A Day Spent at the RV

It was already 62F (17C) when I got up at about 8:20 a.m. It was cloudy with sunny periods all day but very windy again.

I sat outside on the deck for a while this morning but it was too windy so I moved my chair behind the RV and read there for a while.

This afternoon I moved inside to the couch and read but wound up napping for most of the afternoon so not a very exciting day, I'm afraid!

We did walk down to the pier for sunset, here's proof!

This snowy egret was doing some hunting for food in the wind.


Not a beautiful sunset, but not bad!

To Port Lavaca

Today turned into a beautiful clear, sunny day with a high of about 68F (20C). I did all my usual morning stuff and spent quite a bit of time playing Majhong. Sure glad I found that game on my computer!

We had an early lunch and then went into Port Lavaca. On the way we took some bird pictures. We also stopped at Chocolate Bayou Park. I've been noticing this park as we've driven in to town but never saw the entrance so today we found it and drove through. There were a lot of geese and ducks around.

A flock of sandhill cranes


The ducks and geese at Chocolate Bayou Park


One of the main reasons for going in to town today was that we needed to fuel up which we did at Walmart at 2.15.9, the best price we've seen this winter for sure! We stopped at Ace Hardware and found our fluorescent bulbs for the RV at $3.89 each. They only had one but they're ordering more in for us and we can pick them up next week. That's a pretty good price. Walmart wanted $6.89. We also looked at new towel rings as ours is coming apart.

The on to Walmart where we got the aforementioned fuel and I went in to pick up what I needed. We both looked at appliance bulbs but we're going to check Ace's price on them before we buy one and also at towel rings. We got a cheap one there so we'll see how it works out. Gordon went and sat in Subway and had a coffee while I shopped then I picked him up there and we came home, stopping along the way again for more bird pictures.

A flurry of snow geese



Here is one of the necklaces that I made the other day with the center bead wrapped.


Not much new going on but it's nice to see the warm weather back again!

A Day at Home and a Late Afternoon Drive

It was so cosy under my electric blanket this morning that I had to drag myself out of bed at about 8:30 a.m. However, the sun was shining brightly and it was 38F (3C). Since it was sunny, I didn't have to put on as many clothes but still a bit windy. It sure is nice to see the bright sun. I had a nice walk, did my stretches down by the water all the time under watch of a great egret that was hiding down by the shoreline out of the wind. On my way back to the RV, I met Storm, one of the campground cats who was looking for some attention.

After breakfast I looked out the window and saw Pyro sitting in the sun on top of the canoe next door. Gordon got a photo of him sitting there but as soon as I came out he thought he was going to get some attention so over he came to see me.

I spent most of the dat on the internet. Then I looked at the games that came with my computer which I'd never done before and found that it has Mahjongh so spent a lot of the afternoon playing that.

Around 4 p.m. Gordon decided he wanted to go out and see where the smoke was coming from that's been around most of the day. We drove and drove and wound up at Seadrift. It looks like it must have been a prescribed burn at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge which is across San Antonio Bay from Seadrift.

Just as we were leaving the RV park, Storm came running over to see us.


The smoke


From there we drove to a bridge which is near Port O'Connor. There were some roseate spoonbills there but they were pretty far away for my camera so I took some photos of the bridge and the moon.



Back to the RV in time to warm up stew for dinner. Our high today was 63F (17C) so the temperature is going back up again. Not too soon for me!

A Cold and Generally Miserable Day!

From our beautiful warm wind out of the south yesterday to the cold, bitter wind from the north today, our temperature dropped almost 40 degrees from yesterday to today. Our high today was 44F (7C) compared to 81F (27C) yesterday. It was very windy last night and overnight and it knocked the TV satellite dish out overnight. It also rained overnight and a bit this morning but it didn't rain during the day at all. I was able to get out for my walk although I could hardly walk against the wind.

I spent the day on the internet, reading and making some necklaces. I tried out my new crimp tool and I'm not impressed. I think I'll take it back. The side cutters are got are very handy though, I'll keep them. So I did a bit of bead wrapping today that I hadn't been able to do without wire cutters. I'm afraid I'm not very creative in that respect, pretty basic.

I also had a nice chat on Facebook with my friend, Cheryl that I met when working at Nortel. It was great to chat with her! They also have a fifth wheel and her husband would love to fulltime but Cheryl isn't ready to give up her house just yet.

I'll make some cornbread to go with out stew for our dinner tonight and other than that we're just trying to keep warm until Friday when it warms up again.

