn't stop one of them from trying.

Oh and, Happy Birthday Elvis!

Not Much to Report

I slept a little later again this morning. One of those mornings again where I didn’t want to get out of bed. It was 53F (12C) and the skies were cloudy for my walk again to Roberts Point Park. There were a few birds about this morning and the little egret was in a different place. I also photographed a couple of cats that live and work in the boatyard on the fishing boats (see below). There are a few more. I saw about six of them on Christmas Day when no one else was around.

A pelican flew right over my head this morning

A little tern diving for his food

As I was crossing the road, a pickup truck pulled out of one of the deep sea fishing places with a man sitting on the tailgate and three huge fish in the bed of the truck. I’m not sure what they were but the three of them took up the pickup bed area and the tailgate was down. When I reached the Deep Sea Fishing building there was a lady there getting her fish (looked like the same kind) cleaned and cut up. Wish I had had the nerve to ask if I could take a photo of it but I didn’t ask.

While I’m eating breakfast I always take computer time so after that I settled down to read again. I’ve read a lot of books in the last few weeks. Luckily there is a pretty good exchange library here so I’ve taken advantage of it. I’ll miss it when we move to the State Park this week. I tried sitting outside for a while but although the sun had come out it was pretty chilly. This afternoon the temperature did reach 67F (19C) but with the breeze it felt cooler.

My older sister called this morning and we had a chat. They are going to be in Fort Myers for February and March. We’re hoping to find a spot in Fort Myers for the month of March so we can have a visit there.

I made Chicken Cacciatore this afternoon. We haven’t had that for a while and it will last for a couple of days as I made a fair bit.

Looking forward to the new season opener of Desperate Housewives tonight!

Lazy Saturday

Pretty sky and palm trees

Flower peeking through slatted fence

I did a walk around town this morning under cloudy, humid conditions and 65F (18C).

As the day progressed, it got cooler, our high was 67F (19C). We did have a little bit of sun this morning but it was fleeting.

I did a load of laundry this morning, did some reading and this afternoon made a trip to the local grocery.

Other than that, it was pretty boring.

Cancelled Plans and The Moochers!

I walked this morning in 59F (15C) weather with fog and mist to Roberts Point Park. There still weren’t a lot of birds around – saw 3 herons, a few pelicans flying around and a few dolphins doing their little dance in the channel but that was about it.

The sun came out late this morning. Since today was to be a nice day, our plan had been to go to Corpus Christi and take photos at sunset and go out for dinner. We had to dump tanks, shower etc. and by the time all that was done the fog had started to roll in so we decided not to go to Corpus Christi and instead drove to Roberts Point Park, the south jetty and the beach. By the time we got to the park the fog was gone again but we took some photos anyway and came home. Not a very exciting day but I did get to spend some time outside reading.

The temperature reached about 70F (21C) today but we’re supposed to be back into cloud and rain for tomorrow!

Saga of The Moochers

The two moochers wait as the fisherman catches a small fish

The successful moocher tries to swallow the fish

The successful moocher still attempting to swallow his fish

Still trying with the unsuccessful moocher close by

He's having a hard time - the unsuccessful moocher is still hanging around

Finally he swallows the fish - the unsuccessful moocher is not happy

Rain, Thunder, Wind and A Walk

We had lots of rain, wind and some thunderstorms overnight and it was still raining this morning so I stayed a bit longer in bed hoping it would stop. It didn’t and although it was 51F (11C) since it was pouring rain, no walk this morning.

By 2:00 p.m. the rain had gone and the sun was out so Gordon and I walked over to Roberts Point Park, me to do my walk and he to take photos. The little white egret was near the pier today. He’s never there when I walk in the morning but Gordon said he’s there earlier so I got a photo or two of him (or her).

It did reach 60F (21C) this afternoon but clouded over again later.

This it the egret at Roberts Point Park

This is a boat that belongs to someone in our RV park - note the name in Spanish -
in English it's Bullshit

Cloudy and Drizzly

I walked around the park this morning and then around some of the side streets. I counted 4 sites available out of the 14 from the other day. It was 59F (15C), cloudy and windy. As I walked through the park one of the gentlemen was walking his apricot standard poodle. What a beautiful dog! He came over and gave my hand a lick.

The high today was supposed to be 60F (16C) but at 9:25 a.m. it was 62F (17C) and I don’t think it got any higher than that.

Mid afternoon we did a grocery run to Walmart in Aransas Pass. We had to wait about 10 minutes to get a ferry. They were very busy today for some reason. It was a bit rainy with some fog over the water for our little trip there and back but not drenching rain, thank goodness. I bought a little fold up stool, hopefully it will help me to reach the top shelves in the kitchen cabinets. It’s such a pain dragging a dining room chair into the little space between the counter and the stove.

Gordon bought an Ohio State baseball cap at Walmart for $5.00. He was quite proud of himself (see picture below). For those of you that don’t know, Gordon’s daughter is a graduate of Ohio State but he’s always been somewhat interested in their football games.

An Uneventful Day!

I didn’t want to get up this morning but I know if I stay in bed I’ll have a headache that will last for the whole day so up I got, found out it was 51F (11C), got ready and walked to Robert’s Point Park. It was partly cloudy with a bit of wind and the walk was uneventful but the sky was pretty. Everyone has gone back to work today except for us retired folk! Even most of the birds were gone although I did see three herons hunkered down out of the wind.

After breakfast I got the laundry done. Luckily no one else was in the laundry room so I got the 3 washers and 3 dryers all to myself.

This afternoon I went out to the local grocery as we needed water and a few items and stopped in at one of the souvenir shops – mostly junk so didn’t buy anything there.

Our high today reached 60F (16C) but it was mostly cloudy especially this afternoon.

Another evening of TV. Sure will be glad when the new season starts!

Happy New Year's Day!

Today was bright and sunny again and 49F for my walk again to Roberts Point Park. The only thing I saw different this morning was a dolphin swimming in the marina area. They are usually out in the channel.

I stayed up last night to watch the ball drop in Times Square with Dick Clark. The good thing is that I only had to stay up till 11 p.m. to see it drop. I don’t think I would have made it to midnight! Poor Dick – he just doesn’t look or sound like himself anymore but you’ve got to give him credit for not just giving up!

Today we drove south to Padre Island making a couple of stops on the way, one of which was Nueces County Park. There were lots of shells on their beach and a reddish egret which seemed to be following this young couple around like a puppy dog. They said he had been following them for a while as they walked along the beach, when they headed for the road, so did he. We drove as far as the entrance booth to the Padre Island National Seashore but didn’t pay to go in as it’s just 55 miles of more beach and dunes and sea grasses.

This is the reddish egret that was following the young couple along the beach

Starfish washed up on the beach

This is the reddish egret again

When we got back, we got a new neighbour to the right of us. We haven’t had anyone there since one couple left two days before Christmas. The park is really filling up now. We counted 14 vacant spots on the weekend. I’ll have to go for a walk and count how many are left now.

Our high for today was 61F but it was very nice in the sun especially late this afternoon when I sat outside to call my sister and wish her a Happy New Year.

Our Year 2006 at a Glance!

New Year’s 2006 found us at Twenty-nine Palms, California. This whole area of California was enjoyed by both of us. We especially liked Joshua Tree National Park and saw one of our best sunsets there. On the 4^th we headed back to Catalina RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs as guests of members that we had met when we were there over Christmas. We really liked this part of California. Catalina RV Resort is a membership park meaning that you buy into it.

From there we headed to Yuma, Arizona. There are some amazing sand dunes around Yuma and lots of places for dry camping. The area around Yuma is mostly known for their truck gardens where a lot of our produce is grown. Other than the weather, there’s not much that’s interesting to us in Yuma. We also went to Lake Havasu and saw the old London Bridge then on to Quartzsite, AZ where we looked around the flea markets and the annual RV show. We stayed in Brenda at a really nice campground and only about 15 miles from Quartzsite. We then headed east and spent three weeks in Mesa, Arizona and had our best and warmest weather there. The park we stayed at was really nice and to make it better we had a coupon for a free week. There were people there from all over the U.S. and Canada. From there we went north to Camp Verde and used that as a base to see Sedona and the Grand Canyon, then south to Tucson then to Benson, AZ where we had a bit of snow!