Today's photo is one Gordon took today of the brown pelican diving for fish. They are really funny to watch. They come in like a kamikaze and dive straight down into the water.

Downtown Port Lavaca

It was cloudy and warm when I got up this morning. It was supposed to rain overnight but it didn't. Sure enough as soon as I got up it started to sprinkle. I thought that it wasn't bad so put on my rain gear and headed out. Soon it was coming down pretty well. My rain gear is not waterproof, it's water resistant so I came back inside and did my floor exercises.

We saw these brown geese (I think) on the way in to Port Lavaca

Later this morning the rain stopped and the sun came out so we got in the truck and went in to photograph downtown Port Lavaca. Most of downtown is vacant but there is a block where there are stores that are open. So we took some photos, did some driving around, north to Port Comfort but there isn't much there other than Alcoa Aluminum and Formosa Plastics. You'd think this would be an up and coming area with those plants here but you can see the economic downturn although I can't say how long the stores have been closed. Might be 20 years!

Downtown Port Lavaca







In one of the stores I saw these beer holders - cute - SLUTS

The downtown kitty - maybe one of the SLUTS?


Pretty orange hibiscus


The downtown pier


Driving over the Lavaca Bay Causeway on the way to Point Comfort.

We got back around 1 p.m. and it was so nice - 81F (27C) I sat outside for a couple of hours and finished another book. I got an email from my sister in Ottawa, they had about 8 inches of snow last night which is turning to freezing rain then back to snow and on top of that they're having a bus strike that starts at midnight tonight so they're in for some fun times! Makes the cold front coming through here tomorrow not look so bad!

Jenny and Speedy wanted a photo of my toes dressed for Christmas so your wish is my command!

Since it's going to be cold, decided to make stew but I substituted ground turkey for hamburg. Guess we'll have it for dinner since I don't have anything else out. It has cooled down a bit from today.

Grocery Shopping Again

It was as cloudy this morning as it was bright and sunny yesterday however it was already 62F (17C) at 8:15 a.m. when I went for my walk. The wind is starting to pick up again but it's supposed to remain warm until late tomorrow.

I just piddled around on the internet this morning while I had breakfast and after, had a shower and about 11:10 a.m. I headed in to Port Lavaca for groceries. On the way this little snowy egret was sitting on the railing that sides on the of single lane bridges on my way to the highway.

When driving in Texas if someone comes up behind you, normally people will pull over and drive on the shoulder. It's just something that's done in Texas. However, this guy didn't and I found out he was turning left a short ways ahead. Most of the shoulders here are wide and paved.


I also saw a great blue heron on my way standing peering through the fence as if he was wondering if the grass is greener on the other side of the fence but I didn't stop to take a photo as I knew he'd fly off as soon as I stopped.

Here's a heron I did get a photo of on the road that heads toward the campground.


And this great egret as well.


There was very little traffic this morning and it only took me about 15 minutes to arrive at the Port Lavaca Walmart. I had gone through the old downtown Port Lavaca. It's kind of interesting. I walked around Walmart putting some items in my cart, then realized I was hungry to went to Subway and had a six inch tuna sub, back to the grocery aisles and completed my shopping.

On my way back I stopped at Dollar General to pick up some things. I always miss Dollarama when I go to the dollar stores here. Dollar Tree isn't bad but there is no Dollar Tree in Port Lavaca. I'd have to go to Victoria for that. I am planning on going to Victoria by myself at some point to have more of a 'lady's look around'. The weather here sure is a lot better though!

I got home around 2 p.m. There were some little showers on my way and on and off through the afternoon.

One of my purchases today was green nail polish so now my toes are dressed for Christmas painted red and green!

That's about it for today!

A Lovely Sunny Day

I didn't get up this morning until nearly 8:30 a.m. By then the temperature had reached 53F (12C) so I was able to go for my walk with no jacket or gloves this morning.

It turned into a beautiful sunny, bright day so I sat out on our little deck and read for most of the day only coming in when a breeze picked up. I read some more and had a little nap. Other than that I walked around the campground, took a few photos and just generally relaxed. It's nice not to have to go anywhere or do anything.

A fishing boat coming in


Gordon has posted a few photos that he took yesterday from the air, click here to see them. He has also updated his journal, click here to read.

Just before sunset we decided to go for a drive around the area as it's going to be cloudy for the next couple of days. We were only gone about an hour but it was a nice evening for a drive. Here are some photos. I especially like the one of the wave at the shoreline.

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!