From Arizona to Las Cruces, NM then on to Alamogordo where Gordon spent a lot of time photographing at White Sands National Monument. His photos of White Sands were Number One on his pbase.com site for eight days! From Alamogordo on to Albuquerque where we spent a week, then started heading home through the Texas panhandle where we stayed a couple of days in Amarillo, TX and discovered Palo Duro Canyon, a place where we want to spend some time.

We spent a few days in Branson, MO then on through Illinois and Indiana to Ohio where I ended up in the hospital overnight. I had been having breathing problems for a while so they checked me thoroughly, couldn’t find anything wrong with heart or lungs so determined it was related to my reflux disease. Increasing my medication cleared that up so we spent two weeks with Gordon’s family in Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus and enjoyed seeing our new granddaughter, Lillian for the first time. She had been born two weeks after we left for home the previous April.

From Ohio we headed back to Ontario, staying a while at Rideau Acres at Kingston and arriving back in Ottawa for our medical and dental appointments in mid May. We found out then that our nephew, Nicholas planned to marry his girlfriend, Becky on July 28^th so we stayed in the area for the wedding. In August headed to Lindsay to spend the month there and see Betty & Garth and spend some time with them. They had their usual cottage weekend and Nick and Becky were able to attend as well.

On a very sad note, we had to leave our much loved little poodle, Bib behind in Lindsay. He got very sick and we had to put him to sleep.

In September, we had to return to Ottawa as Gordon had another medical appointment so after that was over we headed to Quebec City and Montreal returning to Ottawa mid-October to get things finalized to again head south. We enjoyed seeing Quebec City and the surrounding area but weren’t particularly impressed with Montreal. It’s just another big city with too much traffic and too difficult to find what you want to see.

After leaving Ottawa we stayed at few days at Mallorytown KOA waiting for the weather to be nice enough to travel and crossed the border into the US on October 30^th. We made the 11 hour drive to Columbus, OH in one day and met our newest grandchild, Luke. That makes a total of five grandchildren to date. While there we had truck problems and wound up staying longer than planned. Everything was fixed under warranty.

Onward on our southern trek to the Texas Gulf Coast through Tennessee, Arkansas and into Texas. We spent a week in Austin but unfortunately neither of us felt well that week having picked up some kind of bug. On to San Antonio where we spent 10 days enjoying the weather and touring the San Antonio sites. Riverwalk and the Missions held most of our interest. Gordon also visited The Alamo. From there it was south to Mustang Island State Park. We had a lot of favourite places in our 2005/2006 winter trip – the Oregon coast, San Diego, Desert Hot Springs, Mesa, Sedona, White Sands, Albuquerque and of course, the Texas Gulf Coast – all for different reasons!

Since January 2006 to present (December 31^st) we have put 7,341 miles on the RV and many, many more on the truck.

This winter 2006/2007 we are traveling less miles but are enjoying the Texas Gulf Coast. We were here in the winter of 2004/2005 for a while and as it’s much less expensive and not nearly as busy as Florida we decided to spend some time here again.

We spent a month including Christmas and New Year’s at the Marina Beach RV Resort at Port Aransas, Texas and will leave here on January 9^th.

It appears we’ve both got some wanderlust in our veins as after a month in one place, we’re ready to move on to somewhere different.

Happy New Year!

It was 49F (9C) but sunny and bright for my walk to Roberts Point Park. There were a lot of fishermen around this morning being a long holiday weekend consequently not too many birds except for this heron that’s hanging around the fisherman.

It was 49F (9C) but sunny and bright for my walk to Roberts Point Park. There were a lot of fishermen around this morning being a long holiday weekend consequently not too many birds except for this heron that’s hanging around the fisherman.

This afternoon we went into Corpus Christi and Gordon dropped me of at a shopping mall and he headed to downtown Corpus Christi to take photos. As it turned out this mall didn’t have many stores that were still open but I still managed 1 ½ hours of shopping and bought a T-shirt, a pullover sweater, a blouse (all 50% off), a neck pillow and jogging pants. I also found a GNC there so stocked up on items needed.

Gordon had a good time taking photos and wants to go back. I also want to go back but to the mall that still has stores open!

Tonight is New Year’s Eve so have a Happy and Safe New Year! We’re not New Year’s people so will just have a regular night. I’ll probably stay up to watch the ball drop but since I didn’t sleep well last night, that may change!

We drove part way back to Port Aransas on the beach - about 6 miles total - lots of traffic and people on the beach today! The surf was lapping at our tires in some places!

This is how the 'other half' lives. This is the backyards of some of the local Port Aransas folk.

December Expenses

Campground Fees - $388.55

Groceries - $408.81

Laundry - $16.00

Entertainment - $.25

Snacks - $1.46

Eating Out - $61.62

Fuel for Truck - $155.73

Propane - $19.00

Repairs RV/Truck - $0.00

Misc - $223.43

Insurance - $151.04

Internet/TV - $189.06

Cell Phones - $88.42

Medical/Dental - $0.00

Gifts - $92.95

Total - $1796.32

A good month for expenses! I don’t think anything needs explaining except the .25 for Entertainment. This was actually for parking in Corpus Christi. Next month I’m changing some categories and amalgamating some others to make it easier.

Surf's Up!

If you look closely at the two photos at the top you will see a dolphin jumping in front of the ship (double-click on the photos). The two bottom photos are of the surfers at the beach this morning.

It was quite a bit cooler this morning – 56F (13C) , cloudy with a dark sky looking like rain so I set out to walk around town.

This morning we went out to see if we could find something worth photographing in the cloudy weather. We wound up going to the south jetty. A ship was just going by with more dolphins jumping in front of it. There were also surfers out en masse. Pretty good surfing waves today! After that we stopped for fuel, the first time since December 5^th then on to Roberts Point Park where Gordon photographed the herons. I was able to keep myself from taking more pictures of herons but probably just for today. Then as we were both hungry, we stopped at a little Mexican restaurant in a strip mall that’s very close to us called ‘Cancun’. There was a lot of food and it was pretty good. After that I decided I needed to walk so set out to take in three of the shops that are near the RV park. Didn’t buy anything. I had picked up some postcards but no one wanted to wait on me so I left them and left the store!

I had a long nap this afternoon and Gordon went out and took photos of a beautiful sunset. Check out his photos here.

Some Chores, Some Relaxing

This is part of the sign outside the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce -a lot of fishing goes on around here

This 'Old Salt' stands outside the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce building all decked out for the holidays
These photos were taken on Christmas Day.

The temperature was right this morning for walking – 67F (19C) but it was cloudy and as I was getting up I heard raindrops on the roof so decided just to walk around the park which I did for 20 minutes. I had just come inside when a squall hit. It was a brief squall but I would have gotten wet if I hadn’t been very close to our RV.

The plan for today had been to drive into Corpus Christi so I could go mall shopping and Gordon could go downtown and take photos, however since the weather forecast is for rain, thunderstorms and the possibility of hail, we elected to wait until another day. Those conditions don’t make for very good photos.

Since we were staying home, I defrosted the refrigerator, a job which I keep putting off. It only takes about an hour. I’m not sure why I put it off. I think I feel like I’m constantly on vacation so why should I do any housework? That being said, I wiped down all the wood in the kitchen, dining room and living room with some pledge wipes that I bought at Dollar Tree the other day. Still have the bathroom and bedroom to do.

The rest of the day I spent reading and napping and doing word puzzles. Not the most exciting of days!

We went out for sunset to take photos at Charlie's Pasture which is just a short drive from the RV park. There was also a ship going by and the dolphins were jumping in front of the ship as usual. Does anyone know why dolphins do this?

The temperature did reach 76F (24C). We had showers and then some sun, then some cloud and so on for the day. Luckily no thunderstorms or hail at least as of this posting.

Kamikaze Pelicans

This morning was 65F (18C) and partly cloudy for my walk to Roberts Point Park. Just as I got there I saw a couple of fishermen and a whole flock of pelicans, maybe 30 or 40 and they were doing kamikaze dives into the water for fish. It was really cute to watch them.


After lunch I headed over to the local IGA to pick up a few items. When I got back Gordon and I went for a walk to Roberts Point Park. We saw a couple of cormorants and a couple of dolphins in the channel but there were a lot of people fishing so not that many birds. When we came home, I sat outside again for a while. The temperature reached 75F (24C) but it was partly cloudy this afternoon.

Not A Cloud in the Sky

Today was another beautiful sunny, bright day with no wind. It was only 49F (9C) when I set out for my walk but with the sun it felt much warmer. By the time I got back, the temperature had risen to 55F (13C). When I left the RV the air that kind of fishy, salty smell, just like the islands.

I sat outside for five hours today reading and doing word puzzles. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature reached 70F (21C). Luckily they have a pretty good exchange library here at the campground so I picked up five more books to read.

Nothing planned for tonight other than TV.

I took a photo of this Christmas decoration in honour of my friend, Mike who has always liked Garfield

This ship is called the "Texas Treasure"-it's a floating casino and it's home base is across Redfish Bay from where we are located

Pretty hibiscus flower on the grounds of the Fins restaurant

A Bright Sunny Day!

We went out last night to look at the Christmas lights. There were a few around but not nearly as many as there usually are at home in the Ottawa/Kanata area. We got back too late to go for a walk with Diane.

It was only 46F (8C) when I started out for my walk this morning but it was bright and sunny with no wind so it was quite warm. I had dressed for it to be much colder. The park and marina were much busier this morning but I still saw six herons on my walk and two of them were having a fight, pictured below.

It was such a beautiful sunny day I sat outside a couple of times during the day but needed an extra sweater. It’s about 10 degrees cooler than I would like and we topped out at 62F (17C). This afternoon we took a drive back to Mustang Island State Park so I could walk on the beach. I really like it there, too bad the showers are so grungy.

Christmas Day 2006

This is our table at the potluck. You can just see Gordon's forehead down at the end on the right.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I woke up to 49F (9C) and cloudy weather. I headed over to Roberts Point Park for my walk. There was no one around, consequently lots of birds. I counted 12 blue heron and numerous cormorants, pelicans and seagulls. I even saw a couple of turkey vultures. There were all kinds of dolphins doing their little dance in the channel. Quite a treat for my Christmas morning walk!

Our potluck went well but it didn’t have all that much that Gordon could eat. By the time we got up to eat (our row was last) all the mashed potatoes were gone but he said he got enough although this was not his favourite potluck that we’ve had since we started RVing.

Tonight I called my sister’s house in Ottawa as that was where the family was gathered for Christmas. I got to talk to Nick and then went on speaker phone and talked to everyone else. There’s no snow in Ottawa for Christmas which is a bummer for some people.

The plan for the rest of the evening is to take a drive around Port Aransas and see the Christmas lights, then probably watch TV. If it’s not too windy, I might go for a walk with the lady that I met from Madoc, Ontario.

Merry Christmas!

The gale force winds and heavy rains continued through the night. It was still windy this morning but not as bad as during the night. I walked around the neighbourhood and in the park and there were lots of TV dishes and Christmas trees that had been blown over. Apparently ours went out of skew but didn’t blow over. It was only 49F (9C) this morning and I got up a little later than usual mostly because the wind and rain kept me awake during the night. There were all kinds of things going bump in the night!

Dumping the tanks was an ordeal. The sewer connection is at the very back of the rig and our sewage outlet is near the front. Even with our two sewer hoses together it was almost a stretch to reach the connection. Don’t know why they don’t put the sewer half way up, that way it would be easy for those whose connections are at the back or at the front. DUH!

I made Sweet & Sour Beans this afternoon from a recipe I got from a fellow fulltimer at rvdreams.com. This will be our contribution to tomorrow’s Christmas potluck. It’s very similar to my Calico Beans so I’m anxious to see how it tastes.

I think our high today was about 54F (12C). It was cloudy all day with some rain but the wind did subside around noon.

Merry Christmas to everyone!